'As My Old Pappy Used To Say': 13 Crucial Life Lessons 'Maverick' Learned From His Pappy

I was a huge fan of the Western TV show Maverick with James Garner (seen in the above photo) when I was a kid and I’ve been recording rerun of the show on MeTV.  

I think the old show holds up fairly well and the late James Garner was terrific as Bret Maverick. (I was not as fond of Jack Kelly as Bart Maverick and other characters).

Maverick used to quote his “old Pappy” to make a point and the sayings were always clever and amusing. Metv.com offers 13 of the old sayings in a recent piece.   

Maverick didn't play by the same rules as other TV westerns of its time, like Gunsmoke or Bonanza. It even popularly poked fun at those shows in episodes ("Gun-Shy" and "Three Queens Full," respectively) that lovingly spoofed other western shows that ended up with much longer series' runs.

But that sort of behavior is just what you'd expect from Maverick - breaking or bending rules - and longtime fans will remember that the law of the land in Maverick wasn't laid out by any sheriff, but by old Pappy, the Maverick brothers' sage father who sent his sons Bart and Bret out with a thousand dollar bill each and about a bajillion pieces of advice the characters would turn to any time they got into trouble on the show.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://metv.com/lists/13-crucial-life-lessons-maverick-learned-from-his-pappy  

You can watch the opening of the show with the theme song via the below link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYrsDT02OcE&index=10&list=PLnj5cjUJ9f9HTdZjDxj4rR2nVsObzYxRq  

Westerns Make Gritty Comeback

Lori Rackl at the Chicago Sun-Times writes that the Western, once a staple on prime-time TV, is bucking its way back onto the small screen with the new AMC Western series Hell on Wheels.

You can read the review via the below link:

http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/rackl/8590094-421/westerns-make-gritty-comeback.html

I'm a big fan of Westerns, but I watched the first episode of Hell on Wheels and I thought it was awful.

I much prefer the great, old TV Westerns from the 1ate 1950s and the 1960s that appear daily on Encore's Classic Western channel.

I grew up watching these Westerns, such as Have Gun Will Travel, Gunsmoke and Maverick, and I'm enjoying watching them again.

The old shows offer a galaxy of guest stars, many of whom went on to be major film stars. The shows also offer great character actors, writers and directors.

The TV Westerns were called "horse operas" due to the compelling characters and plots (daytime TV series were called "soap operas" due to the soap and detergent commercials aimed at housewives).

Today's TV makers could learn a thing or two about drama, action, comedy and good human stories from those old TV Westerns.

James Garner Looks Back On His Life And Acting Career in 'The Garner Files'

I've enjoyed watching James Garner on TV since I was a kid and saw him in Maverick. Years later, I would watch him again in The Rockford Files. 

I also enjoyed watching him in films such as The Americanization of Emily, Support Your Local Sheriff, The Hour of the Gun, The Great Escape and many others. I particularly liked Garner as Raymond Chandler's iconic character Philip Marlowe in the 1969 film Marlowe.

I feel as if I know James Garner and like him as a friend, so I'm looking forward to reading his memoir, The Garner Files.

Mary McNamara wrote an interesting review of the book at the Los Angeles Times.

Many actors have breathed life into a memorable or even iconic role but only a few are capable of reconstructing an archetype. In "Maverick" and then again "The Rockford Files," James Garner stepped into two of TV's most calcified genres — the western and the detective series — and set a new standard that others have been chasing down since. Bret Maverick and Jim Rockford were different in many ways — Maverick was a fast-talking con man in the Old West, Rockford a modern L.A. private investigator with motivation issues — but they shared an important trait: They were reluctant heroes. Each would much rather wisecrack his way out of a jam, but if you pushed him hard enough, you would invariably find yourself counting angels on the ceiling.

You can read the rest of the review via the below link:

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/books/la-et-book-20111101-24,0,4362112.story

The Garner Files: James Garner's Memoir To Be Released In November

I was pleased to read in The Los Angeles Times that one of my favorite actors, James Garner, has written a memoir.

I've been a Garner fan since I was a kid watching Garner as Bret Maverick on television. I also loved Garner as Jim Rockford on The Rockford Files. 

Garner also starred in a number of good films, including The Americanization of Emily, The Great Escape, Support Your Local Sheriff, Up Periscope, Darby's Rangers and The Hour of the Gun. 

My favorite Garner film is the one where he portrayed one of my favorite characters, Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe. Garner portrayed the wise-cracking, tough private detective in 1969's Marlowe.

I've written here before that I believe Garner is the actor who comes closest to Chandler's Marlowe. Had the film been set in the proper period, the 1940s, instead of a contemporary setting, the film would have been near-perfect. (The above MGM photo is of James Garner as Philip Marlowe).

I look forward to reading James Garner's book.

You can read the newspaper story via the below link:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/jacketcopy/2011/03/james-garner-will-publish-a-memoir-with-simon-schuster.html