Of the variations of this series, the 6 seasons that featured June Lockhart, Hugh Reilly and Jon Provost seemed to hold the episodes that worked the best for me (the other variations of the series, while good, seemed to lack the small family environment that existed with the above), and, I must admit that "Lassie" is one of the reasons that I pursued a job in the field of meteorology in my adult years (and why to this day I still enjoy camping in National Parks or Forests) - as the Bible says, a good influence at a young age is very important, and I'm grateful that through television, the program "Lassie" was the good influence I needed. After watching some of these early episodes during the TVLand "Lassie" 50th Anniversary Marathon this past weekend (4/23-24/05), the program still remains in my mind as my all-time favorite television series during my grade school years.
In watching these episodes over the weekend, what also came to mind was the "poor simplicity" of a child living in those post-World War II times - some might think that what is shown in "Lassie" was an exaggeration for television, but, in reality was mostly true - of our favorite "toys" at that time (I was born in the mid-1950's), our green garden hose was one of our favorites during the summer months (a very inexpensive way to "go to the beach"), along with our clothesline, which we used to "transport" our stuffed animals on "long journeys" far from our house (with the use of wooden clothespins - a stuffed rabbit had the ears for just this purpose) - try explaining that to a child today!
People should also remember that this "poor simplicity" was also a reflection of the country's recent past at that time - while in today's world, 30 years ago means 1975, in 1960 30 years earlier meant 1930 - the height of the depression, and as older Americans know, it took the country many years to recover from those very poor and simple times, and could still be felt in some ways, even during the early 1960's.
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