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The New Lassie
Genre	Family Drama
Starring	Will Nipper Christopher Stone Dee Wallace-Stone Wendy Cox
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	48
Production
Executive producer	Al Burton
Producer	John Ward
Camera setup	Single-camera
Running time	25 mins.
Production companies	Al Burton Productions Palladium Entertainment MCA TV
Original release
Network	Syndication
Release	September 8, 1989 (1989-09-08) – February 15, 1992 (1992-02-15)
Related
Lassie Lassie

The New Lassie is an American family drama series which aired in first-run syndication from September 8, 1989 to February 15, 1992. The series stars Will Estes (then using his real name of Will Nipper) as Will McCullough, Lassie's new master. Real life husband and wife Christopher and Dee Wallace-Stone co-starred as Will's parents.

The New Lassie is essentially a sequel to the 1954 series, and was the latest in the line of works featuring the Lassie character, which debuted in the 1943 film Lassie Come Home, followed by several more movies and the aforementioned television series, which ran from 1954 to 1973.

Synopsis

The series centers on the McCulloughs, a middle-class family living in fictional suburban Glen Ridge, California. The McCulloughs are the owners of the then-present-day descendant of Lassie. Real life spouses Christopher and Dee Wallace-Stone played Chris and Dee McCullough, with Will Estes (credited by his given name of Will Nipper) and Wendy Cox appearing as their young son Will and teenage daughter Megan respectively.

Jon Provost (born 1950), who starred in the original Lassie series, portrayed Chris' brother Steve McCullough who was revealed in a later episode to be the now adult Timmy Martin in an episode guest-starring June Lockhart (born 1925), in a reprisal of her original role as Timmy's foster mother Ruth Martin (1958-1964). In the episode titled "Roots", Timmy reveals that he was never officially adopted by the Martins, and thus couldn't go with them to Australia when they moved there (at the beginning of season 11 of the second version of the original Lassie series, 1958-1964). Subsequently, he was later adopted by the McCullough family, and began going by his middle name of Steven (Steve).

Cast

• Will Nipper as Will McCullough
• Christopher Stone as Chris McCullough
• Dee Wallace-Stone as Dee McCullough
• Wendy Cox as Megan McCullough
• Jon Provost as Timmy Martin/Steve McCullough

Guest stars

Guest stars with a Lassie past included Roddy McDowall, who had starred in the first movie Lassie Come Home (1943) and Tommy Rettig, who had played Jeff Miller in the early years of the original television series (later syndicated as Jeff's Collie). Other guest stars included Leonardo DiCaprio and Todd Bridges.

Episodes

Season 1 (1989–90)

Season 2 (1991–92)

Production notes

The collie featured in The New Lassie was a fifth generation of Lassie. The dog was trained by Robert Weatherwax, the son of Rudd Weatherwax who trained the original Lassie. Robert was assisted by his only son Robert Jr.

Syndication

Reruns of The New Lassie aired on TV Land Canada in 2007.

References

1. ^ Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle F. (2007-10-17). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present (9 ed.). Ballantine Books. p. 973. ISBN 978-0-345-49773-4.
2. Gussow, Mel (4 October 1998). "Roddy McDowall, 70, Dies; Child Star and Versatile Actor". New York Times. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
3. Gussow, Mel (2 December 1997). "Roddy McDowall: The Las Has Come Far From 'Lassie'". Las Vegas Sun. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
4. King, Susan (18 November 1990). "Jeff Comes Home Again to 'Lassie'". LA Times. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
5. AP (19 February 1999). "Tommy Rettig, 54, Actor on 'Lassie'". New York Times. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
6. Maytum, Matt (13 July 2010). "The Evolution of Leonardo DiCaprio". Games Radar. Future Publishing Limited Quay House. p. 1. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
7. "Todd Bridges Gets New Start With 'New Lassie'". Orlando Sentinel. 29 August 1990. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
8. "A new Lassie comes home to TV this fall". Anchorage Daily News. May 19, 1989. p. B5. Retrieved January 9, 2013.
9. "TV Land Canada Reveals Fall 2007 Premiere Dates" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-06-28.

External links

• The New Lassie at IMDb

• 1989 American television series debuts
• 1992 American television series endings
• 1980s American drama television series
• 1990s American drama television series
• 1980s American children's television series
• 1990s American children's television series
• American sequel television series
• American English-language television shows
• First-run syndicated television programs in the United States
• Lassie television series
• Television series about families
• Television series by Universal Television
• Television shows about dogs
• Television shows set in California