- A FISTFUL OF OATS
Original Airdate: December 5, 1979
Synopsis. Nell’s uncle faces the gallows after he accidentally spooks the horse of a hanging judge.
Ed Robertson
Author ● Journalist ● Radio Host ● Collaborative Writer
Roy Huggins Maverick
This Date in MAVERICK TV History: Kathleen Crowley stars as “Kiz,” airing Dec. 4, 1960. MAVERICK: LEGEND OF THE WEST: Revised Third Edition is now available both as an eBook and in softcover paperback through Black Pawn Press
- KIZ
Original Airdate: December 4, 1960
Synopsis. In Virginia City, Beau crashes a party thrown by Kiz Bouchet (played by Kathleen Crowley), an eccentric socialite with a penchant for smoking cigars, playing poker, and fighting fires. Believing that her life is in danger, and recognizing Beau as a fellow free spirit, Kiz hires Maverick to protect her.
As a gag, director Robert Douglas asked guest star Kathleen Crowley to wear the jet black wig she needed for “Kiz” when she first reported to the set. The stunt worked. Crowley, who was certainly no stranger around the Warner Bros. lot (she appeared frequently on many of the series that were filmed there at the time, including Maverick), made such a convincing brunette that everyone on the set wondered who “the new actress” was. We’ll see Crowley again in “Dade City Dodge,” “The Troubled Heir,” and the final episode of the series, “One of Our Trains is Missing.”
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 ROCKFORD FILES History: Cheryl Ladd stars in “Death by Resurrection,” an episode of SWITCH, airing Dec. 2, 1975, that would soon trigger one of the most colorful chapters in Rockford Files history. LEARN MORE about this episode in 45 YEARS OF THE ROCKFORD FILES, available in softcover paperback and now as an eBook through Black Pawn Press
In the summer of 1975, production began on Switch (CBS, 1975-1978), a caper series, starring Robert Wagner and Eddie Albert, that was produced by Glen Larson. Hoping to emulate the blend of action and humor that made The Rockford Files into a big hit, Larson asked Rockford co-creators and fellow Universal contract producers Roy Huggins and Stephen J. Cannell to provide him with a few scripts that could help him incorporate elements of the Rockford style into episodes of Switch. One of the scripts that Huggins and Cannell provided Larson was “This Case is Closed,” a ninety-minute episode of Rockford, co-written by Huggins and Cannell, that originally aired in October 1974.
On Dec. 2, 1975, CBS aired “Death by Resurrection,” an episode of Switch that was strikingly similar to “This Case is Closed” in plot, style, and manner—including the use of flashback techniques to tell part of the story. Even some of the dialogue was the same in both episodes. Larson, however, took sole writing credit for “Death by Resurrection,” without acknowledging that he had actually based that episode on “This Case is Closed.”
The morning after “Death by Resurrection” aired, Huggins and Cannell fired off a memo to Universal Television executive Frank Price that detailed the extent to which Larson had appropriated elements of their Rockford script without attribution. This set the stage for one of the most colorful episodes in Rockford Files history—one that ended with James Garner, quite literally, taking matters into his own hands.
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
This Date in MAVERICK TV History: BRET MAVERICK premieres on NBC with “The Lazy Ace,” a two-hour episode airing Dec. 1, 1981. MAVERICK: LEGEND OF THE WEST: Revised Third Edition is now available both as an eBook and in softcover paperback through Black Pawn Press
- THE LAZY ACE
Original Airdate: December 1, 1981
Synopsis. Bret Maverick rides into Sweetwater, a town in the Arizona territory, to play in a high-stakes poker game with Doc Holliday, Ramsey Bass, Joe Dakota, Lyman Nickerson, the Delta Fox, and Mandy Packard. After winning the $100,000 jackpot and ownership of Mandy’s saloon, the Red Ox, Maverick purchases a 100-acre ranch, which he christens The Lazy Ace. However, Bret doesn’t realize that he also inherited liability toward a $50,000 loan that Mandy took out from the bank against the saloon’s mortgage. To make matters worse, the bank is robbed shortly after Bret deposits his money.
An injury to James Garner shut down production of this episode for three days. Keep an eye out for the sequence where Bret’s horse goes ballistic after hearing gunshots. Garner was on a mechanical horse to film part of that sequence; he was thrown from the horse, and suffered nine broken ribs as a result.
