Lassie (season 1)

The first season of the television series Lassie premiered in the United States on CBS on September 12, 1954 and ran for 26 episodes until its conclusion on March 6, 1955.[1] Produced by Robert Maxwell, the episodes follows the adventures of a female rough collie named Lassie and her young owner Jeffrey Miller.[1] In 1958, the first through third seasons began syndication under the title "Jeff's Collie."[1]

Though the first season of Lassie has never been released completely to home video, some episodes from the first season have been released to DVD. On November 25, 2003, Classic Media released a three episode set, "Lassie: Best of Jeff's Collie," which included the series first episode, "Inheritance".[2] A second set, "Lassie: 50th Anniversary Collection", was released on September 14, 2004 and contained 24 episodes from across the entire series.[3] The set includes three episodes from the first season: "Inheritance" (episode 1), "The Lion" (episode 8), and "Lassie's Pups" (episode 10).

"Secret of the Silent Hills (Theme from the Lassie TV Series)", composed by William Lava, is used as the opening and ending theme for the entire season.[4]

Episode listing

# Title Director Writer Original airdate
1"Inheritance"Leslie GoodwinsClaire KennedySeptember 12, 1954 (1954-09-12)
Widow Ellen Miller (Jan Clayton) and her 11-year-old son Jeff (Tommy Rettig) attend the reading of the will of their late neighbor Homer Carey, while Ellen's father-in-law George "Gramps" Miller (George Cleveland) remains at their farm. In the will, Carey bequeathed his female rough collie, Lassie, to Jeff. Initially overjoyed, Jeff is heartbroken when the dog runs away from the Miller farm and returns to the Carey house. Jeff finds her lying on the hearth. When she does it again, Jeff begins carrying food and water to Lassie and trying to coax her back to the farm. He later discovers that Lassie is actually guarding a cache of money that Carey had hid under the hearth. Carey's former farm hand, Matt Willis (Jim Hayward), has been searching for the money and sees Jeff find it through the window. Willis steals the money after brushing Lassie aside and threatening Jeff. After he leaves, Lassie escapes from the house and takes off in pursuit, followed by Jeff and the mail carrier, whom Jeff flagged down. At the edge of a lake, Lassie catches Willis and attacks him, with the mail carrier arriving to help knock him out. With the money in safe hands, Lassie returns to the Miller farm. After a moment where it seems like she may run away again, Lassie returns to Jeff's arms, accepting her new family.
2"Arithmetic"Sheldon LeonardClaire KennedySeptember 19, 1954 (1954-09-19)
3"The Colt"Sheldon LeonardClaire KennedySeptember 26, 1954 (1954-09-26)
4"The Gun"Sidney SalkowJackson GillisOctober 3, 1954 (1954-10-03)
5"Mr. Peabody"Sheldon LeonardDavid ChantlerOctober 10, 1954 (1954-10-10)
6"The Convict"Thomas CarrClaire KennedyOctober 17, 1954 (1954-10-17)
7"Feud"Sheldon LeonardClaire KennedyOctober 24, 1954 (1954-10-24)
8"The Lion"Sheldon LeonardClaire KennedyOctober 31, 1954 (1954-10-31)
9"Gramps"Sidney SalkowClaire KennedyNovember 7, 1954 (1954-11-07)
10"Lassie's Pups"Sheldon LeonardClaire KennedyNovember 14, 1954 (1954-11-14)
11"The Job"Sidney SalkowClaire KennedyNovember 21, 1954 (1954-11-21)
12"The Carnival"Sidney SalkowClaire KennedyNovember 28, 1954 (1954-11-28)
13"Sale of Lassie"Rod AmateauClaire KennedyDecember 5, 1954 (1954-12-05)
14"The Rustlers"Sidney SalkowJackson GillisDecember 12, 1954 (1954-12-12)
15"The Fighter"Sidney SalkowClaire KennedyDecember 19, 1954 (1954-12-19)
16"The Contest"December 26, 1954 (1954-12-26)
17"Runaways"Sidney SalkowDavid ChantlerJanuary 2, 1955 (1955-01-02)
18"The Brat"Lesley SelanderClaire KennedyJanuary 9, 1955 (1955-01-09)
19"Father"Sidney SalkowClaire KennedyJanuary 16, 1955 (1955-01-16)
20"The Fawn"Lesley SelanderClaire KennedyJanuary 23, 1955 (1955-01-23)
21"Blind Soldier"Lesley SelanderClaire Kennedy, Milton GeigerJanuary 30, 1955 (1955-01-30)
22"The Cave"Thomas CarrClaire Kennedy, Inez AsherFebruary 6, 1955 (1955-02-06)
23"The Injury"Lesley SelanderClaire KennedyFebruary 13, 1955 (1955-02-13)
24"The Well"Leslie GoodwinsClaire KennedyFebruary 20, 1955 (1955-02-20)
This was the second pilot episode filmed after the first pilot, "The Inheritance." Released in color on the Lassie DVD collection "A Mother's Love."
25"The Snake"Sidney SalkowClaire KennedyFebruary 27, 1955 (1955-02-27)
26"The Bear"Thomas CarrClaire KennedyMarch 6, 1955 (1955-03-06)

References

General
Specific
  1. 1 2 3 Collins, Ace (1993-10-01). Lassie: A Dog's Life. New York: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-14-023183-0. OCLC 29878000.
  2. "Lassie: Best of Jeff's Collie". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2008-10-27.
  3. "Lassie - 50th Anniversary TV Collection (1954)". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2008-10-27.
  4. "Lassie /Jeffs Collie /Timmy and Lassie". ClassicThemes.com. The Media Management Group. Retrieved 2008-02-16.
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