Episode Guide: Season 13 1966-1967

This season saw the debut of the most ambitious multi-part story yet, the seven-part "Lassie the Voyager," its episodes filmed on location down the East coast from Williamsburg, Virginia, to New Orleans. Unfortunately, my details on most of the parts are incomplete as the episodes were not shown in syndication, where everything longer than two parts was edited into a TV movie. In "Lassie the Voyager's" case, what was lost was most of parts 2 and 4, as well as all of part 5 and bits of part 1.

"Lassie and the Buffalo" (09/11/66):

Corey shows an old friend why a buffalo hunt will improve the quality of life in a herd while Lassie helps a perpetually straying calf get back to its mother, who is sleighted to be killed. Jed Bingham: Bill Williams. Dan Ryder: Walter Coy.
   • Note: While not played by the same actor, this appears to be the same Jed Bingham who helped Corey save Lassie in "The Disappearance."

"Danger Mountain" (09/18/66):

While inspecting a ski area with the careless proprietor, Corey and Lassie find major infractions, but trouble is only starting when they are trapped at the top of a stalled ski lift with the now injured man. Carl Bryan: Noah Beery Jr.

"Fly Away Home" (09/25/66):

In the Franklin National Forest, a wetlands sanctuary, Lassie saves a Canada goose who was trapped in a fishing line and then attacked by bobcat, injuring her wing. Ed: Robert Patten.
   • Note: The Franklin National Forest shows up several times in episodes this season. Perhaps it was Corey's "home base"?

"A Time for Courage" (10/02/66):

Corey leaves Lassie with Ed, a novice smoke jumper injured in a fire, when he participates in a smoke jump. When Corey and his friend Lane, a veteran fire fighter, are trapped, Ed has the idea to send Lassie, with a transmitter, in to find them. Ed: Darwin Joston. Lane Becker: Robert Brubaker. With Bart Burns, Bill Hampton, H. Lloyd Nelson, and Dale Johnson.
   • Note: Watch this episode carefully. You'll see Corey in the helicopter, scenes of the line of men going on to the plane, the injured smoke jumper, and Corey waving goodbye again in "The Holocaust."

"Lassie Baits a Bear" (10/09/66):

When Corey devises a way to free a female bear from the pit trap she has been caught in, the animal "repays" him by attacking him and knocking him into the same pit.

"Lassie the Voyager" part 1 (10/16/66):

While trying to find Corey, who's loading the last of a special shipment enroute to Hawaii from Jacksonville, Florida, as a hurricane strikes the area, Lassie is trapped on a freighter which sails with her aboard. Dan Auburn: John Archer. Pete Galt: Burt Douglas. Longshoreman: Med Flory. Radio Announcer: Lloyd Nelson.
   • Note: The entire story features a ballad about Lassie's voyage which frames each episode. It was written by episode writers Bob Schaefer and Eric Freiwald and is sung to a minor key version of "Greensleeves." The story is also a shining example of what I call "the Hollywood near-miss school of suspense." Several times Lassie and Corey miss each other by a few feet before she is off on her search again.

"Lassie the Voyager" part 2 (10/23/66):

Lassie, freed from the locked room of the freighter by a unsuspecting crewmember, leaps overboard and is saved from a shark by a dolphin. Once ashore, she proceeds into the Virginia countryside.

"Lassie the Voyager" part 3 (10/30/66):

In Williamsburg, turkey farmer Seth Plummer accuses Lassie of being a dangerous wild dog. Her cause is taken up by elderly attorney Jebediah Wakefield and his assistant Benjamin. Jebediah Wakefield: MacDonald Carey. Williamsburg Tourguide: Bonita Granville Wrather. Seth Plummer: Richard Hale. Judge Barton: Don Beddoe. Benjamin: Martin Braddock. Longshoreman: Med Flory. Drummer: Spike.
   • Note: Another near-miss: Corey sees Lassie's name in the newspaper and calls Wakefield, but he is in court defending Lassie.
   • Note: From the first time I saw this episode, I was determined to visit Williamsburg one day. It took me 10 years, but I managed it. Many Williamsburg landmarks are shown, including the Maze, the main streets, and the Magazine. The Yorktown battlefield is also shown.

