The year 1963 involved some significant events in television. Below are lists of notable TV-related events.
The Banana Splits is an American television variety show produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and featuring the Banana Splits, a fictional rock band composed of four costumed animal characters in red marching band hats with yellow plumes. The costumed hosts of the show are Fleegle, Bingo, Drooper, and Snorky.
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.
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. 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.
"Simpsons Tall Tales" is the twenty-first and final episode of the twelfth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on May 20, 2001. In the episode, Homer refuses to pay a five dollar airport tax to fly to Delaware, which forces the family to ride in a livestock car of a train instead. There they meet a singing hobo who tells three tall tales which include Homer as Paul Bunyan, Lisa as Connie Appleseed and Bart and Nelson as Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn respectively.
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.
Simon Oakland was an American actor of stage, screen, and television.
Run, Joe, Run was a Saturday-morning television program that aired on NBC from 1974 to 1975. It centered on Joe, a German Shepherd in the military's K-9 corps, and his master, Sergeant Will Corey.
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.
Littlest Pet Shop is a Flash-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.
"Sky Witch" is the twenty-ninth episode of the fifth season of the American animated television series Adventure Time. The episode was written and storyboarded by Ako Castuera and Jesse Moynihan, from a story by Kent Osborne, Pendleton Ward, Jack Pendarvis, Adam Muto, and Moynihan. It originally aired on Cartoon Network on July 29, 2013. The episode guest stars Jill Talley as the eponymous Sky Witch.
Counterfeit Cat is an animated television series developed by Aardman Animations, Cristina Fiumara, and Ben Marsaud. The series is produced by Wildseed Kids, Tricon Kids & Family, and Aardman Animations, in association with Teletoon, with the participation of Disney XD, and with animation provided by Atomic Cartoons. The series follows the lives of a yellow Manx cat named Max and a blue alien named Gark as they live together in an apartment, along with her animal friends, aliens, humans and many more adventures.
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.