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: “The Wrecker,” an adaptation of the novel by Robert Louis Stevenson, airs on Dec. 1, 1957. MAVERICK: LEGEND OF THE WEST: Revised Third Edition is now available both as an eBook and in softcover paperback through Black Pawn Press
- THE WRECKER
Original Airdate: December 1, 1957
Synopsis. After buying their way into an exclusive ring of auction bidders, the Maverick brothers try to purchase The Flying Scud, a beached brig containing a cargo of Oriental rice and silk valued at $10,000. Bret’s scheme to sell the goods for a quick profit runs aground when he gets into a bidding war with a man named Bellairs, who raises the price to $21,000 before dropping out. Bart soon discovers that Bellairs acted as a middle man for James Dickson (whose real name is Paul Carthew). Carthew believes that the wrecked ship contains evidence that could link him to a crime that took place at sea many years ago.
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 ROCKFORD FILES History: Rita Moreno stars as Rita Capkovic in “No-Fault Affair,” airing Nov. 30, 1979. LEARN MORE about this episode in 45 YEARS OF THE ROCKFORD FILES, available in softcover paperback and now as an eBook through Black Pawn Press
- NO-FAULT AFFAIR
Original Air Date: November 30, 1979
Synopsis. After advising a young girl to get out of prostitution while she can, Rita Capkovic decided to practice what she preached: she completed beauty school, and now wants to begin a new career as a hairdresser. But her brutal pimp, Al Halusca, won’t let go of her. To get his point across, Halusca knocks Rita around and threatens to continue beating her unless she returns to the streets. Fearing for her life, and with nowhere else to go, Rita turns to Rockford, who nurses her back to health. After two weeks, however, the situation becomes a little complicated when Rockford realizes that Rita has fallen in love with him.Rita Moreno previously appeared as Rita Capkovic in “The Paper Palace” and “Rosendahl and Gilda Stern Are Dead.” Her friendship with James Garner spanned nearly five decades, long preceding The Rockford Files and even Maverick.
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
This Date in MAVERICK TV History: Edgar Buchanan stars in “Island in the Swamp,” the second of five episodes written by Montgomery Pittman, airing Nov. 30, 1958. MAVERICK: LEGEND OF THE WEST: Revised Third Edition is now available both as an eBook and in softcover paperback through Black Pawn Press
- ISLAND IN THE SWAMP
Original Airdate: November 30, 1958
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.”
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: Herbert Rudley stars in “Trooper Maverick,” airing Nov. 29, 1959. MAVERICK: LEGEND OF THE WEST: Revised Third Edition is now available both as an eBook and in softcover paperback through Black Pawn Press
- TROOPER MAVERICK
Original Airdate: November 29, 1959
Synopsis. Whenever he’s in the Dakota Territories, Bart drops in on the Army fort run by his friend, Colonel Sam Percy, so that he can check out the poker action between the soldiers and the local settlers. Maverick becomes suspicious when Sam, normally one of the card players, arrests him for gambling and sentences him to 180 days service. Behind closed doors, Sam explains why he had Bart imprisoned—a war with the Sioux Indians is imminent, and one of his soldiers has been funneling weapons to the other side. Percy needs Maverick to uncover the spy and stop the smuggling.
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 ROCKFORD FILES History: Richard Herd, Kathie Browne, and Warren Kemmerling star in “Pastoria Prime Pick,” airing Nov. 29, 1975. LEARN MORE about this episode in 45 YEARS OF THE ROCKFORD FILES, available in softcover paperback and now as an eBook through Black Pawn Press
- PASTORIA PRIME PICK
Original Air Date: November 29, 1975
Synopsis. Rockford becomes the latest victim of a horrifying blackmail scheme orchestrated by the mayor and sheriff of a small community called New Pastoria.Early in this episode, Rockford calls himself collect to retrieve his messages. Although he asks the operator to dial 555-9000, according to the closeup of his phone that we see at the beginning of each episode, Rockford’s number is 555-2368.
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
This Date in MAVERICK TV History: Denny Miller, Morgan Woodward, and Dick O’Neill star in “Clancy,” the premiere episode of YOUNG MAVERICK, airing Nov. 28, 1979. MAVERICK: LEGEND OF THE WEST: Revised Third Edition is now available both as an eBook and in softcover paperback through Black Pawn Press
- 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.