LITTLE BIG SCREEN - "MAVERICK" (THIS MONTH'S FEATURE SHOWCASE)

As you should all know by now, one of the giants of the Toobworld pantheon passed away last month.  On July 19th, James Garner died at the age of 86.  For Earth Prime-Time he was best known as Bret Maverick and Jim Rockford.

Since I've been posting intermittent essays about the relationship between Toobworld and the Cineverse* all year, and because Mr. Garner was one of my TV idols, it seemed only right that for the central theme of our TV Western showcase month of August we should have as many posts about the 1994 movie version of 'Maverick' as I can come up with.

Might as well start with the movie's relationship to the TV show.....

Oh, and by the way - the movie is twenty years old this year.  This will be your only warning that I will speak freely about it and that there will be SPOILERS!  (And if you haven't seen it yet, good Lord, dear reader!  What's taking you so long????)

There must be those out there who think Mel Gibson is THE Bret Maverick in this movie and that Garner was playing Beauregard Maverick.  So in a way, they're looking at it as though it's a remake and not a continuation.  If so, I wish them all the best over there in the Cineverse and no regrets.

But for me, this is one movie that deserves to be absorbed into the TV Universe as it is.  From my perspective, Gibson is Bret Maverick JUNIOR while Garner is reprising his role as the original Bret Maverick.

And your old Toobmeister is also going to claim that many another TV Western character showed up at that marathon poker game that serves as the major climax of the movie.  (There are a few after-shocks before it's over.)  There was even the ancestor of one of the current citizens of Toobworld attending the game.  And who knows?  I might find one or two others.

So you saw "Maverick", like I did, at the movie theatre.  It doesn't matter.  This is a movie whose true home is on your TV screen.  And it will be the focus for many more posts over the coming month.....

BCnU!

* Look for posts with "Little Big Screen" in the heading......