Maverick is an American
Western television series with comedic overtones created by
Roy Huggins. The show ran from September 22, 1957 to July 8, 1962 on
ABC and stars
James Garner as Bret Maverick, an adroitly articulate
cardsharp. Eight episodes into the first season, he was joined by
Jack Kelly as his brother Bart, and from that point on, Garner and Kelly alternated leads from week to week, sometimes teaming up for the occasional two-brother episode. The Mavericks were
poker players from
Texas who traveled all over the
American Old West and on
Mississippi riverboats, constantly getting into and out of life-threatening trouble of one sort or another, usually involving money, women, or both. They would typically find themselves weighing a financial windfall against a moral dilemma. More often than not, their consciences trumped their wallets since both Mavericks were intrinsically ethical.