This 4th season Maverick episode featured the kind of  cross-over guest/cameo casting common in the Warner's Western and detective series which dominated ABC in the late 1950's through mid-1960's.  In this episode, Bart Maverick is the victim of corrupt Sheriff Hadley [Edgar Buchanan]  who has built a reputation as a lawman by framing innocent victims for crimes committed by his deputies.  When Hadley's latest victim, to whom he has given the colorful moniker Cherokee Dan Evans [Robert Colbert], escapes, Hadley gives Bart ["Mangler Maverick"] the choice of bringing him to justice or hanging himself.  In the course of hunting for Evans, Bart seeks the help of some other Warner's stars who make very brief appearances in character.  They played a bit from each show's theme to further enhance the connection.

Peter Brown and John Russell were first up, starting with the opening from Lawman  in which Dan tosses a rifle to Johnny  who checks it and sights it.  Only this time Bart is approaching the window and fears Johnny is aiming at him.

Bart fears he's the target

The two lawmen are uncharacteristically suspicious toward a harmless stranger.  It was apparently humourous to have Dan look exasperated after they disclaimed any acquaintance with Evans.

Next up was Sugarfoot's Tom Brewster, reading a law book and having no knowledge of Evans.

Clint Walker as Cheyenne simply races by on his horse as Bart yells at him to wait.   If Warner Brothers had a sense of humor about its labor troubles [and there's no evidence that at that time they did], this fleeting glance of Clint Walker could have been viewed as a commentary on their trouble keeping this actor on the screen.

Bart catches Bronco in the middle of a saloon brawl.  Warner's, never a generous employer, probably saved some bucks on salaries here.  Like Clint Walker, Ty Hardin had no lines, just a shake of the head.

Wayde Preston from Colt .45 doesn't appear at all.  Bart simply walks into a dusty, cobweb-filled office and finds a Colt company brief case and a pair of revolvers like those worn by Chris Colt.  We've heard it suggested that this was a result of Wayde Preston's own job actions against Warners.  Our theory was that this was a comment on the fact that Colt .45 was set  a couple of decades before Maverick.  Of course, adherance to accurate timelines was never a long suit in TV westerns.  Chris Colt made several appearances in Sugarfoot which was contemporaneous with Maverick.  In fact, in "The Trial of the Canary Kid" episode of Sugarfoot, Chris Colt appeared with Lawman's Johnny McKay. Lawman's first episode took place in 1879 but had later episodes set in 1876 and 1884.  So go figure -- but don't try figuring historical dates by western tv scripts.  We recently received what is probably the correct explanation from Arthur Lortie who is a big Warners Westerns fan (for Maverick facts check his website at http://personal.tmlp.com/alortie/Mavfq12.htm).  He informed us lightheartedly.  "Awww ... shame on you. Colt .45 was JUST cancelled, which is why it was represented by a cob-webbed brief case / revolver.  In fact, it's last airing was on 09/20/1960 [The Rival Gun, a repeat]  just 5 days before. The last ORIGINAL episode aired 06/21/1960 [The Trespasser]."    Thanks Arthur, we think you're  right.
 

The dusty Colt office

The Colt briefcase

The Colt revolvers

The final cameo was a trick to get the non-Westerns fans to tune in.  Edd Byrnes as Kookie in 77 Sunset Strip had a healthy following of teen and pre-teen girls.  It must have been a real disappointment that he didn't have any lines, just an elaborate bit with a horse comb as a nod to his popular hair combing bits in his regular role.   [Every baby boomer is familiar with the hit song sung by Connie Stevens with slang interludes from Eddy Byrnes, "Kookie, Kookie, Lend Me Your Comb".].

NiteOwl Review:  This is the kind of show kids anticipate.  We especially wanted to see the Kookie character in a western [Edd Byrnes, of course, had been a villain in a number of Westerns, including Maverick and Lawman prior to being cast in 77 Sunset Strip].  These  fleeting glimpses were unsatisfying.  They would have been a cute bit had they not been promoted ahead of time in a way that promised more than was delivered. Maverick was, of course, headed for trouble by the 4th season, hence the gimmick.  According to the highly recommended book by Ed  Robertson  Maverick -- Legend of the West, the ratings stayed up for the first few months of this 4th season when they added Roger Moore as cousin Beau.  Moore, like James Garner, brought some real grifter personality to the role.  And in his prior stint as costar of The Alaskans, he had been the one to get the lines written for James Garner as Bret Maverick when Warners recycled old Maverick scripts for The Alaskans.  According to Robertson, fans also stayed with the show in anticipation that James Garner might come back.  His contract suit with Warners started that same autumn   However, he won the suit, Warners having violated his contract and he never came back.  At least not until he filmed 17 episodes of the underrated Bret Maverick series in 1981-1982.

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