THURSDAY THEORY OF RELATEEVEETY - THE PRENDERS

One of the earliest - and one of my favorite - TV crossovers was the 'Maverick' episode "Hadley's Hunters".  There were at least five definite crossover characters - 'Cheyenne' Bodie, 'Bronco' Lane, Tom 'Sugarfoot' Brewster, and the 'Lawman', Marshal Dan Troop with his deputy, Johnny McKay.  Technically, one could say that there were five and a half crossovers - Bart Maverick visited the long-deserted office of Christopher Colt, salesman for the 'Colt .45'.  (There was an in-joke appearance by Edd Byrnes as a stable hand who was similar to his role of Gerald Kookson III on '77 Sunset Strip'.  Maybe they were related, but it can't be proven.)

There was one other inferred crossover - Prender the bartender had a sawed off rifle left by a bounty hunter.  The gun had a name like Mule's Foot.  Obviously it was supposed to be Mare's Leg, owned by Josh Randall in 'Wanted: Dead Or Alive'.

All of that information... information... information is a rerun here.  But I went through all of it again because I want to talk about that bartender.

Although we would see Herb Vigran, who played the role, on 'Maverick' again, this was the only time we saw Prender.  But we might have later met one of his descendants.

'Adam-12'
"Alchohol"

From the IMDb:
Malloy and Reed help a woman recover an antique when she discovers her husband hid their savings inside.   

Reed and Malloy visited with a used appliance store hoping to find the wood-burning stove.  And the proprietor was Charley Prender.  You can ask anybody - Charley Prender gives a good deal.

Here's my theory of relateeveety - Charley's great grandfather was that bartender who helped Bart Maverick.  

Charley Prender - as if you couldn't tell! - was played by Vito Scotti, calling on all the tics and mannerisms which 'Columbo' fans knew well from his six characters over the years.  

Many of the characters he played over the years in TV shows had various ethnic backgrounds.  It could be the same in this case as well.  Somewhere between Charley and his theoretical great-grandfather, one of the Prender men may have married a lass of Mexican descent anywhere in the wild, wild West from Hadley County, where Prender tended bar at the Hadley Saloon, to Los Angeles where we would find Charley Prender.

Happy trails!