The Littlest Hobo

Last updated
The Littlest Hobo
The Littlest Hobo The Complete First Season DVD cover.jpg
The first season DVD cover
Genre Family/Children's
Adventure/drama
Created byDorrell McGowan
StarringLondon
(both series)
Toro
(original series)
Litlon
(original series)
Thorn
(original series)
Theme music composerTerry Bush and John Crossen (1979–1985 series)
Opening theme"Road Without End" by Jerry Scoggins (1963–1965 series)
"Maybe Tomorrow" by Terry Bush (1979–1985 series)
ComposersGene Kauer and John Lackey (1963–1965 series)
Jacques Urbont (1979–1985 series)
Country of originCanada
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons2 (1963–1965 series)
6 (1979–1985 series)
No. of episodes61 (1963–1965 series)
114 (1979–1985 series)
Production
Executive producersEd Richardson (1979–1985 series, seasons 1–2)
Gerry Rochon (1979–1985 series, seasons 3–6)
Camera setup Single
Running time30 minutes (including commercials)
Production companiesCanamac Pictures
Television Artists & Producers Corporation (first series)
Glen-Warren Productions (second series)
Original release
Network Syndication
Release1963 (1963) –
1965 (1965)
Network CTV
ReleaseOctober 11, 1979 (1979-10-11) –
March 7, 1985 (1985-03-07)

The Littlest Hobo (French : Le Vagabond) is a Canadian television series based upon a well-known 1958 movie of the same name directed by Charles R. Rondeau. [1] The series first aired from 1963 to 1965 in syndication, and was revived for a popular second run on CTV, spanning six seasons, from October 11, 1979, to March 7, 1985. The concept of the show was that of "an ownerless dog".

Contents

All three productions revolved around an extremely intelligent stray German Shepherd, the titular Hobo, who wanders from town to town, helping people in need (all portrayed by actors in celebrity guest appearance roles). Despite the attempts of the many people whom he helped to adopt him, he heads off by himself at the end of each episode.

Referred to as "Gulliver" in a single episode, the dog is often referred to by the name Hobo or by the names given by temporary human companions. His origins, motivation, and ultimate destination are never explained on screen.

1963–1965 series

The German Shepherd dogs featured in both 1960s and 1980s series were owned and trained by Chuck Eisenmann. The primary star was named London, but several of London's relatives, including Toro, Litlon, and Thorn, also played scenes as the Hobo. Eisenmann used his own training methods to work with his dogs which involved educating them to think and understand very specific directions, to recognize colours, and to understand English, German, and French. [2] He promoted his education method by touring with his dogs to offer live demonstrations, [3] appearing on TV and radio shows and by writing books. [4] Eisenmann recounts many stories from the filming of the series in his 1968 dog training book Stop! Sit! and Think. Other books he wrote include The Better Dog: The Educated Dog which contains updated training material and A Dog’s Day in Court which offers a dog's point of view towards training methods.

The dogs have "reverse mask" markings. After purchasing London, Eisenmann began to breed his own dogs, mostly studding out his males, even though he owned some females that he bred to as well. He bred particularly for the reverse mask, that is commonly seen on all of his dogs, and is unpopular with breeders of the German Shepherd, as it is not in the breed standard.

Shiloh Shepherd dogs are stated to trace their heritage back to London's relatives and are inspired by the intelligence Eisenmann's dogs were reputed to have. [5]

Some notable Hollywood guest stars included Pat Harrington Jr., Nita Talbot, Ellen Corby, Henry Gibson, and Keenan Wynn (the last two of which would also guest-star in the 1979–1985 revival series).

1979–1985 series

Title card of 1979-85 version The littlest hobo tv.jpg
Title card of 1979-85 version

In 1979 CTV revived the series. The New Littlest Hobo (as it was sometimes called), which ran for six seasons, was shot on videotape rather than film. It has since been syndicated in many countries including the US and United Kingdom. In the course of its run, a mixture of well-known Canadian and Hollywood guest stars appeared such as Al Waxman, Carol Lynley, John Ireland, Megan Follows, Rex Hagon, Alan Hale Jr., Jack Gilford, August Schellenberg, DeForest Kelley, Ray Walston, Morey Amsterdam, Jeff Wincott, Michael Wincott, Michael Ironside, Patrick Macnee, Abe Vigoda, Saul Rubinek, John Vernon, Keenan Wynn (who also previously appeared in the original 1963–1965 series), Chris Makepeace, Karen Kain, Vic Morrow, Andrew Prine, Lynda Day George, Nerene Virgin, Tedde Moore, Sammy Snyders, Henry Gibson (who also previously appeared in the original 1963–1965 series), John Carradine, Leslie Nielsen, Anne Francis, Geraint Wyn Davies, and Jayne Eastwood. Mike Myers appears as Tommy in episode 10 "Boy on Wheels".

