It was he who conceived of the good-natured, irreverent, fresh approach to westerns with “Maverick” and produced it for two years. Roy Huggins, who had been producing “Cheyenne” for Warner Bros., didn’t like the sameness of TV western heroes. “Gunsmoke” was spoofed in “Gun-Shy” (which also contained an in-joke about “Have Gun Will Travel”) and “Three Queens Full” satirizes “Bonanza”. It was the only western able to poke fun at other westerns on the air. “Maverick” was humorous without going over the top to make fun of westerns or being crude about it as “Blazing Saddles” and others of that ilk did. “Maverick” turned traditional TV western themes inside out-all in the wink of an eye. Bret and Bart didn’t always come out on top-often by episode’s end they were broke, swindled or frustrated. Not cowardly at all, just reluctant to get involved, although pretty girls (many of them con-women) like Kathleen Crowley, Merry Anders, Diane Brewster and Ruta Lee usually dragged them into one scrape or scheme or another. Mercenary, would rather earn a living gambling than by hard work and were firm believers in self preservation. If there was someone in trouble, they’d more likely call the Sheriff or ask, “What’s in it for me?” The brothers were openly Although when it debuted on Sunday night (9/22/57) on ABC, it was pretty much a straight-forward western, but it rapidly found its own unique way.īrothers Bret and Bart didn’t relate to the problems of the west the way James Arness, Steve McQueen, Robert Horton or Clint Walker did. “Maverick” was an exception to the saturation of TV westerns airing in the ‘60s.
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