mxfrickey-61583 (The nine rating stars refer to the first three seasons of the show, only.) Of all the Westerns on TV, Maverick's first three seasons stand above and beyond all the rest. True, the series went into decline, once Garner departed, and yes, the early Garner-free episodes weren't necessarily as good, but production values and an emphasis on comedy and mystery kept the show fresh, for much of its run. One of the more interesting aspects of the show was its willingness to avoid violence when it could rely on wit, humor and deception to move a story along. Maverick's ability to satirize and poke fun at such iconic shows as Bonanza and Gun smoke is a testament to the creative juices flowing through its production and writing staff. In short, to miss out on the early season is to deprive oneself of one of the great Western comedies of all time. You gotta see it to believe it.

Kim A Although I grew up watching classic television I somehow completely missed Maverick until 2015. Thus while Maverick is an older series it was very new to me. I suppose that is the wonderful thing to realize that there are still great series out there to discover.I started to watch Maverick specifically because of James Garner. I had recently re-watched the Great Escape (a favorite film of mine) and wanted to see more from Garner. Garner is absolutely wonderful here in his first starring role and it's no surprise that he had a long and very rich career.However a real surprise for me was Jack Kelly. Before Maverick I had absolutely no idea who Jack Kelly was which is not surprising because while he did a lot of small roles and guest spots, Maverick was definitely the highlight of his career. I am also happy I went into Maverick blind and did not read the many grossly inaccurate reviews that Garner was all there was to Maverick. You will notice that most people who say Kelly did not measure up to Garner admit they "skip the Kelly episodes". Another trend I notice that those who do give Kelly the most credit say they have reevaluated Kelly as an adult and realize they underrated him.Pretty much with the first 3 seasons whether you watch a Kelly or Garner episode you can't lose. Garner tended to have the best comedy and Western parody scripts while Kelly got the better dramatic and drawing room comedy scripts. It was the contrast between Kelly & Garner that made the series so great along with well written scripts that still stand up as classics today. However the very best episodes had Garner and Kelly together, their chemistry was pure magic and one of the shows biggest mistakes was not giving us more episodes with them together.Seasons 4 and 5 aren't bad but they definitely don't measure up to the previous 3 seasons (the best of which is season 2). Not only because you have lost Garner at that point but Roy Huggins the producer and creator of the series left at the end of season 2. Most of the best writers also left with him.For a short time Roger Moore joined the series as cousin Beau. Moore put up a good effort despite weaker scripts but the series would never be the same without Garner. Although if my previous paragraphs were not clear I feel if Kelly had been the one to leave the show he also would have left an irreplaceable hole. Garner of course started the series without Kelly but in those very early episodes the show was still finding itself and is also not the best Maverick has to offer.However even at its worst, Maverick is still pretty entertaining if not as clever and witty as it once was. You only notice the decline in the later seasons when you have just finished watching the superior earlier seasons.

Brownsbros3 Maverick was not only one of the greatest westerns ever, it was one of the greatest TV shows ever. It had just the right combination of action, adventure, comedy, and drama. It is a series that would do well in any generation. You could make a case for Bret being TV's first anti-hero. He admits to being a coward, he pulls scams, he gambles, and he loves money. However, when the situation calls for it, he will step up and do the right thing. Plus, most of the people he scams are people who are scam artists themselves. This is James Garner's signature role, and it is just amazing to watch how good his performances are. He is just so charismatic that you can't help, but root for him. Contrary to what some might have you believe, the series was not just about Bret. Along the way he is joined by his brother Bart, played by the very talented and under-appreciated Jack Kelly. It is amazing, because Kelly's appearance was only supposed to be a one-shot deal, but he and Garner had so much chemistry that they decided to keep him on as a regular. My favorite episodes are the ones that feature both Bret and Bart. After Garner left the series in 1960, Kelly did a great job of keeping the Maverick brand going for two more years. While Bret had his fair share of female companions, Bart was more of the ladies' man. It was actually kind of funny just to see how easily he would fall in love. After Bret left, then came cousin Beau, played by future 007, Roger Moore. This must of been one of his first big roles in America. Although, he was only there for one season (15 episodes), Beau proved himself to be worthy of carrying on the Maverick tradition. There ended up being a third Maverick brother, Brent, played by Robert Colbert. However, he only lasted two episodes, and I truthfully didn't think much of him. To me, he just did not have the charm and charisma that Bret, Bart, and Beau displayed. If you have Encore Westerns, it is something definitely worth checking out.

Carson-15 James Garner's acting on 1957's TV series "Maverick" is superbly inspired but usually underrated because he memorably told the press at the time that he "can't act. I'll learn if I have to, but so far I haven't had to." This modest refusal to champion himself publicly resulted in his performances being taken much more for granted, but viewed today, it's apparent that here was a world-class talent throwing himself into every scene, registering a virtual three-ring circus of facial expressions; there is always something going on to look at, in severe contrast to most of the other TV western leads of the era. Jack Kelly, normally a more pedestrian performer, lights up to incandescence in his scenes with Garner and their astonishing chemistry vaults the series' fantastic entertainment value phenomenally, although Kelly's solo outings aren't in the same league and his acting seemed to deteriorate along with the quality of some of the scripts in the wake of Garner's departure. Kelly was completely and utterly lacking Garner's genius for comedy, except when working directly with Garner.I always thought of Garner's character's warmth as being his hallmark trait, perhaps as a result of years of seeing "The Rockford Files," but upon recently studying the "Maverick" tapes it became apparent that his character was basically cool and chilly, almost businesslike with an Indiana Jones-like seriousness in his routine comportment, but quite warm with friends. This surprised me. When people refer to Bret Maverick as "cool," they're actually much more correct than I ever would've assumed.