Bret Maverick

Bret Maverick

1981
Bret Maverick
Bret Maverick

Bret Maverick

7.5 | TV-PG | en | Comedy

Bret Maverick is a 1981-82 American Western television series starring James Garner in the role that made him famous in the 1957 series Maverick: a professional poker player traveling alone year after year through the Old West from riverboat to saloon. In this sequel series, Maverick has settled down in Sweetwater, Arizona Territory, where he owns a ranch and is co-owner of the town's saloon. However, Maverick is still always on the lookout for his next big score, and continues to gamble and practice various con games whenever the chance arises. The series was developed by Gordon Dawson, and produced by Garner's company Cherokee Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television.

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Seasons & Episodes

1
EP18  The Hidalgo Thing
May. 04,1982
The Hidalgo Thing

Tom Guthrie, who is trying to get re-elected as sheriff, tries to get Maverick to keep a low profile, but Bret is working on the biggest con of his life and isn't going to stop now.

EP17  The Rattlesnake Brigade
Apr. 27,1982
The Rattlesnake Brigade

Maverick and Guthrie are suckered into agreeing to protect a shipment of gold from a ruthless band of outlaws.

EP16  Faith, Hope and Clarity (2)
Apr. 20,1982
Faith, Hope and Clarity (2)

Bret masterminds a con to get back the townsfolk's land, which was legally stolen by the clever leader of a religious cult.

EP15  Faith, Hope and Clarity (1)
Apr. 13,1982
Faith, Hope and Clarity (1)

A religious charlatan dupes the townpeople so that he can obtain the rights to their land.

EP14  The Eight Swords of Dyrus and Other Illusions of Grandeur
Mar. 23,1982
The Eight Swords of Dyrus and Other Illusions of Grandeur

Bret exposes a crooked magician who is performing at the Red Ox.

EP13  The Vulture Also Rises
Mar. 16,1982
The Vulture Also Rises

When a stagecoach is attacked by Apaches and a woman is killed, the angry townspeople want to call in the cavalry.

EP12  The Not So Magnificent Six
Mar. 02,1982
The Not So Magnificent Six

Six men who each want to gain a reputation as the one who killed the famous Bret Maverick have followed a western pulp writer to Sweetwater.

EP11  A Night at the Red Ox
Feb. 23,1982
A Night at the Red Ox

Vigilantes take over the Red Ox saloon and put former sheriff Tom Guthrie on trial for crimes he allegedly committed in the past.

EP10  The Ballad of Bret Maverick
Feb. 16,1982
The Ballad of Bret Maverick

A stranger arrives in town, claiming to be in the process of finishing an epic ballad on the life and death of Bret Maverick.

EP9  Hallie
Feb. 09,1982
Hallie

An old flame of Bret's shows up in Sweetwater, pursued by two homicidal brothers she swindled.

EP8  The Mayflower Women's Historical Society
Feb. 02,1982
The Mayflower Women's Historical Society

It looks like Maverick is going to be hanged, unless he agrees to sell his life story to an ambitious historian.

EP7  Dateline: Sweetwater
Jan. 12,1982
Dateline: Sweetwater

Eastern financial interests attempt a takeover of Sweetwater businesses.

EP6  Horse of Yet Another Color
Jan. 05,1982
Horse of Yet Another Color

Teddy Roosevelt comes to town to present an Indian chief with a horse from the president, but Maverick ends up winning the stallion.

EP5  The Yellow Rose
Dec. 22,1981
The Yellow Rose

Women's suffrage catches fire in Sweetwater and no one feels the heat more than Maverick, who's just won a Chinese girl in a poker game.

EP4  Anything for a Friend
Dec. 15,1981
Anything for a Friend

A barn-raising celebration at Maverick's ranch helps him conceal Billy the Kid from authorities.

EP3  Welcome to Sweetwater
Dec. 08,1981
Welcome to Sweetwater

Maverick's reluctance to sell his ranch, the Lazy Ace, is the major stumbling block to bringing the railroad into Sweetwater.

EP2  The Lazy Ace (2)
Dec. 01,1981
The Lazy Ace (2)

Former sheriff Tom Guthrie joins Bret as partner in the Red Ox saloon, to the dismay of the townspeople who just booted the old-fashioned lawman out of office.

EP1  The Lazy Ace (1)
Dec. 01,1981
The Lazy Ace (1)

In what may very well be the last of the great poker games in the Old West, Bret wins ownership of the saloon and decides to settle down in the town of Sweetwater in the Arizona Territory. (Part 1 of 2)

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7.5 | TV-PG | en | Comedy , Western | More Info
Released: 1981-12-01 | Released Producted By: Warner Bros. Television , Country: United States of America Budget: 0 Revenue: 0 Official Website:
Synopsis

Bret Maverick is a 1981-82 American Western television series starring James Garner in the role that made him famous in the 1957 series Maverick: a professional poker player traveling alone year after year through the Old West from riverboat to saloon. In this sequel series, Maverick has settled down in Sweetwater, Arizona Territory, where he owns a ranch and is co-owner of the town's saloon. However, Maverick is still always on the lookout for his next big score, and continues to gamble and practice various con games whenever the chance arises. The series was developed by Gordon Dawson, and produced by Garner's company Cherokee Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television.

