Though it began as a traditional western upon its premiere in 1957, Maverick soon developed into something much more than that. Elements of humor and parody were soon added and the show's popularity quickly took off. Maverick made a star out of James Garner, who played gambler Bret Maverick, and Jack Kelly lent fine support as brother Bart. Sadly, Garner chose to depart the series after three seasons and was replaced by Roger Moore as an English cousin of the Mavericks named Beau and later Robert Colbert as yet a third Maverick brother named Brent. Moore and Colbert did not return for the show's fifth and final season during which 13 new episodes starring Kelly aired. They aired on alternate weeks with reruns of Garner episodes.