''The New Lassie'' is an American children and family oriented drama series which aired in first-run

syndication Syndication may refer to: * Broadcast syndication, where individual stations buy programs outside the network system * Print syndication, where individual newspapers or magazines license news articles, columns, or comic strips * Web syndication, ...

from September 8, 1989 to February 15, 1992. The series stars

Will Estes William Estes (; born October 21, 1978) is an American actor known for his role on CBS police drama '' Blue Bloods'' as Jameson "Jamie" Reagan, a New York City Police Department officer and the youngest son of the police commissioner, played by ...

(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 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Soviet Union announces that 22 German divisions have been encircled at Stalingrad, with 175,000 killed and 137,650 captured. * January 4 ...

film ''

Lassie Come Home ''Lassie Come Home'' is a 1943 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Technicolor feature film starring Roddy McDowall and canine actor Pal, in a story about the profound bond between Yorkshire boy Joe Carraclough and his rough collie, Lassie. The film was dire ...

'', 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 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

(credited by his given name of Will Nipper) and Wendy Cox appearing as their young son Will and teenage daughter Megan respectively.

Jon Provost Jonathan Bion Provost (born March 12, 1950) is an American actor, best known for his role as young Timmy Martin in the CBS series '' Lassie''. Life and career Provost was born in Los Angeles. At the age of four, Provost was cast in the film ...

, who starred in the original ''Lassie'' series, portrayed Chris' brother Steve McCullough who was revealed in a later episode to be the adult Timmy Martin in an episode guest-starring

June Lockhart June Lockhart (born June 25, 1925) is an American actress, beginning a film career in 1930s & 1940s in such films at ''A Christmas Carol'' and '' Meet Me in St. Louis''. She primarily acted in 1950s and 1960s television, and with performances on ...

in a reprisal of her role as Timmy's foster mother Ruth Martin. 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 original ''Lassie'' series). 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 *

as Timmy Martin/Steve McCullough

Guest stars

Guest stars with a Lassie past included

Roddy McDowall Roderick Andrew Anthony Jude McDowall (17 September 1928 – 4 October 1998) was a British actor, photographer and film director. He began his acting career as a child in England, and then in the United States, in ''How Green Was My Valley'' (1 ...

, who had starred in the first movie ''

'' (1943) and

Tommy Rettig Thomas Noel Rettig (December 10, 1941 – February 15, 1996) was an American child actor, computer software engineer, and author. He is remembered for portraying the character "Jeff Miller" in the first three seasons of CBS's ''Lassie'' te ...

, who had played Jeff Miller in the early years of the original television series (later syndicated as ''

Jeff's Collie ''Lassie'' is an American television series that follows the adventures of a female Rough Collie dog named Lassie and her companions, both human and animal. The show was the creation of producer Robert Maxwell and animal trainer Rudd Weatherwax a ...

''). Other guest stars included Leonardo DiCaprio and

Todd Bridges Todd Anthony Bridges (born May 27, 1965) is an American actor. He portrayed Willis Jackson on the sitcom ''Diff'rent Strokes'' and had a recurring role as Monk on the sitcom ''Everybody Hates Chris.'' Bridges worked as a commentator on the telev ...

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 Ruddell Bird "Rudd" Weatherwax (September 23, 1907 – February 25, 1985) was an American actor, animal trainer, and breeder. He and his brother Frank are best remembered for training dogs for motion pictures and television. Their coll ...

who trained the original Lassie. Robert was assisted by his only son Robert Jr.

Syndication

After its cancellation, reruns of ''The New Lassie'' aired on TV Land Canada in 2007.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:New Lassie, The 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 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