Figure 1.--The pooch of coure is not Lassie. It is a basset hound, Pokerman III)as Pokey. The boys are Donald Keeler as Sylvester "Porky" Brockway and Tommy Rettig as Jeff Miller. This is a scene from the second season (1955-1956). The episode was 'The Dog Show' (October 2, 1955. When Tommy grew up, a new family and boy had to be found for Lassie.

'Lassie' was made over 17 years, a record for a show with children involved. Normally a series can not survive the children grwing up and losing their cuteness. The series here solved the problen by finding a new family. Of course Lassie could not be replaced as the featured chracter. Thus was another television first. Lassie first appeared with its original cast in 1954. The main character was Jeff Miller (Tommy Rettig) who remained with the series through 1957. He was joined by Ellen Miller (Jan Clayton) of course his mom, and Gramps (George Cleveland). They lived on a small, modern farm outside a small town. In 1957 mom Miller adopted an orphan boy, Timmy (Jon Provost). Ellen Miller soon found she could no longer care for the farm which she sold it to the Martins, who of course decided to care for Timmy and Lassie. The Millers appeared during 1957-64. In 1964 the Martins with Timmy took off for Australia, the only American TV family I ever known to have emmigrated. The travails of Lassie then become too complicate to detail here.

Created: 1:03 AM 2/3/2008
Last updated: 2:48 PM 11/10/2017