LASSIE Episode Guide: Season 8 1961-1962

"Lassie at the Grand Canyon" (09/10/61):

Ruth and Timmy, visiting the Grand Canyon as part of Ruth's helping out with the "See America First" campaign, befriend a blind pianist with a unique outlook on life who helps Timmy after he is angered and embarrassed by Lassie's behavior when she follows him on a mule ride and he's forced to turn back. Oliver: Robert Armstrong. Richard Bliss: Carl Benton Reid. (The muleskinner is uncredited, but the IMDb says he was played by Leonard P. "Lennie" Geer, who played Ollie the wrangler on the Mickey Mouse Club's three serials of "Spin and Marty.".)
   • Trivia: Ruth's father was a park ranger (Oliver refers to him as "that old mountain goat") and she spent many years at Yellowstone National Park. Oliver was her father's protegè. The white mule Timmy rides is named Buttermilk.
   • Note: This episode was filmed on location and has some spectacular scenery—even in black and white! Yes, this is the Robert Armstrong who starred in the 1933 movie classic King Kong; the episode introduces an intriguing character with Oliver, but that storyline is completely dropped. Again, a mixture of Lassies: "Baby" is at the canyon rim at the beginning of the episode and in the first part of the scene with Oliver, but "Spook" is in the closeups afterwards. Spook watches Timmy go off on the mule ride and escapes the kennel, but it's Baby that follows down the trail, and then Spook again when they stop for lunch. Spook is in the lodge scenes, but Baby gets several close-ups, including with Bliss. Later, when Timmy gets into trouble, it's Baby when the collie is with Bliss, but Spook who helps Timmy. Paul is not in the episode.

"The Bloodhound" (09/17/61):

Timmy and Lassie discover the sad truth about Relentless, Cully's new—and much bragged about—dog: he's lost his sense of smell. The truth might have remained secret had not the money earned in a church fundraising drive gone missing. Cully: Andy Clyde. Sheriff Miller: Robert Foulk.
   • Trivia: Cully bred Relentless III, then gave him to Bill Eyers, a detective on the Ellenwood police force. When Eyers passed away, he left Relentless to Cully. Relentless was famous for finding missing forest ranger Emil Saunders after a hard rain. A poster outside the sheriff's office door says "130 Million Alert Americans are a Mighty Force for Peace" and has a nurse in the lower left hand corner; above her head is the old civil defense symbol. The sheriff's first initial is "H," but we never learns what that stands for. The fundraising drive raised $580.52 to fix the church roof. Sheriff Miller's police car is a Plymouth and has the license plate 509333.
   • Note: Paul is absent from this episode. "Baby" is Lassie for 90 percent of this episode. It's "Spook," however, who hides behind the tree, and sneezes at the mint.
   • It is in this episode that the writer's and the director's name are started to be shown on a card that proceeds the credits, which means the theme song is slightly truncated. However, the card is not shown at the end of "Lassie at the Grand Canyon." Could the episode have been filmed for the previous year, and then it was decided to open the new season with it instead?

"The Mysterious Intruder" (09/24/61):

The Gardners, the Martins' new neighbors, accuse Lassie of killing their cat and attacking their chickens and sheep, but the Martins are sure she is innocent, until she comes home filthy, with her hind leg injured. The dog then approaches the Martin farm after Lassie is ordered locked up, and she escapes the barn to chase him off. Then Timmy goes hunting for her, alone. Sheriff Miller: Robert Foulk. (The Gardner boy is uncredited.)
   • Trivia: The Gardners have moved into the old Sherman place, and their cat that was killed was named Skipper. They also lost chickens, and Farmer Anderson saw "Lassie" chasing his sheep. The collie was from Loganville.

"The Badger Game" (10/01/61):

When Timmy sees Willy's peacock, François, a gift from her grandmother, he too wants to enter an exotic animal in the pet contest at the county fair, so he tries to capture a badger. In the process of snagging the badger's baby, he gets trapped in a cave-in in the badger hole. Willy: Linda Wrather.
   • Trivia: Billy Peters' dog, whom Timmy and Lassie bested the previous year, actually wins the contest. The judge tells Willie that François is ornamental, not a pet.
   • Note: The "baby badger" Timmy's trying to catch is really a ground squirrel.

