Talk:Maverick (TV series)/Archive 1

Cleanup
I have endeavored to bring this article up to standards of NPOV and to make it more encyclopedic, though I do not yet have citations for the originally tagged statements. I hope this has helped- if others agree, have done enough to remove the flags at the top? ChrisStansfield 00:31, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

Flags
Yes, I think the flags at this juncture are largely undeserved. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Skymasterson (talk • contribs) 05:16, 5 December 2007 (UTC)

Image copyright problem with Image:Jack Kelly .jpg
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This is an automated notice by FairuseBot. For assistance on the image use policy, see Media copyright questions. --06:20, 16 September 2008 (UTC)

Flag Removal
I think someone should remove the flags; does anyone disagree with this at this point? Wastetimer (talk) 23:28, 21 January 2008 (UTC)

Flags not ready for removal:
The writing is not up to par. I can't speak to the neutrality issue.

The current writing style is vague, amateurish, and excessively laden with adverbs. The following excerpt is an example of all of these issues:


 * The Mavericks would typically fall prey to precarious scenarios, weighing a financial windfall against a moral dilemma. More often than not, their consciences trumped their wallets. Bret Maverick was realistically (and vocally) reluctant to risk his life, though he typically ended up forcing himself to be courageous, usually in spite of himself. He frequently flimflammed adversaries, but only criminals who actually deserved it. Otherwise he was scrupulously honest almost to a fault, in at least one case insisting on repaying a large debt that he only arguably owed to begin with (in "According to Hoyle").

While I could copy edit the writing to clean it up, as could a lot of people, it probably should be done by someone with a better grasp of the factual details. --Joseph N (talk) 14:39, 26 August 2011 (UTC)
 * The paragraph you cited seems extremely clear and perfectly descriptive of the the show's nuances. Doesn't seem the least bit vague about anything and the adverbs get a lot of appropriate information across in a limited amount of space. Seems professionally written in that no words are clumsily repeated in the course of the description.  It's admittedly not ideal for readers for whom English is a second language, perhaps, but one hopes that dumbing it down isn't viewed as a necessity.  Upsmiler (talk) 21:28, 28 August 2011 (UTC)

The article is full of clumsy, childish, and occasionally absurd grammatical oddities. Dangling modifiers, errors of antecedence, tense shifting, et sophomoric cetera. Also some weasel-words (e.g. "arguably", almost always weasely). Original research, opinion, contradictions, unsupported assumptions, and bad fan-mag writing. This is supposed to be encyclopedic? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.95.203.107 (talk) 01:57, 26 December 2013 (UTC)

Movie
Why is there not a link at the top of the page saying "This page is for Maverick (TV series) For the 1994 movie click here." I ended up on this page trying to find the movie.Zdawg1029 (talk) 14:37, 17 February 2014 (UTC)

You lucked out. The original television series was so much better than the movie that they inserted no clips from it in the "Making of" publicity short for fear that Garner's Bret would eclipse Gibson's Bret. I wondered how William Goldman could've written such a bad movie then recently learned that the actors changed it as they went along. Trocadero Thunder (talk) 22:12, 26 December 2016 (UTC)

Trocadero Thunder: That was a pretty smart-assed response to Zdawg's most legitimate question. He didn't ask your opinion of the movie. If I knew how, I would insert the disambiguation line, as it would be most appropriate. As I understand WP policy, TT, this Talk Page is to discuss ways to improve the article, not to offer one's unsolicited review. Personally, I agree that the series was better than the movie, but that was not the question, was it? Mike L Smith (talk) 20:03, 9 February 2017 (UTC)

Wow. Why the anger? We need to relax. I don't read that initial response as reflecting that sort of hostile attitude. I suppose the reason for the lack of a Disambiguation is that the series is parenthetically labeled "(TV series)" while the movie is indicated as "(1994 film)." I'll do it myself if it hasn't already been done when I get time. Noah and Wallace Beery (talk) Noah and Wallace Beery (talk) 15:28, 9 February 2018 (UTC)

....as Bret Maverick, etc.
Someone keeps changing the paragraph headings for the Cast, deleting the "...as Beau Maverick" etc. I have numerous links to those particular paragraphs scattered all over Wikipedia which can't work after the title change (for an example, see The Rivals article). I appreciate contributions but please let the "...as Brent Maverick" etc. stand for that reason. Thanks enormously! Noah and Wallace Beery (talk) 16:09, 9 February 2018 (UTC)

Stuart Whitman as Bart Maverick?
Half the actors on the Warner Bros lot seemed to test for the much-sought after role of Bart Maverick, including Rod Taylor(!) but the most intriguing one by far was Stuart Whitman, who resembled Garner so closely in 1957 that they could've almost played the parts as twins. Whitman later turned up with John Wayne in "The Comancheros" and as the lead in the uniquely lavish television series "Cimmaron Strip," among other high-profile projects. Trocadero Thunder (talk) 22:28, 26 December 2016 (UTC)

I wonder if Whitman was passed over because he looked too much like Garner, and some of the audience would be too confused in two-brother episodes to follow the plots. On the other hand, I think Garner and Kelly made the most mesmerising onscreen team in film history, including Gable & Tracy and Newman & Redford. Noah and Wallace Beery (talk) 15:39, 9 February 2018 (UTC)

Garmer and Whitman looked almost identical in 1957. Whitman played movie roles for which Garner was originally cast on at least two occasions, when Garner was promoted to the lead (Heston quit) in Darby's Rangers, and The Comancheros with John Wayne. Noah and Wallace Beery (talk) 15:52, 9 February 2018 (UTC)

