Friday, January 23, 2026

Lorain Journal TV Page Featuring "Maverick" – Jan. 1958

Anyone who reads this blog regularly knows I'm a big fan of Westerns. Rare is the night that my TV isn't tuned in to either GRIT or OUTLAW cable channels. And my DVD collection is almost all Westerns as well, including some of my favorite television ones including Tales of Wells Fargo, Wanted Dead or Alive and Maverick.

It's all I can do to keep from wearing my cowboy hat around the house and eating beans for dinner every night.

Anyway, when I saw the Lorain Journal's TV page of January 20, 1958, I just had to post it here. As you can see (below), it features a photo of Bret (James Garner) and Bart (Jack Kelly) Maverick.

The way the photo has been scanned and digitized along with the rest of the page leaves something to be desired. Here's a similar photo from the same shoot.
Maverick had premiered in September 1957, with Bret as the only Maverick in town. Production problems (the shows couldn't be shot and edited fast enough to make airtime) necessitated adding a brother (Bart) and a second production unit.
Jack Kelly's first show as brother Bart aired in November 1957, so he really hadn't been around that long in January 1958 when the Journal ran the photo. I'm guessing all of these promotional photos were intended to help introduce him to the public. It looks like originally, he was supposed to dress differently than Bret for contrast. But it didn't work out like that; his eventual outfit was similar to Bret's but with a tan hat and a different tie.
Although the show ran until April 1962 (the last two seasons without Garner), I don't remember watching it until the reruns appeared on WUAB Channel 43 on Sunday nights at 5:00 in the 1970s. (Remember the rest of the lineup? After Maverick, there was The Wild Wild West at 6:00, followed by Star Trek at 7:00.)
Elsewhere on that Lorain Journal TV page, there's lots of fun things to look at, including the program grids and the little synopses of the episodes.


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8 comments:

  1. Don HiltonJanuary 23, 2026 at 9:23 AM

    James Garner was one of those actors able to make a good living playing, essentially, the same character their entire life. Dan - are you a fan of the Maverick movie with what's-his-name and Jodie Foster?

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    1. Dan BradyJanuary 23, 2026 at 11:42 PM

      As entertainment it was okay, it was great seeing James Garner on the big screen, but I didn't care for Mel Gibson too much as Bret Maverick and I didn't care for Jodie Foster's character either. But I liked seeing all the old Western stars doing cameos, it was nice to see James Coburn and of course I loved the big surprise ending, which was the best part of the movie. Garner has gone on record as saying that in the movie, he played the same character as he did in the TV series. I can buy that, with Mel as sort of a 'Bret Jr."

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  2. -Alan D HopewellJanuary 23, 2026 at 9:49 AM

    MAVERICK, CHEYENNE, THE RIFLEMAN, HAVE GUN, WILL TRAVEL, LAWMAN, THE LONE RANGER, ZORRO, WYATT EARP, now that's television!

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  3. BusterJanuary 23, 2026 at 10:59 AM

    Great series, but I much preferred Bret to Bart ... or was it Bart to Bret. Anyway, the Garner character.

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    1. Dan BradyJanuary 23, 2026 at 11:45 PM

      I agree, Buster. Jack Kelly was good, but just not very funny and not as likable as Garner as Bret. When we saw that a rerun was going to feature Bart, it was akin to turning on the Three Stooges and seeing that was one with Shemp.

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    2. Don HiltonJanuary 25, 2026 at 10:18 AM

      Hey, now! I don't want to go stirring up any hornet nests or anything, but I've always preferred Shemp to Curly. Curly's just plain, old stupid, and that's really Larry's job. Shemp's just smart enough to be dangerous.

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    3. Dan BradyJanuary 25, 2026 at 4:26 PM

      Well, as a kid I liked Curly because he was likable and childlike, an innocent – a kid, like us. Plus he was easy to imitate. I never liked Shemp that much because I thought he was just an unfunny wise-guy, with very little to imitate (except his funny peep-peep-peep-peep-peep-peep sound that he makes when snoring).

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  4. AnonymousJanuary 23, 2026 at 12:33 PM

    That was a great Sunday night lineup for sure!

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