"Who is the tall, dark stranger there? Maverick is the name. Ridin' the trail to who knows where, luck is the companion, gamblin' is the game. Smooth as the handle of a gun, Maverick is the name..."

Such were the lyrics that accompanied the galloping melody of the theme song to TV's "Maverick" composed by the Julliard-educated David Buttolph. Buttolph composed the music for several TV shows, including "The Virginian", "77 Sunset Strip" and "Wagon Train. His film credits, as a composer, include "The Horse Soldiers", "PT 109" and "The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms".

"Maverick", of course, was the first series to star actor James Garner (later of "The Rockford Files"). As the TV trailers boasted at the time, "James Garner is Maverick." There were other Mavericks in the cast during the show's five-year run (the final season was without Garner, who left the series in a dispute with Warner Brothers and ABC-TV during the 1960-61 season), but Garner's Bret Maverick is the one most people remember.

The 6-foot-3 Garner, a part-Cherokee Indian and Army veteran who had won the Purple Heart for combat wounds received during the Korean War, first gained attention as an actor for playing a judge in the Broadway stage version of "The Caine Mutiny".

Garner was still new to the entertainment business when cast in "Maverick", but he has since become a major TV and film icon with numerous Emmy, Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations under his belt. Garner won the Screen Actor's Guild award for "Lifetime Achievement" in 2004.

"Maverick" was created by Roy Huggins, who also created two more legendary TV series, "The Fugitive" and "The Rockford Files" (another Garner vehicle).

This was not your typical shoot-'em-up TV western. The series' 124 black-and-white episodes were intelligently written (among the episode writers was a young Robert Altman) and directed with a great sense of humor (Howard Koch, a three-time Emmy nominee who also directed episodes of "Cheyenne" and "The Untouchables", and who produced such films as "The Manchurian Candidate", was among the show's directors),

Since Bret Maverick was a gambling man, he preferred to think his way out of situations rather than shoot his way out of them, which was highly unusual for a 1950s' TV western.

The show was supposed to be a Garner starring vehicle, but Warner Brothers decided it could get more storylines by adding additional relatives to the show. Sometimes the show would center on Garner's Bret Maverick character, and sometimes the show would focus on just on another Maverick brother in actor Jack Kelly's Bart Maverick character. Other relatives would join the show, but the final season of the show, 1961-62, with Garner gone from the show, saw Jack Kelly's character in all the episodes.

During Garner's time on the series, "Maverick" was a Top 10 ratings hit and Garner was Emmy-nominated for "Best Actor". Other Maverick family members on the series during its five seasons included English cousin Beauregard "Beau" Maverick, played by actor Roger Moore (later of "The Saint" TV and James Bond film fame), and Robert Colbert (who went on to play Dr. Doug Philips on "The Time Tunnel" and the character of Stuart Brooks on the daytime soap "The Young And The Restless").

For the trivia buffs: Moore's character of "Beau" was introduced in 1960 as "the white sheep" of the family --- Beau had accidentally won a medal during the Civil War, and Pappy Maverick just didn't like the idea of any Maverick family member being a "hero".

The show featured guest appearances from other ABC-TV westerns (Clint Walker from "Cheyenne" and Will Hutchins from "Sugarfoot" among them) and employed a narrator in the voice of Edwin Reimers on some episodes.

"Maverick" also attracted some big-name TV and film stars as guests during its five years on the air, including Clint Eastwood (as "Red Harrigan" in a 1959 episode entitled "Duel At Sundown"), Efrem Zimblast Jr. in the recurring role of Dandy Jim Buckley, Mike Connors, Martin Landau, Claude Akins, Edgar Buchanan, Adam West (TV's "Batman"), Buddy Ebsen, Joel Grey (as Billy The Kid!), Stacy Keach, George Kennedy, John Astin, Lee Van Cleef, Troy Donohue and Slim Pickens.

All of which is why the release of "Maverick" in the Warner Brothers "Television Favorites" series (other DVDs in the series include a 3-episode set of "Cheyenne" and a 6-episode set of "F Troop") is such a fun discovery.

This DVD

"Maverick" features three black-and-white episodes of the classic TV western. These are presented in a format that preserves the original TV aspect ratio and with Dolby sound. The picture and sound quality far exceed what I used to watch on an old TV with "rabbit ears" --- both are perfect here.

The "Television Favorites" collections retail for under $10, are carried by most online retailers including Amazon.Com, and have been selling at a regular price of $6.99 at Best Boys for several months.

