Maverick (1957–1962)

Bret and Bart Maverick (and in later seasons, their English cousin, Beau) are well dressed gamblers who migrate from town to town always looking for a good game. Poker (5 card draw) is ... See full summary »

Creator:

Roy Huggins

Stars:

Jack Kelly, James Garner, Roger Moore

Won 1 Primetime Emmy. Another 10 nominations.

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Jack Kelly	...	Bart Maverick (81 episodes, 1957-1962)
James Garner	...	Bret Maverick (60 episodes, 1957-1962)

Storyline

Bret and Bart Maverick (and in later seasons, their English cousin, Beau) are well dressed gamblers who migrate from town to town always looking for a good game. Poker (5 card draw) is their favorite but they've been known to play such odd card games as Three-toed Sloth on occasion. The show would occasionally feature both or all three Mavericks, but usually would rotate the central character from week to week.

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Plot Keywords:

poker | gambler | cult tv | cult tv | one word title | 

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Genres:

Action | Western | Adventure | Comedy

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 September 1957 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Laramie Street, Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros. Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min 50 min (124 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

4:3

Did You Know?

Trivia

During season one, Bret competes in a boxing match, and uses the "rope-a-dope" strategy (letting the other fighter tire himself out and them coming back to beat him), several years before Muhammad Ali made it famous.

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Quotes

Bret Maverick: As my old pappy used to say, a man does what he has to do - if he can't get out of it.

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Connections

Referenced in Alias Jesse James (1959)

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Soundtracks

"Maverick"
Music by David Buttolph
Lyrics by Paul Francis Webster

User Reviews

Launching a great career

I still remember as a lad when Maverick made its debut on the ABC network. It was on Sunday nights at 7:30 and with that early half an hour start, it knocked the stuffings out of Ed Sullivan and Steve Allen who had their shows begin at 8:00 in the Nielsen ratings.

Maverick was unlike any western that had been on television before. Previously you had heroes stand tall and tangle with villainy head on. Maverick was no coward, but he never went looking for trouble and he never would look for a face to face confrontation if a little back channel maneuvering would work as well.

The show started the precedent that Law and Order, Criminal Intent is using now to give star Vincent Donofrio some rest with having Chris Noth and another female partner solve crimes on alternate weekends. James Garner was the original Bret Maverick and later Jack Kelly was brought in as brother Bart. Later on we had cousin Beau and another brother Brent played by Roger Moore and Robert Colbert.

Those last two we never even see the episodes with them. James Garner wanted a feature film career and Maverick helped launch him in one. His best efforts have always been when he's played a variation on Maverick and that would include his later hit series, The Rockford Files.

Unfortunately Jack Kelly never got the same break as Garner. But Bart was also pretty good at thinking on his feet as well. Still he was good performer and the Bart episodes do hold their own. And the shows they did together, pure magic.