James Garner Clint Eastwood

This week in MAVERICK TV History: “The Seventh Hand,” featuring Diane Brewster as Samantha Crawford, airs on Mar. 2, 1958

THE SEVENTH HAND
Original Airdate: March 2, 1958

Synopsis. In Kansas City, Samantha Crawford offers to stake Bret $20,000 if he plays in a high-stakes poker game with wealthy businessmen. Unaware that Samantha was hired by a man named Logan to set up the game, Bret agrees. Samantha, however, doesn’t realize that Logan intends to use the game to stage a robbery.

Diane Brewster returns as Samantha Crawford in “The Seventh Hand,” an episode that also introduced viewers to the following Pappyism: “Marriage is the only game of chance I know of where both people can lose.”

LEARN MORE about this episode in the revised third edition of Maverick: Legend of the West, featuring more than 100 pages of new information about the show that made James Garner a star. 25 percent of the net proceeds from the sales of the third edition will be donated to The James Garner Animal Rescue Fund, a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising funds to help rescue organizations, shelters, individuals, fosters, and veterans with emergencies, evacuations, medical care, adoptions, training, pet supplies, shelter, rehabilitation, boarding, transportation, food, and other pressing needs. JGARF is one way for Garner fans to honor Jim’s memory and extend his legacy. The revised third edition of Maverick: Legend of the West is available both in softcover and, very soon, as an eBook through Black Pawn Press, Amazon.com, and wherever books are sold online.

This date in MAVERICK TV History: Nita Talbot guest stars in “The Resurrection of Joe November,” airing Feb. 28, 1960

THE RESURRECTION OF JOE NOVEMBER
Original Airdate: February 28, 1960

Synopsis. En route to New Orleans, Bret is offered $10,000 to transport the remains of a man named Joe November from New Orleans to Europe. What Maverick doesn’t realize is that the casket actually contains a fortune in stolen jewelry.

Guest stars in “The Resurrection of Joe November” include Nita Talbot, the Bourbon Street Beat star who appeared earlier this season in “Easy Mark.”

LEARN MORE about this episode in the revised third edition of Maverick: Legend of the West, featuring more than 100 pages of new information about the show that made James Garner a star. 25 percent of the net proceeds from the sales of the third edition will be donated to The James Garner Animal Rescue Fund, a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising funds to help rescue organizations, shelters, individuals, fosters, and veterans with emergencies, evacuations, medical care, adoptions, training, pet supplies, shelter, rehabilitation, boarding, transportation, food, and other pressing needs. JGARF is one way for Garner fans to honor Jim’s memory and extend his legacy. The revised third edition of Maverick: Legend of the West is available both in softcover and, very soon, as an eBook through Black Pawn Press, Amazon.com, and wherever books are sold online.

This date in MAVERICK TV History: “Maverick at Law” airs on Feb. 26, 1961

MAVERICK AT LAW
Original Airdate: February 26, 1961

Synopsis. Two outlaws enlist a mousy bank teller in their plans to rob the Bank of Ten Sleep, but the job is bungled when bank owner Cyrus Babcock catches the robbers in the act of looting his safe. The crooks get away, leaving the teller to stash the money in the first place he can find—inside Bart’s saddlebags.

LEARN MORE about this episode in the revised third edition of Maverick: Legend of the West, featuring more than 100 pages of new information about the show that made James Garner a star. 25 percent of the net proceeds from the sales of the third edition will be donated to The James Garner Animal Rescue Fund, a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising funds to help rescue organizations, shelters, individuals, fosters, and veterans with emergencies, evacuations, medical care, adoptions, training, pet supplies, shelter, rehabilitation, boarding, transportation, food, and other pressing needs. JGARF is one way for Garner fans to honor Jim’s memory and extend his legacy. The revised third edition of Maverick: Legend of the West is available both in softcover and, very soon, as an eBook through Black Pawn Press, Amazon.com, and wherever books are sold online.

This date in MAVERICK TV history: “A Night at the Red Ox,” an episode of BRET MAVERICK, aired on Feb. 23, 1982

A NIGHT AT THE RED OX
Original Airdate: February 23, 1982

Synopsis. Bret, Tom, and M.L. are held hostage by a woman who believes Tom murdered her husband twenty years before.

The third of three attempts to resurrect Maverick in the late ’70s and early ’80s, Bret Maverick (NBC, 1981-1982) saw James Garner reprise the role that originally made him a star.

