Classic TV Themes: Maverick Thru the Years + Bonus!

James Garner rode the Western wave of early network television for a five-year stretch as the lovable card-shark Bret Maverick. He had several co-stars (Roger Moore, Jack Kelly, et al) so they could rotate lead players and film more shows in less time, but Garner was the perfect player in the perfect role that helped define his screen persona. Music was by David Buttolph, whose Maverick song is one of tv most memorable themes. But there was more to the Maverick saga on tv than just one show. Here is what you'll find on this video:
00:00 Maverick: The original. Though the song had lyrics on early episodes it was heard as an instrumental. You'll hear that version, as well as the vocal version used in later seasons. The portentous Warner Bros openings are the sort of thing that you don't see on network tv these days.
03:23 Bret Maverick: In 1981 Garner returned to play Maverick again, now semi-retired and settled down in Sweetwater, where he still gets to pull a con now and then. It only lasted 18 episodes, perhaps because the famous song was jettisoned in favor of a new theme by cast-member Ed Bruce, a country songwriter/singer. Apparently its official title is 'Theme from Bret Maverick' but 'Maverick Didn't Come Here to Lose' would be a little less on-the-nose.
04:56 Young Maverick: This 1979 sequel to 'Maverick' was all about Bret's first cousin, twice removed: Ben Maverick. What a family tree the Mavericks had! It was cancelled after six episodes, but at least had the respect for tradition to use the original theme, livened up with a new arrangement.
06:28 Bonus: The original theme song from 'Maverick' is well-remembered over a half-century later. But there's more to it than that. Before Maverick premiered in 1957, David Buttolph, an old hand at scoring Westerns, wrote the music for the 1956 feature film 'The Lone Ranger'. Hidden in that movie is a theme that Buttolph liked so much he borrowed it for Maverick and used it for the B motif of the song: 'Riverboat ring your bell...' etc. Listen closely to the clip that is our bonus and you can hear the music under the dialogue. The Maverick theme before it was the Maverick theme! And now you know the rest of the story.

Enjoy this trip through the Maverick universe!