"The Outlaw" (10/08/61):

Officer Slater's dog Deputy is injured in a car crash during a chase after a bank robber and turns savage; Timmy and Lassie, who befriended Slater and the dog earlier, attempt to save him before a posse—and a vengeful neighbor boy who was bitten by the animal—catches up with him. Timmy is able to feed him and bandage his wound; but can they protect him from those gunning for him. Sheriff Miller: Robert Foulk. Jim Hodges: Jimmy Bates. Slater: Herbert Patterson. Jenny: Florence Lake.
   • Trivia: Timmy plays the harmonica.
   • Note: Is the posse trying to save the dog or kill it? One minute Paul is protesting the dog needs medical help, and the next the sheriff is asking one of the posse to take a shot at him.

"The Winner" (10/15/61):

Timmy enters Lassie in the Silver Lakes Coon Dog Trials and swimming competition, but in the first event she's too busy helping save the bait raccoon to win the contest, arousing the ire of elderly Mr. McCarthy, whose dog Champ is the reigning champion in the swimming contest when she is first disqualified from the rest of the trials, and then allowed to compete in the swimming race. Joseph McCarthy: Harry Shannon. Competition Official: Harry Carey Jr. (Bill the race announcer and Harry the jeep driver are not credited.)
   • Note: Paul is absent from this episode. Some shots were apparently filmed at an actual coon dog trial, but the only "Silver Lakes Ranch" I could find was in Texas.

"Heat Wave" (10/22/61):

Angry farmers band together after Cully snaps one too many traps meant to keep wild animals away from their crops during a heat wave, forcing a hearing to determine the old man's sanity and try to confine Cully to a rest home. So Timmy decides to reset the traps—but gets caught in one just as a thunderstorm brews up. Cully: Andy Clyde. Jim Teal: Ray Teal. Farmer: H. Lloyd Nelson.
   • Trivia: Cully says it's the worst drought he's seen in 43 years. Judge Hathaway, who would have been the judge at the hearing, apparently had some of his traps sprung—I would think he'd have to disqualify himself!

"The Deer" (10/29/61):

Having failed to corral Clementine, a shy doe he has been feeding corn ever since he spotted her cropping dead grass in a mearby meadow, in the farmyard before hunting season begins, Timmy lassos the animal, but she escapes from him with the rope still around her neck. Realizing this has made her even more vulnerable, he marks himself and Lassie in red and goes out looking for her. Older Hunter: Roy Barcroft. (The second hunter is uncredited.)
   • Note: Don't you find it odd that Paul encourages Timmy to feed the doe when deer are known to depredate farmers' fields (remember The Yearling)?

"Lassie Adopts the Fire Chief" (11/05/61):

A softhearted Timmy loans Lassie to volunteer fire chief Ed Washburne during the day after the department's mascot Smoky is killed, but comes to regret it after she seems to show more interest in staying with him all the time than coming home at night with Timmy after being allowed to ride on the fire engines with the volunteer firefighters. Washburne: Dick Foran. (Jim and Mr. Johnson the postman are uncredited.)
   • Trivia: Washburne's nickname for the old Calverton fire engine is "Matilda." "Her" license plate number is 395533. The fire in the final act is at the abandoned Jasper farm.
   • Note: This is the first appearance of "B" movie Western star Dick Foran as Ed Washburne, owner of Calverton Hardware; he starred in several dozen "oaters" in the 1930s and 1940s, including doing a stint as a singing cowboy ala Gene Autry and Roy Rogers. Check out Lassie's bark at the final fire scene; it differs when she is onscreen rather than offscreen.

