After watching "A Tale of Two Cities", I think the problem (if you consider it a problem) is that no one seemed to know who or what Bart Maverick is. Sometimes they write him as the "serious" Maverick compared to Bret. And sometimes the writers stick Bart into a Bret-style lighthearted episode. The whiplash gives me a sore neck.
"Tale" is more of a comedy episode. And Jack Kelly as Bart is perfectly fine as a comedic foil. He's ably assisted by Ben Gage as a hidebound sheriff. Gage isn't as memorable as he was as Dooley in "Gun-Shy". But that's because the episode isn't doing a parody of anything, either.
Pat Crowley is easy on the eyes, and Ed Kemmer makes a decent bad guy. And there are some good comedic beats. Bart lecture a women's society about the evils of gambling (it makes sense in context) and he tosses in a Pappyism or two, and having to break a crime to get the sheriff to throw him into jail so he can avoid the bad guys chasing him. The bit where Bart manages to capture Sherwood, is a little broad (a chicken flies into Bart's face?!?), but overall entertaining.
"Tale" would have made a perfectly good Bret episode. The problem is that... well, it's a Bart episode. Like I said, Kelly is good enough at the comedy stuff. It just doesn't seem to gibe with his character. Or maybe it does, and it's the more serious/Western/noir episodes that don't gibe. It's hard to tell because the production staff goes back and forth on the "tone" of the Bart episodes.
When Bart and Bret are alternating episodes, it isn't so easy to spot. It just seems weird when Bart has to do the serious stuff, and the comedy stuff. The production stuff clearly didn't want to abandon the light-hearted Maverick brand. But they apparently couldn't keep it up for all of the episodes. With Garner gone, they gave both to Bart... and the character suffered for it. Well, "suffered" might not be the word. We still got decent episodes like this one, and a comedy performance by Kelly. It's just that the more serious episodes were the one to suffer, as they weren't 'Maverick' and Kelly as Bart wasn't playing to his strengths when he did the serious stuff.
But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. What do you think?
"Tale" is more of a comedy episode. And Jack Kelly as Bart is perfectly fine as a comedic foil. He's ably assisted by Ben Gage as a hidebound sheriff. Gage isn't as memorable as he was as Dooley in "Gun-Shy". But that's because the episode isn't doing a parody of anything, either.
Pat Crowley is easy on the eyes, and Ed Kemmer makes a decent bad guy. And there are some good comedic beats. Bart lecture a women's society about the evils of gambling (it makes sense in context) and he tosses in a Pappyism or two, and having to break a crime to get the sheriff to throw him into jail so he can avoid the bad guys chasing him. The bit where Bart manages to capture Sherwood, is a little broad (a chicken flies into Bart's face?!?), but overall entertaining.
"Tale" would have made a perfectly good Bret episode. The problem is that... well, it's a Bart episode. Like I said, Kelly is good enough at the comedy stuff. It just doesn't seem to gibe with his character. Or maybe it does, and it's the more serious/Western/noir episodes that don't gibe. It's hard to tell because the production staff goes back and forth on the "tone" of the Bart episodes.
When Bart and Bret are alternating episodes, it isn't so easy to spot. It just seems weird when Bart has to do the serious stuff, and the comedy stuff. The production stuff clearly didn't want to abandon the light-hearted Maverick brand. But they apparently couldn't keep it up for all of the episodes. With Garner gone, they gave both to Bart... and the character suffered for it. Well, "suffered" might not be the word. We still got decent episodes like this one, and a comedy performance by Kelly. It's just that the more serious episodes were the one to suffer, as they weren't 'Maverick' and Kelly as Bart wasn't playing to his strengths when he did the serious stuff.
But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. What do you think?