MAVERICK was an incredible TV series that was way, way ahead of its
time. This DVD sampler is nice… but it’s no substitute for a
feature-packed DVD boxed set produced by someone like Paul Brownstein
(who did the amazing GUNSMOKE, WILD WILD WEST and DICK VAN DYKE boxed sets).
But if Warner Brothers ever wants to do another MAVERICK sampler, let’s see one that
includes the "Shady Deal at Sunny Acres" episode from the original
MAVERICK, the unsold ABC pilot THE NEW MAVERICK, the pilot from the CBS
series YOUNG MAVERICK, and the first and last episodes of the NBC
series BRET MAVERICK. Seeing "Shady Deal" and the last episode of BRET
MAVERICK (in which Jack Kelly makes a surprise appearance as Bart)
would make nice bookends to the entire MAVERICK saga.
I dream of a “Maverick” series of boxed sets, complete with all of the sequels. Catching an episode every week on American Life network is okay, but I’m spoiled. When I was in college, we had one every day just before dinner; who needed to study?
Even though Garner’s other Western series, “Nichols”, may not have been all that great, I remember enjoying it very much. I’d love to see a special DVD showcase of the first and last episode of the series.
I never saw the finale, but I know what happened it and it remains one of my TV Holy Grails. (That and the “SNL” sketch with Steve Martin doing a take-off on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”.)
I actually have the NICHOLS finale on VHS somewhere… and, as I recall, the idea of it is better than the execution.
SHADY DEAL AT SUNNY ACRES and GUNSHY are the two most famous Maverick episodes, although TWO BEGGARS ON HORSEBACK is fabulous. Roy Huggins favorite I recall, was Ballad of Waco Williams. For full details read the now out of print (hence cheap) MAVERICK: THE MAKING OF THE MOVIE/THE OFFICIAL GUIDE TO THE TELEVISION SERIES by Burl Barer (with much participation by Lee Goldberg in the original draft done about 10-15 years earlier)
TV Land aired that NICHOLS finale once. It intrigued me enough that I’d like to see the earlier episodes sometime.
The SHADY DEAL AT SUNNY ACRES was released as a stand-alone VHS cassette in the ’90’s.