"The Pied Piper" (11/12/61):

While Paul is meeting with the Student Forum Employment Board at his alma mater to arrange for summer help, Timmy and Lassie visit with his old classmate Dr. Hank Sims, who experiments on white rats at the veterinary college. When he finds out Hank will pay 25¢ per rat, Timmy asks if he can raise some to earn money for his parents' anniversary present. But some of the rapidly breeding rats escape into Paul's cornfield. Hank: John Hubbard.
   • Trivia: Apparently Paul once left a rat in Hank's bed...

"Joey" (11/19/61):

Timmy's friend Joey Young is despondent after he's blinded by a firecracker until Timmy trains Lassie to guide him in preparation for him to have his own guide dog. But when Joey is declared too young to have a guide dog, Timmy feels there is only one solution, to give Lassie to him. Will a visit to a camp for blind children change his mind about needing a dog. Joey: Michael Burns. Cora Young: Jacqueline Scott. Stan Morton: James Seay.
   • Note: Seay shows up later in the season as Dr. Porter, the vet.

"Lassie's Wild Baby" (11/26/61):

"Fusterated" and depressed because she isn't expecting a litter, Lassie adopts what the Martins think is a kitten from Mrs. Brenner's cat's latest litter. But in reality "Sir Hercules" is really a cougar cub—and his mother is searching for him! Mrs. Brenner: Jane Darwell.
   • Note: Yes, Jane Darwell of Grapes of Wrath fame. Her well-known final role was as the Bird Woman in 1964's Mary Poppins. It's actually a Siamese kitten playing the cougar cub.

"The Dognappers" (12/03/61):

Thieves trolling for lost-and-found rewards steal Jeff, a cocker spaniel belonging to Timmy's hospitalized friend Rusty, while he sits outside the hospital waiting for Timmy and Rusty's sister Kathie to return. When Lassie spots one of the thieves next time the Martins are in town, she gives chase and is captured by them. Sheriff Miller: Robert Foulk. Kathie: Judee Morton. Roy: Frank Killmond. Will: David Whorf.
   • Trivia: There's a Grand movie theater in town.
   • Note: Funny how Timmy mentions Rusty is one of his best friends, when he never appears in the series! If you watch Lassie with an eye to detail you will notice that the "hospital" Timmy and Kathie visit turns up years later in the background of a Scott Turner episode. Lassie also rescues a West Highland White terrier, a Bassett hound, a fox terrier, and a miniature poodle (probably the same dog who played "Cabbage").

"The Dove" (12/17/61):

Timmy's civics lessons become very real when he discovers that his new friend Pepè, whom Lassie found injured on the roadside, and his pet dove Pepita entered the country illegally. When Timmy must reveal his secret to keep his parents from being arrested, Pepè runs away—and Lassie follows him. After Lassie is hurt knocking Pepè out of the way of a car, he must decide whether to keep running, or to save his new friend. Sheriff: Robert Foulk. Miss Hazlit: Sally Bliss. Willy: Linda Wrather. Pepè Ramirez: Rafael Lopez.
   • Trivia: Pepè crossed the border at El Paso from Juarez.

"Yochim's Christmas" (12/24/61):

The Yochims (from "Cracker Jack") return (without Pa, who died while they were living in the city) and the Martins talk them into staying over Christmas Eve. While Timmy and Billy Joe are out walking in the woods, they rescue an elderly man who Billy Joe is convinced is Santa Claus, trapped under a sleigh. Billy Joe: Billy Hughes. Pearlie Mae Yochim: Ellen Corby. Sculptor: Lloyd Corrigan.
   • Note: An oddity—Billy Joe pronounces and spells the family name as "Yochim" to the man they rescue, yet the family's name is "Slocum" in "Cracker Jack."

"The Parrot" (12/31/61):

Cully gives Ruth a disreputable parrot he found in a tree as a birthday present, but when she discovers "Polly" has been causing the mischief Lassie was blamed for, Cully won't take the parrot back—until he finds out she's named Queenie and there's a $50 reward for her. But Lassie has let the pesky parrot fly away... Cully: Andy Clyde. Mr. Shulman: Charles Tannen.
   • Trivia: Cully gives his address as "Oak Valley Lane."

