"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:

James Garner claimed that during filming one day they had less than an hour until overtime would have to be paid, but they still needed to shoot a complicated fight scene. Spying a group of tall weeds, he suggested that he throw his opponent into the weeds and have the fight proceed with much shaking of the weeds, and people being ejected from the weeds, only to immediately run back in. The results were extremely funny, and thus the cast and crew began to look for "funny" ways to cut corners, turning the show into a semi-comedy.

Quotes:

Bart Maverick:As my pappy used to say, "Son, the best time to get lucky is when the other man's dealin'."

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Farscape: Home on the Remains (#2.7)" (2000)

Soundtrack:

Maverick

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.