Directed by Charles Rondeau and set in Los Angeles, the heart-warming tale started out as an American film in 1958. The star of the show was a German Shepherd dog, who rescued a boy's pet lamb from the slaughterhouse and set off on a mission to reunite them, while trying to evade capture by the police.
Credit: Wikipedia
Canadian series
The idea was made into a Canadian TV series that first aired from 1963 to 1965. It was shown in the UK on ITV and was sold to 80 other countries. The concept of a dog helping people - and other animals - was similar to the Lassie idea, except The Littlest Hobo never offered any explanation as to why this adorable dog was roaming on his own.
Although never named, he was referred to as "Hobo", or was given temporary names by the people whom he helped. Then, after he went on his way again, he would have another name when he met the next bunch of people.
The show was filmed in British Columbia. Following its initial run, the series was revived by Canada's CTV network from 1979 to 1985, when it ran for six seasons. Re-runs were shown on Saturday mornings on CTV until 2013.
Hobo was described as an "ownerless dog", although his reason for being ownerless in the first place was never explained. Nor did viewers ever find out the reason he wanted to help everyone, or even his ultimate destination.
Dog actors
The character Hobo was played by several different German Shepherd dogs, spanning the series from the 1960s to the 1980s. The first series starred a dog called London, who had also played Hobo in the 1958 film. Other canine actors also took on the title role over the years, including Toro, Litlon and Thorn.
The German shepherd dogs were all owned and trained by Charles Eisenmann. The primary star was London and the other dogs were from the same family. Experienced dog trainer Eisenmann taught his dogs to react to specific spoken instructions, to recognise colours and to understand English, French and German.
He promoted the show and his training methods by going on tour with his dogs, giving live demonstrations, giving interviews on radio shows, appearing on TV and writing several books. In his 1968 book, Stop, Sit and Think, he recounted many anecdotes from filming The Littlest Hobo.
London was Eisenmann's first German Shepherd and after buying him, he began breeding his own. His dogs were unusual in that they had facial colouring described as the "reverse mask". This wasn't popular among German Shepherd breeders, as it was not in the Kennel Club's breed standard, but Eisenmann particularly liked it.
Theme song
The Littlest Hobo's theme song was a catchy tune that stuck in viewers' heads all week and featured some very poignant lyrics, as if sung from Hobo's point of view.
"There's a voice keeps on calling me - down the road, that's where I'll always be," are the opening lines. "If you want to join me for a while, just grab your hat, we'll travel light, that's hobo-style."
The chorus is the bit that everyone would sing at the top of their voice when the show came on TV: "Maybe tomorrow, I'll want to settle down. Until tomorrow, I'll just keep moving round."
The video on YouTube of the opening credits, showing Hobo running around outdoors to the theme song, has had one million views and more than 700 comments, with people saying it was their favourite television show of all time. However, some said they found the song melancholy when they were kids, crying at the thought of a dog never having a permanent home and travelling around - even though it was through choice!
Episodes
A total of 175 episodes were made between 1963 and 1985. The format featured Hobo as the star and guest actors appearing each week as characters whom he met along the way.
Hobo was involved in some dangerous and spectacular adventures over the years, as well as other tales with a touch of humour and sentiment. Among the human guest stars were Brooklyn-born actor Simon Oakland, who also appeared in Psycho and West Side Story. He played a rather blunt, middle-aged farmer, who was about to wed a very strait-laced and prudish woman. Hobo decided to help them by ironing out a few problems in their relationship.
Another episode starred American actress Barbara Gordon, who has also made films such as The Kidnapping of Baby John Doe and TV series including War of the Worlds. The episode in which she guest stars sees Hobo befriending the police and their canines in the K9 dog unit to help an urgent search for a missing boy, who needs treatment for a brain tumour.
Even future Hollywood megastar Mike Myers had a role in The Littlest Hobo back in 1979, playing the friend of a boy in a wheelchair whom Hobo meets. The dog helps to heal the family following the accident which led to the boy's serious injuries - ironically caused when his father crashed the car while swerving to avoid a dog in the road.
Hobo risks his own life regularly to help deserving people. In 1979, he is dropped by parachute into a town cut off by thick fog to bring an antidote to a child who has accidentally swallowed poison. In another episode called Target For Terror, Hobo saves a politician's son from the clutches of kidnappers.
Producer and director
The series might never have come to fruition, had it not been for the perseverance of producer Christopher Dew. He approached the original producers, Stuart and Dorrell McGowan, who made the 1958 film. He persuaded them to license the rights to him, when initially they weren't interested in doing so, on condition he got the necessary financial package together.
The director, Allan Eastman, wasn't massively excited when he met Dew and heard about the concept of the series. He recalled thinking, "Oh, yeah ... a dog show," without much enthusiasm. However, he soon realised The Littlest Hobo was a "really great action-adventure show" and he later looked back at it as being the "golden years" of his career.
Eastman recalled the five dogs playing the role of Hobo and said London was the patriarch who kept the others in line. He was amazed at how well-trained the dogs were and how they took time to listen to Eisenmann's instructions on set. He also recalled Eisenmann saying that the dogs' comprehension level equalled that of an eight-year-old child and that their intelligence was the reason they were relatively easy to train.
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