Eisenmann appeared as a dog trainer named Chuck in the first-season episode "Stand In" and as dog kennel operator named Mr. Charles in part one of the episode "Voyageurs" from the sixth season.

In a nod to the original series, the dog that appeared in this series was also credited as "London".

Plot

Plots ranged from the simple "dog-helps-person" stories to secret agent-type adventures.

In two-part, fifth-season episode "The Genesis Tapes" a scientist and a reporter theorized that Hobo was a type of superior canine. The reporter theorized that there was one dog and the scientist theorized that there were up to one hundred such dogs. The two-part episode had the scientist and reporter trying to capture Hobo to study him, with the reporter wanting a story and the scientist wanting to claim to be the first to discover the meta-canine as he put it. Both episodes feature flashback footage from the first five seasons of the series, with the first episode being the only episode of the revival series to include footage from the original 1960s series. At the end of the episode, Hobo found the evidence the reporter and scientist had collected and destroyed it, implying that Hobo did not want any evidence of his origins or nature becoming public.

Trainer Eisenmann used several dogs to play the role of "London" as he had selected dogs entirely based on their appearance. He determined which dogs to use for the scenes by making use of their abilities such as if one dog did not mind carrying objects or if one were small enough to safely jump through a car window and manoeuvre through the seats. In Eisenmann's book, A Dog's Day in Court, one of the dogs used in the 1970s series was London's grandson, who was also known as London.

A 2005 episode of the CTV sitcom Corner Gas , entitled "The Littlest Yarbo", pays tribute to the series by having a character (Hank Yarbo) convinced that a stray dog visiting the town is Hobo. The episode ends with a reprise of Terry Bush's "Maybe Tomorrow" theme song.

Theme music

The series' theme, "Maybe Tomorrow", was written by Terry Bush and John Crossen. The original was sung by Terry Bush. In 2005, Bush commercially released the song on his debut album, entitled Maybe Tomorrow. [6] A NatWest advertisement promoting its credit card services featured the song, accompanied by animation of a dog wearing a NatWest credit card on its collar. The song was later used in a 2011 Dulux paint advertisement. [7] Additionally, in 2017, the song was in a Canada 150-themed Co-Op stores advertisement. [8]

Second series episodes

Telecast and home media

1963–1965 series

Following the 1958 film, the 1960s original TV series was aired in syndication around the world, including the United Kingdom on ITV, Australia on the Nine Network between 1964 and 1967 and New Zealand on TV One. Although the series was originally telecast in black and white, it was produced in colour. The VCI Entertainment DVD release of the series featured the colour versions of the episodes, except for the opening and closing credits which have only recovered in black and white. Sixty-one episodes were broadcast over two seasons.

Storer Programs Incorporated, a unit of the now-defunct Storer Broadcasting, distributed the series to U.S. television stations during its 1960s run.

VCI Entertainment has released 12 episodes from the original series to DVD. The release features the colour versions of the first three episodes, except for the opening and closing sequences which have only recovered in monochrome. The last 9 episodes were released in black and white. [9]

1979–1985 series

The series aired on CTV on Thursday nights at 7:30 p.m. Repeats continued on CTV, CTV 2, and other national networks up until 2012, when CTV replaced it with a block of music videos from Juicebox. However, CTV2 recently resumed repeats of the 1980s incarnation. It aired in the US in syndication during its original run. In the United Kingdom, the series premiered on the BBC on April 8, 1982, but only the first three seasons were shown and repeated until 1989. From April 1991 ITV picked up the series and each of the local companies played out the full series until late 1994.

Mediumrare Entertainment have only released the first two seasons of The Littlest Hobo on DVD. The Season One DVD, featured the theme tune "Maybe Tomorrow" on DVD in Region 2 & 4 on April 26, 2010.

In 2017, episodes from the series started to be uploaded onto Encore+, a YouTube channel run by the Canada Media Fund and Google Play in Canada. [10] [11] The episodes have since been removed from the channel. As of 2023, the entire series is available on CTV's website through the "CTV Throwback" lineup, and repeats came back on Bell Media's channels: CTV, CTV 2, and Animal Planet.

