"Maverick" (1957) TV series 1957-1962

Creator:

Roy Huggins
(more)

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

Release Date:

22 September 1957 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Western | Adventure | Comedy

Plot:

Bret and Bart Maverick (and in later seasons, their English cousin, Beau) are well dressed gamblers...

Plot Keywords:

Poker | Gambler | Cult TV | One Word Title | Character Name In Title

Awards:

Won Primetime Emmy. Another 10 nominations

Cast

Jack Kelly	...	Bart Maverick / ... (83 episodes, 1957-1962)
James Garner	...	Bret Maverick / ... (65 episodes, 1957-1962)

Series Directed by
Leslie H. Martinson		(18 episodes, 1957-1961)
Douglas Heyes		(13 episodes, 1957-1959)
Richard L. Bare		(11 episodes, 1957-1959)
Arthur Lubin		(11 episodes, 1959-1960)
Leslie Goodwins		(7 episodes, 1959-1960)
Irving J. Moore		(7 episodes, 1960-1962)
John Ainsworth		(4 episodes, 1961)
Paul Landres		(4 episodes, 1961)
Budd Boetticher		(3 episodes, 1957)
James V. Kern		(3 episodes, 1958-1960)
Montgomery Pittman		(3 episodes, 1958-1959)
George Waggner		(3 episodes, 1959-1961)
Lee Sholem		(3 episodes, 1960-1962)
Michael O'Herlihy		(3 episodes, 1961-1962)
Franklin Adreon		(2 episodes, 1957-1958)
Abner Biberman		(2 episodes, 1957)
Lew Landers		(2 episodes, 1959-1960)
Paul Henreid		(2 episodes, 1959)
Robert Douglas		(2 episodes, 1960-1961)
Marc Lawrence		(2 episodes, 1961-1962)
Sidney Salkow		(2 episodes, 1962)

Series Writing credits
Douglas Heyes		(11 episodes, 1957-1959)
Howard Browne		(10 episodes, 1957-1961)
Marion Hargrove		(9 episodes, 1957-1959)
Coles Trapnell		(9 episodes, 1959-1961)
Roy Huggins		(8 episodes, 1957-1960)
Robert Vincent Wright		(7 episodes, 1959-1962)
Don Tait		(7 episodes, 1960-1961)
George F. Slavin		(6 episodes, 1957-1962)
Leo Townsend		(6 episodes, 1959-1960)
Gerald Drayson Adams		(5 episodes, 1957-1960)
Gene Levitt		(5 episodes, 1957-1959)
Montgomery Pittman		(5 episodes, 1958-1961)
Leonard Praskins		(5 episodes, 1959-1960)
William Bruckner		(5 episodes, 1961-1962)
Russell S. Hughes		(4 episodes, 1957-1958)
Wells Root		(4 episodes, 1959-1961)
Ron Bishop		(4 episodes, 1959-1960)
Herman Epstein		(4 episodes, 1959-1960)
Leo Gordon		(4 episodes, 1960-1961)
Paul Leslie Peil		(4 episodes, 1960-1961)
James O'Hanlon		(3 episodes, 1957-1962)
Jerry Davis		(3 episodes, 1957-1959)
Irene Winston		(3 episodes, 1961-1962)
David Lang		(3 episodes, 1961)
Robert Louis Stevenson		(2 episodes, 1957-1961)
R. Wright Campbell		(2 episodes, 1958-1960)
Palmer Thompson		(2 episodes, 1959-1961)
William Driskill		(2 episodes, 1959)
Arthur Paynter		(2 episodes, 1960)
Peter Germano		(2 episodes, 1961)

Series Produced by
William T. Orr	....	executive producer (124 episodes, 1957-1962)
Roy Huggins	....	producer / executive producer (49 episodes, 1957-1962)
Coles Trapnell	....	producer (22 episodes, 1959-1961)
Arthur W. Silver	....	supervising producer / associate producer / ... (8 episodes, 1961-1962)
William L. Stuart	....	producer (8 episodes, 1961-1962)
Howie Horwitz	....	producer (2 episodes, 1961)

