favorite episodes

IMHO, the best episode, far and away, is "Shady Deal at Sunny Acrea." This one entails the convergence of several of the con men and women who had recurring roles in the series. Starring along with Bret, Bart, and Samantha Crawford are Dandy Jim Buckley (Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.), Gentleman Jack Darby (Richard Long), and Big Mike McComb (Leo Gordon), all of whom participate in an elbaorate "Sting"-like scam in an effort to get Bret's money back from the crook (John Dehner) who ripped him off.

After the money is stolen, all Bret does for the rest of the show is rock in a rocking chair on his front porch and whittle. Everyone in town knows that he got scammed so, as the townsfolk walk past his porch, each one asks if he's gonna get his money back, and Bret's only reply is, "I'm working on it."

After awhile, the passers by simply ask, "Maverick, you still workin' on it?" And Bret says, "Yep. I'm working on it."

In the meantime, you can just imagine what's going on with all those recurring scam artists heading into town one by one, each with a different role in the elaborate attempt to con the con artist.

Absolutely hilarious.

Andrew Duggan, Peter Breck, Karen Steele, and the unrelated Crowleys (Patricia and Kathleen) were about the only memorable characters in the show who didn't appear on this episode.

And it is on a DVD all by itself!

"In Escape to Tampico, Gerald Mohr plays a nightclub owner on the lam in Mexico. The similarities to the film, Casablanca, are rather obvious, except that Mohr's character was, indeed, a bad guy. I never really noticed it before but Gerald Mohr did look a lot like Humphrey Bogart."

Your reply:

"Escape to Tampico" also has certain similarities to "Gilda," such as the lead character going to work for the casino owner, making himself indispensable to him, protecting the casino from cheaters, and generally protecting the health of his boss, at least for awhile.

Ironically, Gerald Mohr had a small part in "Gilda" (as Capitaine Delgado, one of the guys whom Gilda dances and flirts with).

I still don't see the resemblance between Mohr and Bogart although I know it is mentioned in Mohr's biography on this site. They also say that Lash Larue resembled Bogey, which is a little more noticeable.

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I think this would be my top 10:

1) Gun-Shy--This became even funnier to me after I bought the Gunsmoke Season I DVD last year. I saw that Matt Dillon actually did start the early episodes walking around Boot Hill and thinking about life in Dodge City.
2) A Fellow's Brother
3) Shady Deal At Sunny Acres--As many have noted, this was incredibly clever.
4) Pappy
5) Two Tickets To Ten Strike--I loved Connie Stevens.
6) Two Beggars On Horseback--great rivalry between Bret and Bart.
7) The Sheriff of Duck N Shoot
8) The Day They Hanged Bret Maverick
9) A Cure For Johnny Rain
10) The Maverick Line ("Is it in the fine print?" "No, it's below that.")

My favorite is "Shady Deal at Sunny Acres"--hands down.


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Maverick reruns air on MeTV on Saturday mornings. There are probably four or more retro or cable channels that air Gunsmoke at all times of the day or evening. They are both excellent shows and Gunsmoke was aired in color in its later years, with excellent camera work.

I just saw Maverick's "Gun-Shy", (Season 2, Episode 16) for the first time. It took me a few minutes to realize that this was a tremendous parody of the popular TV series, Gunsmoke. It tells about a search for hidden gold in the town that is obviously the Gunsmoke town and characters. I read that 49% of the people in the USA watched this when it first aired in 1958.

I agree that "Shady Deal At Sunny Acres" is also outstanding, with an all-star Maverick cast. It likely inspired the movie, The Sting."

Many of the Maverick stories are well told and worth watching.