Lassie (1954 TV Series)

### Producer

Robert Golden, Robert Maxwell, Dusty Bruce, Rudolph E. Abel, Bonita Granville, and, Leon Fromkess

### Production company

Lassie Television, Robert Maxwell Associates and, Jack Wrather Productions

### Language

English

**Lassie (1954 TV Series)** is an American television series that follows the adventures of a female Rough Collie dog named Lassie and her companions, both human and animal. The show was the creation of producer Robert Maxwell and animal trainer Rudd Weatherwax and was televised from September 12, 1954, to March 25, 1973. The seventh longest-running U.S. primetime television series after The Simpsons, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Gunsmoke, Law & Order, Family Guy and NCIS, the show ran for 17 seasons on CBS before entering first-run syndication for its final two seasons. Initially filmed in black and white, the show transitioned to color in 1965.

Lassie (1954 TV Series) previously aired in on The Family Channel. All seasons was aired,

## Overview

The first 10 seasons of the series saw Lassie living on a farm, first with the Miller family (Jeff, his mother Ellen, and her father George - who was called "Gramps" by Jeff). Season 4 saw the Millers taking in young orphan Timmy, who then lived with them on the farm, as well as the unexpected death of Gramps, (reflecting the real life death of actor George Cleveland, who played the character), and with that the Millers moved off the farm, but Timmy and Lassie would stay behind with his new foster parents, Paul and Ruth Martin, who also took over the farm. All 10 of the Miller/Martin farm seasons would for the most part focus on "boy and his dog" adventures with Jeff or Timmy getting involved in some sort of trouble, and Lassie eventually coming to the rescue.

Seasons 11–16 were the "Ranger years" of the series, as Lassie (because she was not able to go to Australia with the Martins when Paul got a job teaching agriculture there) was taken in by U.S. Forest Ranger Corey Stuart (who appeared in a few episodes of season 10) and began to work with the U.S. Forest Service. Color filming was exploited during the Ranger years with Lassie and her friends sent to exotic locations such as Sequoia National Forest and Monument Valley, creating miniature travelogues for viewers. Other rangers would be featured during the latter part of this era when Robert Bray (who played Stuart) left the series.

For season 17, the program shifted gears again and became essentially an anthology series, with Lassie traveling on her own, getting into different adventures each week (similar in format to *The Littlest Hobo*). No explanation was given as to why Lassie was no longer with the Forest Service. Some episodes during this final CBS season were animals only.

During seasons 18 and 19 (with the series having moved to first run syndication), Lassie was taken in by Garth Holden (played by Ron Hayes) who was in charge of the Holden Ranch – a home for orphaned boys – which he ran with his college-age son and his friend. This (somewhat) brought the show back to its roots by giving Lassie a farm/ranch home base, which is where she settled in for the final two years of the series.

## Characters and cast

### Human leads

#### 1954–1957: Miller Family (Jeff's Collie)

* Ellen Miller – war-widowed farm woman (Jan Clayton)
* Jeff Miller – Ellen's eleven-year-old son (Tommy Rettig)
* George "Gramps" Miller – Ellen's father-in-law and Jeff's paternal grandfather (George Cleveland)
* Sylvester "Porky" Brockway – a farm boy and Jeff's friend (Joey D. Vieira – using the stage name "Donald Keeler")
* Constable Clay Horton – the sheriff (Richard Garland)

#### 1957–1964: Martin Family (Timmy & Lassie)

* Timmy Martin – a foster boy on the Miller farm (Jon Provost)
* Paul Martin – a young farmer, Ruth's husband and Timmy's adoptive father (Jon Shepodd 1957–1958; Hugh Reilly 1958–1964)
* Ruth Martin – Paul's wife and Timmy's adoptive mother (Cloris Leachman 1957–1958; June Lockhart 1958–1964)
* Petrie J. Martin – Paul's uncle (George Chandler) (1957–1959)
* Cully Wilson – a neighbor of the Martins, who was a farmer and nature lover (Andy Clyde) (1959–1964)
* Ralph "Boomer" Bates – a neighbor of the Martins who owned a dog named Mike and was Timmy's best friend (Todd Ferrell) (1958–1959)
* Scott Richards, another of Timmy's friends (Kelly Junge Jr.) (1958)

#### 1964–1970: U.S. Forest Service

* Forest Ranger Corey Stuart (Robert Bray) (1964–1968)
* Assistant Forest Ranger Hank Whitfield (Clyde Howdy)
* Forest Ranger Bob Erickson (Jack De Mave) (1968–1970)
* Forest Ranger Scott Turner (Jed Allan) (1968–1970)

#### 1971–1973: Holden Ranch

* Garth Holden – director of the Holden Ranch (Ron Hayes)
* Ron Holden – Garth's son (Skip Burton)
* Dale Mitchell – Ron's friend (Larry Wilcox)
* Keith Holden – Garth's brother (Larry Pennell)
* Lucy Baker – a deaf child living near the Holden Ranch (Pamelyn Ferdin)

#### Dog actors as Lassie

* Pal (Pilot episodes)
* Lassie Junior (1954–1959)
* Spook (1960)
* Baby (1960–1966)
* Mire (1966–1971)
* Hey Hey (1971–1973)

## **Media information**

### **Broadcast history**

First-run Lassie was televised September 12, 1954 to March 24, 1973 with its first 17 seasons airing on CBS Sundays at 7:00 p.m. EST. In 1971, in order to promote community-related programming among local affiliates, the Federal Communications Commission moved primetime Sundays to 8:00 P.M. EST with the institution of the Prime Time Access Rule. CBS executives felt Lassie would not be well received in a time slot other than its traditional 7:00 p.m. slot, and, with the network's other family programs set, the show was canceled. (Lassie was among several shows that CBS canceled during this time period as part of a change in its target demographics.) Lassie then entered first-run syndication with Jack Wrather and Campbell's Soup still on board, and remained on the air for another two years with its final episode airing in March 1973. All totaled, 591 episodes were produced.

The Family Channel aired Lassie same year when CBS was airing and become the second most watched family show on in the channel.

### **DVD releases**

The series was released to DVD between 2001–2007.

## External links

* Lassie's official website 2012-12-05 at Archive.today
* Lassie's Twitter page
* Lassie at Imdb

1. ↑ https://archive.is/20121205191803/http://www.lassie.com/