- CLANCY
Original Airdate: November 28, 1979
Synopsis. Ben thinks he’s found the perfect opponent for a barnstorming prizefighter: Nell’s mammoth cousin Clancy (played by Denny Miller). James Garner makes a cameo appearance as Bret Maverick.
Ed Robertson
Author ● Journalist ● Radio Host ● Collaborative Writer
Roger Moore Cousin Beau
This Date in MAVERICK TV History: “Bolt from the Blue,” written and directed by Robert Altman, airs on Nov. 27, 1960. MAVERICK: LEGEND OF THE WEST: Revised Third Edition is now available both as an eBook and in softcover paperback through Black Pawn Press
- BOLT FROM THE BLUE
Original Airdate: November 27, 1960
Synopsis. Beau befriends a kindly old prospector named Ebenezer Bolt (played by Tim Graham), unaware that he’s the partner of notorious horse thief Benson January (Owen Bush). An angry posse intercepts Maverick and mistakes him for January. Although the posse is determined to hang Beau, a young lawyer (played by Will Hutchins) halts the proceedings until Maverick can have a trial. But Beau’s conviction seems imminent when the lawyer locates a notorious “hanging judge” (played by Richard Hale), while a woman whose sister was January’s fiancée fingers Maverick for the thefts.
Full of the wit and biting humor that characterized many of the early Maverick scripts, Robert Altman’s “Bolt from the Blue” is by far the best episode of the fourth season. Altman was apparently such a huge fan of Maverick that he’d finished his script before he presented the idea to producer Coles Trapnell.
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 through Black Pawn Press, Amazon.com, and wherever books are sold online.
This Date in MAVERICK TV History: David Frankham stars in “Royal Four Flush,” airing Sept. 20, 1959. MAVERICK: LEGEND OF THE WEST: Revised Third Edition is now available both as an eBook and in softcover paperback through Black Pawn Press
- ROYAL FOUR FLUSH
Original Airdate: September 20, 1959
Synopsis. David Frankham guest stars as “Captain” Rory Fitzgerald, a con artist acquaintance whom Bart encounters in Virginia City. Fitzgerald owes Maverick $4,000, but claims to be out of money. Bart becomes suspicious when he recognizes the glamorous “countess” whom Fitzgerald is escorting as Liz Bancroft, a card dealer from New Orleans. He later discovers that Fitzgerald and Bancroft are plotting to swindle wealthy Placer Jack Mason out of $200,000.
At the time he filmed this episode, David Frankham was well on his way to becoming one of the busiest actors in Hollywood, including a recent appearance opposite Vincent Price in Roger Corman’s Return of the Fly. According to Frankham, his performance in Return of the Fly was a key factor that led to his being cast in “Royal Four Flush.”
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 through Black Pawn Press, Amazon.com, and wherever books are sold online.
This Day in MAVERICK TV History: “The Bundle from Britain,” Roger Moore’s debut appearance as Cousin Beau Maverick, airs on Sept. 18, 1960. MAVERICK: LEGEND OF THE WEST: Revised Third Edition is now available both as an eBook and in softcover paperback through Black Pawn Press
- THE BUNDLE FROM BRITAIN
Original Airdate: September 18, 1960
Synopsis. Introducing Roger Moore as Cousin Beauregard Maverick, the “white sheep” of the family, who had the embarrassing misfortune of earning a medal in the Civil War—accidentally.
In many respects Roger Moore, as Cousin Beau, was the “reluctant” Maverick. Under contract with Warner Bros. at the time, he was not keen on doing another television series when the studio assigned him to replace James Garner as the alternate lead on Maverick. Moore left Maverick midway through the fourth season, after filming fifteen episodes.
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 through Black Pawn Press, Amazon.com, and wherever books are sold online.
This Date in MAVERICK TV History: James Garner, Jack Kelly, and Charles Frank star in THE NEW MAVERICK, airing Sept. 3, 1978 on The ABC Sunday Night Movie. MAVERICK: LEGEND OF THE WEST: Revised Third Edition is now available both as an eBook and in softcover paperback through Black Pawn Press
THE NEW MAVERICK
Original Airdate: September 3, 1978
Synopsis. Bret Maverick rides into New Las Vegas to collect a $1,000 debt from brother Bart, who has owed him the money for nine years. Although Bret is told that his brother was shot to death, he quickly determines from the size of the coffin that Bart is still alive. Bret soon learns Bart is running from three men who lost money from him in a poker game the night before.
The New Maverick was the pilot for a possible updated Maverick series starring Charles Frank as Ben Maverick, but the movie itself clearly focuses on James Garner as Bret. So when The New Maverick drew a respectable audience share, ABC had a problem: It couldn’t design a new series around Garner because he was still busy filming The Rockford Files, while Frank hadn’t exactly established himself in the pivotal role of Ben. Though ABC eventually passed on The New Maverick, Warner Bros. kept the project in development for another year. In the summer of 1979, CBS ordered another two-hour pilot, again starring Frank. The new series, now called Young Maverick, debuted as a mid-season replacement on Nov. 28, 1979.