Among the three episodes of "Maverick" on this single DVD is a very witty spoof of "Gunsmoke" called "Gun-Shy", which fans of both shows have talked about wanting on video for years. The total running time for the three one-time hour-long episodes (without commercials, they are shorter here) is 149 minutes.

The DVD box is simple, has several photos from the series in its background design, but lacks bonus features and has no descriptive information about the series or its stars. Still, the inexpensive price and the excellant picture and sound reproductions of the episodes make this a fine DVD.

The episodes

"Shady Deal At Sunny Acres" (from Season Two): When a banker (played by a very evil John Dehner) steals Bret Maverick's money, Maverick doesn't pull a gun --- he sits for days in a rocking chair with a knife and a piece of wood just carving away. Whenever a townsperson asks him if he's going to do something to get his money back, he smiles and says, "I'm thinking on it."

You just know that Bret and Bart are coming up with the ultimate con scheme to get Bret's money back from the banker.

Guests include John Dehner, Efrem Zimblast Jr. (interesting to watch him years before he starred in "The FBI") and Diane Brewster.

Written by Douglas Heyes (who later worked on several episodes of "The Twilight Zone" and "Boris Karloff's Thriller", among other projects) with a teleplay by series creator Roy Huggins. Directed by Leslie H. Martinson (who later directed the spin-off "Young Maverick" in 1979, as well as series such as "Mannix" and "Airwolf".

"Pappy" (from Season Three): The only episode of the series to feature Bret and Bart Maverick's father, whose real name is Beau (somewhat confusing when that was also the name of Roger Moore's Maverick cousin character later). The boys' father is called "Pappy" by his boys (and is also played by James Garner with enough makeup to convincingly play an older man). The character of "Uncle Bentley" is played by Jack Kelly, aka Bart Maverick.

It seems Pappy is getting married to a young girl who is being forced into the marriage as part of her father's "business plan." The boys decide that this isn't right and concoct a plan to force the wedding's cancellation.

Guests include Troy Donohue and Adam West.

Written and directed by Montgomery Pittman (who did five episodes of "The Twilight Zone", as well as episodes of "The Rifleman" and "77 Sunset Strip").

"Gun-Shy" (from Season Two): This 1959 episode makes this DVD all-the-more worth having. This is a spoof of the #1 TV western of all-time, "Gunsmoke", which was a Top 10 hit for most of its 20 seasons on the air (1955-75) (hitting the #1 spot in the ratings for several of its seasons).

There's a western town whose law is laid down by U. S. Marshall Mort Dooley (whose initials match those of Marshall Matt Dillon of "Gunsmoke" fame).

The folks in this town are virtual clones of the characters of "Gunsmoke --- you've got the marshall (a James Arness-look-alike well-played by actor Ben Gage), the town doctor called "Doc", a deputy with a limp (recreating the "Gunsmoke" character portrayed on that series by Dennis Weaver"), a bar-girl who loves the marshall, and so on. Only the character's names were changed to protect the innocent, or perhaps to prevent lawsuits.

I won't give away all the fun, but the lengths to which the series' makers went to to recreate the "Gunsmoke" environment are pretty amazing to view.

In the "Gun-Shy" episode, we find that the town marshall doesn't care much for for these fellows named Maverick, and he sets out to run these boys out of town.

Written by Marion Hargrove (whose credits include "The Waltons" and "Fantasy Island") and directed by Leslie Martinson (who directed the film "PT 109").

Final recommendation

"Maverick" is a fun, virtually non-violent western series, intelligently-written and directed. The acting is superior and since many of the episodes' scenes were shot outdoors, the location shots are very good as well. I have no complaints.

I highly recommend this collection.

On the web

The cover photo for this DVD: http://whvcmt.warnerbros.com/WHV_MARS/thumbnail.jsp?assetID=941626

The Warner Brothers website for this collection: http://whv.warnerbros.com/WHVPORTAL/Portal/product.jsp?OID=10955

The TV episode opening logo shot for the series: http://epguides.com/Maverick/logo.jpg

A British website for "Maverick": http://www.televisionheaven.co.uk/maverick.htm

The IMDB page for "Maverick": http://imdb.com/title/tt0050037

An episode guide for "Maverick": http://epguides.com/Maverick

Another episode guide site: http://www.tv.com/maverick/show/1020/episode_guide.html

Other"TV Favorites" collections

"Cheyenne" starring Clint Walker: http://www.epinions.com/content_229014408836 --- the review features of brief history of the TV western.

"F Troop", starring Ken Berry, Forrest Tucker, Larry Storch and Melody Patterson, features 6 episodes of the classic series with guests including Don Rickles, Harvey Korman and Paul Lynde: http://www.epinions.com/content_229856743044

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older