"Lassie's Protégé" (01/07/62):

After Timmy returns to school after vacation, a lonesome Lassie adopts a raccoon that Timmy names "Melonhead," but the friendship is short-lived when a reckless teenage driver kills the animal and Lassie mourns her friend. Johnny Sexton: Tommy Ivo. Girl: Susan Crane. Disapproving Racer: David Macklin.
   • Note: Interesting shots of an organized drag race meet at the end.

"The Black Sheep" (01/14/62):

Timmy and Lassie chase down a lost black lamb after the driver of the truck he escaped from says the boy may keep him if he can find him. Timmy throws himself into the raising of the troublesome little sheep, whom he's named Blackie, to become his 4H project, but just before the county fair, Blackie panicks and flees during a thunderstorm, hiding in a Hispanic shepherd's flock. When Timmy tries to take Blackie home, the shepherd insists he has ten black sheep and Blackie is one of them. Lassie must find his lost black sheep before they can have Blackie back. Antonio: Nestor Paiva.
   • Trivia: The shepherd states his flock is made up of Merino sheep. He has an unseen assistant, Dominique. Timmy says this is the most horrible thing that's ever happened to him. Give it a few weeks, Timmy...
   • Note: Here we are at Vasquez Rocks again. Paul is away in this episode.

"The Partnership" (01/21/62):

After a forest fire, Timmy and Lassie find an orphaned colt, but since it was found on county land, it must be auctioned. Unable to afford the price himself, Timmy teams with fire chief Ed Washburne to buy the colt, who they name Square Deal. But the colt is homesick when his mother begins visiting him. Washburne: Dick Foran. Sheriff Miller: Robert Foulk. Judge Baxter: Nolan Leary. (The ranger and the farmers are uncredited.)

"The Hike" (01/28/62):

Timmy is excited about his upcoming hike with buddy Mike Roberts, but when Mike is sick and cannot come, he goes on what he plans as a shorter hike with Lassie. While walking at the edge of a ridge, he slips and falls, hitting his head. Lassie tries to get help from a couple out fishing to help, but they are afraid and run away. Lassie is still guarding the unconscious boy when a thunderstorm blows up and sets the woods afire; as the smoke grows thicker she tries to lead him to safety. In the meantime, Paul and Sheriff Miller lead a search party for them as fire crews are brought in. Jean Roberts: Shirley Mitchell. Sheriff Miller: Robert Foulk. Jim the Ranger: Lew Brown. (The frightened tourists who think Lassie is attacking them and the three men who come to help Paul look for Timmy are uncredited.)

"Bird of Prey" (02/04/62):

Timmy discovers he can't keep the falcon he and Paul's nephew Dick, on leave from the Air Force Academy, nursed back to health and trained because a minor is not allowed to keep a bird of prey, so he offers it to the Academy. But in Colorado to present "Mr. Falcon," the disoriented bird flies away on an exercise flight. Cadet Richard Martin: Jan Stine. Announcer: Lloyd Nelson.
   • Note: Ruth and Timmy tour the Air Force Academy in Colorado, which was still fairly new at the time. Paul is away in this episode.

"Casey" (02/11/62):

After his engineer owner is injured while checking track in his converted flivver, pet chimpanzee Casey is left in Timmy's care, and the boy allows him to stay near the engine he loves at night. But the chimp leads Timmy through a merry chase on a carnival ground and then up a tree. Jonathan Grigsby: Eddy Waller. Tramp: Ray Walker. Carny: George Selk.

