This legendary "Maverick" parody of "Gunsmoke" is as good as people say it is. Bret comes to town in search of buried gold, only to be run out of town by Marshall Mort Dooley (Ben Gage). He has to keep finding ways of sneaking in to town or getting the Marshall out of town so he can get in and find the gold before a couple of rivals do.
This episode is full of great moments as they parody Gunsmoke's opening showdown; Maverick notices Clyde Diefendorfer (a parody of Dennis Weaver's Chester Goode) has acquired a limp. He compliments Clyde on it,telling him it gives him "character". There's even a passing joke about"Have Gun, Will Travel" as Marshall Dooley compares Maverick to that"gunfighter who came into town passing out business cards to everybody"(HGWT also did an episode called "Gun Shy" but it was NOT a parody of"Gunsmoke"). The shots parody "Gunsmoke", the wardrobe is an exact copy, its great.
What really makes this parody work though is the dead on impression of Ben Gage. He totally nails James Arness' speaking voice. Walker Edmiston also does a pretty good job imitating Chester Goode, but he has the easier job, as Chester is more of a type. Edmiston later went on to appear on "Gunsmoke" four times as various characters and did voices for Hanna-Barbera characters like Squiddly Diddly and Yakky Doodle. Gage never appeared on "Gunsmoke". One wonders if maybe James Arness didn't like the impression.
This episode is full of great moments as they parody Gunsmoke's opening showdown; Maverick notices Clyde Diefendorfer (a parody of Dennis Weaver's Chester Goode) has acquired a limp. He compliments Clyde on it,telling him it gives him "character". There's even a passing joke about"Have Gun, Will Travel" as Marshall Dooley compares Maverick to that"gunfighter who came into town passing out business cards to everybody"(HGWT also did an episode called "Gun Shy" but it was NOT a parody of"Gunsmoke"). The shots parody "Gunsmoke", the wardrobe is an exact copy, its great.
What really makes this parody work though is the dead on impression of Ben Gage. He totally nails James Arness' speaking voice. Walker Edmiston also does a pretty good job imitating Chester Goode, but he has the easier job, as Chester is more of a type. Edmiston later went on to appear on "Gunsmoke" four times as various characters and did voices for Hanna-Barbera characters like Squiddly Diddly and Yakky Doodle. Gage never appeared on "Gunsmoke". One wonders if maybe James Arness didn't like the impression.