The year 1963 involved some significant events in television. Below are lists of notable TV-related events.
Creature Comforts is a British adult stop-motion comedy mockumentary franchise originating in a 1989 British humorous animated short film of the same name. The film matched animated zoo animals with a soundtrack of people talking about their homes, making it appear as if the animals were being interviewed about their living conditions. It was created by Nick Park and Aardman Animations. The film later became the basis of a series of television advertisements for the electricity boards in the United Kingdom. In 2003, a television series in the same style was released. An American version of the series was also made. A sequel series, Things We Love, first aired on BBC One in 2024.
Benji is a fictional canine character created by Joe Camp. He has been the focus of several feature films and other media, beginning with the independently produced 1974 film. Benji is a small golden mixed-breed dog with a knack for being in the right place at the right time, usually to help someone overcome a problem. The character has been portrayed by several dogs over the years, including Higgins, the veteran animal actor who originated the role.
John Orson Whitaker, Jr. is an American actor notable for several film and television performances during his childhood. The redheaded Whitaker played Jody Davis on Family Affair from 1966 to 1971. He originated the role of Scotty Baldwin on General Hospital in 1965, played the lead in Hallmark's 1969 The Littlest Angel, and portrayed the title character in the 1973 musical version of Tom Sawyer.
Higgins was an American dog actor, one of the well-known animal actors during the 1960s and 1970s. He is most remembered for his roles in the original Benji film, and the uncredited dog from Petticoat Junction, two of the most popular roles he played during a 14-year career in show business.
Lassie is an American television series that follows the adventures of a female Rough Collie dog named Lassie and her companions, both human and animal. The show was the creation of producer Robert Maxwell and animal trainer Rudd Weatherwax and was televised from September 12, 1954, to March 25, 1973, making it the eighth longest-running scripted American primetime television series. The show ran for 17 seasons on CBS before entering first-run syndication for its final two seasons. Initially filmed in black and white, the show transitioned to color in 1965.
The Littlest Hobo is a Canadian television series based upon a well-known 1958 movie of the same name directed by Charles R. Rondeau. 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".
Jim Henshaw is a Canadian actor, screenwriter and film and television producer.
The Red Hand Gang is an American live-action Saturday morning television series that aired on NBC from September 10 to November 26, 1977. The show featured five crime-solving pre-teens and their dog Boomer, who lived in the inner city. The group was so named because its members left red hand prints on fences to mark where they had been.
Benji, Zax & the Alien Prince is a live-action children's science fiction television series created by Joe Camp, the creator of the Benji film series. The series was produced by Hanna-Barbera and Mulberry Square, and it aired Saturday mornings on CBS in 1983 with repeats airing in the United States and internationally for a number of years through the 1980s. In the show, the dog Benji helps an alien prince and his droid evade various henchmen sent by a dictator to capture the prince.
Benji is a 1974 American family film written, produced and directed by Joe Camp. It is the first in a series of five films about the golden mixed breed dog named Benji. Filmed in and around McKinney and Denton in Texas, the story follows Benji, a stray but friendly dog, who is adored by some of the townspeople, including two children named Cindy and Paul. The children fail to convince their father, Dr. Chapman, to allow Benji to stay at their home. When the children are kidnapped by a band of robbers as part of a ransom, Benji attempts to rescue them. The film grossed $45 million on a budget of $500,000, and its theme song received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song. The film was turned down by every studio in Hollywood; Camp had to form his own film company to distribute the film worldwide. This film was Frances Bavier's and Edgar Buchanan's last on-screen acting appearances before they retired and died in 1989 and 1979 respectively.
Kelly is an Australian children's television series that was broadcast on Network Ten from 1991 to 1992. The series was produced by Westbridge Entertainment and featured the adventures of a former police dog called Kelly.
Littlest Pet Shop is an animated musical children's television series produced by DHX Media and Hasbro Studios. The series is based on the Littlest Pet Shop and Blythe toylines by Hasbro and was broadcast on Discovery Family from November 10, 2012 to June 4, 2016. It centers on Blythe Baxter, a teen girl who, after moving into an apartment in a city named Downtown City, gains the ability to communicate with animals. Located below her apartment is the eponymous pet store where Blythe works and talks to a group of pets who regularly reside at a daycare in the shop. Worried that a corrupt rival business might drive their shop out of business, it is up to Blythe to drive business into the store with her pet fashion designs.
Dorothy Mae Johnson was an American actress and print model. Starting her career as a beauty queen, she was best known for acting on television and in motion pictures during the Golden Age of Hollywood as a starlet during the 1950s. Dorothy Mae Johnson won the 1955 Miss Oregon beauty pageant and was first runner-up in the 1956 Miss America pageant. The United States Marine Corps chose her to be their official Miss Leatherneck.
Charles "Chuck" Shamata is a Canadian actor.
Super Why! is an animated superhero preschool television series created by Angela C. Santomero and developed by Santomero and Samantha Freeman Alpert for PBS Kids. Santomero and Alpert additionally serve as executive producers alongside Steven DeNure and Anne Loi. The series was produced by Santomero and Alpert's New York City-based production company Out of the Blue Enterprises in co-production with Decode Entertainment for the first season and DHX Studios Halifax for the second and third seasons. Animation was by Toronto-based C.O.R.E. Toons, Gallus Entertainment and DHX Media. The opening and closing theme songs were written by composers and lyricists Steve D'Angelo and Terry Tompkins, with D'Angelo also providing lead vocals for both. The background score for seasons 2 and 3 was composed by Lorenzo Castelli and Jeff Morrow.
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.
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.
