The BEST episodes of Maverick
Every episode of Maverick ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Maverick!
Maverick is a comedy-western television series created by Roy Huggins that ran from September 22, 1957 to July 8, 1962 on ABC and featured James Garner, Jack Kelly, Roger Moore, and Robert Colbert as the poker-playing traveling Mavericks (Bret, Bart, Beau, & Brent). Moore and Colbert were later additions, though there were never more than two current Mavericks in the series at any given time, and sometimes only one. The series' primary sponsor for the first few seasons was Kaiser Aluminum, and their "quilted" aluminum foil was widely advertised in commercials shown on Maverick.
#1 - A Flock of Trouble
Season 3 - Episode 22 - Aired 2/14/1960
Bret wins a sheep ranch located in the midst of cattle ranchers whose sole aim is to wipe out the sheep and their new owner.
#2 - Betrayal
Season 2 - Episode 25 - Aired 3/22/1959
Keeping cool during a stage holdup, Bart catches a twinkle of recognition between his lovely traveling companion (Pat Crowley) and one of the outlaws.
#3 - Flood's Folly
Season 4 - Episode 23 - Aired 2/19/1961
Outside Denver, Colorado, Beau and his friend, Judge Scott, find shelter during a blizzard at the home of Martha Flood and her niece Sally. Martha and the judge are plotting to institutionalize Sally in order to take over her inheritance. However, Martha's lover, a professional killer named Chet Whitehead plans to kill Sally, the judge, and Maverick.
#4 - The Ice Man
Season 4 - Episode 20 - Aired 1/29/1961
After discovering a long-lost body encased in ice, Bart finds himself in hot water.
#5 - Dutchman's Gold
Season 4 - Episode 19 - Aired 1/22/1961
Beau Maverick wins half-ownership in the Blue Bell Saloon in Arizona. In an attempt to raise funds for the floundering business, Beau and his partner Charlotte become partners with a mysterious gold prospector known only as the Dutchman. Along the trail to Superstition Mountain where the gold is located, Beau, Charlotte, and the Dutchman encounter danger in various forms.
#6 - Diamond Flush
Season 4 - Episode 21 - Aired 2/5/1961
Con artist Ferguson knocks Beau Maverick unconscious during an unsuccessful attempt to hoist a priceless diamond necklace from a French countess. Ferguson claims that the countess' diamond is fake and that he was in the process of replacing it with the real thing when Beau startled him. Ferguson offers Maverick $5,000 to switch diamonds. Beau is being set up for robbery by Ferguson and his equally devious wife.
#7 - The Misfortune Teller
Season 3 - Episode 25 - Aired 3/6/1960
Bret is fighting a murder charge. But when he meets his lawyer - a numerologist, astrologer and bungler - he knows his number is up.
#8 - Last Wire from Stop Gap
Season 4 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/16/1960
On their way to Denver, Beau and Bart Maverick pick up $6,500 in a poker game at Stop Gap. They decide to wire the money to Denver through the Hulett Telegraph Company. They discover the company is a fake and that the telegraph line leads to a cave two miles away where the crooks stash the customers' money and send phony messages in return. The cousins devise a scheme to recover the money and put the company out of business.
#9 - Hadley's Hunters
Season 4 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/25/1960
Bart meets a comical sheriff (Edgar Buchanan) who is dead serious about killing him.
#10 - Shady Deal at Sunny Acres
Season 2 - Episode 10 - Aired 11/23/1958
Bret, helpless against a crafty banker (John Dehner) who robbed him, bides his time while Bart and friends set up an elaborate con game.
#11 - The Saga of Waco Williams
Season 2 - Episode 21 - Aired 2/15/1959
Bret and his buddy Waco Williams (Wayde Preston) ride straight into trouble in Bent City, where they are suspected of being cattle rustlers.
#12 - Greenbacks, Unlimited
Season 3 - Episode 26 - Aired 3/13/1960
Bank robber Big Ed Murphy is at his wit's end: someone keeps beating him to the loot and that someone is Bret.
