If you’re a television trivia buff or “young” enough to remember some of the classic TV series of the 1950s and 1960s you’ll probably get a kick out of this trip down memory lane. These were television shows, most of which were done in black and white, that created quite a following even as short-lived as they were.
One of these rare classics was Mr. Lucky which aired on CBS. The series was based on an original movie of 1943 starring Cary Grant and set in the early days of World War II. The TV show was developed by Blake Edwards with the theme music done by genius, Henry Mancini. Mr. Lucky was an honest professional gambler who, along with his sidekick Andamo, ran a floating casino aboard the Fortuna II which they anchored outside the three mile limit. Each week they managed to come in contact with a variety of criminals or people who were hiding from criminals.
Mr. Lucky was one of the highest rated shows of the 1959-1960 season, but in February of 1960 the casino was changed to a floating restaurant. This change was done to appease the show’s sponsor, Lever Brothers, who were just coming off the quiz show scandals of the 1950s. At the end of the season Lever Brothers and alternate, Brown & Williamson, cancelled sponsorship and the series was finally canceled entirely.
In September of 1957 ABC debuted a western series called Maverick about a slick traveling card sharp. It starred James Garner as Bret Maverick who was later joined by his brother, Bart Maverick played by Jack Kelly. The two rotated each week as gamblers who traveled the West and on Mississippi riverboats getting in and out of trouble with money, women, or both.
Garner left the series after the third season due to legal disputes, and was replaced by cousin Beau Maverick played by Roger Moore. Interestingly enough, the role of Beau was turned down by Sean Connery who Moore later ended up replacing as James Bond. Maverick was part of the list of Warner Bros. Westerns that appeared throughout the 1960s, and it enjoyed moderate success as a movie in 1992 starring Mel Gibson. In 2006 a 10 foot bronze statue was unveiled of James Garner’s Bret Maverick in his home town of Norman, Oklahoma.
There were quite a few television Westerns that, more often than not, showed the inside of a smoke-filled saloon with the cowboys and ladies drinking and playing cards. Many of these were brought to you by one of the more popular cigarette manufacturers like Winston Salem, Brown & Williamson, Liggett & Meyers to name a few. If the local sheriff or deputy marshal was looking for someone they inevitably went straight to one of the saloons. Even as a youngster I used to wonder: What do these people do for a living? Don’t they have a job? Where do they get the money to play cards and roulette?
Today, if you want to see poker playing on television you would have to channel surf through the abundance of cable or satellite stations looking for a World Series Of Poker or Celebrity Poker Match. It all seemed so much simpler with Mr. Lucky or Bret Maverick!
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