LEARN MORE about this episode in the revised third edition of Maverick: Legend of the West, featuring more than 100 pages of new information about the show that made James Garner a star. 25 percent of the net proceeds from the sales of the third edition will be donated to The James Garner Animal Rescue Fund, a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising funds to help rescue organizations, shelters, individuals, fosters, and veterans with emergencies, evacuations, medical care, adoptions, training, pet supplies, shelter, rehabilitation, boarding, transportation, food, and other pressing needs. JGARF is one way for Garner fans to honor Jim’s memory and extend his legacy. The revised third edition of Maverick: Legend of the West is available both in softcover and, very soon, as an eBook through Black Pawn Press, Amazon.com, and wherever books are sold online.

This date in MAVERICK TV history: “The Ballad of Bret Maverick,” an episode of BRET MAVERICK featuring James Whitmore Jr., aired on Feb. 16, 1982. MAVERICK: LEGEND OF THE WEST: Revised Third Edition is now available both as an eBook and in softcover paperback through Black Pawn Press

THE BALLAD OF BRET MAVERICK
Original Airdate: February 16, 1982

Synopsis. Maverick’s reputation haunts him as he tries to sell a silver mine—everyone thinks he’s running a con. Meanwhile, a man who believes that Bret led his father to suicide arrives in Sweetwater seeking vengeance.

The third of three attempts to resurrect Maverick in the late ’70s and early ’80s, Bret Maverick (NBC, 1981-1982) saw James Garner reprise the role that originally made him a star. This episode features James Whitmore Jr., the actor who played private eye wannabe Fred Beamer on The Rockford Files.

LEARN MORE about this episode in the revised third edition of Maverick: Legend of the West, featuring more than 100 pages of new information about the show that made James Garner a star. 25 percent of the net proceeds from the sales of the third edition will be donated to The James Garner Animal Rescue Fund, a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising funds to help rescue organizations, shelters, individuals, fosters, and veterans with emergencies, evacuations, medical care, adoptions, training, pet supplies, shelter, rehabilitation, boarding, transportation, food, and other pressing needs. JGARF is one way for Garner fans to honor Jim’s memory and extend his legacy. The revised third edition of Maverick: Legend of the West is available both in softcover and, very soon, as an eBook through Black Pawn Press, Amazon.com, and wherever books are sold online.

This date in MAVERICK TV History: “The Saga of Waco Williams,” the most-watched episode of the entire Maverick series, airs on Feb. 15, 1959

THE SAGA OF WACO WILLIAMS
Original Airdate: February 15, 1959

Synopsis. Near Bent City, Bret clashes with Waco Williams, a fearless gunslinger who is scheduled to meet his partner, outlaw Blackie Dolan. Waco wants Blackie to go straight, while Maverick wants to turn Dolan in and claim the $2,500 reward.

The episode in which Maverick poked fun at itself, “The Saga of Waco Williams” was also the highest-rated episode of the entire series. Of all the TV sets in the U.S. that were in use that night between 7:30 and 8:30, more than half were tuned in to Maverick. Guest stars include future Oscar winner Louise Fletcher (pictured above with James Garner) and then-Colt .45 star Wayde Preston.

LEARN MORE about this episode in the revised third edition of Maverick: Legend of the West, featuring more than 100 pages of new information about the show that made James Garner a star. 25 percent of the net proceeds from the sales of the third edition will be donated to The James Garner Animal Rescue Fund, a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising funds to help rescue organizations, shelters, individuals, fosters, and veterans with emergencies, evacuations, medical care, adoptions, training, pet supplies, shelter, rehabilitation, boarding, transportation, food, and other pressing needs. JGARF is one way for Garner fans to honor Jim’s memory and extend his legacy. The revised third edition of Maverick: Legend of the West is available both in softcover and, very soon, as an eBook through Black Pawn Press, Amazon.com, and wherever books are sold online.

This date in MAVERICK TV History: “A Flock of Trouble,” featuring Myrna Fahey, airs on Feb. 14, 1960

A FLOCK OF TROUBLE
Original Airdate: February 14, 1960

Synopsis. Rancher Big Coley sells Bret three hundred head of sheep, without telling Maverick that the flock is one of the objects in the middle of a war between cattlemen and sheepherders.

Guest stars in “A Flock of Trouble” include Myrna Fahey, the onetime beauty queen and Pasadena Playhouse alumnus whom Batman fans know as Blaze, False Face’s colorfully bewigged moll.