"Lassie the Voyager" part 4 (11/06/66):

In the Virginia hill country, Lassie befriends teenage Maggie Pagget and saves her pet fox Riddle from a neighbor's boy and his hounds. Maggie: Hilarie Thompson. Reverend: Donald Curtis.
   • Note: Thompson also plays "Walden" in the episode by that name. Another near miss: The church Corey stops at—it is the same church as in "Miracle of the Dove"—is close enough to where Lassie is staying that she can hear the sound of its bells.

"Lassie the Voyager" part 5 (11/13/66):

In an all-animal episode, Lassie helps an abandoned kitten.

"Lassie the Voyager" part 6 (11/20/66):

Lassie joins two runaway boys who are rafting down the river to New Orleans; when their raft is lost, they decide to spend the night in a cave. Jackson Clarke: Donald Losby. Frank McClellan: Kevin Brodie. Animal Control Officer: James Seay. Dinny: Richard Kiel. Sheriff Hobbs: Bill Tannen.
   • Note: Kiel, best known to James Bond fans as "Jaws," was also in "The Journey." He also played a mute in that story.

"Lassie the Voyager" part 7 (11/27/66):

Corey arrives in New Orleans, having followed Lassie's trail there; she also arrives in the city—by riverboat. Riverboat Captain: Sam Centanni.
   • Note: Watch all the times Corey and Lassie almost meet each other before the end; he's in a taxi over the bridge as she passes underneath it in the boat, etc. Some nice scenes of Bourbon Street and environs.

"Little Jim" (12/04/66):

Dan Casey's hope of winning the trotting races at the Franklin County Fair with his pony Little Jim is dashed when he is hurt in a fall from the sulky—until his granddaughter Maureen resolves to drive in his place. Dan: Stu Erwin. Maureen: Lynn Carey. Bess Wright: Ellen Corby.

"The Greatest Gift" (12/25/66):

Corey and Lassie stop to help young Johnny Conrad on their way to supervise the cutting of the national Christmas tree—but Johnny is heartbroken when he discovers the chosen spruce is "the meeting tree" his father, who is missing in action in Vietnam, and he used while on fishing and hunting trips. Johnny: Johnny Jensen. Jeannie Conrad: Nan Leslie. John Conrad Sr: Chris Warfield. Zack: Emile Meyer.
   • Note: Actually, Mrs. Conrad just says her husband is "overseas"; combined with the fact that Conrad is a Naval Lieutenant and he speaks about "the jungle," it's inferred that he's in Vietnam, which was already a "dirty word" to the American public.

"Once Upon a Horse" (01/01/67):

Corey and Lassie tame a wild stallion that was injured in a fall down a ridge and who will always be a little lame.

"Interlude of Mercy" (01/08/67):

After she is hurt in a fall down a cliff while defending a cougar cub from a wolf, the cub's mother repays Lassie by caring for her. Joe: Richard Tretter. Rancher: Morgan Jones.
   • Note: If my eyes don't mistake me, that's a lion cub standing in for a cougar cub.

"Crisis at Devil's Gorge" (01/15/67):

While surveying the badlands for use as a wilderness area, Corey is bitten by a rattlesnake; when his horse returns riderless to the corral, a fellow ranger and a pilot set up a desperate search for him. Jim: Mark Tapscott. Ed McCray: Steve Brody.
   • Blooper: After Corey is thrown from Jenny, the black mare, Lassie glances back at the horse, who tosses her head. But the black horse doing this is bridleless! Cut back to a long shot of Jenny and she is still wearing the bridle. A few minutes later, when Corey reaches for the reins, there is a closeup of the horse's tossing head—again bridleless!

"Lassie's Litter Bit" (01/22/67):

After Corey and a fellow ranger put up a trash display to remind tourists to clean up their litter, Lassie finds a well-meaning man tossing trash into a ravine—and after he leaves, a raccoon gets his head caught in a can the man left. Tourist: Robert Rockwell. Ranger: Ray Montgomery.
   • Note: This episode was commended by First Lady Lady Bird Johnson, head of the Keep America Beautiful campaign, and Lassie was invited to the White House for a special award. Unfortunately, Lassie and the "First Collie," Blanco, didn't get along and the visit was rather short.

"Day of the Bighorn" (01/29/67):

Lassie helps an aging bighorn sheep who has been trapped and is helpless before a pack of wild dogs. Jack: Cal Bartlett.

