Maverick the television Western

MAVERICK was a Western television series that ran on ABC for five seasons from September 22, 1957, to July 8, 1962. There were a lot of changes along the way that ultimately led to the show being canceled. Initially, James Garner was the star as a poker player and sometimes con artist Bret Maverick. Throughout the run of the series all the men who portrayed a Maverick managed to stay above board and not allow their bad tendencies to drop too low. Most times these men exhibited a conscience and came out as being the good guy.

If you did not keep up with the series and only watched now and then you may have become confused because there were 4 men who starred in the episodes over the five-year run. Each of them had a name that began with a B and they were all related. Garner rode solo for eight episodes during the first season and then was joined by Jack Kelly as his brother Bart Maverick. From this point until the end of season three Garner and Kelly alternated as the series lead each week.

Sometimes they teamed up and worked together in a two-brother episode. Both Maverick brothers were poker players from Texas who traveled by horseback, riverboat, and stagecoach through the American Old West. They found themselves in one sticky situation after another, which usually involved women, money, or both.

James Garner left the series after season three due to legal issues and went on to a successful career in film. Roger Moore then joined the MAVERICK cast as cousin Beau. Bart and Beau alternated leading each week just as Bart and Bret had done. This new duo also continued to "team-up" on certain episodes. Mid-way through season four, Roger Moore departed the series and gained fame from 1962-1969 in THE SAINT. He also portrayed 007 in a number of James Bond movies.

A James Garner look-alike was chosen to replace Roger Moore which led to some fans assuming that Garner had returned to the role. It was actor actually Robert Colbert who replaced Moore and played a third Maverick brother, named Brent. Colbert had appeared in the movie A FEVER IN THE BLOOD IN 1961 and in 1969 he was in the television series THE TIME TUNNEL.

During the series run, there were never more than two of the leading men to appear together in the same episode. Most of the episodes, however, featured only one Maverick. Every one of the episodes where there were two Mavericks on-screen included Jack Kelly as Bart. During the fifth and final season of MAVERICK the show returned to having only one of the relatives starring in each episode.

This was the way the series was done during the first seven episodes of season one. At this point, all new episodes starred episodes starring Jack Kelly as Bart. Jack Kelly was in the films FORBIDDEN PLANET (1956) and SHE DEVIL(1957). he also was in episodes of STORIES OF THE CENTURY, CHEYENNE, and GUNSMOKE. From 1983 to 1986 Kelly was the mayor of Huntington Beach, California.

Viewer confusion was rekindled when the last new episodes of the series were mixed from week to week with shows from season one. This meant that fans might see James Garner in one episode and Brent Kelly in the next. During the first 3 seasons, while James Garner was the star, the series was in the top 15 shows in the ratings. After Garner left MAVERICK did a nose dive and dropped into the top 30 most popular programs. MAVERICK is currently on the Saturday morning lineup of Westerns on MeTV. Check your local listings as well as streaming services where you might find episodes.