LASSIE Episode Guide: Season 6 1959-1960

A new Lassie takes over the role at the beginning of the season, due to "Lassie Jr's" bout with cancer. "Lassie Jr" recovered but never worked on the series again. Rudd Weatherwax was at that time training one of "Lassie Jr's" sons to be an eventual replacement, but the dog ("Baby") was still young yet. Another son of Lassie Jr was rushed into training. This dog, nicknamed "Spook," was never at ease on the set due to an accident early in filming. According to Ace Collins' book, "Spook" only served as Lassie for six months, but the dog actually appears briefly at the end of season five, in all of season six and most of season seven. Toward the end of season seven "Spook" is replaced often with the former Lassie-in-training, "Baby," the Lassie with the largest, most expressive eyes. "Baby" continued in the role into the ranger years, but "Spook" is still around early in season eight (as in "Lassie at the Grand Canyon").

People who had not complained when Lockhart and Reilly took over their roles as Timmy's parents immediately noticed that "wasn't the real Lassie" (the new dog was visibly different, with a much wider blaze) and wrote thousands of letters.

That "new window" between the kitchen door and the window of Timmy's bedroom? It finally has a corresponding window inside the house at the end of the hall, instead of the old cellar door.

"The New Refrigerator" (09/06/59):

Ruth loves her new refrigerator, but Lassie prefers meals from the old icebox instead—precipitating a battle of wills between the two women of the household. Mr. Cuppy: Don Beddoe.
   • Note: Poor Ellen Miller! For three and a half seasons she hinted she wanted an electric refrigerator, but Ruth was the one who got it! This is another episode June Lockhart loves to tell tales about; it is, admittedly, silly. In talking to Mr. Cuppy, the iceman, Ruth mentions they take coal and oil from him in the winter. One wonders if the idea of "Mr. Cully" came from this gentleman's name, as Cully Wilson's truck said "Coal and Oil" on the side. The old icebox can be seen in later episodes, most notably "The Sulky Race," in the barn, after Paul has removed the door latches to avoid young children being locked in. This is a risk modern children don't have to worry about, as refrigerator doors since the 1970s are now held shut magnetically rather than with latches.

"Old Henry" (09/13/59):

Timmy borrows money from the bank to buy an old plowhorse for a dollar when he finds out the animal will be destroyed, but Paul says they cannot keep feeding the animal since he can't do any work. When Timmy remembers having seen a harness in an old mine and goes in to fetch it, he becomes trapped. Amos Carter: Robert Burton. Jody Higgins (Auctioneer): Emory Parnell. Farmer: Edmund Cobb.
   • Note: Can't be sure from the angle they approach the mine from, but this may be the first appearance of Vasquez Rocks to represent the wilder, Western-type scenery that will periodically appear during the remainder of the farm episodes. At the end of this story, Timmy is given a wallet with a photo of Lassie on it (it is "Lassie Jr," and not "Spook" who is presently portraying Lassie). This wallet was given as a viewer premium for fans of the series and occasionally appears on e-Bay auctions.

"The Contest" (09/20/59):

Timmy enters a "why I love my pet" contest and entrusts Lassie to get the entry to the mailman on time, but she spends so much time aiding neighbors in trouble that the letter is not delivered. Willy Brewster: Linda Wrather. Sam Burke: Trevor Bardette. Silas Huff: Jon Lormer. Contest Announcer: Hal K. Dawson.
   • Trivia: The contest is sponsored by the Calverton Sentinel, which figures again in "Star Reporter."
   • Note: Flashbacks from "The Big Cat" are shown in this episode. Trevor Bardette's last name is misspelled as "Barette" in the credits.
   • My Favorite Scene: Willy tells Timmy and Ruth that Lassie shouldn't be penalized for being a "Good Smartan" "like in the Bible."

