At the end of the pilot episode, matriarch Ma Ketcham (Neva Patterson) blackmails Nichols into serving as the town sheriff, a position which carries little actual authority but considerable danger.

Toward the end of the first season, Beck, still a series regular, appeared in two episodes in the completely unrelated role of Orv, who gets Nichols into trouble with his schemes.

In effect, Beck was playing a double role, but only Nichols and Mitch mention his resemblance to Ketcham in the first of the two episodes.

The primary difference between the two fights was that Garner, now more than a dozen years older, wore a nightshirt while boxing in the Nichols version.

The series did not do well in the ratings and was quickly retitled James Garner as Nichols in October 1971 to capitalize on the star's popularity.

The low ratings also resulted in the decision by the program's producers to kill off the title character in the final episode to retool the series.

Jim administered justice in a somewhat more conventional (and it was hoped, popular) Western fashion, was offered the job of sheriff by Ma Ketcham, then rode out of town on a motorcycle, saying he expected he might come back sometime.

This solution made recasting and retitling the program unnecessary while allowing for considerable changes, and leaving the door open for a second season.

The car company had originally offered to sponsor the show in full but, after the screening of the pilot, a wife of one of the executives complained that Nichols was not Maverick, the popular series that Garner starred in from 1957 to 1961.