Customer Reviews

Maverick (Television Favorites)

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

"Maverick" was more comedy than western. The westerns of the day were in the shoot 'em up, cattle rancher variety. Gunfights were few and far between here. And if any cattle showed up, it was probably a mistake.

Bret and Bart Maverick (James Garner, Jack Kelly) were gamblers with a strange moral code. They were usually out for a con. But if it didn't work out for them, they'd make sure that it worked out for someone else... and never for the bad guy. All the while, they spouted life's little lessons as taught to them by their beloved Pappy.

While Garner and Kelly would trade off episodes during the series, sometimes the brothers Maverick would come together for a little bit of fun. Two of those episodes are featured here. On occasion, they would bump into their British cousin, Beau (Roger Moore)... just an FYI as he's nowhere to be seen on this disc.

"Shady Deal at Sunny Acres" starts out as a Garner episode and turns into a Kelly episode as the brothers team to take down a crooked banker (John Dehner).

"Pappy" brings the brothers together again as an old friend (Troy Donahue) warns them that their Pappy intends to wed an 18-year old. This was the only appearance by their Pappy in the series. It also features a cameo by their Uncle Bentley.

"Guy Shy" (my personal favorite on the set) is a parody of the day's number one western, "Gunsmoke". With a painfully earnest performance by Marshal Mort Dooley (instead of Matt Dillon). Maverick has done nothing wrong, yet is booted out of Elwood by the good Marshal. A marshal who becomes increasingly frustrated every time Maverick returns. Their "gunfight" is a real hoot.

Hopefully, Warner Brothers will make more episodes of this great series available soon.

Maverick is an awesome series. The episodes selected for this DVD are among the most popular. I just have one question: why can't every episode be released on DVD as season box sets? Other westerns are being released as season box sets, and it's utterly disappointing that Maverick is not. I would snap up all the episodes as box sets in a heartbeat. Warner Brothers should get a grip. I will not buy the episodes piecemeal like this.

I was just a kid when Maverick was on television but I still remember how it was a must see for my parents. Despite a couple of reviews saying that this was just three episodes I bought it and saying that it was the most rewarding purchase I've ever made here is an understatement. Go back to the good old days when shows could be clever, when good writing kept an audience rivited with humor or mystery or romance and they didn't need graphic displays of sex or violence to do it. These three episodes of Maverick were so funny I could not stop laughing even after rewatching them several times. They are intellegent, imaginative, timelessly fresh, "Pappy's" sayings are always apropos and yet even a child can get a kick out of the stories. I recommend these and hope that Warner comes out with the full run of the shows because I will certainly buy them.

The best Western series ever made, certainly in the top 10 of all time shows. Episodes on this DVD: Shady Deal at Sunny Acres (THE best Maverick - Bret, Bart and Samatha Crawford), Gun-Shy (another great) and Pappy.

Will more come out? Who knows. Could be that Columbia House still owns the shows. About 10 years ago they released 25 VHS tapes (two shows per tape) on a subscription basis. We can only hope someone will step up to the plate and make more epsiodes available to the public.

It's pretty funny. Warner Brothers claims to be celebrating their 50th anniversary in television productions, yet the only show from the 1950's that is slated for a season release is SUPERMAN (and it wasn't even originally produced by Warner Brothers!!). MAVERICK, along with CHEYENNE and SUGARFOOT, were some of the first successful television series produced by Warner Brothers and they deserve season sets! I imagine some "genius" at Warners marketing thought up this "sampler disc" and should have his/her head examined for not realizing that season sets are the norm. Hopefully this series will become available in season sets, possibly from some other company that knows better like IMAGE, PARAMOUNT, or ANCHOR BAY. I guess all we can do now is keep our hopes up.

I have to agree with "Dr. J". Stop with this piecemeal garbage. Put out the seasonal episodes and stop this test market crap. I'm tired of having all these bits and pieces of favorite old shows and then the studio decides to come out with the seasonal sets. I'll wait for the seasonal sets from now on.

I love the shows, but a favorites DVD with only three episodes? I couldn't believe it. The three shows would get 5 stars, but the great ones that are missing bring my review down to 2 stars.

I bought the Warner Bro's Cheyenne-TV Favorites release when it came out last year, and really enjoyed it.Several months later Warner released the first season of Cheyenne on dvd(which I promptly bought).
This lead me to believe that the "TV Favorites" was Warner's way of seeing(or garnering,if you pardon the pun) if there was enough interest to release a first season of a classic tv show.
I don't know what the number are/were but I'm still waiting for "Maverick" Season One.
Maverick was a late 1950's western which starred James Garner and Jack Kelly and was really a well written,well acted series with a good cast(as well as good guest stars).
This dvd has three episodes(Shady Deal at Sunny Acres,Pappy, and Gun-Shy), which I enjoyed(especially the Gun-Shy episode which is a spoof of Gunsmoke).
If your a fan of westerns,James Garner or (James Garner westerns),I think That you'll enjoy this dvd.

I first saw "Maverick" the year after TV came to Adelaide and I had just entered my teens; in other words there were two reasons that might have influenced my high opinion of the show - TV was a novelty and I was very young. Decades later when the episode, "Full House" (25 October 1959; Season 3, Episode 7) was shown on the "Golden Years of Television," I was delighted to find "Maverick" just as fresh and intelligent as I did at first. Brett was "still" that cowardly, opportunistic, but somehow lovable gambler aways blundering into scrapes.

Brett cleans out a man at poker, but when the loser can't pay-up, Maverick takes his diamond horse-shoe stick-pin as collateral. The loser was reluctant to hand the diamonds over but NOT for the obvious reasons! You see, the man had a secret appointment to lead some of the worst outlaws in the West on a robbery; an "ensemble" of none other than Cole Younger, Sam Bass, Billy the Kid and Belle Starr! Of course, in the best Maverick tradition the only way these desperadoes can recognise the man was... you guessed it, the diamond stick-pin!

Brett's sense of triumph over the hapless loser turns to horror when he realises what the stick-pin means. Ever the coward, Maverick hurriedly comes up with the most preposterous plan he can think of to discourage the outlaws - robbing the Denver Mint.

To Brett's consternation, the outlaws think he's brilliant and can not wait to get on with the robbery. The plan works, as it only could in the Maverick world, and Brett, ever the opportunist, says he'll meet them all at a given time and location to divide the spoils ~ then he telegraphs the Marshall's Office with the details of the meeting and where to send him the reward money for their capture.

Earlier in the story, the local sheriff sees dubious characters arrive in town and decides to lock up the most suspicious looking of all - naturally this is Brett - while he sends for information. Brett is bored laying in his cell and reads the graffiti on the ceiling to entertain himself. He is startled by a limerick saying the cell door will lift free of its hinges. Brett is naturally doubtful, but scornful of "hicktown" ineptitude when it works.

The outlaws are very impressed by his "daring" escape, which only serves to increase their trust in him and confidence in his robbery plan.

I went into all of the above detail for the sake of people who don't know much about the Maverick format. Maverick, especially in the hands of James Gardner, had a unique, but above all INTELLIGENT, suspension of disbelief guaranteed to keep the show fresh.

I had to write this time. I had forgotten how good this series was. I greatly enjoyed getting re-introduced to this show. I do watch old shows occassionally for nostalgia. Seldom to I get the same enjoyment that I remember from way back when. Maverick was different. Great show!