"The Mascot" (09/27/59):

Baseball great Roy Campanella comes to coach the Calverton Boys' League just as Timmy puts in a bid for Lassie to become team mascot. But when Timmy overhears two boys bargaining over who will pitch the first game and is threatened that Lassie will not get the mascot position if he tells, he's thrown in a quandary. Campanella plays himself. Jim Flynn: Rickey Murray. Bob: Terry Rangno.
   • Note: Catcher Roy Campanella played first in the Negro Leagues, then became a Major League ballplayer after Jackie Robinson broke the baseball color barrier in the 1940s. In January 1958 Campanella was involved in an auto accident and was paralyzed from the shoulders down. He eventually recovered some use of his arms, but never walked again. During tryouts, Jim is wearing a shirt that says "Spooks" that looks like some type of baseball team logo. Perhaps it was an actual Little League team? It's just a funny coincidence, since the dog playing Lassie at this point is nicknamed "Spook"! This is the only time you see Timmy playing organized baseball with a large team. This evidently was a real baseball field, with a railway line that ran along the outfield.

"The Sulky Race" (10/04/59):

A down-on-his-luck harness horse racer who needs to win just one more race to start his own farm boards his two horses, Big Boy, his future stud horse, and Lazy Joe, Big Boy's stablemate, at the Martin farm. But at an early time-trial, Big Boy turns up lame. Sam Snow: Paul Fix. Race Announcer: H. Lloyd Nelson.
   • Note: This is a rare episode where you see the back wall of the kitchen. There seems to be a whatnot on the wall, something else unidentifiable behind Sam (perhaps Ruth's treadle sewing machine that is sometimes near the door to the hallway), and a door (presumably to a closet, but also possibly to the parlor, as there is a corresponding door on the other side, next to the radio). When you see the wall in other episodes; there is no door.

"Growing Pains" (10/11/59):

After Timmy gets a "real shiner" in a fight, Ruth can't understand the self-respect he's gained with his larger classmates and forbids him to play football with them. But Timmy defies his mother so he won't be called a "mamma's boy." Steve: Steve Talbot. Mike: Mike McGreevey. Eddie: Eddie Little.
   • Note: Timmy says he's nine-and-a-half in this episode.

"The Flying Machine" (10/18/59):

As the smallest in the group, Timmy chosen to be test pilot for the gang's homemade glider. But the test flight will be held over a cliff! Steve: Steve Talbot. Eddie: Eddie Little. Alma Stevens: Shirley Mitchell.
   • Trivia: Steve's brother is a corporal in the Army. Alma and Ruth have a mutual friend, Carol, and Alma has three sons, two of them named Dick and Teddy.
   • Note: Steve and Eddie seem to be playing "themselves," as they mention their names as being "Steven Talbot" and "Edward Little." Alma mentions being in Creston, which was frequently mentioned in the Jeff episodes. When Alma is in the living room talking to Ruth, check out the bookcase behind her—the bookend holding up the books is a collie! Favorite line: When Timmy grabs a big handful after she asks him if he wants a brownie, Ruth chides him, "A brownie means two, not five."

"The UNICEF Story" (10/25/59):

Since this episode was withdrawn from the original syndication, I have included a longer than usual summary for it; it was written specifically for the 1959 "Trick or Treat for UNICEF" campaign.

On a windy night, Lassie hears screaming coming from the woods, and upon investigating, finds an unfamiliar girl wandering about. Befriending the girl, Lassie brings her home to the Martins. They discover she is Anna, a European refugee that the Wilkins family has taken in temporarily. She is enrolled in the Calverton school and Timmy begins acclimating her to the area by taking her on a picnic. He notices she always eats as if she is starving; at first he does not notice that she is also hoarding food. Anna is continually coming in late, and then Miss Hazlit begins having complaints from Rudy that things are disappearing from the childrens' lunch boxes. When Rudy accuses Anna in front of the other kids, Timmy fights with him until Miss Hazlit breaks it up and makes Rudy apologize. Timmy comes home, however, and overhears Miss Hazlit telling Ruth that she also suspects that Anna is the thief. Timmy is disturbed, but agrees to let Miss Hazlit take care of the matter. In the meantime, Ruth volunteers to ask the children to Trick or Treat for UNICEF, but most of the children are against it because they don't get to keep the money. At lunch, Miss Hazlit sees Anna go back into the cloakroom, and the girl indeed does steal some food out of a lunchbox. When Timmy and Lassie go to look for her, they find her in the woods with a cache of food. Miss Hazlit asks Anna to apologize to the students and explain to them why she did so, and in broken English, Anna tells them that she is saving up food to send to her large family (four brothers, three sisters, and her parents) who were always hungry. After hearing Anna's story, all the children agree to go Trick or Treating for UNICEF. We see them asking for money (even Lassie has a UNICEF box) and at the end, Willy, playing the piano, Timmy, and Anna sing the "Trick or Treat for UNICEF" jingle. Miss Hazlit: Sally Bliss. Willy: Linda Wrather. Rudy: Scott Morrow. Anna: Karen Dicker. Classmate: Anne Lockhart.

