"Maverick" (1957) TV series 1957-1962

User Rating:

8.5/10   

Creator:

Roy Huggins

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

Release Date:

22 September 1957 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Western | Adventure | Comedy

Plot:

Brett and Bart Maverick (and in later seasons, their English cousin, Bo) are well dressed gamblers who...

Plot Keywords:

Poker | Gambler | Cult TV | Cult Favorite | Cult Western

Awards:

Won Primetime Emmy. Another 4 nominations

Cast

Jack Kelly	...	Bart Maverick / ... (62 episodes, 1957-1962)
James Garner	...	Bret Maverick / ... (58 episodes, 1957-1960)

Also Known As:

Maverick (Argentina) [es]

Runtime:

60 min (124 episodes) | Argentina:60 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park - 10700 W. Escondido Canyon Rd., Agua Dulce, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Television

Trivia:

Producer Roy Huggins stated the writers' guiding principle for the Maverick series was his belief that, "In the traditional Western, the situation was always serious but never hopeless. In a 'Maverick' story, the situation is always hopeless but never serious."

Quotes:

Bret Maverick: Never cry over spilt milk. It could've been whiskey.

Movie Connections:

Featured in ABC's 50th Anniversary Celebration (2003) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Maverick

Still just as funny today

UPDATE: Encore Westerns started showing Maverick from Episode 1 in early July 2008. Hopefully they have the entire five year run under contract for a turn or two. Six PM Eastern time daily. Enjoy!! **************************************

This is the role that made James Garner, and as much as I like his later work, for me he would never be this much fun to watch again (exception: Support Your Local Sheriff, but that was unquestionably written to capitalize on his Maverick role).

I remembered liking Maverick when I was a kid, but after 40 odd years I didn't remember a single episode or plot line. I can't tell you what a pleasure it was to find this series resurrected on Good Life (Now American Life) TV. Discovering each episode's charm brought my wife and I months of entertainment, and expectation for the next week.

Among some classic episodes to look for are:

* "War of the Silver Kings", this is the first episode and unquestionably one of the best

* "Gun Shy", an absolutely hilarious take off on Gun Smoke

* "A Fellow's Brother", an entertaining story throughout that made me fall out of my chair laughing when presented with the twist that resolved the crises

* "Shady Day at Sunny Acres", in which Bret Maverick spends the majority of the episode in a rocking chair on the town's boardwalk, whittling and uttering the line, "I'm workin' on it"

* "Pappy", wherein you meet the originator of all of Bret's "My old Pappy used to say ..." lines. Garner of course plays dual roles in the episode and does a great job. (So the movie is only the 2nd time he got to play Bret's father!)

Sadly, since they realize that the James Garner episodes will get the most viewing, they don't show all of the 'Bart only' episodes, especially the ones after Garner left the series. I've never seen one of the Roger Moore episodes shown on ALTV either, also a shame. (Moore played Beau Maverick, an English cousin.) Were the Garner episodes the best? Yes. But the others have their own charm, and are worthy of a look.