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Branded was a Western series which aired on NBC from 1965 through 1966 and starred Chuck Connors as Jason McCord, a United States Army Cavalry captain who had been drummed out of the service following an unjust accusation of cowardice. Created by Larry Cohen, the show was produced by Goodson-Todman Productions, who are primarily known not for Westerns or dramatic shows, but for almost exclusively producing game shows such as The Price is Right. Today, the US rights to Branded are owned by King World, one of very few Goodson-Todman properties not owned or distributed by FremantleMedia.

The opening scene of the series was memorable, with McCord's epaulets being ripped off, his uniform having its buttons cut off, and his sabre being broken, while a drum played. He was then sent out of the gates of the fort where this occurred, which were then closed behind him. This scene was repeated each week as the theme song, which also told the background story, and the opening credits, were played, in part so that new viewers could easily be brought in on what had been going on, a very common device at the time used in many other programs as well.

In the series, McCord traveled throughout the Old West, continually confronted with people who knew of his notorious reputation for cowardice, requiring him to (according to the theme song) repeatedly "prove he was a man".

The series followed Connors's highly popular series The Rifleman, but did not have that show's longevity.

Branded was a minor thematic element in the Coen brothers' film, The Big Lebowski. However, the reference is fictional. The "writer" referred to and the number of episodes are entirely incorrect.

The show's opening and theme was also parodied twice. First in an episode of "Married... with Children" in which Al Bundy is disgraced by his alma mater after the football he used to win the school the state championship is stolen while on watch as a security guard. It was also parodied in the feature film Looney Tunes: Back in Action when the DJ character is fired as a Warner Bros. security guard.

NBC network archives.

• Branded at the Internet Movie Database