   • Note: The Calverton children should count themselves lucky! When we were asked to go Trick or Treating for UNICEF in our school in the early 1960s, we were told we couldn't collect candy if we were collecting for UNICEF. The Calverton children are told to ask for a penny along with their candy. It's very amusing how they keep talking about Anna as a "little girl," including Timmy, when she's a head taller than him! I'm thinking that a younger child was envisioned in the role.

"Water Boy" (11/01/59):

Paul needs a new well, and Cully Wilson swears he can find water with a divining rod rather than Paul hiring an expensive geologist. Cully: Andy Clyde. Ed Jarrett: Robert Rockwell. Mr. Landers: John Pickard.
   • Trivia: Cully has had three farms, and remembers when the well on the Martin farm was dug 20 years before. His father and grandfather were farmers (and could find water with the divining rod). Mrs. Wilson (see note) plays cribbage and has a kitchen garden.
   • Note: This is the first episode in which Cully appears; he also mentions "Mrs. Wilson," although subsequently we never hear of her, or if Cully is a widower. This looks like the same field where Timmy and Lassie exercise Lazy Joe.

"The Whopper" (11/08/59):

Ruth is disturbed by the tall tales Timmy is telling to impress Willy Brewster—a problem compounded when he tells Willy and Flip that Mrs. Larson, a new neighbor living in a run-down house, is a witch. Willy: Linda Wrather. Flip: Flip Mark. Mrs. Larson: Edith Evanson.
   • Note: Remember Mrs. Larson's kitchen—it will show up again as the kitchen of "the phone hog."

"The Bounty Hunter" (11/15/59):

Due to stock killings by a puma nicknamed "Satan," the local farmers hire a bounty hunter, a curt, unlikable man whose tracking dog King and Lassie immediately strike sparks off one another. Les Matthews: John Anderson. ("Clem" is uncredited.)
   • Note: King looks like dog star "Spike" with some dark spots painted on his face; if so, it's the dog's first appearance on the series. This dog, also trained at the Weatherwax Kennels, played Old Yeller in the classic Disney film of the same name and was also "Patrasche" in the David Ladd film A Dog of Flanders. Spike continued to make guest appearances on Lassie for several years.

"The Land Grabber" (11/22/59):

After Paul refuses to consider selling his land to a real estate broker, someone ruins his tomato crop and sets fire to his hay after dousing the entire crop with gasoline. Sheriff Miller: Robert Foulk. Mr. Cranston: Ken Mayer. Mike: Mike McGreevey. Accomplice: Jack Williams.
   • Note: Paul never answers Cranston's question, so we don't know how many acres the farm is, but he does say correctly that he's owned it for "a couple of years." The landscape you see here doesn't support either the woods of the Jeff/early Timmy episode or the close rocky landscape in such episodes as "Old Henry" or those that come later.