#13 - The Town That Wasn't There
Season 4 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/2/1960
Beau Maverick wins ownership of the Silver Hill, a worthless ore mine. A crooked railroad agent named Shanks tries to cheat the townspeople out of their land by offering them a price that is well below market value. Beau convinces the town to relocate Silver Hill to a sheep ranch twenty miles away. The plan backfires when a new vein of silver is discovered in the supposedly worthless Silver Hill mine, thus enabling Shanks to claim the land without cost. The only hope is for the town to relocate back to Silver Hill before the railroad takes over the land.
#14 - Arizona Black Maria
Season 4 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/9/1960
In hostile Sioux territory, Bart is caught between a woman prisoner's devastating charms and a pending Indian attack.
#15 - A Bullet for the Teacher
Season 4 - Episode 7 - Aired 10/30/1960
In St. Joseph, Missouri, Beau Maverick wins half-ownership of the Golden Wheel Casino. The business venture is short-lived when his partner, Rand Storm, is shot to death by Flo Baker. Storm was a notorious ladies' man and Flo, a female entertainer, was resisting his advances. Just before he dies, Rand tells his younger brother, Luke, that the shooting was an accident. But Luke has Beau framed for murder so that he can take over the business.
#16 - The Witch of Hound Dog
Season 4 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/6/1960
Toil and trouble overcome Bret when he tangles with two burly thieves and their enchanting sister (Anita Sands) who claims she's a witch.
#17 - Destination: Devil's Flat
Season 4 - Episode 15 - Aired 12/25/1960
Bart substitutes a rock-filled suitcase for a fortune in gold to foil hijacking plans of phony sheriff Dan Trevor (Peter Breck).
#18 - Substitute Gun
Season 4 - Episode 29 - Aired 4/2/1961
Bart matches wits - and bullets - with a professional gunman... and learns that a beautiful woman can be more deadly than hired killers.
#19 - Pappy
Season 3 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/13/1959
Beau Maverick (played by James Garner), father of Bret and Bart announces that he is getting married. The Maverick boys discover that the marriage is a business arrangement, not a love commitment. The young girl, Josephine St. Cloud is being forced by her father to marry the older Beau Maverick. The brothers set out to sabotage the wedding plans, not knowing that Beau Maverick already had a plan.
#20 - Two Tickets to Ten Strike
Season 2 - Episode 24 - Aired 3/15/1959
Bret Maverick suspicions are aroused when he is forced to leave Ten Strike, New Mexico. Determined to stand his ground, Maverick stays in Ten Strike long enough to uncover a bizarre plot of murder and blackmail. Two gunmen, Vic Nolan (Adam West) and Eddie Burke (William Gordon), try to scare Maverick out of town.
#21 - The Strange Journey of Jenny Hill
Season 2 - Episode 26 - Aired 3/29/1959
Bret accompanies a beautiful singer (Peggy King) on a search for her missing husband and finds himself falling helplessly in love.
#22 - You Can't Beat the Percentage
Season 3 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/4/1959
Bart is involved in a bizarre murder plot in which he is high on the list of planned victims.
#23 - According to Hoyle
Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/6/1957
Samantha Crawford is a con artist employed by George Cross. Cross once lost $50,000 to Bret Maverick and is determined to get it back. Two riverboat owners staked Maverick $5,000 which he promptly loses to Samantha. Samantha claims Cross is her father and needs the money to get out of jail. Maverick forms a partnership with Samantha and purchases gambling equipment in a scheme to put Joe Riggs, a crooked game room owner, out of business. Samantha and Cross doublecross Maverick by selling the equipment to Riggs.
#24 - Point Blank
Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/29/1957
Bret meets a delightful and cunning girl (Karen Steele). Within minutes, she makes plans for his future a permanent plot on Boot Hill.
#25 - Brasada Spur
Season 2 - Episode 22 - Aired 2/22/1959
In a high-stakes poker game, Bart wins stock in a railroad and finds himself on the track to a colossal headache.