DVD NameEpisodesRelease dates
Region 1Region 2Region 4
Season One24N/AApril 26, 2010Sept 2010
Season Two18N/ASeptember 6, 2010N/A

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trio (TV network)</span> American television network

Trio was an American cable and satellite television network.

<i>Corner Gas</i> Canadian television sitcom created by Brent Butt

Corner Gas is a Canadian television sitcom created by Brent Butt. The series ran for six seasons from 2004 to 2009. Re-runs still air on CTV, CTV2, CTV Comedy Channel, Much, MTV, E! and are streaming on Crave and Amazon Prime. The series was followed by a feature film titled Corner Gas: The Movie, with the entire cast reprising their roles. The film was released for a limited theatrical run in December 2014.

<i>Degrassi: The Next Generation</i> 2001 Canadian teen drama television series

Degrassi: The Next Generation is a Canadian teen drama television series created by Yan Moore and Linda Schuyler. It is the fourth series in the Degrassi franchise and a revival of Degrassi Junior High and Degrassi High. It premiered on CTV on October 14, 2001 and concluded on August 2, 2015 on MTV Canada.

<i>Heres Boomer</i> American TV series or program

Here's Boomer is an American adventure/drama television series produced by Paramount Television that premiered on the NBC network on March 14, 1980. A television film called A Christmas for Boomer aired on December 6, 1979, and served as the pilot. A spin-off of the live-action series The Red Hand Gang, the show follows the adventures of the titular stray dog, "Boomer" and ran for two seasons, ending its run on August 14, 1982, with the final original episode, "Flatfoots," airing on July 3 of that year.

"Hungry, Hungry Homer" is the fifteenth episode of the twelfth season of the American television series The Simpsons. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 4, 2001. In the episode, Homer becomes a Good Samaritan after discovering the simple joys of helping people in need – which is put to the test when he goes on a hunger strike after the owner of the Springfield Isotopes baseball team attempts to discredit him when Homer stumbles on his plot to discreetly move the team to Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Bizarre is a Canadian sketch comedy television series that aired from 1980 to 1986. The show was hosted by John Byner and produced by CTV at the CFTO's Glen Warren Studios in the Toronto suburb of Scarborough, Ontario for its first run, airing in Canada on CTV, and in the United States on the Showtime premium cable network.

<i>Road Rovers</i> American animated TV series

Road Rovers is an American animated television series produced by Warner Bros. Animation that premiered on Kids' WB on September 7, 1996, and ended after one season on February 22, 1997. It was later shown on Cartoon Network from February 7, 1998, until 2000.

The Canadian Tire guy is a character played by actor Ted Simonett in a series of television commercials for Canadian Tire stores that ran for eight years. The character typically touted the features and benefits of products unique to Canadian Tire in a friendly, helpful everyday scenario.

<i>All Dogs Go to Heaven: The Series</i> Television series

All Dogs Go to Heaven: The Series is an American animated television series, which aired from 1996 to 1998 in syndication and on Fox Family from 1998 to 1999 with 40 half-hour episodes produced in total. Don Bluth's 1989 animated feature All Dogs Go to Heaven featured a disreputable mongrel named Charlie who died, went to heaven, escaped back to Earth for vengeance on his murderer and then found redemption with the help of a young orphan girl named Anne-Marie. It spawned a 1996 sequel, All Dogs Go to Heaven 2. The series takes place after the second film.

Maybe Tomorrow may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Bush</span> Canadian artist (1909-1977)

Jack Hamilton Bush was a Canadian abstract painter. A member of Painters Eleven, his paintings are associated with the Color Field movement and Post-painterly Abstraction. Inspired by Henri Matisse and American abstract expressionist painters such as Helen Frankenthaler and Morris Louis, Bush encapsulated joyful yet emotional feelings in his vibrant paintings, comparing them to jazz music. Clement Greenberg described him as a "supreme colorist", along with Kenneth Noland in 1984. Bush explained that capturing the feeling of a subject rather than its likeness was

a hard step for the art loving public to take, not to have the red look like a side of a barn but to let it be the red for its own sake and how it exists in the environment of that canvas.

<i>The Billion Dollar Hobo</i> 1977 film by Stuart E. McGowan

The Billion Dollar Hobo is a 1977 American comedy film starring Tim Conway and Will Geer.