"The Man from Mars" (11/29/59):

When Timmy sees a meteorite fall on the Martins' property, he's sure it was a spaceship from another planet—and that a man from Mars is wandering around the farm. Funny thing is: food keeps disappearing from the Martin house! Professor: Everett Glass.
   • Trivia: The chimp's name is Freddy.
   • Note: The dog playing Lassie in several scenes, including in the barn when Timmy is telling his parents about the "feetprints" and when Timmy and Paul investigate the crater, is not "Spook." I don't particularly like stories about chimpanzees "performing" in clothes, but this one has one of my favorite lines, when Timmy is telling his parents about the "feetprints." Ruth says, "Well, darling, men from Mars just don't drop into the country willy-nilly. The immigration department has very strict laws about that."

"In Case of Emergency" (12/06/59):

After neighbor Hank Allen dies on the way to the Capitol City hospital, fifty miles away, the Martins spearhead a plan to start a community emergency room, but a prominent farmer who owns a building that could be used for the purpose not only refuses to let them use it, but tells other area businessmen the hospital is unnecessary. Jason Blalock: Percy Helton. Dr. Stuart: Grandon Rhodes. Uncle Petrie: George Chandler. Junkman: Perry Cook.
   • Trivia: The license plate on the truck appears to have the plate number 7A8655. Mr. Blalock runs the local savings and loan. Hank Allen had a burst appendix.
   • Note: Uncle Petrie, having left the series without fanfare at the end of the previous season, is suddenly visiting; you never see him again. He states he is starting his own business and is building the wall for Mr. Blalock to earn extra money. Amusing scene: Lassie "negotiates" with the junkman.

"Star Reporter" (12/20/59):

Timmy persuades editor Ira Caldwell to let him try to earn money by selling newspaper subscriptions to the Calverton Sentinel. While trying to sell a subscription to Mr. Vance, a new neighbor, he overhears a plan to rob the local dairy's co-op. Ira Caldwell: James Bell. Roy Vance: Tyler McVey. Linc: Ben Morris.
   • Trivia: Mr. Vance has bought the old Stover place. The Andersons also don't have a subscription. Vance's real name is Eddie Ward.

"Alias Jack and Joe" (12/27/59):

During a game, the boys begin fighting and Flip is knocked out by a rock thrown by Rudy. The boy makes Timmy and his Japanese pal Sam believe Flip is dead and it's their fault, so the two boys and Lassie flee to avoid "losing face" and disgracing their families. Sheriff Miller: Robert Foulk. Sam Kuramoto: Dick Kay Hong. Flip: Flip Mark. Rudy: Scott Morrow.
   • Note: The episode title comes from the aliases that Timmy chooses for them: Timmy is Lefty Jack, Sam is Joltin' Joe. Lassie is Moll. Look for this blooper: in the final scene, when Timmy says "Lassie knew that, didn't you, girl?" look at Dick Kay Hong's mouth. It looks like he's silently repeating Timmy's line.

"Judas Goat" (01/03/60):

Phil Houston's stockyards suddenly gets a new source of lambs for market thanks to his assistant Joe Morton, and Lassie seems to be reacting to strange noises, but not coming from the new silent dog whistle Timmy recently purchased. Joe Morgan: Tom Brown. Bob Thomas: Bill Erwin. Phil Houston: K.L. Smith. Joe's Partner: Steve Pendleton.

"The Space Traveler" (01/10/60):

When Timmy and Don accidentally release a guinea pig from an experimental rocket, they replace it with Timmy's guinea pig Alexander the Great. But the Army suspects that the guinea pig in the rocket—and therefore Timmy and Don—was exposed to deadly radiation. Don: Tommy Nolan. Colonel H. Mitchell: Walter Coy. Lieutenant C. Richards: Chris Warfield.
   • Note: Apparently in this episode it's revealed the farm is walking distance from a large rock outcropping (played, as always, by Vasquez Rocks). So in which direction are all those rolling fields and long woods-lined roads in other episodes?)

