 Brothers Bret and Bart Maverick (usually separately, but sometimes together) travel across the West trying to stay out of trouble and make a lot of money. The Mavericks preferred playing cards rather than engaging in any sort of manual labor, and, if in trouble, would prefer to leave town than stay and fight. Always conceived as a satire of Westerns, the series later featured the exploits of younger brother Brent and cousin Beau after the departure of actor James Garner.