"The Odyssey" part 1 (02/18/62)

Lassie is locked in a truck when she accompanies Paul and Timmy to the farmer's market. When she finally escapes the vehicle near a town named Lexington, she is on her own hundreds of miles from home. Mike Finch: Richard Reeves. Younger Trucker: Lennie Geer. Stocky Trucker: Rusty Lane. Henry Deshew: Jon Lormer. Script by Sumner Long.
   • Trivia: The truck Lassie is trapped in is owned by the Ramsey Brothers Transportation Company, which transports produce, and the restaurant the truckers stop at is called The Cottage. The newspaper in this story is the Calverton Chronicle, rather than the Calverton Sentinel as in "Star Reporter" and other stories.
   • Note: Lennie Geer played Ollie the horse wrangler in Disney's classic Mickey Mouse Club serial, "Spin and Marty" and its sequel.
Bonita Granville Wrather's narration from the end of part 1

"The Odyssey" part 2 (02/25/62)

While Paul and Timmy journey to Lexington to try to locate Lassie, the hungry and footsore collie encounters dangers on her journey, including a fight with a wolf and a menancing train. Hunter: Alan Hale Jr.
   • Trivia: The town of Lexington is 4,350 feet above sea level and the population is 3,254. One of the businesses in town is the National Hotel. It's possible that's where Paul and Timmy stay, as they park nearby.
   • Note: Yes, this is "the Skipper" pre-Gilligan's Island.

"The Odyssey" part 3 (03/04/62)

Her foot well again, Lassie takes to the road. In the meantime, in an attempt to assauge some of Timmy's grief, Cully presents him with a puppy he hopes the heartsick boy may come to love. Hunter: Alan Hale Jr.
Bonita Granville Wrather's narration from the opening of part 3

"Double Trouble" (03/11/62):

At the big dog show in Capital City, Lassie is mistaken for champion showdog King's Royal Lassie and Timmy and Cully her handlers, so they're given the royal treatment. Cully: Andy Clyde. Dan Walsh: Phillip Terry. Norman Talley: Frank Albertson.
   • Note: Toby, the little strayed Yorkie that Lassie saves, is probably the same terrier that played Silky. Incidentally, Andy Clyde has a nice pantomime sequence in this episode, using the talents he developed back when he worked in silent movies in Mack Sennett's "Keystone Kops" shorts. How times have changed—Cully is aghast because the luxurious hotel room they are in costs {gasp!} $20 per day!

"Eager Beaver" (03/18/62):

Beavers are damming up irrigation ditches needed by Paul and Al Livermore, and, when breaking up the dam does no good, Paul and Timmy build traps, which the beavers chew their way out of. Needing water, Livermore proposes killing them, but Paul buys professional traps and tries once more—until Lassie, protecting her new friends, frees them all. Livermore: Stuart Randall.

"Lassie and the Eagle" (03/25/62):

When "Mrs. Eagle" returns to visit her adopted goose, Lassie rescues her from a trap, then the bird returns the favor when Lassie unexpectedly has her puppies in the woods, protecting her and the puppies from marauding coyotes. Doc Porter: James Seay. Deputy: Lane Bradford.
   • Note: Timmy turns into a "mother hen" in this episode; it's funny to see Ruth and the vet advising him to keep calm!

"The Vindication of Relentless" (04/01/62):

Cully discovers that Timmy knows Relentless' sad secret: he can no longer smell any longer. Then Milt Stewart, the county tax assessor, insists that Relentless find his missing tax entry book, which has been carried off by a bear. Cully: Andy Clyde. Milt: Byron Foulger.

"The Unwanted" (04/08/62):

After befriending Miss Hazlit's retired policeman uncle Ben Carter after he gives a presentation on police dogs at the school, Timmy obtains a white German Shepherd who looks like Carter's late dog Sarge, intending to train the animal and give him to the lonely man. But "Little Sarge" is strangely unresponsive. Miss Hazlit: Sally Bliss. Ben Carter: Russ Conway. Mr. Dinsmore: Robert B. Williams. Doc Porter: James Seay.
   • Trivia: Miss Hazlit's name is Amy.
   • Note: Hmmm. Doc Porter is well-trusted? What happened to Doc Weaver and Doc Hayden?