"The Protectors" (02/05/67):

In this all-animal episode, Lassie and an eagle protect a helpless mother owl who was injured by a opossum trying to steal her eggs. The eagle hatches the eggs and then feeds the chicks as the owl recovers and Lassie protects the nest.

"A Matter of Seconds" (02/19/67):

When the rangers have an area cleared for a vista stop, several wrecked cars must be towed away from the site. But a squirrel is trapped in the trunk of one of the vehicles and only Lassie knows it. Mr. Saunders: Robert Foulk. Motorcycle Deliveryman: Ken Osmond. Ranger: Richard Webb.
   • Note: Last appearance by Beaver alumnus Osmond.

"Never Look Back" (02/26/67):

Luther Jennings, the elderly ranger manning the survey tower at Strawberry Peak, takes it hard when he finds he'll lose his job when the tower is slated for destruction. Then he's attacked by a jaguar while out on a walk. Luther Jennings: Arthur O'Connell. Myrtle: Reta Shaw. Young Ranger: Mike Farrell.
   • Note: Hmm. Looks like "Silky" might be playing Jennings' Yorkie, Barney.

"The Eighth Life of Henry IV" (03/05/67):

While Corey helps the town of Whitehorse Falls with modern forestry methods, Lassie has her hands—uh, paws—full with a mischievous kitten who can't seem to help endangering himself. George Ramsey: Jon Lormer. With Clark Howart and Hugh Warren.
   • Note: Lormer played "Silas Huff" the mailman in the Timmy episodes.

"Lure of the Wild" (03/12/67):

A coyote rescued and tamed by a fellow forest ranger and now returning to the wild again is stalked by a hunter, but Lassie and "Monday's" mate try to outwit the man. Jim Dixon: Kenneth Tobey. Danny: Chris Alcaide.
   • Blooper: in a scene near the end where Lassie is running down the road, you can see the shadow of the truck with the cameraman on it that's driving in front of her.

"Most Dangerous Game" (03/19/67):

It's fire season in the Franklin National Forest and when a reporter interviews Corey about fire safety, he finds out most fires are caused by children playing with matches. Sure enough, Lassie soon finds a boy playing with matches who finally ends up setting a fire which she strives to put out.

"Barney" (04/02/67):

Lassie helps a ranch dog regain its courage after he cannot defend his master's wild turkeys from a predatory bobcat. Dan Peterson: Ray Teal.
   • Note: Looks as if we have another "Spike" sighting.

"Return of the Charm" (04/09/67):

A painter loses his lucky cat's eye charm, a souvenir from World War II that deflected shrapnel from his body, while fishing and it's appropriated by a raccoon and then by a squirrel. Jeremy Boggs: Chick Chandler.
   • Note: Chandler played the scheming carnival performer who steals Lassie in the Timmy episode "Long Chase."

"Winged Attack" (04/16/67):

Rocket, a racing pigeon, attempts to help his master who has been trapped in a mine while releasing the bird on a flight test, but he is attacked on the way home. Luckily Lassie finds him, sending Corey on a search for the boy. Eddie: Bobby Diamond. Pete: Lloyd Nelson.
   • Note: The third appearance by Diamond, formerly of Fury, which was filmed on the same outdoor set as Lassie.

"Goliath" (04/23/67):

While in the Red River National Forest, Lassie tries to help a huge steer used as a roadside attraction at a tourist cafe, the mistreated animal having escaped after attacking the owner who has been abusing him. Tom: Myron Healy. Lou Austin: Stanley Clements. Hugh Townsend: Harry Harvey Sr. Dan: Lane Bradford.
   • Note: Correspondent Anna Jonkers notes that in the scene where Goliath jumps the fence, the animal portraying the steer in that scene is actually female.

"Trapped" (04/30/67):

While staying with elderly Ben Adams, Lassie befriends an otter couple—one of whom is later caught in a trap set by a neighbor. Ben: Paul Brinegar. Charley: William Fawcett.
   • Note: Fawcett is the second Fury alumni appearing on Lassie. Ben Adams is the same character that Andy Clyde created in "Just One Old Cow" the previous season (in fact Clementine the cow makes a cameo appearance <g>). However, Clyde died a few weeks after this episode was telecast. It is possible he was sleighted to recreate his role, but when the episode was filmed earlier in the year, he was not in good health.

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