LEARN MORE about this episode in the revised third edition of Maverick: Legend of the West, featuring more than 100 pages of new information about the show that made James Garner a star. 25 percent of the net proceeds from the sales of the third edition will be donated to The James Garner Animal Rescue Fund, a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising funds to help rescue organizations, shelters, individuals, fosters, and veterans with emergencies, evacuations, medical care, adoptions, training, pet supplies, shelter, rehabilitation, boarding, transportation, food, and other pressing needs. JGARF is one way for Garner fans to honor Jim’s memory and extend his legacy. The revised third edition of Maverick: Legend of the West is available both in softcover and, very soon, as an eBook through Black Pawn Press, Amazon.com, and wherever books are sold online.

This week in MAVERICK TV History: “Last Stop: Oblivion,” featuring Buddy Ebsen, airs on Feb. 12, 1961

LAST STOP: OBLIVION
Original Airdate: February 12, 1961

Synopsis. En route to Denver, Bart and Laura Nelson spend the night at a stagecoach station run by Nero and Verna Lyme, an amiable couple with a deadly pastime: They sniff out wealthy passengers and kill them for their money.

“Last Stop: Oblivion” is a taut melodrama that is enhanced by the inspired casting of Buddy Ebsen (The Beverly Hillbillies, Davy Crockett, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Barnaby Jones) and Virginia Christine (Mrs. Olsen of the Folgers Coffee commercials) as the deadly Mr. and Mrs. Lyme.

LEARN MORE about this episode in the revised third edition of Maverick: Legend of the West, featuring more than 100 pages of new information about the show that made James Garner a star. 25 percent of the net proceeds from the sales of the third edition will be donated to The James Garner Animal Rescue Fund, a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising funds to help rescue organizations, shelters, individuals, fosters, and veterans with emergencies, evacuations, medical care, adoptions, training, pet supplies, shelter, rehabilitation, boarding, transportation, food, and other pressing needs. JGARF is one way for Garner fans to honor Jim’s memory and extend his legacy. The revised third edition of Maverick: Legend of the West is available both in softcover and, very soon, as an eBook through Black Pawn Press, Amazon.com, and wherever books are sold online.

This date in MAVERICK TV History: “Mr. Muldoon’s Partner,” featuring Mickey Shaughnessy, airs on Feb. 11, 1962

MR.MULDOON’S PARTNER
Original Airdate: February 11, 1962

Synopsis. Down on his luck in Desert Gap, Bart meets a leprechaun named Muldoon, who grants him five wishes after Maverick freed him from a bottle. But after his first wish comes true, Bart’s troubles only increase.

“Mr. Muldoon’s Partner” features Mickey Shaughnessy, the colorful, comical Irish singer/actor who also played a pivotal role in launching the career of Robert Colbert, the actor who played Brent Maverick.

LEARN MORE about this episode in the revised third edition of Maverick: Legend of the West, featuring more than 100 pages of new information about the show that made James Garner a star. 25 percent of the net proceeds from the sales of the third edition will be donated to The James Garner Animal Rescue Fund, a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising funds to help rescue organizations, shelters, individuals, fosters, and veterans with emergencies, evacuations, medical care, adoptions, training, pet supplies, shelter, rehabilitation, boarding, transportation, food, and other pressing needs. JGARF is one way for Garner fans to honor Jim’s memory and extend his legacy. The revised third edition of Maverick: Legend of the West is available both in softcover and, very soon, as an eBook through Black Pawn Press, Amazon.com, and wherever books are sold online.

This date in MAVERICK TV history: “Hallie,” an episode of BRET MAVERICK featuring Dixie Carter, aired on Feb. 9, 1982

HALLIE
Original Airdate: February 9, 1982

Synopsis. Hallie McCulloch, a con artist acquaintance of Maverick, swindles our hero out of $2,000, then claims that she needs the money to pay off two men who want to kill her.

The third of three attempts to resurrect Maverick in the late ’70s and early ’80s, Bret Maverick (NBC, 1981-1982) saw James Garner reprise the role that originally made him a star. This episode not only features Dixie Carter (Designing Women), but was written by Marion Hargrove, arguably the most famous writer of the original series.

LEARN MORE about this episode in the revised third edition of Maverick: Legend of the West, featuring more than 100 pages of new information about the show that made James Garner a star. 25 percent of the net proceeds from the sales of the third edition will be donated to The James Garner Animal Rescue Fund, a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising funds to help rescue organizations, shelters, individuals, fosters, and veterans with emergencies, evacuations, medical care, adoptions, training, pet supplies, shelter, rehabilitation, boarding, transportation, food, and other pressing needs. JGARF is one way for Garner fans to honor Jim’s memory and extend his legacy. The revised third edition of Maverick: Legend of the West is available both in softcover and, very soon, as an eBook through Black Pawn Press, Amazon.com, and wherever books are sold online.