The Littlest Hobo

Entertaining children's show from Canada about the adventures of a German Shepherd that wanders across the provinces doing good deeds.

Oh how I loved this show when I was a kid. The dog's name was "London" and he was a real hero to junior TV viewers 'way back when'. I recently picked up an episode and enjoyed it just as much as I did in the '60s.

Even now, I find myself occasionally singing the theme song....... "A-driftin', the world is my friend, I'm travelin' along the road .. without end ".

These shows were so much more positive and uplifting than the idiotic garbage that's on offer these days. "London" was one of the great animal stars of the era - right up there with Flipper, Gentle Ben and Rin Tin Tin.

As a kid growing up in Australia in the 1960's, this was one of my Favourites.

Remember this was on during school hours and I would feign sickness just so I could watch it in the mornings.

Littlest Hobo was named London and he was a German Shepherd. Suppose you could compare this to "Highway to Heaven" in some ways, as Jonathon Smith (Michael Landon) would travel around and do good deeds, as did Littlest Hobo but without the help of...

Can still picture him sitting on the freight train in the opening sequence ready for the next adventure. I give this 8 out of 10 and that is because I am biased.

Arf! Arf! Arf! - And, was the "Littlest Hobo" (aka. London) a smarter dog than "Lassie"?

Well - For the answer to that question you'll just have to watch "The Littlest Hobo" and then you can decide for yourself who was television's top dog.

This 2-disc set contains 12, b&w episodes from 1963's "The Littlest Hobo" where London, the handsome German Shepherd, seems to know more about the law than do most people.

This Canadian production has "good-deed-doer" London traveling around on his own to different locations in Canada, where most of the time he's either in rural Ontario, or else here in BC (particularly in the West Vancouver area).

Every half-hour episode featured a whole new cast of actors portraying completely new characters.

I haven't met an Australian kid who grew up in the 1960s who didn't love "The Littlest Hobo" and the theme song "Road without end." The Littlest Hobo would drift from town to town helping people in need and then move on often before anyone had a chance to thank him. Lots of familiar faces from film and TV pop up as guest stars.

It may well be that my baby boomer memory is having a seniors moment but I feel certain that our main character was not a German shepherd but some other sort of canine of approximately the same dimensions. Maybe someone else with a better memory might be able to enlighten us. All I can say that I still get a warm glow inside whenever I think of this wonderful children's show. Each episode was a vignette of new characters to which our Hobo usually helped resolve a human dilemma with animal heart. So sad to think the world that could create such wonderful things with so much love is gone forever... and yet it left such a lasting impression on this 50yo man...