User Reviews

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.

At the time of the release and Telecast of this Episode, "Gun-Shy" the Adult Primetime Western was probably at its very Zenith of popularity. At this time there were something like thirty or so Westerns on the Networks at any given week. And "MAVERICK" was consistently at or near the top. This was a 'trick' that they used in the production office to keep it so.

To begin with, the series "MAVERICK" started out with a top Creator/Writer in Roy Huggins. This little known, never seen writer had as prolific a career as any in Hollywood, Movies or Television. His Credits included THE FULLER BRUSH MAN(1948), THE GOOD HUMOR MAN(1950), "MAVERICK"(1957-62), "THE FUGITIVE"(1963-67)and "THE ROCKFORD FILES" (1974-80).

And in 'MAVERICK" anything would go. It was not so much a true "Horse Opera" as it was a parody of the very Genre itself. They even incorporated in little bits of throw-away business in stories to keep things light. Just consider: a Cameo by Studio Head, Jack Warner in a Saloon, bumping into Bret, who asks if they know each other. Or finding a Stable Attendant to be Edd Byrnes, "Kookie" on W.B.'s Detective Series, "77 SUNSET STRIP!", only the address of the stable reads "77 Cherokee Strip!" With this Episode, the Warner Brothers crew gave us a full blast of double barreled shotgun fun. "Gun-Shy" starts out looking very serious, that is following the little 'teaser' scene that all Warners series employed then.* They would give a little hint of what was to come in the story following. In this "teaser" a clip from a scene from late in the story is shown. It is a take-off of the weekly opening scene of "GUNSMOKE" with James Arness, the Marshall (Matt Dillon) facing down and shooting it out with some unknown Outlaw. But in the Maverick spoof, the Marshall (Mort Dooley),fires and there is a pause. Then, after a couple of seconds or so, we hear Bret Maverick (Janes Garner) shout, "...You want me to move in a little closer, Marshall?"

Other characters are Lampoons of Doc, Chester and Miss Kitty. The Narration is done by the Marshall, who even states that something reminded him of that hired gun who was in town, "..passing out his business cards!" (a reference to the fellow CBS Western Series "HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL", with Richard Boone as 'Paladin'.

An almost miss-able throw-away gag occurs toward the beginning of the show. A Gang of Outlaws are meeting up with some of the Local Indians. When the Outlaw Leader greets the Indian (Iron-Eyes Cody)with a raised hand and the verbal "How!", Iron-Eyes replies, "Can't complain!" It was that kind of Episode. See it if you can!

NOTE: * This sort of opening was quite common during this particular era in TV History. It's similar to what would be the function of the Cover of a Pulp Detective or Mystery or Adventure Magazine or the 'Splash' Page of a Super Hero Comic Book Story.

Other reviewers have explained the premise of this episode, so I'm going to content myself with the scene which really got me chuckling. Marshall Dooley is on the trail of Bret Maverick when he comes across two Native Americans. One of them is played by Iron-Eyes Cody, who was well known for his "Injun" roles in the fifties. Dooley raises his hand in traditional fashion and says "How." With impeccable diction Cody answers "Very well thank you Marshall!" However the conversation continues with Dooley speaking in pidgin and Cody responding in normal english e.g. "White man pass this way?" "No, we haven't seen anybody" I wonder if this sequence was the inspiration for a similar one in the Maverick movie where a tribe of Native Americans stage an "Indian Experience" for a European nobleman and have to keep remembering to speak in character.

This episode could have been overdone, but the cast manage to keep it on the right side of parody.

The spoof of Gunsmoke on this Maverick was very obvious and it ran out of steam before the ep was over. Fortunately, it had a great 'real' plot which the spoof characters were rather non-involved with. I am highly fascinated with the lady who played ( not the spoof of Miss. Kitty that lady was ineffectual) the phony reporter. She later turns out to actually be the daughter of the man who buried the treasure that brings Maverick to town. I am fascinated at the way the beautiful young lady seems so different as the fake reporter than as the daughter figure even though the look is almost the very same as both. I guess it is the way she acts.