Author ● Journalist ● Radio Host ● Collaborative Writer
Synopsis. Bart renews acquaintance with Pearly Gates and Marla, the crafty duo whom he last encountered in “Dade City Dodge.” Pearly and Marla lure Maverick into a poker game with some other players—one of whom is wanted outlaw Big Jim Watson.
Known around the world as Skipper Jonas Grumby on Gilligan’s Island, Alan Hale previously appeared in the fourth-season episode “Arizona Black Maria.”
Synopsis. When the sheriff of Spearhead, Kansas asks him to impersonate a slain gunman named Smiley Drake, Bart finds himself embroiled in the professional and personal animosities between rival gambling house owners Tom Blauvelt and Clete Spain.
“Substitute Gun” was originally filmed in 1957 as “Hired Gun,” one of nine episodes of Cheyenne written by Berne Giler. In 1959, Warner Bros. adapted Giler’s Western novel Westbound into a feature film directed by Budd Boetticher. Guest stars in “Substitute Gun” include Robert Rockwell, the actor who played Eve Arden’s love interest on both the radio and TV versions of Our Miss Brooks.
Synopsis. Cowardly bartender Archibald Walker arrives in Abilene under the guise of Wyatt Earp, whose trademark revolver he stole when Earp wasn’t looking. Bart, currently working as the town deputy to pay off a gambling debt, becomes Archie’s protector when gunslinger Billy Coe challenges Archie to a showdown. Archie’s problems multiply when the real Wyatt Earp shows up.
Guest star John Dehner previously played the mark in “Shady Deal at Sunny Acres,” one of the most famous Maverick episodes of all.
Synopsis. Bart hunts down Paisley Briggs, a scoundrel who robbed our hero of $850. Maverick’s search leads him to the Waconda Mountains in Wyoming, where Briggs attempts to pull off a $5,000 fraud involving the whereabouts of escaped convict Philip Stanton.
Claude Akins stars as Paisley Briggs in this episode, which also introduces the Pappyism “Flattery is like perfume—smell it, but don’t swallow it.”
Synopsis. Bret’s effort to clear Mike McComb of a murder charge becomes complicated when he falls in love with saloon singer Jenny Hill.
The final episode produced by Roy Huggins, “The Strange of Jenny Hill” features singer/actress Peggy King (The George Gobel Show) and longtime character actor William Schallert (The Patty Duke Show, Get Smart, Dobie Gillis).
Synopsis. The first of Robert Colbert’s two appearances as Brent Maverick, Bret and Bart’s younger brother.
Little is known about young Brent Maverick, the “other brother” who came and went after only two appearances. Whatever background Brent may have, it can’t be anywhere nearly as interesting as that of the actor who played him. The path that led Robert Colbert to film and television—and, eventually, Warner Bros.—is a remarkable story in which a radio commercial, a poem, and actor Mickey Shaughnessy all play pivotal parts.
LEARN MORE about this episode in the revised third edition of 45 YEARS OF THE ROCKFORD FILES, featuring more than sixty new pages of never before published information about both the original Rockford Files and the CBS reunion movies, including twenty new interviews and six new appendices. 25 percent of the net proceeds from the sales of 45 YEARS OF THE ROCKFORD FILES 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. Plus… if you order 45 YEARS OF THE ROCKFORD FILES directly from Black Pawn Press, you will receive an exclusive bonus gift. Go to Rockford45.com for more details.
Synopsis. Professional illusionist The Great Malooley is also a professional killer whose performance at the Red Ox masks a plan to exhume the legendary Kirschfeld Diamonds, which he believes are buried underneath the saloon. To keep Maverick out of the way, Malooley frames him for the murder of a drunk who had threatened Bret the night 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.
Synopsis. Bart is among the passengers who are victimized by two men who hold up a stagecoach bound for Virginia City. Bart suspects a connection between the robbers and another passenger, Anne Sanders (she told them where Bart hid his money), so he trails Anne in the hopes that she will lead him to the holdup men (and the $1,500 they took from him). Bart’s suspicions are well-founded: after he captures the two men, Anne not only fails to identify them, but enables them to escape.
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.
LEARN MORE about this episode in the revised third edition of 45 YEARS OF THE ROCKFORD FILES, featuring more than sixty new pages of never before published information about both the original Rockford Files and the CBS reunion movies, including twenty new interviews and six new appendices. 25 percent of the net proceeds from the sales of 45 YEARS OF THE ROCKFORD FILES 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. Plus… if you order 45 YEARS OF THE ROCKFORD FILES directly from Black Pawn Press, you will receive an exclusive bonus gift. Go to Rockford45.com for more details.