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( July 2012 ) The Littlest Hobo The First Season DVD cover Genre Family / Children 's Adventure / drama Starring London ( both series ) Toro ( original series ) Litlon ( original series ) Thorn ( original series ) Country of origin Canada Original language ( s ) English No. of seasons 6 No. of episodes 114 Production Camera setup Single Running time 30 minutes ( including commercials ) Release Original network Syndication ( Original 1963 - 1965 series ) CTV ( 1979 - 1985 series ) Picture format SDTV First shown in September 24, 1963 - November 16, 1965 ( first series ) Original release October 11, 1979 ( second series ) -- March 7, 1985 ( second series ) The Littlest Hobo is a Canadian television series based upon a 1958 American film of the same name directed by Charles R. Rondeau. The series first aired from 1963 to 1965 in syndication, and was revived for a popular second run on CTV, spanning six seasons, from October 11, 1979 to March 7, 1985. It starred an ownerless dog. All three productions revolved around a stray German Shepherd, the titular Hobo, who wanders from town to town, helping people in need. Although the concept ( of a dog saving the day ) was perhaps similar to that of Lassie, the Littlest Hobo 's destiny was to befriend those who apparently needed help, portrayed by well known actors in celebrity guest appearance roles. Despite the attempts of the many people whom he helped to adopt him, he appeared to prefer to be on his own, and would head off by himself at the end of each episode. Never actually named on - screen, the dog is often referred to by the name Hobo or by the names given by temporary human companions. Hobo 's background is also unexplained on - screen. His origins, motivation and ultimate destination are also never explained. Although some characters appeared in more than one episode, the only constant was the Littlest Hobo himself. Rights to the Littlest Hobo series currently belong to Mighty Motion Pictures located in Spruce Grove, Alberta. Contents 1 1963 -- 1965 series 2 1979 -- 1985 series 2.1 Plot 3 Episodes 4 DVD release 4.1 1963 -- 1965 series 4.2 1979 -- 1985 series 5 References 6 External links 1963 -- 1965 series Following the 1958 film, the 1960s original TV series was aired in syndication around the world, including the UK on the ITV between 1964 -- 1967. Although the series was originally broadcast in black and white, it was in fact produced in colour. The VCI Entertainment DVD release of the series featured the colour versions of the episodes, except for the opening and closing credits which have only survived in black and white. The German shepherd dogs featured in both 1960s and 1980s series were owned and trained by Charles ( Chuck ) P. Eisenmann. The primary star was named London, but several of London 's relatives, including Toro, Litlon, and Thorn, also played scenes as the Hobo. Eisenmann used his own training methods to work with his dogs which involved educating them to think and understand very specific directions, to recognize colors and to understand English, German and French. He promoted his education method by touring with his dogs to offer live demonstrations, appearing on TV and radio shows and by writing books. Eisenmann recounts many stories from the filming of the series in his 1968 dog training book Stop ! Sit ! and Think. Other books he wrote include The Better Dog : The Educated Dog which contains updated training material and A Dog 's Day in Court which offers a dog 's point of view towards training methods. The dogs are German Shepherds with `` reverse mask '' markings. After purchasing London, Eisenmann began to breed his own dogs, mostly studding out his males, even though he owned some females that he bred to as well. He bred particularly for the reverse mask, that is commonly seen on all of his dogs, and is unpopular with breeders of the German Shepherd dog as it is not in the breed standard. Shiloh Shepherd dogs are stated to trace their heritage back to London 's relatives and are inspired by the intelligence Eisenmann 's dogs were reputed to have. 1979 -- 1985 series Title card In 1979 CTV revived the series. The New Littlest Hobo ( as it was sometimes called ), which ran for six seasons, was shot on videotape rather than film. It has since been syndicated in many countries including the U.S. and UK. In the course of its run, a mixture of well - known Canadian and Hollywood guest stars appeared such as Al Waxman, Carol Lynley, John Ireland, Megan Follows, Rex Hagon, Alan Hale, Jr., August Schellenberg, DeForest Kelley, Ray Walston, Morey Amsterdam, Jeff Wincott, Michael Ironside, Patrick Macnee, Abe Vigoda, Saul Rubinek, John Vernon, Keenan Wynn, Chris Makepeace, Karen Kain, Vic Morrow, Henry Gibson, John Carradine and Leslie Nielsen. In 1979, 16 - year - old Mike Myers made an early acting appearance playing the friend of a paraplegic boy in the episode `` Boy on Wheels ''. Charles ( Chuck ) P. Eisenmann appeared as a dog trainer named Chuck in the first - season episode `` Stand In '' and as dog kennel operator named Mr. Charles in part one of the episode `` Voyageurs '' from the sixth season. The series aired on CTV on Thursday nights at 7 : 30 p.m. Reruns continued on CTV, CTV Two and other national networks up until the early 2010s, when CTV replaced it with a block of music videos from Juicebox. In the UK the series premièred on the BBC on April 8, 1982, but only the first three series was shown and repeated until 1989. From April 1991 