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Cast

James Garner , Richard Hamilton , Darleen Carr

Director

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Warner Bros. Television ,

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Reviews

Brownsbros3 It's a show that is not good, but it's not bad either. It's just sort of there. Bret Maverick is an attempt to restart the Maverick franchise twenty years after James Garner left the original series. The main idea of Bret settling down in Sweetwater did not really bother me. What I did not like about the series, was that it was too focused on the comedy. The original had action, adventure, and drama in addition to the comedy. I don't know if it was because Garner was in his early fifties when this series was filmed, but there just is not a whole lot of action to it. Plus, Garner really looks his age with the wrinkles, and the extra weight around the midsection. Garner was also hurt by a less than stellar supporting cast. This series could have used Dandy Jim, Gentleman Jack, Big Mike, Samantha, Cindy, Modesty, or even Doc Holliday. Still, I would have liked for his series to reach a second season just to see Garner re-team with Jack Kelly as the Maverick brothers. In the last episode of this show's only season, Kelly makes a surprise appearance (looking much older himself). Had the show been picked up for a second season, Kelly was going to be added as a regular cast member. My favorite episodes of the original series were the ones in which they both appeared.
Bob-45 James Garner created two unforgettable television characters. As Bret Maverick, Garner portrayed a flawed, but essentially lovable winner. As Jim Rockford, Garner played a flawed, but essentially lovable loser. However, the "Bret Maverick" portrayed in the 1981 series was nothing more than "Jim Rockford" in western garb. On "Bret Maverick," nobody respects Jim Garner's character, and that's the biggest problem. Other problems include a not particularly likable supporting cast (Ed Bruce, excepted), and plodding scripts. No wonder "Bret Maverick" lasted but one season, as I'm sure many other "Maverick" fans were as disappointed as I. Still, I watched, hoping the series would improve. At least we got a glimpse of an aging Jack Kelly, as "Bart Maverick," in the last episode.
P_Cornelius What would you get if you imported the cast and scripts from the Rockford Files into Maverick's Old West? Answer: Bret Maverick, a fairly good Western that occasionally misses a beat here and there. The latter circumstance occurs, alas, in an episode such as "Faith, Hope and Clarity," which not only recycles a Rockford script but imports some of the same guest stars as well. But that's alright, because the series has Garner, who always generates enjoyable performances, especially when he brings along his usual co-stars, such as Stuart Margolin. (Aside: What is it about the Western that it brings to the fore actors such as Garner, Tom Selleck, and Sam Elliott, all of whom at least from a distance appear to be steady, decent, stable, well grounded people? This in contrast to . . . well, just about everyone else in Hollywood.) I suspect that NBC made a tremendous error in not giving this series a chance to breathe and find its own feet. (Wasn't this during the Fred Silverman era at NBC, when the inventor of "jiggle TV" was busy trashing anything that appealed to an IQ above 50 and bringing to the schedule such gems as Hello, Larry and Supertrain?) Too bad, really.
Carson-15 The 1957 version of this series is the Holy Grail of episodic television, with actor James Garner and writer Roy Huggins creating an unforgettable character. This noble attempt at a revival falls far short of the original, but then so does practically everything else, so perhaps in fairness it should be judged on its own terms. The problem is with the scripts, starting with the poorly paced pilot, an hour's worth of script padded to two hours and resorting to a sequence featuring an Indian guide tediously and endlessly leading Garner around in circles in the desert. This scene is trimmed to good effect for the current version making the rounds as a TV-movie. A gambling sequence earlier on misses a boat by not focusing on the other players at all. The Dandy Jim Buckley character with Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. would have been ideal to have been revived for these scenes had that been possible. Some of the celebrities of the day incorporated into various episodes are weirdly the wrong age, with such eye-opening curiosities as an elderly Doc Holiday, and Theodore Roosevelt presented as a spherical figure of comic relief at a point when he would actually have been a wiry young rancher venturing west to recover from the double deaths of his young wife and mother. The worst aspect of the show, though, is the premise of Maverick settling down in one spot, when nonstop drifting is such a signature part of his identity. One of the scripts in particular is embarrassingly bad while some of the others are quite good, and Garner himself is always a vast entertainment to watch, particularly in his best role. Another revival, this time as a one-shot TV movie, should be in the offing while Garner is still around to play the part. Jack Kelly, who played his brother Bart in both series, is dead now, and it would be a shame to miss the opportunity to check in on Maverick at a more advanced age. "Bret Maverick" is a good series on its own merit, but not as good as Garner's other three major series, "Nichols," "The Rockford Files," or especially the original "Maverick," which remains the gold standard in the annals of both Garner and series television. This series stands as a footnote to the original and an intriguing curio. NBC obviously jumped the gun by cancelling it too soon.