"The Maverick" (01/17/60):

A large and uncannily smart mongrel dog who's been a nuisance on neighbors' farms is trapped in a gorge, and although two of the angry farmers want the stray dead, the Calverton animal control representative is determined to save him. Joe Smith: Ross Elliot. Mel: David McMahon. Len: Lloyd Nelson.
   • Note: Spike appears again, sans "makeup." He's even credited. Here is your chance to see Lloyd Nelson, who did so many of the radio voiceovers needed in various scripts, in the flesh. He also appears "live" in "The Musher." In most of Lassie's action shots, especially all the ones where she is digging, there is another collie playing the role. This collie also appears in "The Explorers" and briefly in "The Fog."

"The Grasshopper and the Ant" (01/24/60):

Timmy, studying insect life for a school project, becomes so worried about a possible plague when he sees a big nest of the grasshoppers that he speaks up at the Grange meeting and then tries to buy insecticide with his own money. It's only then that even Paul takes him seriously—and is glad he did. Silas Huff: Jon Lormer. Ted: Phil Chambers. Dan Porter: Byron Foulger.
   • Note: Here's a rarity: Ruth in pants!

"Homing Pigeon" (01/31/60):

After he trades some old sports equipment for a homing pigeon, Timmy's next task is to train her. But only Lassie—and a male pigeon attracted to the new homer—knows "Bright Eyes" is endangered by a hawk on her first long-distance flight.
   • Trivia: Timmy traded his old football and a nice baseball bat with Flip for Bright Eyes; Flip got her by trading a catcher's mitt. Woodside is a town 75 miles from the farm.

"The Explorers" (02/07/60):

After Pat, a member of the Explorer Scouts, gives a speech about hiking to members of Timmy's Cub Scout group, Timmy, Don, and Rudy go on their own hike, which leads them into the Badlands—and in over their heads. Don: Tommy Nolan. Rudy: Scott Morrow. Pat: Barry Curtis. Jim Bates: Jackie Wrather.
   • Note: The dog in the shots of Lassie and the two Explorers on the cliff is a different collie than "Spook." Jackie Wrather was the son of series producer Jack Wrather and his first wife; he was series semi-regular Linda Wrather's half brother.

"The Epidemic" (02/14/60):

While Paul tends a neighbor's herd, he discovers they have hoof-and-mouth disease—and now Princess, the new purebred cow he invested $1000 in, and the Martin's old cow Bessie are threatened with slaughter. But Timmy and Lassie take steps to make sure it doesn't happen. Doc Weaver: Arthur Space. Mr. Corey: Todd Griffin. Tom Barker: Robert B. Williams.
   • Note: Ouch! You mean Paul didn't know the cow he bought was due to calve so soon? You can tell "city folks" wrote these episodes!

"Fur-Coated Killer" (02/21/60):

A neighbor may lose his new means of moneymaking when minks from his mink farm are blamed for slaughtering chickens. But the killer turns out to be something more dangerous: a wolverine! Jed Ransome: Walter Reed. Doug Walker: Phil Chambers.
   • Note: Check it out—Doug Walker's house is the same one as appeared in "The Epidemic" as the farmhouse of another family!

"Judgment Seat" (02/28/60):

The father of a new girl Timmy befriends now owns the land Paul is renting for his alfalfa crop—and plans to flood the field before Paul can harvest it. Linda Miles: Eileen Chesis. John Miles: Phillip Terry. Sheriff Miller: Robert Foulk. Judge Baxter: Nolan Leary. Thomas Horton: Robert Burton. Ed Carter: Stoney Smith.
   • Trivia: Jim Leighton was supposed to represent Paul in court, but was taken ill.
   • Note: Leary previously played Dan Cook in the Jeff episodes.

"The Elephant" (03/06/60):

After Timmy and other schoolchildren saved up enough money to purchase an baby elephant for the Capitol City Zoo, the city authorities find there is no place to home it, so, newly named "Peanuts" by Timmy, it ends up boarding at the Martin farm, where the curious pachyderm creates chaos. Mayor Thad Smythe: Ben Weldon. Deliveryman: Ted Stanhope. Ralph Trumble: Charles Ahrt. Secretary: Edna Hubbard. "Peanuts" is played by Margie the Elephant.
   • Trivia: Peanuts was born at the zoo in the city of Franklin. For some reason, Timmy says his teacher is "Mrs. Deenie," although we have never seen any other teacher at the Calverton school in the Timmy episodes but Miss Hazlit.
   • Note: Watch Ruth's angry tirade on the way to going to speak to the mayor—it's a classic. Love Paul's "Good-bye, dear" at the end. Ruth is wearing the little hat from "The Bonnet" in the previous season.

