Secrets Of TV’s The Rifleman: More Than Just Guns And Good Times

The Show Aired In Russia

The Rifleman was one of the first American TV shows to air in Russia. Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev (the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union) visited the United States in the 1970s and was very eager to meet Chuck Connors. Apparently, the western was one of Brezhnev’s favorite shows while also being one of the few American programs to air in his country. Connors and Brezhnev did end up connecting and wound up becoming good friends who spent quite a bit of time together. The Russian invited the actor to visit his country on several occasions.