The Top 3 Live-Action Dogs on American TV in the ’70s

After recently rewatching 1989’s Turner & Hooch, I started thinking about my favorite TV dogs from childhood … the ones I saw on TV in the ’70s … back when we had few choices of what to watch on our old black and white Zenith with the 13-channel dial.

1. Lassie — the Intelligent, Hero Dog

Lassie was a female, Long-Haired Collie who had her own self-titled show from 1954 to 1973. While Lassie changed homes several times during the series, I remember watching her live on the farm with the Martin Family, including Timmy, their foster child.

Lassie with Jon Provost who played Timmy Martin, on the show from 1957 -1964

“SSA046: Figure 6.1a” by Rosenfeld Media is licensed under CC BY 2.0

The Lassie Memes

Even if you’ve never seen the show, you may have seen the memes.

Here are a few from https://cheezburger.com/

Lassie Saves Timmy

Even though saving Timmy after he fell into a well is a popular meme, that never happened in the show, according to IMDb.  However, Timmy was prone to take a tumble and Lassie saved Timmy after many other falls:

• Down an embankment in the woods when hiking alone. Timmy was unconscious and a lightning strike set the forest on fire.

• Through the floor and into the cellar of an old house that was going to be bull-dozed

• Into quicksand on a foggy night during a family camping trip. Lassie not only fights off a lurking wolf but finds Timmy’s father and leads him to Timmy.

All it takes is Timmy’s Dad saying, “Alright Lassie, where’s Timmy?” and Lassie leads the way.

Lassie Saves Friends, Family and Strangers

Her saves are too many to list, but she seemed to specialize in car-related incidents. She saved Timmy’s mother, Ruth, when her pick-up truck slid onto the edge of a cliff, saved Timmy’s friend, Mike, who got locked in a car truck in a garage on fire, and saved a child from getting hit by a truck and was struck herself.

Lassie Saves and Trains Other Animals

A little skimming of plot summaries and I discovered that Lassie not only prevents accidents, but also protects, rescues, and trains other animals.

Her skills include training a lazy horse to race at a county fair and training a blind, orphan colt to function better. She also rescues an injured homing pigeon and protects duck eggs on a railroad track.

Lassie’s Legacy

Lassie is the smart, persistent dog with amazing communication skills who barks, growls, nudges, pulls, pushes, and runs her way into hero status every week. She’s the dog that all accident-prone people wish they had.

2. Rin-Tin-Tin — the Brave Dog Working with the Cavalry

Rin-Tin-Tin was not just a character, he was a real dog rescued as a puppy by an American soldier in 1918 during World War I. Initially, this German Shepherd worked in silent films and appeared in a total of 27 movies. The real Rin-Tin-Tin died in 1932, so another dog was cast to star in the TV show named after him.

The Adventures of Rin-Tin-Tin

Rusty and his dog, Rin-Tin-Tin are taken in by the 101^st Cavalry troops at Fort Apache in Arizona after Rusty’s parents are killed in a raid by Indians. Rusty becomes an honorary corporal and with Rin-Tin-Tin (“Rinty”) help the cavalry keep order around the Mesa Grande.  This show was set in 1869 to 1877 and had lots of fighting and chase scenes.

“Rin Tin Tin and Rusty #1” by Marxchivist is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

While it originally ran from 1954 to 1959, I watched repeats in the early ’70s. My memory is that Rin-Tin-Tin is a smart, strong, brave dog and a relentless fighter.

Rin-Tin-Tin’s Saves

Among Rin-Tin-Tin triumphs are when he fights a mountain lion to save Rusty and saves a Mexican town from bandits.  He climbs with Rusty to an eagle’s nest to retrieve a puppy the eagle had stolen.

In the first episode of the series, the cavalry hides Rusty and Rinty from a visiting Colonel who is conducting an inspection.

3. Petey — the Best Friend of Our Gang, later The Little Rascals

While Pete the Pup (“Petey), an American Pitbull Terrier, was not the show’s star, he was an important member of the Little Rascals’ gang during his time on the show from 1927 to 1938.

Petey had a unique look with a black circle around his right eye. The original Petey’s circle was almost all-natural, but needed a little dye to close the circle. The second dog that played Petey had full makeup for the circle around his left eye.  

Here’s Spanky waking up happy on a Saturday and playing with Petey.

Stymie and Spanky order food with their pal, Petey, on the stool next to them.

During the ’70s, I had no idea how old this show was and just liked watching the antics of all the characters, including Alfalfa with his cowlick, Spanky with his beanie, Stymie with his bowler hat, and of course, Petey.

In many episodes, Petey was a side-kick who tagged along with the gang, but he got to shine in an episode called, “For Pete’s Sake.” The gang wants to buy their sick friend, Marianne, a new doll and take on some chores to earn money, including having Petey pull the lawn mower (9:30 minutes). When that doesn’t work out, they accept a shop owner’s offer to exchange Petey for a new doll. I remember watching this as a kid and being shocked they would give away Petey like that.

Stymie accidentally breaks a vase on the way out and the shop owner snatches the doll back. The shop owner’s mean son does not treat Petey well and Petey trashes the shop (14:40 minutes). Then, the shop owner begs the boys to take Petey back and gives them a doll too. When the gang realizes it’s not the doll they wanted, Petey runs back, pulling Spanky and Scotty with him, steals the doll and gives it to the girl herself. Petey not only saves himself, but he gets to be a hero to the little girl.

Here’s a final look at Petey behind-the-scenes with his birthday cake and unnamed adults.

Pete the Pup from Our Gang, 1929, http://commons.wikimedia.org/

Although plenty of television shows since the ’70s have had charming dogs as stars and sidekicks, these three will always be my favorites. They were the first to make a big impression on me and the ones I looked forward to seeing every week.

I think the legacy of these dogs as memorable canine characters in enjoyable shows will live on. Newer generations have been introduced to them in movies, so the public’s love for them will continue. So maybe it’s time to check out the remakes: Lassie Come Home (2020), The Little Rascals Save the Day (2014) and Finding Rin-Tin-Tin (2007).

(Featured image: Lassie with Tommy Rettig as Jeff Miller, “BE037188” by Sabatu is marked with Public Domain Mark 1.0)