Bret Maverick: The Lazy Ace
James Garner as Maverick
Genre	Drama Western
Written by	Gordon T. Dawson
Directed by	Stuart Margolin
Starring	James Garner
Music by	Murray MacLeod J.A.C. Redford
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
Production
Executive producer	Meta Rosenberg
Producers	Gordon T. Dawson Geoffrey Fischer Mark Horowitz Chas. Floyd Johnson
Production locations	Sable Ranch - 25933 Sand Canyon Road, Santa Clarita, California Stage 20 and 21, Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California
Cinematography	Andrew Jackson
Editors	Diane Adler George R. Rohrs
Running time	98 minutes
Production company	Warner Bros. Television
Original release
Network	NBC
Release	December 1, 1981 (1981-12-01)

Bret Maverick: The Lazy Ace is a 1981 American Western television film released as the 2-hour pilot episode of the series Bret Maverick, trimmed to a quicker pace and repackaged as a TV-movie for rerunning on local television stations. The 1981 show was based on the 1957 series Maverick, catching up with professional poker-player Bret Maverick (James Garner). The film, written by Gordon T. Dawson and directed by Stuart Margolin, occasionally appears under the simpler title Bret Maverick.

The real pilot, however, of both this series and the preceding CBS show Young Maverick, could be said to be the 1979 TV-movie The New Maverick, which featured both Garner as Bret and Jack Kelly as his brother Bart.

Cast

• James Garner as Bret Maverick
• Ed Bruce as Sheriff Tom Guthrie
• Ramon Bieri as Elijah Crow
• Richard Hamilton as Cy Whittaker
• John Shearin as Sheriff Mitchel Dowd
• David Knell as Rodney Catlow
• Darleen Carr as Mary Lou Springer
• Janis Paige as Mandy Packer
• Bill McKinney as Ramsey Bass
• John McLiam as Doc Holliday, Card Player
• Stuart Margolin as Philo Sandeen
• Billy Kerr as Blue-Eyed Kid, Gunfighter
• Jack Garner as Jack, Red Ox Bartender
• Luis Delgado as Shifty Delgado
• Ed Bakey as Lyman Nickerson, Card Player
• Bill Cross as Dembro
• Richard Moll as Sloate
• Chuck Mitchell as Joe Dakota, Card Player
• Duane R. Campbell as Lucas, town drunk
• Ivan J. Rado as Wolfgang Mieter, Miner who tunneled into Bank
• David H. Banks as Delta Fox, Card Player
• Tommy Bush as Deputy Sturgess
• Ruth Estler as Townswoman
• Norman Merrill Jr. as Bank Teller
• Al Berry as Townsman
• Kirk Cameron as Boy #1
• Max Martini as Boy #2 (billed as Max Martin)

Plot

Bret Maverick wins a saloon in a poker game and decides to end his roving ways and settle down in Sweetwater, Arizona. He takes on as a partner the former sheriff who comes with a shady background.