"The Musher" (04/15/62):

Encouraged by a sled dog racer, Timmy trains Lassie, Cully's hound Sam, and his buddy's dog Shag to enter a mushing competition at the Alpine Meadows Winter Carnival—and disappoints Lassie by making Sam the lead dog. Pete Kester: Robert Brubaker. Lloyd: Lloyd Nelson.
   • Note: "Shag" is played by the same dog who played "Fang" on Get Smart and "Jasper" on Bachelor Father. Lloyd Nelson has a rather large part in this episode, which looks as if it were filmed at a real winter carnival. Mary Simmons, therefore, and her Samoyed team may have been real sled dog champions.

"Lassie's Good Deed" (04/29/62):

Timmy and Lassie befriend elderly Mr. Jensen, who lives alone in a cabin in the woods with what he says is his only friend, a little mongrel dog named Ruff. When he is struck by a car and lies comatose in the hospital, Timmy takes responsibility for feeding Ruff—but it's Lassie who figures out how to make the old man well. Mr. Jensen: James Burke. Doctor: Stacy Keach. Desk Nurse: Maudie Prickett. (The room nurse is uncredited.)

"Sanctuary" (05/06/62):

Timmy and Cully are incensed when the last piece of true woodland in the area is sleighted to have a feeder road built through it. Advised by a local judge, their letter-writing campaign brings a ranger to inspect the area to see if it can be declared a wildlife sanctuary. But when Ranger Weldon arrives, their well-meaning plans to show him the area almost proves their undoing. Cully: Andy Clyde. Ranger Barry Weldon: William Schallert. Judge Fred Beber: Fuzzy Knight. Construction Worker: John Cliff.
   • Trivia: According to the return address on Timmy's letter to the Forest Service, the Martins' address is "R.F.D. #4, Calverton."

"Lassie and the Calf" (05/13/62):

Timmy's taking care of Eloise, a gruff farmer's cow, while he is away, and, when the animal gives birth early, both boy and dog fall in love with Lucky, the sickly calf whose life they save. But when they find out Ezra Tate plans to slaughter the calf, Lassie steals it. To get Lucky back, Timmy convinces a young lawyer to be his spokesman in court. Tate: Jason Johnson. Blake: L.Q. Jones. Judge Baxter: Nolan Leary. Doc Porter: James Seay.
   • Note: Jason Johnson seemed to make a career of playing crabby farmers on Lassie; he appeared in two Jeff episodes as crabby Jud Perkins. (He was also strict but less crabby in "The Blind Dog.") Nolan Leary was also Dan Cook the stationmaster in two Jeff episodes, and later appears as a minister in "Lassie's Gift of Love."

"Elephant Sitters" (05/20/62):

Cully's blarneying friend O'Toole asks the old man to care for his baby elephant Little Lena while he goes out hunting for the lost Escondido Mine; if he doesn't find some money soon, he will have to sell Lena to the zoo. But while keeping tabs on Lena, Cully and Timmy discover a way the wayward elephant can earn money. Cully: Andy Clyde. O'Toole: Charles Irwin. (Mr. Burton is uncredited.)

"Lassie and the Tiger" (05/27/62):

Timmy's fishing trip is interrupted when a wild animal trainer lets his tiger have a swim in the lake: the animal takes a fancy to Timmy and keeps following him around, from the woods to the farm. Sheriff Miller: Robert Foulk. Jenny: Florence Lake. (The trainer is uncredited, but the name on the side of the van is "Hans Naumann"—he mentions the name "Naumann" to Sheriff Miller—who was a tiger trainer for Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey in the 1960s. I can't make out the tiger's name—I think it is "Schabo." It says the animal's name on the side of the van, billing him as "the famous aquatic tiger.")
   • Trivia: Sheriff Miller's first initial is "H." No idea what it stands for.
   • Note: Tigers do swim, and like to swim, unlike most housecats and wild members of the cat family. How does the tiger escape out the hallway window? Timmy shut the door between the kitchen and the hallway and the door is still shut when Ruth goes into the kitchen a few minutes later. You know, the Martins might have a better chance of keeping animals locked in the barn if they'd remember to latch that darn back entrance! It's not the first time an animal has escaped out that door.

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