Timmy and Lassie (and Timmy)
If you've got a Roku TV, you've got the Lassie Channel!
So you had a falling out with the guy who gave you their Netflix password and now you’re missing Trailer Park Boys? Or you heard Severance was good, but you don’t wanna pay $10/month after the promo rate runs out for Apple TV? Or your budget-constrained local library no longer offers the video streaming service Kanopy?
If you have a Roku TV, there’s a whole new universe to explore.
On the channel guide, scroll down past the local listings. You’ll find a TON of channels dedicated to damn near anything!
Newscasts from Denver. A block of channels for westerns and murder mysteries and medical dramas. There are dedicated channels for Carol Burnett and Star Trek and even Red Green!
I discovered the Lassie channel.
I was born Timothy Grover in 1957, in what some refer to as “the golden age of television.” Don’t know how “golden” they were when the only colors you could get on any of the three channels were black, white, or shades of gray (not the book).
Little Timmy Grover was a huge fan of Timmy and Lassie! Timmy Martin was blond, smart, and dimpled. He prayed at bedtime, obeyed his parents, and never got grounded or spanked for the chaos he helped create. Those were different times, and that was 50’s television.
I got confused one night on the Lassie channel when the opening credits for the show called it Jeff’s Collie. Lassie was in it with…Jeff and his family. In a different episode, Jeff (played by Tommy Rettig), was hanging with Timmy–who was living with Jeff’s family (his mom and “Gramps” –where was Dad?). Then suddenly Timmy is with a mom played by Cloris Leachman and a dad I’d never seen before but he’s still got Lassie and what happened to Jeff?
Finally Timmy shows up with the family we’re most familiar with–June Lockhart as mom, Hugh Reilly as dad, and George Chandler as uncle Petrie. AI tells us “Petrie” is a popular Finnish name.
What was going on with all the family shuffles in Eisenhower’s America? Thankfully there’s Wiki to clear all this all up.
Lassie ran from 1954-1973, making it the ninth longest-running scripted primetime TV series in history, with 591 episodes produced. Every rating period during its 17 year run, Lassie placed first in its 6pm Sunday night time slot.
The program had several iterations.
“Jeff’s Collie” featured the Miller family–mother Jan Clayton as Ellen, Tommy Rettig as Jeff, and George Cleveland as Gramps. Ellen was apparently a war widow. The diameter of her head was bigger than her waist.
Jon Provost, playing Timmy, joined the family at some point. Apparently he was a foster kid.
The Millers moved along and the Martins took over the farm and Timmy’s guardianship in season four. Dad Paul Martin was played by Jon Shepodd, and Des Moines Roosevelt grad Cloris Leachman played Ruth Martin. George Chandler played uncle Petrie.
From 1958-64, June Lockhart and Hugh Reilly took over as parents…with the same names and closely resembling the other Martin family! That’s spooky—like swapping both Darren and Samantha in Bewitched!
The series continued in 1965 with Lassie joining the US Forest Service, with Roger Bray as agent Cory Stuart. Paul Martin had apparently gotten a job teaching agriculture in Australia and apparently Lassie fare dingos.
The final season on CBS had Lassie on her own. I like to think she later joined a rogue band of coydogs, attacking chickens like the ones always underfoot in Timmy’s dooryard.
Observations from various Lassie episodes:
–When Ruth Martin needs to make a phone call, she has to ring Jenny, the switchboard operator in Calverton. She uses the same style phone I have in my garage, given to me by my friend Bob! There’s bite-shaped damage on the mouthpiece–I contend Lassie did it!
The same-type phone used in early Lassie episodes. The platform makes nice storage for a half-dozen remotes belonging to stuff I probably don’t have anymore.
–Gramps won a brand new Case tractor at the state fair in Capitol City. He wasn't too fond of such a new-fangled contraption and drove it into a tree. Pretty thick-headed, that old timer. Can’t remember the end, but maybe they tied a rope to Lassie and she pulled it away from the tree.
–Every vehicle that showed up at the Martin’s farmhouse parked within six inches of the front door. Were the visitors that lazy? No other room in the dooryard for parking?
–Gramps & Jeff were camping once along a trout stream. While Gramps fished, a bear cub wandered into camp and Jeff gave him a freaking cookie!!! Gramps scared it off, mama bear showed up later, Lassie tussled with her until Gramps chased it away with a fire stick.
Then Gramps and Jeff stayed there to camp! I wonder what Ellen Miller had to say about that?
–Lassie once waited on a hillside for an escaping bad guy (he’d stolen a prize greyhound) to round a curve. Then she jumped into the freaking truck cab!!! Underdog couldn’t do that, and he was a cartoon!
–In one episode, Timmy and Lassie were trying to help train a shy German Shepherd to be a military service dog. They were on an Army base and the dog trainer was showing them a long-range missile.
Welcome to the Cold War, kiddos. When the time comes, remember to duck and cover! Say your prayers and sleep well.
–The Martin family's milk cow, Bessie, seemed to be going dry. Ellen sold her to the local meat locker without telling Timmy. Just as the butchers were getting ready to transform Bessie from hoof to hamburger, Timmy & Lassie stopped them. It turned out Bessie wasn’t under-producing after all.
This part is sobering, and may reflect the mid-1950s welfare system.
The family of Timmy’s friend (let’s call him Boomer) lost their milk cow and couldn’t afford to replace her. Boomer had been sneaking over to and milking Bessie so his sick little sister had…milk.
Two random thoughts here:
Couldn’t the mom try breastfeeding?
And do you think maybe the baby was sick from drinking unpasteurized milk?
–It seemed like quite often, Lassie would sit next to Timmy for several minutes and watch major shit going down before doing anything. You’d think a brilliant collie would be smarter than the six year old boy bossing her around. Let’s wait a few more minutes to see if the gas tank explodes before we rescue the driver, shall we Lassie?
A few more tidbits:
–The famous Lassie theme was whistled by Muzzy Marcellino and was called “The Whistler.” (BTW, the Andy Griffith theme, titled “The Fishin Hole” was written and whistled by Earl Hagen).
–During the series, dog actors who played Lassie included Pal, Lassie Junior, Spook, Baby, Mire, and Hey Hey. They must have gotten confused being called “Lassie” on set.
–Jon Provost, born in 1950, wrote an autobiography titled “Timmy’s in the Well.” I read somewhere that a well was the only place Timmy never got stuck in! Maybe us little boomers were confusing Timmy & Lassie with Davey and Goliath???
–Unlike many child stars, Jon Provost grew up to become a well-adjusted adult, continued to act, and sold real estate. He still makes celebrity appearances and has been involved with many different charities. Sounds like a super great guy, even if his real name isn’t Timmy. Read more about him and even order an autographed picture at jonprovost.com.
Jon Provost with Lassie, 1962
My advice in these increasingly stupid times?
Watch a few episodes on the Lassie channel and let me know what you think!
The Alfred Hitchcock channel can wait.