Stuart Whitman and James Garner looked so much alike in 1957, when they were casting Bart Maverick, that you have to see it to believe it. Later their appearances diverged but back then they looked even more alike than Marlon Brando and Burt Reynolds during the same time frame (their appearances REALLY diverged later); watch Reynolds play a comedic send-up of Brando in a 1960 hour-long version of Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Rocketvault (talk) 17:08, 5 November 2018 (UTC)

James Garner was Never in ALIAS JESSE JAMES
Wikipedia keeps reprinting a False Urban legend that James Garner appeared in and edited out of ALIAS JESSE JAMES. Garner denied this during his lifetime and whoever keeps adding it can provide no citation for the untrue claim

Very odd. I've always been under the impression that Garner did it then it was cut for video and DVD sales as well as television reruns because of the legal rights to the character. I've read that in any number of places. I wonder if Garner's memory was sound on this point. His Archive of American Television interview features some weird lapses, such as maintaining that Roy Huggins produced Maverick for the entire run of the series. Shooting those cameos only took a few moments, easy to forget about. On the other hand, I cannot find that clip anywhere and have been looking for decades. Thanks for this post, I'll finally stop looking. Noah and Wallace Beery (talk) 16:02, 9 February 2018 (UTC)

That was a bad urban legend indeed if it never happened. Probably occurred due to confusion with Hugh O'Brien, whose Wyatt Earp costume closely resembled Bret Maverick's almost as much as O'Brien looked similar to Garner from a distance. Rocketvault (talk) 17:13, 5 November 2018 (UTC)

Contractual obligation?
Hey, where do we get the idea that Garner was under "contractual obligation" to do 1981-82 "Bret Maverick" series? He had just left Universal doing Rockford Files and Bret Maverick series was from Warner Brothers. Please advise and site sources.

Good question. That transition remains a bit murky. Noah and Wallace Beery (talk) 18:35, 24 February 2018 (UTC)

I think it's true that the "contractual obligation" comment is spurious. Rocketlaunch (talk) 13:01, 3 August 2018 (UTC)

After all, Garner was suing Universal at the time for stealing money from him, or had just done do by the time Bret Maverick was filming. Many believe that the lawsuit was the underlying reason for Bret Maverick being canceled after only one season despite fairly good ratings. This is too bad especially since the producers were bringing back Jack Kelly as Bart Maverick as a regular character for the second season, and had already presented some of the scripts to Kelly. Garner and Kelly working together as the Maverick brothers was really magical and we were left with only a few scenes in The New Maverick of them doing so as more mature men. Rocketvault (talk) 17:24, 5 November 2018 (UTC)

NOT entitled "Maverick - Legend of the West"
There was a book published circa 1994 (or whenever the Mel Gibson movie version came out) entitled "Maverick - Legend of the West" which is where I'm guessing someone got the idea that it was also the title of the series itself and had adjusted the Wikipedia article accordingly. It wasn't. The series was simply entitled "Maverick." Noah and Wallace Beery (talk) 18:52, 24 February 2018 (UTC) Noah and Wallace Beery (talk) 18:52, 24 February 2018 (UTC)

Those lyrics, which is where the phrase comes from, and the theme song itself were sensational. It's impossible to imagine music that good appended to any television series today. Rocketvault (talk) 17:29, 5 November 2018 (UTC)

Maverick Roller Coaster
Just wanted to add the new roller coaster at Cedar Point is named after the Maverick tv show with 6 of the characters names appearing on the trains. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.226.21.7 (talk) 14:05, 25 May 2007 (UTC)

Wow! Which six names? Upsmiler (talk) 02:17, 12 August 2011 (UTC)

Wonder if "Brent" is one of the names. Probably only if Robert Colbert somehow wound up cutting the ribbon to open the roller coaster. Rocketvault (talk) 17:37, 5 November 2018 (UTC)

I'll take the one labeled "Dandy Jim Buckley." George Raft Has Risen From the Grave (talk)

'Bonanza' Parody
The article at least mentions the "Gunsmoke" parody, but totally neglects the "Bonanza" one, with Jim Backus in the Ben Cartwright role. Ajericn (talk) 08:44, 30 April 2016 (UTC)

Yes, that one was interesting for many reasons. It's a shame Garner wasn't playing the lead in that one. Trocadero Thunder (talk) 22:20, 26 December 2016 (UTC)

Jim Backus, the cartoon Mr. Magoo, cast as the parody of stentorian-voiced Lorne Greene (originally known in Canada as radio's "Voice of Doom") was particularly brilliant. Noah and Wallace Beery (talk) 15:33, 9 February 2018 (UTC)

Lorne Greene got the "Voice of Doom" monicker because he would read the names of the Canadian KIAs (killed in action) on Canadian radio once a week during the war. Greene, Pernell Roberts, and Dan Blocker all had fantastic voices during Bonanza, which became apparent with Beth Sullivan's otherwise excellent prequel series Ponderosa, in which all the voices sounded more or less the same. Rocketvault (talk) 16:54, 5 November 2018 (UTC)

I think the Bonanza parody episode was in the fifth season, which consisted of new episodes with Jack Kelly alternating with Garner reruns. The quality of the Kelly installments in this final season arguably hit a series low in some instances, although there were some good ones. Of course the Bonanza parody is briefly discussed in the List of Maverick episodes Wikipedia article. Interestingly (and surprisingly), Jack Kelly was billed above long-departed James Garner in the series weekly opening credits and in advertisements for the fifth and final season. Also, the theme song at the end was suped up to its most energetic iteration, with the riverboat bell ringing and so on. Whirlspeed (talk) 21:45, 9 January 2019 (UTC)