I would imagine anyone under the age of about 25 will know little about The Littlest Hobo (unless they kept repeating it on TV for far longer than Im aware of), but it comes from a time in the early 80s when Canadian family programmes occasionally made it onto British TV (anyone else remember Ramona, starring a miniature Sarah Polley?).
Its sort of like Lassie, but more tragic, following an ownerless hobo dog as he travels around getting into adventures, generally helping people whove got themselves into trouble, ranging from simple little dog aids boy stories to more complex secret agent type tales. Theres no doubt, hes one smart dog and makes Skippy and Flipper look like complete dunces.
However its always very sad as no matter what hes done, whether its saving horses from the glue factory or helping track down a hit and run driver, at the end of each episode hes always on his own again, travelling to the next town. At least theres the famous theme tune (sung by Terry Bush), which assures us that despite his seemingly lonely existence, Maybe tomorrow, I’ll want to settle down. Until tomorrow, I’ll just keep moving on. You see, its his choice to never stick around , even though it does add a note of poignancy to the series.
| Littlest Hobo Theme Tune |
The Littlest Hobo is not a masterpiece of a series, but despite the passage of time its sweet and gentle and has a dog in it, and quite frankly sometimes thats all you really want. Although the theme song is probably more memorable than the actual series, its a nice, simple nostalgic trip down memory lane, and even though its now 32 years old, young kids should still enjoy it (as long as they can get over the dogs itinerant ways, as I remember being quite upset he never seemed to find a way to settle down).
This release includes all 24 episodes from the first season (in total there were six series of the show made), along with a couple of okay special features. For those obsessed with the theme song, theres a sing-along version. Theres also a short feature looking at how dog trainer Chuck Eisenmann worked with the animals of the show (the main dog was called London).
Just in case youre interested, this 1970s series is actually a remake of a 1958 Buddy Hart film, which became a TV show in 1963, however its this late 1970s version thats justifiably the most famous.
Overall Verdict: Although its not exactly a television masterpiece, The Littlest Hobo is a sweet, gentle trip down memory lane, with a fantastic theme tune. Oh, it has a really cute dog.
Special Features:
Maybe Tomorrow Sing-along
How To Train A Dog Like London Featurette
Episode Synopsis
Reviewer: Tim Isaac