I have been watching the Maverick series on DVD for the past couple of weeks. Since it's not streaming, I've been getting the disks from Netflix. If I had to choose an all-time favorite television series, that would be it, I think. Although there were three Maverick brothers (Brett, Bart and Brent) as well as a cousin, Beau, no more than two of them ever appeared on the same episode. Without Bret (James Garner), the last season wasn't so good, though. This is the second time, I have have ordered the DVDs from Netflix. My second favorite would be Little House on the Prairie, although I had not read the books as a child. I bought every episode of Little House, and have watched them several times.
Maverick was a very good show for its time, but James Garner I have little use for (I am not trying to be a name dropper but I have met many people in the media industry.) "Little House on the Prairie" is probably my very favorite western series. It is rare when all the artists become the actual characters and they did it!
Maverick comes on one lof our local channels, I like the old tv shows that are now on tv. Maverick has always been one of my favorites with James Garner as my favorite Maverick. There is a show that came on for maybe only a season that I really liked, Eli Stone, an attorney that starts to change the way he does his business and lives his life because of a tumor in his brain he gets messages on how to accomplish this goal which he fights all the way but gives in. The show was canceled after one season I think, which is a shame. I look at "Eli Stone" on Hulu.
I loved that show!! I was so sad when it was cancelled. It was different and a little strange, which is right up my alley. Of course, Jonny Lee Miller is one of my favorites - I love him in Elementary now, playing a modern day Sherlock Holmes, with Lucy Lui as his Watson. As for Maverick, it was before my time, but I loved the movie with Mel Gibson and Jodie Foster. The Maverick character, even after so many years, is an endearing one.
A number of years ago, James Garner was on the Johnny Carson show. When he was asked about the Maverick series he said that the show was great but it lost so much money that he had to invest a major part of his paycheck in order to keep it going. Obviously it worked as a springboard for his future offerings as a very good all around actor. Just one mention though. Mr. Garner was a perfect gentleman when I met him at Arnaud's Restaurant in New Orleans. He asked to meet the chef and I was he. Now, it is my understanding that he had a lot of knee and leg problems earlier in his acting career. It could be that when Richard met him he might have been suffering a little from his physical problems. I don't know, different days, different attitudes.
I suppose we all have bad days but I was pretty damned surprised when at (senior moment) an awards show and he was coming through our area, a little old lady pleasantly asked him for his autograph he just gave her a dirty look and kept on moving. Sometimes those in the limelight seem to forget that without fans, they are zero!
One of the worse ones I have ever witnessed is when Chill Wills knocked his wife out of her chair while dining with Dale Robertson (wells fargo fame) and his wife. Chill Wills stormed out and left the check for Robertson who had to appologize because all he had was credit cards and Arnaud's was always a cash place. (Wills placed the reservation and was responsible for the check) Robertson came back the next day to pay the check and he tipped myself and 3 others for the food preparation and about a half dozen others who worked on the floor.
What a nice guy, Robertson, that is. Surprised to see that Wills was only married two times! Did you ever see him again? Fortunately, most of the artists I had worked with were pretty nice people...they all had their flukes, but I suppose we all do!
I enjoyed James Garner in Maverick, and since I especially like westerns, I think that I probably enjoyed series like Bonanza, and Gunsmoke just as much as Maverick. I also enjoyed watching Have Gun, Will Travel, although it was not my favorite at the time. The one that I think I enjoyed the most was called Johnny Yuma, The Rebel, and the theme song was sung by Johnny Cash. James Garner was also in Rockford Files, and sometimes we watched the reruns on Netflix. I also like the A Team. They had action all of the time, but no one ever got hurt. I think once a helicopter crashed into a cliff (or something similar to that) , and everyone survived and walked away from the crash. Crazy......but fun ! !
Johnny Yuma, The Rebel was a very good show, as I remember it, and I also liked Rockford Files, but not nearly as much as Maverick. The A Team I didn't care for so much.
Nick Adams was a very good actor and sadly died at an early age before he could really get going. Real name? Nicholas Aloysius Adamschock