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See also: the loner

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{{Infobox television episode
| series = [[The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)|The Twilight Zone]]
| image =
| caption =
| season = 3
| episode = 20
| airdate ={{Start date|1962|02|02}}
| production =4812
| writer = [[Rod Serling]]
| based_on = {{based on|an idea|Frederic Louis Fox}}
| director = [[Christian Nyby]]
| guests =[[Larry Blyden]]: Rance McGrew [[Arch Johnson]]: [[Jesse James]] [[Robert O. Cornthwaite|Robert Cornthwaite]]: Director [[Robert J. Stevenson]]: T.V. Bartender [[Bill McLean (actor)|William McLean]]: Property Man [[Troy Melton]]: Cowboy #1 [[Jay Overholts]]: Cowboy #2
| music = Stock
| season_article = The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series) (season 3)
| episode_list = List of The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series) episodes
| prev = [[The Hunt (The Twilight Zone)|The Hunt]]
| next = [[Kick the Can]]
}}

"'''Showdown With Rance McGrew'''" is episode 85 of the [[American television]] anthology series ''[[The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)|The Twilight Zone]]''.

==Opening narration==
{{cquote|Some one-hundred-odd years ago, a motley collection of tough mustaches galloped across the West and left behind a raft of legends and [[legerdemain]]s, and it seems a reasonable conjecture that if there are any television sets up in cowboy heaven and any of these rough-and-wooly nail-eaters could see with what careless abandon their names and exploits are being bandied about, they're very likely turning over in their graves—or worse, getting out of them. Which gives you a clue as to the proceedings that will begin in just a moment, when one Mr. Rance McGrew, a 3,000-buck-a-week phoney-baloney discovers that this week's current edition of make-believe is being shot [[Location shooting|on location]]—and that location is the Twilight Zone.}}

==Plot==
Actor Rance McGrew, who stars in a TV series as the fictional heroic [[United States Marshals Service|marshal]] of the same name, arrives late to shoot the final scenes of an episode in which his character pursues [[Jesse James]]. According to the script, Rance turns away from a seemingly-beaten Jesse, who then tries to shoot him in the back. The man playing Jesse says Jesse James fighting dishonorably is historically inaccurate, and asks permission to shout at Rance before firing, but Rance argues that shouting out a warning to a gunman who has already proven himself to be a better fighter makes no sense.

Suddenly, Rance finds himself in a real [[Old West]] [[bar (establishment)|saloon]]. The real Jesse James walks in and says that he, [[Billy the Kid]], and other famous outlaws are not pleased with the way that they are portrayed on McGrew's show. Calling Rance nothing but a fraud who makes his living off the reputations of true gunslingers, Jesse challenges Rance to a [[fast draw]] showdown. Rance quickly realizes that he has no chance against a real gunfighter, but Jesse will not allow him to walk away. When the countdown finishes, Rance struggles for several seconds to get his gun out of its holster, then unintentionally flings it in the air in his panic. His point made, an amused Jesse contemptuously remarks, "Just like I figured. This guy couldn't outdraw a crayon." As Jesse aims his gun at Rance's forehead, Rance drops to his knees, pleading that he will do anything if Jesse spares him. Jesse accepts and disappears.

Rance finds himself back on the set, and his agent is announced. The agent turns out to be Jesse James himself, in [[Cinema of the United States|Hollywood]] garb. He insists that the episode be revised so that instead of trying to shoot Rance in the back, Jesse James throws Rance McGrew out the saloon window and makes his escape. The scene is shot to Jesse's satisfaction. As Jesse drives Rance back home, he goes over revisions to future episodes in which Rance McGrew fights Jesse's afterlife buddies. From now on, Rance's TV series will show what those men could ''really'' do instead of just making Rance look good.

==Closing narration==
{{cquote|The evolution of the so-called 'adult' western, and the metamorphosis of one Rance McGrew, formerly phony-baloney, now upright citizen with a preoccupation with all things involving tradition, truth and cowpoke predecessors. It's the way the cookie crumbles and the six-gun shoots in the Twilight Zone.}}

==Cast==
* [[Larry Blyden]] as Rance McGrew
* [[Arch Johnson]] as [[Jesse James]]
* [[Robert O. Cornthwaite|Robert Cornthwaite]] as Director
* Robert J. Stevenson as Bartender
* William McLean as Property Man
* [[Troy Melton]] as Cowboy #1
* Jay Overholts as Cowboy #2

==References==
*Amory, C. (1966, January 15–21). "Review: The Loner". ''[[TV Guide]]'', p. 2
*DeVoe, Bill. (2008). ''Trivia from The Twilight Zone''. Albany, GA: Bear Manor Media. {{ISBN|978-1-59393-136-0}}
*Grams, Martin. (2008). ''The Twilight Zone: Unlocking the Door to a Television Classic''. Churchville, MD: OTR Publishing. {{ISBN|978-0-9703310-9-0}}

==Sources==
*Zicree, Marc Scott. ''The ''Twilight Zone'' Companion'', Bantam Books, 1982. {{ISBN|0-553-01416-1}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb episode|0734619}}

==See also==
* [[Weird West]]
* ''[[The Loner (TV series)|The Loner]]'', an adult Western created by Serling in 1965
{{The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series) episodes}}

[[Category:1962 American television episodes]]
[[Category:The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series season 3) episodes]]
[[Category:Television episodes written by Rod Serling]]

Showdown with Rance McGrew - Revision history

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GOTV>JMyrleFuller: /* See also */ the loner