What Is The Longest-Running TV Show About Dogs?
Sometimes doodle grooming is done just to help your dog relax, feel more comfortable and for their owner to take a break and pamper themselves, whilst in other cases a dog is being styled to look their best for a specific reason.
In some cases, this could be because that dog is a star of the silver screen, and it is impossible to discuss four-legged superstars without talking about Lassie.
Originally introduced in a short story by Elizabeth Gaskell in 1859 and more formally introduced to the world in the novel and film adaptation Lassie Come Home, Lassie is a Rough Collie who was particularly smart and courageous, often saving people when they are trapped in peril.
This led to a series of seven films between 1943 and 1951 before Lassie was commissioned by the American television channel CBS in 1954 for a family adventure series that featured the eponymous dog going on a range of adventures and helping people in need.
It inspired a lot of very similar shows such as The Littlest Hobo, Here’s Boomer and Skippy the Bush Kangaroo, with very formulaic plots involving animal stars bonding with and helping people around them including kids, farmhands and park rangers.
Whilst a common joke about the nature of the show’s plots, Timmy (nor anyone else) at no point fell down a well during the series.
It ultimately ran for 19 seasons from 1954 until 1973, and despite seeing a decline in viewing numbers was only cancelled due to a strange shift in broadcasting law.
The Prime Time Access Rule mandated that at 7 PM on Sunday evenings (as well as 10:30 PM the same day, and 7:30 PM on weekdays and Saturdays), television networks must air local programming, which meant that Lassie needed to move or be cancelled.
Much like a lot of older shows that focused on rural life and rural protagonists, Lassie was cancelled. It would survive for two more years in syndication before ending entirely in 1973.
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