The show I remember is actually the second series and there was a movie from the 50's.
Movie:
The Littlest Hobo (1958)
First TV Series:
The Littlest Hobo (1963–1965)
Second TV Series:
The Littlest Hobo (1979–1985)
I noticed that both series have the same trainer with the same dog name, London. Here's why:
London the Dog
Trivia
The first 'London' was a German Shepherd purchased by Charles P. Eisenmann in 1946 in Los Angeles. Chuck created revolutionary new ways of training dogs, and other Alsation performers such as Venus, Raura, Toro and Bo followed. The top dog star was always called London however, in tribute to the soldiers with whom he served in England's capital, so the exact lifespan of each individual canine is unknown.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3063799/bio
To explain this, the 2nd show even took a stab at it:
In a surprising development in the show, season 5's two-part episode "The Genesis Tapes" revealed that Hobo was indeed the same exact and long lived dog as the dog in the 1960s series and this was explained away as him being the next stage of canine evolution. This also explains his higher intelligence. The episode's plot primarily revolves along Hobo's effort to destroy all evidence of his origins, which he successfully does. Both chapters feature flashback footage from the first five seasons of the series, with Part 1 also being the only episode of the revival series to include footage from the original 1960s series.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Little ... 985_series
Ah, what plot devices you could get away with in the 80's.
However, that doesn't compare to what you could get away with in the 60's:
Following the 1958 film, the 1960s TV series was aired in syndication around the world, and is best remembered[citation needed] for a scene (later included in the closing credits of most episodes) showing the dog actually riding a parachute. This was before animal treatment regulations discouraged such activity in film productions.[citation needed]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Little ... 965_series
Finally, I've been noticing a bunch of actors who played bit parts on the show. I didn't realize the list was this large, though:
In 1979 CTV revived the series. The New Littlest Hobo (as it was sometimes called), which ran for six seasons, was shot on videotape rather than film. It has since been syndicated in many countries including the USA and UK. In the course of its run, A mixture of well-known Canadian and Hollywood guest stars appeared such as Al Waxman, John Ireland, Megan Follows, Alan Hale, Jr., August Schellenberg, DeForest Kelley, Ray Walston, Morey Amsterdam, Michael Ironside, Patrick Macnee, Abe Vigoda, Saul Rubinek, John Vernon, Chris Makepeace, Karen Kain, Vic Morrow, Henry Gibson, John Carradine and Leslie Nielsen. In 1979, 16-year-old Mike Myers made an early acting appearance playing a paraplegic boy's friend in the episode "Boy on Wheels".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Little ... 985_series
I didn't realize there were 6 seasons for the 2nd run so I'm off to go track 'em down. Embrace your Canadian, quirky culture.