"Clementine" (03/13/60):

Timmy saves the life of a rooster that Paul suspects was involved in cockfighting, but Skeeter, a neighbor's hired hand, recognizes "Clementine" as a champion fighter named Dynamite who was left for dead. When Clementine is well again, Skeeter steals him. Skeeter: Mouritz Hugo. Terry: William Benedict. Deputy: Robert Bice.

"The Puppy Sitter" (03/20/60):

Lassie, who is in bad spirits when it turns out she is not expecting puppies, refuses to have anything to do with Henry Enders' Irish setter puppies that Timmy is caring for while he is away. Henry: Eddy Waller. Doc Weaver: Arthur Space. Mr. Johnson: Ed Parker.
   • Blooper: Check out the scene in the kitchen where Ruth is trying to reason with Lassie (after she fastens the latch on the screen door). There is supposed to be a scenery flat outside the door to show the barn. Instead, the flat shows a tree and some bushes! You can see it clearly in at least two long shots of the doorway. Granted, it also shows the edge of the barn as the scene pans, but the barn has an ell in the rear; you should see that ell, not the trees.

"The Champ" (03/27/60):

Flip makes fun of Timmy's Junior Farmers project, a runt piglet named Champ who has a penchant for running away—straight into trouble. Lassie is able to save him from two hungry hoboes, but can Timmy manage to rescue him from an irrigation spillway? Flip: Flip Mark. Mr. Endicott: William Bakewell. Louie: Fred Sherman. Al: Murray Alper.
   • Trivia: Vern Ellison is the owner of Champ's mother, the Grand Champion Duchess III. (The boy who plays Vern isn't credited, but he reminds me of John Megna, who played Dill Harris in To Kill a Mockingbird.)
   • Note: There are two other girls and another boy (uncredited) besides Timmy and Flip also picking out piglets; raising livestock in the early 1960s was still considered a "boy" thing, so it's interesting to see a couple of girls of that era doing a livestock project. They usually were relegated to sewing, quilting, and cooking skills. I have never figured out why Champ is wearing a big bow at the end of this story! Does it keep him from getting out? Otherwise it seems a rather "girly" thing for Timmy to have done.

"The Phone Hog" (04/03/60):

While driving to the local dam to help sandbag after heavy rains, Paul is trapped in his truck by a downed power line during an electrical storm, but Timmy can't call for help because a garrulous neighbor is constantly on the telephone. Jenny: Florence Lake. Mrs. Harper: Sarah Selby. Mike: James Parnell.
     Trivia: Flip's last name is Rogers.
   • Note: The shot of the truck stuck under the power lines will be re-used four years later in the episode "It's an Ill Wind."

"The Chase" (04/10/60):

After watching two callous city hunters and their rented hound ruin a neighbor's fence, Timmy and Cully Wilson lead the men on a chase through the forest using a young raccoon's scent as bait. It's a grand practical joke—until one of the unexperienced men accidentally shoots the other. Cully: Andy Clyde. Brownie: Dick Whittinghill. Caswell: Hal Smith.
   • Note: The hound later appears as Cully's dog Sam.

"The Killer" (04/17/60):

Sam Burke buys a savage German Shepherd named Bismarck after a bobcat supposedly depredates his flock of sheep and attacks the Martin stock as well, leaving a lamb orphaned—but Lassie knows that something else was responsible for the killings. Sam Burke: Trevor Bardette.

