Portrait of Lassie
75 Years of Lassie
FAQ
Where Can I Watch Lassie?
Lassie Facts
Lassie Episode Guide: Seasons 1-19
Whatever Happened To These Lassie Cast Members?
Other Lassie Series: Lassie's Rescue Rangers, The New Lassie, Lassie on Animal Planet
Lassie Movies, Radio Series, Television Specials, Videos, DVDs
The Lassie Whitman Novels and Big Little Books, With a Short List of Other Lassie Books
Lassie Photo Album: a History of the Character in Pictures
Lassie Links
Lassie Articles from TV Guide and Elsewhere
Lassie Fanfiction
The Lassie Trivia Test
The Lassie Mailing List
 
Memories of Lassie
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                                       © 1996 - 2024 Linda M. Young

 

Perhaps for you it began in a darkened movie theatre, breathlessly watching the story of a dog's faithful devotion. Or maybe you were a child of the '50s sprawled on the carpet before a wooden television console, eyes fixed on flickering black-and-white. Perhaps you became acquainted later, on a color set or by syndicated rerun. Maybe, like so many of us, you always awaited those revival series and movies with anticipation. Whenever it began, the attraction has never gone away—you still enjoy love, loyalty and adventure with a collie named Lassie.

Lassie remains one of my earliest TV memories: one of sitting cross-legged in front of one of those big polished wood monochrome sets with their woven speaker boxes and Bakelite control knobs, watching snowy reruns of Jeff's Collie on Boston's WBZ as I also watched the new Timmy episodes on Sunday nights at 7 p.m. on CBS, sponsored always by Campbell Soups. I remember the advent of the ranger and the all-animal episodes, being disillusioned as the stories grew steadily more "relevant"—and, sadly, (for me, anyway) more boring, of having high hopes for The New Lassie, and finding only one outstanding story—and one real "howler"—in the lot. A decade later the Cinar series that ran on the Animal Planet network caught my attention.

Whatever my own disappointments, the call of her adventures has remained strong. If there's a Lassie rerun on, I can't resist it, and have caught reruns (first in syndication on various Providence and Boston stations, then on Nickelodeon and Animal Planet, Discovery Kids and WHT, now on Angel2 and FETV and whomever else will broadcast it) when I can. I have all of the DVDs released in the U.S. and even a couple of videotapes and Region 2 offerings. Like Lassie, we fans remain faithful.

And yes, "The Odyssey" is still one of my favorite television moments of all time.

 

Information on this site came from the following sources:
  • The Internet Movie Database
  • Tim Brooks and Earl Marsh, The Complete Directory To Prime-Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946 to present, Ballantine, various editions
  • Frank Buxton and Bill Owens, The Big Broadcast, Viking Press, 1972
  • Harry Castleman and Walter J. Podrazik, Harry and Wally's Favorite TV Shows, Prentice Hall, 1989
  • Mike Cline, information on "The Journey" via e-mail
  • Ace Collins, Lassie: A Dog's Life, Penguin Books, 1993
  • John Dunning, Tune in Yesterday and On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio, Oxford University Press, 1998
  • Larry James Gianakos, Television Drama Series Programming: A Comprehensive Chronicle, Scarecrow Press, 1980 (provided to me by Tom Weinstein)
  • Google files that include newspaper articles about Lassie
  • 1957 Life Magazine article, "A Big Changeover for Lassie"
  • Alex McNicol, Total Television, Viking Penguin, various editions
  • The Providence Journal-Bulletin television sections 1954-1973
  • Vincent Terrace, The Complete Encyclopedia of Television Programs 1947-1976, A.S. Barnes, 1976
  • TV Guide (various articles)
  • Rudd Weatherwax, The Story of Lassie, Duell Sloan & Pierce, 1950
  • David Zinman, Saturday Afternoon at the Bijou, Arlington House, 1973
  • and all the wonderful folks who write to give me information, to whom I owe so many thanks!


Lassie is presently the property of DreamWorks (previously Eric Knight's family, Rudd or Robert Weatherwax, Robert Maxwell Productions, The Wrather Corporation, Palladium Entertainment, Broadway Video and Golden Books Television/CINAR, and Classic Media). This is a fan page. No copyright infringment is intended. Any opinions stated are my own and do not reflect the thoughts of the creators or producers.


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