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GAME OF CHANCESynopsis. In Denver, Bret and Bart try to outwit a wily French grifter and his charming niece.
“Game of Chance” introduced viewers to the following Pappyism: “Never cry over spilled milk… it could’ve been whiskey.” Guest stars include Roxane Berard.
4./5. DEAD MAN’S HAND (Two-parter) Original Airdates: December 26, 1979 and January 2, 1980
Synopsis. Trouble ensues for Ben Maverick when he inherits a pat hand from a gambler who died during a high-stakes poker game.
Young Maverick (CBS, 1979-1980) was an ill-fated attempt to update the Maverick formula of the late 1950s to TV audiences of the late 1970s. Starring Charles Frank as Ben Maverick, the Harvard-educated son of Cousin Beauregard Maverick, the series faced an uphill fight during its brief network run and was canceled after just six broadcasts. The two-part episode “Dead Man’s Hand” featured Howard Duff, future Emmy Award winner James Woods, and future Knots Landing star Donna Mills.
Synopsis. Set adrift in a lifeboat after he was robbed, Bret lands on an island outside New Orleans, where he meets Buddy Forge (played by Edgar Buchanan) and his eccentric community of black market smugglers. Forge mistakes Maverick for a government spy and holds him prisoner.
Montgomery Pittman’s scripts were known for featuring detailed directions for certain sequences, as well as his singular sense of humor. When he found that other directors had a difficult time capturing aspects of his unique style, Pittman ended up directing most of his own scripts, including this one for “Island in the Swamp.”
Synopsis. In Junction Corners, Bart wins ownership of the Bank on the Square from Major Holbrook Sims (played by Reginald Owen), who seems suspiciously eager to unload the bank. Maverick soon discovers why: the bank is short $20,000 due to a bookkeeping error. When the word leaks out, the angry townspeople threaten to make a run on the bank. Bart’s problems increase when Doc Holliday (Peter Breck) “borrows” the money from Blackjack Carney and his gang of thieves, who demand $25,000 in return.
Synopsis. Bret wins $15,000 playing poker in Sunny Acres, Colorado. He deposits the money with the town’s banker, John Bates, but when he tries to withdraw some of his money the following morning, Bates denies the entire transaction. (Unbeknownst to Maverick, Bates has been lifting funds from the bank in order to buy out his partner, Ben Granville.) Bret vows to recover his money within two weeks, but Bates is unfazed—he knows he has an impeccable reputation in town, and that the sheriff will be watching Maverick closely. Bret plays helpless, but actually orchestrates an elaborate investment scheme built around Bates’ inherent greed. Playing key roles in the sting: Samantha Crawford, Dandy Jim Buckley, Gentleman Jack Darby, Cindy Lou Brown, Big Mike McComb, and brother Bart.
“Shady Deal at Sunny Acres” marked the final appearances of Dandy Jim Buckley and Samantha Crawford. Efrem Zimbalist Jr. was busy starring in 77 Sunset Strip, while Diane Brewster was about to launch her own series (The Islanders, produced by Richard Bare). In fact, except for Gentleman Jack Darby, none of the supporting characters created by Roy Huggins and company returned to Maverick following Huggins’ departure after the second season.
In his memoir, The Garner Files, James Garner singled out “Shady Deal at Sunny Acres” as his favorite episode of the series “because it’s Bret at his coolest.”
Synopsis. Needing a stake to get into a big poker game in Abilene, Bret decides to collect on some old gambling debts. One of the persons he visits is Ellsworth Haynes, a Wells Fargo agent in Red Rock Junction. Things become complicated when Haynes is murdered and the bank is robbed of $50,000. Because Haynes was last seen speaking to a man named “Maverick,” Bret becomes wanted for murder and robbery.
Synopsis. Bret and Bart arrive in Snowflake to claim their inheritance from their late Uncle Micah―full ownership of the Maverick Stage Line. Although Micah had hoped that the boys would run the company, his will allows them to sell it if they can turn a huge profit. Polly Goodin, who had sold Micah exclusive right-of-way through her ranch property, offers the boys $1,000 each per month for life if they sell her 49 percent of the company. Bret and Bart are unaware that Polly has hired an operative named Shotgun Shanks to sabotage the stagecoach and thus negate the deal. Meanwhile, Atherton Flayger, Micah’s scheming attorney, discovers a clause that he would inherit the company if the Maverick boys are killed. Flayger hires Shanks to do away with Bret and Bart.
James Garner filmed “The Maverick Line” in March 1960, immediately before the start of his confrontation with Warner Bros. The episode had been originally scheduled for the season-premiere broadcast on Sept. 25, 1960, but was held back in light of the legal battle between Garner and the studio. Garner eventually won his lawsuit on Dec. 14, 1960, about three weeks after this episode aired.
Synopsis. Bret teams with Dandy Jim Buckley to settle the score with Tony Cadiz, a cadaverous gambler who took the both of them for $12,000 (and left Bret for dead). Cadiz is traveling to the South Dakota mining town of Deadwood, where he plans to make a fortune by showcasing Battling Kreuger, the bare-fisted pugilist whom he manages. Cadiz offers to pay 2-to-1 odds to any man who can last ten rounds with “the Battler.” After staking themselves to $4,000 (their reward for recovering two bags of gold stolen from the Wells Fargo Bank), Bret and Jim meet Noah Perkins, a giant of a man who seems the perfect opponent for Battling Kreuger. Bret and Jim set up a high-stakes showdown between Noah and Kreuger. When Noah bows out at the last minute, however, Maverick must take his place.
Roy Huggins originally intended Dandy Jim Buckley as a one-shot character, but he ended up bringing him back four more times because he so thoroughly enjoyed what Efrem Zimbalist Jr. brought to his portrayal. Zimbalist, for his part, considered working with James Garner to be among the highlights of his career.
Synopsis. Bart celebrates the Fourth of July in a western territory that hopes to qualify for statehood.
More often than not, any script during the Roy Huggins era that featured just one Maverick was doled out to whichever actor was available, be that James Garner or Jack Kelly (although, as a rule, Huggins had always his scripts written with Garner in mind). According to series writer Marion Hargrove, however, “The Thirty-Ninth Star” was one of the few Huggins shows that was specifically written as a vehicle for Jack Kelly.
The episode also features one of the most famous Pappyisms of all: “Work is fine for killing time, but it’s a shaky way to make a living.”
Synopsis. Introducing Jack Kelly as Bart Maverick. Bret and Bart seek their way onto the exclusive passenger list for the maiden voyage of The River Princess owned by Andre Devereaux, a wealthy Creole aristocrat who is contemptuous of Americans. After Devereaux’s daughter Yvette is kidnapped by Jody Collins—a muskrat trapper from the Bayous who has a strong hatred for the Creoles—the Maverick brothers try to rescue Yvette.
In many respects, Warner Bros. pioneered production of an hour-long weekly series. Each episode took a minimum of eight calendar days to shoot—but, because each show aired every seven days, that effectively put producer Roy Huggins one day behind schedule from the very beginning. This was especially true given that Maverick began production in August 1957, just a few weeks before its September 22 premiere date.
To remedy the situation, Huggins created a second Maverick character, brother Bart, who could alternate with James Garner as the series lead. That way, Maverick could shoot two episodes at the same time—each with a separate cast and its own production unit—and stay on schedule. After interviewing and auditioning several actors (including Stuart Whitman, Richard Jaeckel, and Michael Dante), Huggins cast Jack Kelly as Bart.