"The Moved Monument" (04/24/60):

Paul, Henry Enders, and some other farmers may lose some valuable farmland—and Paul an expensive fence—due to a road building project. Henry Enders tells the Martins he understands some of the original survey markers were once moved, so the two men try to find any that are still out of place. Henry Enders: Eddy Waller. Lee Stinson: John Cliff.
   • Note: Rewatching this episode makes me think that the Henry Enders role might have originally been written for Cully Wilson. The dialog certainly sounds like Cully's "in the old days we did it this way" philosophy. It's possible Andy Clyde was not available for filming due to prior commitment or illness. There's a nice bit at the end here, where Timmy and Ruth are trying desperately to get Stinson to wait for Paul and Henry to get back before he pulls down the fence. Timmy finally plants himself in front of the fence, and Stinson looks at Ruth and asks her to get him away from it. Ruth makes a tiny move, then says, with steel in her voice, "You move him, Mr. Stinson. I say he's well within his rights."

"The Alligator" (05/01/60):

Flip will get Timmy's turtle Myrtle if Lassie behaves like the greedy dog in Aesop's Fables, and indeed she does drop her bone, to Timmy's dismay—because she saw the escaped alligator that's taken up residence in the lake! Flip: Flip Mark. Alligator Handler: Ken Ernest.
   • Note: An oddity—the little dog who turns up in "Stablemates" as "Spot" and in "Lassie's Good Deed" as "Ruff" is seen here as Flip's dog, Butch, but Flip doesn't have a dog in any other episode.
   • Blooper: When Paul comes out of the barn and sees Flip and Timmy trying to get the dogs to drop their bones, he asks what they are doing, and Timmy responds, "Butch and I are doing an experiment." Butch is the dog's name; he should have said "Flip."

"The Wrong Gift" (05/08/60):

When Willy's costly Mother's Day gift and Timmy's more frugal choice are mixed at the store, Timmy can't bear to tell his mother after seeing her happy reaction, so he takes steps to make up the difference. Willy: Linda Wrather. Mrs. Brewster: Bonita Granville Wrather. Elsie Tuttle: Irene Tedrow. Pipefitter: Richard Reeves. Nick: Frank Gerstle. Mr. Slocum: Howard Wright.
   • Trivia: Timmy's mysterious friend "Jed West," whom we never see in any episode, is mentioned! His name turns up again in "Lassie's Odyssey."
   • Note: This was the only time executive producer Bonita Granville Wrather played Mrs. Brewster (the character is played by another actress in "The Goose") to her real-life daughter; more commonly she contributed to the series as a narrator between multi-episode stories, although she later appears in two Corey Stuart stories.

"The Fog" (05/15/60):

The Martins' weekend camping trip turns dangerous when a treacherous fog envelops their camping area—and Timmy is stuck in a sinkhole in the swamp and threatened by a maurauding wolf while searching for Lassie.
   • Note: Ruth also wears pants in this episode. In a closeup shot of Timmy with Lassie while they are collecting wood, it's not "Spook" as Lassie, but a different collie, bigger than Spook, almost certainly the one who also appears in "The Maverick" and "The Explorers"—perhaps this is a "pickup" shot, filmed later? In addition, in the scene with Lassie chasing the rabbit, it's a definite cut from "The Egret," as the water bird clearly appears when Lassie approaches the lake. The woods look more like the tropics (with banana plants very obvious; possibly they were supposed to be ferns; if I didn't know better, I think they appear again in at least one episode of Lost in Space). Another romantic scene to bely June Lockhart's humorous complaint that Paul and Ruth have a scanty romantic life: they kiss again, and cuddle as well. The fog effect is really poorly done and looks an awful lot like smoke.

"The Hermit" (05/22/60):

Timmy befriends Herman, an ex-mountain climber who lives like a hermit in a small cabin on top of Morgan Hill with his goat Gertrude, but a visiting construction worker and his son from the city call him crazy and urge the Calverton townspeople to force him to leave town. Then Arnie disappears and Herman is blamed. Herman: Nelson Leigh. Mr. Watson: Richard Travis. Arnie Watson: Jimmy Baird.
   • Trivia: Pete Richards runs the local hardware store.
   • Note: Jimmy Baird was the brother of Sharon Baird, one of the original Mouseketeers.

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