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:

The Five Most Obscure TV Westerns - The Good “Yuma” Man

by Bennett Owen

Nick Adams starring as Johnny Yuma

“He got fightin’ mad, this rebel lad, he packed his star as he wandered far, where the only law was a hook and a draw, the rebel…”

- The Ballad of Johnny Yuma        

I came up with the idea for obscure westerns while doing research on a completely unrelated topic – funny how the term “redhead” plays a prominent role in most of my Internet searches - and amazingly, I stumbled across a western TV show that I hadn’t thought of in years. It will be number one on this list…leave your guesses in the comments section below…anyone who gets it right receives a bag of Arbuckle Coffee beans, courtesy My-West. 

In the meantime, here’s Obscure Western #5  -

The Rebel

Nick Adams starring as Johnny Yuma

ABC aired it from 1959 – 1961 and it was filmed in Malibu Canyon. Nick Adams starred as a would-be writer, turned Confederate Army hero, turned postwar drifter, traveling from town to town, helping those in need.  59 episodes made it a respectable run…helped out perhaps by “The Man in Black” singing the theme song…

Johnny also copped a cameo in this episode…we’re lucky he stuck to singing…

Nick Adams was a workaholic who rose quickly in Hollywood, making his mark on both sides of the camera. He was a good friend of Dennis Hopper, Robert Conrad, Elvis Presley and James Dean. He even overdubbed Dean’s voice in parts of ‘Giant’ after the actor’s untimely death.  Adams was also a tireless self-promoter…the last three minutes of this clip reveal Chutzpah on a massive scale.

Nick’s career floundered in the mid-sixties and he died of a prescription drug overdose in 1968.

Now here’s a disclaimer. I’m not a big TV watcher.  I turned off my set after Green Bay brought the trophy back to Titletown and my only reason for having a flat screen is to view a fairly massive library of western movies, all of which I know by heart.  So for all I know, ‘The Rebel’ might be in high rotation on the “Obscure Western Channel”.  Hey…I might be on to something…