Series Original Music by
John Neel		(4 episodes, 1959-1961)

Series Cinematography by
Harold E. Stine		(22 episodes, 1957-1961)
Carl Berger		(8 episodes, 1957-1961)
Ralph Woolsey		(8 episodes, 1957-1959)
Edwin B. DuPar		(6 episodes, 1957-1961)
Wesley Anderson		(3 episodes, 1958-1960)
Perry Finnerman		(3 episodes, 1959-1960)
Jacques R. Marquette		(3 episodes, 1960-1962)
Ellis W. Carter		(2 episodes, 1957-1961)
Floyd Crosby		(2 episodes, 1959)
Roger Shearman		(2 episodes, 1959)
Ray Fernstrom		(2 episodes, 1960)
Willard Van der Veer		(2 episodes, 1961)

Series Film Editing by
Robert Watts		(9 episodes, 1957-1959)
Robert Sparr		(9 episodes, 1957-1958)
Elbert K. Hollingsworth		(8 episodes, 1957-1959)
Carl Pingitore		(7 episodes, 1957-1960)
Harold Minter		(7 episodes, 1957-1959)
J. Frank O'Neill		(3 episodes, 1957-1958)
Clarence Kolster		(3 episodes, 1959-1961)
Fred Bohanan		(2 episodes, 1958-1960)
Tom Biggart		(2 episodes, 1958)
Robert Crawford		(2 episodes, 1959-1961)
Lloyd Nosler		(2 episodes, 1960-1961)

Series Art Direction by
Howard Campbell		(31 episodes, 1957-1959)
Art Loel		(12 episodes, 1957-1958)
William L. Campbell		(8 episodes, 1960-1961)
John Ewing		(6 episodes, 1959-1961)
Perry Ferguson		(3 episodes, 1957-1959)

Series Set Decoration by
Jerry Welch		(19 episodes, 1957-1961)
William Wallace		(13 episodes, 1958)
Frank M. Miller		(5 episodes, 1957-1960)
Mowbray Berkeley		(4 episodes, 1957-1958)
Fay Babcock		(3 episodes, 1958-1960)
Ralph S. Hurst		(3 episodes, 1958)
Patrick Delany		(2 episodes, 1957)
John P. Austin		(2 episodes, 1959-1961)
Hal Overell		(2 episodes, 1960-1961)

Series Makeup Department
Gordon Bau	....	makeup supervisor (124 episodes, 1957-1962)
Jean Burt Reilly	....	supervising hair stylist (45 episodes, 1960-1962)

Series Production Management
Oren Haglund	....	production manager (80 episodes, 1957-1961)

Series Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Robert Farfan	....	assistant director (14 episodes, 1957-1959)
Rusty Meek	....	assistant director (12 episodes, 1958-1959)
Don Alvarado	....	assistant director (6 episodes, 1958)
C. Carter Gibson	....	assistant director (4 episodes, 1957-1959)
Lee White	....	assistant director (4 episodes, 1957)
Eddie Prinz	....	assistant director (2 episodes, 1957-1958)
Claude Archer	....	assistant director (2 episodes, 1957)
Claude Binyon Jr.	....	assistant director (2 episodes, 1958-1960)
John Francis Murphy	....	assistant director (2 episodes, 1960-1961)
Rex Bailey	....	assistant director (2 episodes, 1961)
Richard Maybery	....	assistant director (2 episodes, 1961)

Series Art Department
Roy Moore	....	props (2 episodes, 1957)

Series Sound Department
Samuel F. Goode	....	sound (22 episodes, 1957-1961)
Stanley Jones	....	sound (7 episodes, 1957-1961)
Robert B. Lee	....	sound (6 episodes, 1958-1961)
Francis E. Stahl	....	sound (4 episodes, 1958-1960)
M.A. Merrick	....	sound (4 episodes, 1958)
Charles Althouse	....	sound (2 episodes, 1957-1960)
Francis J. Scheid	....	sound (2 episodes, 1957-1958)
B.F. Ryan	....	sound (2 episodes, 1958-1960)
Eugene F. Westfall	....	sound (2 episodes, 1958)
Ross Owen	....	sound (2 episodes, 1960-1961)