ITV picked up the series and each of the local companies played out the full series until late 1994. Plot Plots ranged from the simple `` dog - helps - person '' stories to secret agent - type adventures. The series theme song, `` Maybe Tomorrow '', was sung by Terry Bush. In 2005, Bush commercially released the song on his debut album, entitled Maybe Tomorrow. The song was later used in a 2011 Dulux paint advertisement. Additionally, in 2017, the song was in a Canada 150 Co-Op stores advertisement. In season 5 's two - part episode `` The Genesis Tapes '' a scientist and a reporter theorized that Hobo was a type of superior canine. The reporter theorized that there was one dog and the scientist theorized that there were up to one hundred such dogs. The two part episode had the scientist and reporter trying to capture Hobo to study him, with the reporter wanting a story and the scientist wanting to claim to be the first to discover the meta - canine as he put it. Hobo succeeds in destroying VHS tapes of himself that the scientist and reporter had intended to use to prove that he was an evolved canine. Both episodes feature flashback footage from the first five seasons of the series, with the first episode being the only episode of the revival series to include footage from the original 1960s series. The episode does not confirm that Hobo was indeed a superior canine either by evolution or design ; it was simply the theory of the scientist and reporter. Trainer Chuck Eisenmann used several dogs to play the role of `` London '' as he had selected dogs entirely based on their appearance. He determined which dogs to use for the scenes by making use of their abilities such as if one dog did not mind carrying objects or if one were small enough to safely jump through a car window and maneuver through the seats. In Eisenmann 's book, A Dog 's Day in Court, one of the dogs used in the 1970s series was London 's grandson, who was also known as London. A 2005 episode of the CTV sitcom Corner Gas entitled `` The Littlest Yarbo '' pays tribute to the series by having a character ( Hank Yarbo ) convinced that a stray dog visiting the town is Hobo, even though the dog is of a completely different breed. The episode ends with a reprise of Terry Bush 's `` Maybe Tomorrow '' theme song. Episodes Main article : List of The Littlest Hobo episodes DVD release 1963 -- 1965 series VCI Entertainment has released 12 episodes from the original series to DVD. The release features the colour versions of the first 3 episodes, except for the opening and closing sequences which have only survived in monochrome. The last 9 episodes were released in black and white. 1979 -- 1985 series Mediumrare Entertainment have only released the first two series of The Littlest Hobo on DVD. The Season One DVD, featured the theme tune `` Maybe Tomorrow '' on DVD in Region 2 & 4 on April 26, 2010. DVD Name Episodes Release dates Region 1 Region 2 Region 4 Season One 24 N / A April 26, 2010 Sept, 2010 Season Two 18 N / A September 6, 2010 N / A References Jump up ^ http://ctva.biz/Canada/LittlestHobo1963.htm Jump up ^ `` An Oral History of The Littlest Hobo, Canada 's Greatest TV Show VICE Canada ''. Retrieved 2016 - 07 - 08. Jump up ^ Mia Simpson ( 2006 - 08 - 18 ). `` Roseburg 's Charles Eisenmann The News - Review ''. NRtoday.com. Retrieved 2011 - 06 - 25. Jump up ^ Tina M. Barber ( 2010 - 12 - 31 ). `` What is a Shiloh Shepherd ( 1990 ) ''. Shilohshepherds.info. Retrieved 2011 - 06 - 25. Jump up ^ `` Charles Eisenmann Books - The Littlest Hobo - German Shepherd Dogs ''. Cedarwoods-k9.com. Retrieved 2011 - 06 - 25. Jump up ^ Tina M. Barber ( 2010 - 12 - 31 ). `` What is a Shiloh Shepherd ( 1990 ) ''. Shilohshepherds.info. Retrieved 2011 - 06 - 25. Jump up ^ `` Terry Bush 's biographical page ''. Systemsmedic.com. Retrieved 2011 - 06 - 25. Jump up ^ Johnnys Amusements ( 2011 - 04 - 13 ), The New Dulux Dog TV Advert Apr. 2011, retrieved 2016 - 08 - 12 Jump up ^ `` Canada 150 with Co-op ''. www. fcl. crs. Retrieved 2017 - 08 - 06. Jump up ^ https://www.vcientertainment.com/LITTLEST-HOBO-TV-SERIES-COLLECTION-1/Film-Categories?keyword=the%20littlest%20hobo External links Television in Canada portal The Littlest Hobo 1958 film on IMDb The Littlest Hobo 1958 film at AllMovie The Littlest Hobo 1960s series on IMDb The Littlest Hobo 1970s revival on IMDb The Littlest Hobo song in Spanish Terry Bush 's site. Theme song writer and vocalist on the 1979 series Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Littlest_Hobo&oldid=802266293 '' Categories : 1958 films American films English - language films Films about dogs Television shows about dogs Fictional dogs CTV Television Network shows Canadian children 's television series 1963 Canadian television series debuts 1965 Canadian television series endings 1979 Canadian television series debuts 1985 Canadian television series endings Fictional hoboes Television series produced in Vancouver Television series produced in Toronto Television series by 20th Century Fox Television Television series by Glen - Warren Productions 1980s Canadian television series Canadian drama television series Hidden categories : Articles needing additional references from July 2012 All articles needing additional references Talk Contents About Wikipedia Français 한국어 Italiano עברית 日本 語 Русский Simple English Edit links This page was last edited on 25 September 2017, at 01 : 31. 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Question: who sang the theme tune to the littlest hobo
Answer: Terry Bush