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The Littlest Hobo
1979 · TV series · 30 min episodes · 6 seasons
Created by Dorrell McGowan
The Littlest Hobo is a Canadian television series based upon a 1958 American film of the same name directed by Charles R. Rondeau. The series first aired from 1963 to 1965 in syndication, spanning six seasons and was revived for a popular second run on CTV from October 11, 1979 to March 7, 1985. It starred an ownerless dog. All three productions revolved around a stray German Shepherd, the titular Hobo, who wanders from town to town, helping people in need. Although the concept was perhaps similar to that of Lassie, the Littlest Hobo's destiny was to befriend those who apparently needed help. Despite the attempts of the many people whom he helped to adopt him, he appeared to prefer to be on his own, and would head off by himself at the end of each episode. Never actually named on-screen, the dog is often referred to by the name Hobo or by the names given by temporary human companions. Hobo's background is also unexplained on-screen. His origins, motivation and ultimate destination are also never explained. Although some characters appeared in more than one episode, the only constant was the Littlest Hobo himself.
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2 comments on Hacker News
> There are only two plots: a man goes on a journey, or a stranger comes to town.
Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy regains girl?
I suppose the meets-loses-regains sequence can be considered a journey if you squint at it enough, but that doesn't feel quite right.
> Although if you really think about it, there's only one plot, because a man who goes on a journey is a stranger who comes to town in another town.
Ooh, that's an interesting observation, the difference between the two is in swapping the foreground and background.
In fact, hmm, now that I think of it, quite a lot of episodic drama deliberately uses that same swap or superposition to occasionally change things up for an episode. And a few are always about the same stranger on a journey coming to an endless series of towns (The Incredible Hulk, The Pretender, even The Littlest Hobo).
For amusement I recently started watching a French 1960s series called Les Chevaliers du Ciel, there are loads of episodes on YouTube. With my five-year-old, instead of kids' programming.
As well as lots of aeroplanes I have found the same as you; gentle pacing, lingering scenes, no snarkiness, no real swearing. It is very refreshing how drama used to be filmed.
I might try the Littlest Hobo soon, if I can avoid crying during the title song!