Series Stunts
Bobby Somers	....	stunts (11 episodes, 1957-1959)
Jack N. Young	....	utility stunts (3 episodes, 1957)

Series Camera and Electrical Department
Earl C. Williman	....	lamp operator (13 episodes, 1961-1962)

Series Editorial Department
James Moore	....	supervising film editor (82 episodes, 1957-1961)

Series Music Department
David Buttolph	....	composer: theme music / composer: theme song (124 episodes, 1957-1962)
Paul Francis Webster	....	lyricist: theme music (124 episodes, 1957-1962)
Max Steiner	....	composer: stock music (118 episodes, 1957-1962)
Paul Sawtell	....	music supervisor (12 episodes, 1959-1961)
Bert Shefter	....	music supervisor (12 episodes, 1959-1961)
Ted Sebern	....	music editor (4 episodes, 1959-1962)
Sam E. Levin	....	music editor (2 episodes, 1959-1961)
Joe Inge	....	music editor (2 episodes, 1960-1961)
George Marsh	....	music editor (2 episodes, 1960-1961)

Production Companies

• Warner Bros. Television

Distributors

• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1957-1962) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Warner Home Video (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Bros. Television

Other Companies

• Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment  camera cranes

Also Known As:

Runtime:

50 min (124 episodes) | Argentina:60 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

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

Company:

Warner Bros. Television

Trivia:

Roger Moore said when his parents came to visit him on set, his mother, who was a huge Western fan, got to meet guest star Lee Van Cleef, who was one of her favorite actors.

Quotes:

Bret Maverick:As my old pappy used to say, "Son, stay clear of weddings because one of them is liable to be your own."

Movie Connections:

Featured in Eastwood & Co.: Making 'Unforgiven' (1992) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Maverick

The Prime Directive

I've heard Bret Maverick described as a "coward" and the show described as a western spoof that gets its humor from the cowardice of the hero. I think this is totally wrong.

A decade before Star Trek introduced its "Prime Directive"- that they shouldn't interfere with the development of the civilizations they encounter, a rule they had to repeatedly break if there was to be any story, Bret Maverick was exercising his own "Prime Directive". All that advice from his "Pappy" adds up to one thing: mind your own business and if everyone else minds their own business, you'll be fine. When Maverick is at a gaming table, he's fine. He knows what's going on and can manipulate things to his advantage. When he gets involved in other things, he has the tread water just to keep up.

He's no coward. He can get angry and be aggressive, (especially in the early episodes, when Roy Huggins was still doing much of the writing). He just doesn't want his life to get too messy and would rather use his wits to resolve his problems rather than tactics that are likely to get somebody hurt. He saw too many people get hurt in the war and wasn't impressed.

But, as with "The Prime Directive", if Bret, (or Bart), was allowed to stick to this, there would be no story. So the writers had to come up with something to him involved in other people's business- or them in his.

The first option was to invoke rule #2: Bret doesn't let anybody cross him. If he gets cheated or conned, he will go far out of his way and bend all other rules, if necessary, to get what's coming to him and make sure the cheaters get what's coming to them. The second option was to introduce an attractive female- who may or may not be trustworthy and have her, intentionally or not, seduce Maverick into helping her solve her problems. Then, there's always money. Everybody has to bend rules when they are broke and a gambler frequently finds his luck running against him and will be willing to take a job- even a dangerous- one in such circumstances. Finally, there are occasions when, against his-and Pappy's better judgment, Maverick just has to do the right thing. These weaknesses and inconvenient strengths endear the character to the audience.

So does Maverick's generally sunny disposition. When he's minding his own business, he figures things will work out. Even when he's in trouble, he somehow always seems to figure he will get out of it somehow and takes temporary defeats in stride. Someone said that "Maverick" is "The Rockford Files" out west. Of course, "Maverick" came first. There are similarities. But Rockford is more world-weary, lest trustful of what the future may bring. A stretch in jail will do that do you. With him, avoiding complications is even more important. He does detective work because it's what he knows but he really just wants to make enough money to go fishing with his Pappy. Maverick stills see the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.