<i>Degrassi: The Next Generation</i> season 2 Season of television series

The second season of Degrassi: The Next Generation, a Canadian serial teen drama television series, commenced airing in Canada on 29 September 2002 and concluded on 23 February 2003, consisting of twenty-two episodes. This season depicts the lives of a group of eighth and ninth grade school children as they deal with some of the challenges and issues teenagers face such as child abuse, hormones, date rape, body image, hate crimes, sexual identity, alcoholism, and protests. This is the first season to feature high school students from grade nine and the last season to feature middle school students.

<i>Flashpoint</i> (TV series) 2008 Canadian police procedural television series

Flashpoint is a Canadian police procedural television series created by Mark Ellis and Stephanie Morgenstern for CTV, CBS and Ion Television. The series starred Hugh Dillon, Amy Jo Johnson, David Paetkau, Sergio Di Zio, and Enrico Colantoni. The series premiered on CTV in Canada on July 11, 2008. In the United States, the first three seasons and part of the fourth were aired on CBS from July 11, 2008, until August 19, 2011. The show then aired on Ion Television starting on October 18, 2011, with the eighth episode of the fourth season. The series was distributed internationally by Alchemy Television and Tele München Group.

<i>Corner Gas: The Movie</i> 2014 Canadian film

Corner Gas: The Movie is a 2014 Canadian comedy film directed by David Storey and is based on the television series Corner Gas (2004-2009). The film stars Brent Butt, Gabrielle Miller, Fred Ewanuick, Eric Peterson, Janet Wright, Lorne Cardinal, Tara Spencer-Nairn, Nancy Robertson, Cavan Cunningham, Gwen Seed and Jean Freeman all reprising their roles from the television series. The film also features new characters played by Don Lake, Reagan Pasternak, Graham Greene, Will Sasso and Karen Holness. The original series aired on CTV from 2004 to 2009.

Charles "Chuck" Shamata is a Canadian actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chuck Eisenmann</span> Baseball player

Charles Paul Eisenmann was an American baseball pitcher and dog trainer who played in Minor League Baseball (MiLB) from 1940 to 1942 and again from 1946 to 1953 after serving in the United States Army. He is best known for being the owner and trainer of multiple dogs, most notably London, who starred in the Canadian television series The Littlest Hobo.

<i>The Littlest Hobo</i> (film) 1958 American film

The Littlest Hobo is a 1958 American film directed by Charles R. Rondeau. The film stars London, a dog owned and trained by Chuck Eisenmann, in his acting debut, playing as a stray German Shepherd. It was the debut production of Hugh M. Hooker, as well as Rondeau's debut production. Filming took place around Bryce Canyon in Utah. The film featured the song Road Without End, sung by Randy Sparks. It was released by Allied Artists Pictures, and would later become adapted into a Canadian television series in 1963.

References

  1. ↑ "An Oral History of The Littlest Hobo, Canada's Greatest TV Show". Vice . 25 April 2015. Retrieved July 8, 2016.
  2. ↑ Mia Simpson (August 18, 2006). "Roseburg's Charles Eisenmann | The News-Review". NRtoday.com. Retrieved June 25, 2011.
  3. ↑ Tina M. Barber (December 31, 2010). "What is a Shiloh Shepherd (1990)". Shilohshepherds.info. Retrieved June 25, 2011.
  4. ↑ "Charles Eisenmann Books - The Littlest Hobo - German Shepherd Dogs". Cedarwoods-k9.com. Retrieved June 25, 2011.
  5. ↑ Tina M. Barber (December 31, 2010). "What is a Shiloh Shepherd (1990)". Shiloh Shepherds.info. Retrieved June 25, 2011.
  6. ↑ "Terry Bush's biographical page". Systemsmedic.com. Retrieved June 25, 2011.
  7. ↑ Johnnys Amusements (April 13, 2011), The New Dulux Dog TV Advert Apr. 2011, archived from the original on December 21, 2021, retrieved August 12, 2016
  8. ↑ "Canada 150 with Co-op". www.fcl.crs. Retrieved August 6, 2017.
  9. ↑ "LITTLEST HOBO TV SERIES, THE COLLECTION 1". www.vcientertainment.com. Archived from the original on September 15, 2016.
  10. ↑ Brioux, Bill (November 9, 2017). "YouTube channel 'encore+' resurrects Canadian TV shows, films for a new generation". The Canadian Press . Metro News . Retrieved February 4, 2018.
  11. ↑ "The Littlest Hobo - Youtube". YouTube . Archived from the original on March 19, 2022. Retrieved February 4, 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.