Maverick

<p>Airing on ABC from 1957 to 1962,<i> Maverick</i> appeared at a key moment in television Western history and provided a distinct alternative to the genre’s usual moralistic lawmen in its hero, Bret Maverick. A non-violent gambler and part-time con man, Maverick’s principles revolved around pleasure and not power, and he added humor, satire, and irony to the usually grim-faced Western. In this study of <i>Maverick, </i>author Dennis Broe details how the popular series mocked, altered, and undermined the characteristics of other popular Westerns, like <i>Gunsmoke</i> and <i>Bonanza.</i> Broe highlights the contributions made by its creators, its producer, Roy Huggins, and its lead actor, James Garner, to a format that was described as "the American fairy tale." </p><p>Broe describes how Garner and Huggins struck blows against a feudal studio system that was on its last legs in cinema but was being applied even more rigidly in television. He considers <i>Maverick</i> as a place where multiple counter-cultural discourses converged—including Baudelaire’s Flaneur, Guy DeBord’s Situationists, and Jack Kerouc’s Beats—in a form that was acceptable to American households. Finally, Broe shows how the series’ validation of Maverick’s outside-the-law status punctured the Cold War rhetoric promoted by the "adult" Western. Broe also highlights the series’ female con women or<i> flaneuses,</i> who were every bit the equal of their male counterparts and added additional layers to the traditional schoolteacher/showgirl Western dichotomy. </p><p>Broe demonstrates the progressive nature of <i>Maverick </i>as it worked to counter the traditional studio mode of production, served as a locus of counter-cultural trends, and would ultimately become the lone outpost of anti–Cold War and anti-establishment sentiments within the Western genre. <i>Maverick</i> fans and scholars of American television history will enjoy this close look at the classic series.</p>