The dog that was twenty times smarter than Lassie.

I’m sure you remember Lassie – the rough collie who starred in dozens of movies and in a long-running television series. Yeah, that Lassie. The same one that rescued Timmy every time the boy fell in a well. That Lassie.

I’m about to introduce you to an even smarter television / movie dog.

And he doesn’t even have an official name.

Here’s the premise. A dog travels from adventure to adventure, and in the span of 30 minutes, he finds a human, the human is in some sort of trouble, the dog’s interactions help the human, the human thanks the dog, the dog just leaves. That’s it. That’s the plotline.

Say hello to The Littlest Hobo.

The Littlest Hobo lasted for two seasons in the 1960’s, then for another six seasons a decade or so later. The show featured a German Shepherd dog (officially credited in the TV series by a dog named “London”), who got in and out of all sorts of adventures. And trust me, this was not just “Timmy fell in a well” adventures. This dog seemed to have the ability to understand humans better than humans understood themselves. The dog gravitated towards people who were either in a moral crisis, or in an emotional crisis. Sort of like a guardian angel wit ha tail and an appetite for dog food.

The Littlest Hobo got its start in a 1958 full-length motion picture, which I’ve linked below.

So in 1963, the Littlest Hobo became a syndicated television series, and you can see how this well-trained good boy finds his way into solving any sort of moral or emotional crisis. Like this premiere episode where a boat captain must make a difficult financial choice.

I mean … I’m sitting here watching these episodes, and I feel like I should save these for Saturday morning and enjoy them with a bowl of Sugar Smacks at 8:30 a.m.

We now spin forward to 1979, as the crisis-saving hound returns in The New Littlest Hobo. Now this iteration of the show lasted for six seasons, and was unique in that all the episodes were produced on videotape rather than filmed. And yes, there’s still plenty of “spot the star” moments on this program. See if you can spot a very young Mike Myers in this episode.

And here’s one where The Littlest Hobo fends off trouble at a traveling carnival.

And as you watch these episodes … there’s a couple of head canon theories about this dog. One is that the dog is essentially a wandering angel to help those in need. The other is that the dog may have developed some superior intellect and talent, and currently is on the run from the laboratory that bred his hyper-brilliance, a la The Fugitive.

That’s if you really want to get deep into the meta-workings of this show.

Me? I’ll just settle for it being some easy, relaxing television that feels good after a long hard day at work.

And so far, I haven’t seen any episodes where a kid named Timmy falls in a well.