By its second season in 1958 Maverick was a bonafide hit, reaching number six in the Nielsen ratings, and as well as winning an Emmy award for Best Western Series in 1959. Westerns were a popular staple of the television landscape at the time—Gunsmoke, Wagon Train, Have Gun – Will Travel, The Rifleman, Tales of Wells Fargo, and The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp—all occupied spots in the Nielsen top ten. However, Maverick wasn’t a series about traditional western heroes. Instead, it followed the (mis)adventures of frontier gambler Bret Maverick (James Garner) and his brother Bart (Jack Kelly) in their pursuit of money and a life of leisure.

While the Maverick brothers weren’t western heroes in the traditional sense, they weren’t anti-heroes, either. They were just deceitful card sharks that exploited easy situations; they were out to help themselves. You could even call them cowardly, because if any real trouble started brewing they looked to get out of town as fast as they could. If all else failed, they would quote their old Pappy, and mentor, “My old Pappy used to say ‘If you can’t fight ’em, and they won’t let you join ’em, best get out of the county’.”

Maverick_-_Title_CardThe second season was the series most successful, and produced some of the most memorable episodes. In the season opener, “The Day They Hanged Bret Maverick,” finds Bret falsely accused of robbery and murder. Scheduled to be hanged, Bret must find a way out of this predicament, and quick! Whitney Blake (Hazel), Ray Teal (Bonanza), and Jay Novello guest star.

“Shady Deal at Sunny Acres” is probably among the best known episodes of the series. Bret spends much of the episode seemingly relaxing in a rocking chair, calmly whittling and assuring townspeople that he’s “working on it.” At the same time, Bart is running a sting operation to double-cross a crooked banker (John Dehner) who pocketed Bret’s $15,000 deposit. The episode marked the reappearance of Diane Brewster as Samantha Crawford, a role she had first played on another western, Cheyenne. Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., Richard Long and Leo Gordon also guest star.

“The Saga of Waco Williams,” which garnered the largest audience of the series, found Bret riding into Bent city with a man he encountered on the trail, named Waco Williams (Wayde Preston, Colt.45) While not looking for a fight, Waco isn’t the kind of man to run away from one either. Naturally, Waco finds his life threatened on more than one occasion, which creates a lot of stress for Bret. R.G. Armstrong and Louise Fletcher (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest), guest star.

“The Jail at Junction Flats,” has Dandy Jim Buckley (Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.), convincing Bret to join him in buying horses for cavalry remounts. By the time Bret figures out this is just another of Dandy’s swindles, he’s already absconded with Bret’s money, and leaves him tied up in the wilderness. The way this episode ended offended many fans in 1958—they had grown accustomed to happy resolutions—so much so, that rating temporarily dropped the following week.

A parody of the much loved Gunsmoke, “Gun-Shy” is a consistent favorite among Maverick fans. Bret and a grifter named Freddie Hawkins (Reginald Owen) arrive in Elwood, Kansas, in search of confederate treasure. Unfortunately, they keep running afoul of U.S. Marshal Mort Dooley (Ben Gage). Gage resembled Gunsmoke’s James Arness, and could imitate his voice almost perfectly; thus he appeared in four Gunsmoke spoof episodes throughout Maverick’s run.

Aside from those already mentioned, many notable guest stars turned up during the second season of Maverick, including the following: Martin Landau, Gerald Mohr, Bethel Leslie, John Litel, Edgar Buchanan, Roger Moore, Neil Hamilton, Abby Dalton, Clint Eastwood, Robert Conrad, Julie Adams, Connie Stevens, Adam West, Lyle Talbot, Ruta Lee, William Schallert, and Dan Blocker.

Season Two is comprised of the following 26 episodes, and appear to be complete, and unedited.

1. The Day They Hanged Bret Maverick
2. The Lonesome Reunion
3. Alias Bart Maverick
4. The Belcastle Brand
5. High Card Hangs
6. Escape to Tampico
7. The Judas Mask
8. The Jail at Junction Flats
9. The Thirty-Ninth Star
10. Shady Deal at Sunny Acres
11. Island in the Swamp
12. Prey of the Cat
13. The Spanish Dancer
14. Holiday at Hollow Rock
15. Game of Chance
16. Gun-Shy
17. Two Beggars on Horseback
18. The Rivals
19. Duel at Sundown
20. Yellow River
21. The Sage of Waco Williams
22. Brasada Spur
23. Passage to Fort Doom
24. Two Tickets to Ten Strike
25. Betrayal
26. The Strange Journey of Jenny Hill

Much like the first season, the full-screen, 1.33:1 black and white transfers look pretty darn good, with nice images, solid blacks and little print damage. You may notice a scratch here and there, but for a show that’s more than fifty years old, this is good stuff.

The Dolby Digital mono audio is fine, certainly doing the job for a series of its age. Dialogue is understandable throughout, and free of distortion.

English SDH and French subtitles are available.

While there are no real special features, there is a nice four-page episode guide.