Obscure Westerns #3 Young Maverick – Call the Spinoff Doctor!

by Bennett Owen

Photo courtesy of PeterBrown.tv

Of all the Western TV shows, perhaps none has created more ill fated, forgettable spinoffs and re-makes than the purely awesome Maverick. Producers tried to capitalize on that loveable con man, Bret Maverick. But alas, there was only one James Garner…a man and a character that made women swoon; men chuckle and applaud in equal measure; and in its heyday, regularly outperformed the legendary Ed Sullivan and Steve Allen shows.

Photo courtesy of TriviaTribute.com

With kind of drawing power, it’s no surprise that the spinoffs came fast and furious. Here’s a sampling:

• Bret Maverick TV movie
• Bret Maverick TV series
• The New Maverick TV movie
• Maverick, the 1994 feature film

Courtesy of Movieposter.com

Well OK, Mel Gibson came close and James Garner did have a cameo.

But the most obscure of them all, and deservedly so, was a little-watched 1979 stinker called Young Maverick, starring Charles Frank as Bret’s younger cousin, Ben.

Where do they dredge this stuff up?  Garner (on hiatus from the Rockford Files) reprised his role for a few minutes in the opening episode. And when Bret and Ben part at a crossroads, one critic noted that, „audiences couldn’t help but think the camera was following the wrong Maverick.“

The series was gone in less than two months.

And in case anyone needs reminding, this is what made the original so endearing: