The Littlest Hobo

The Littlest Hobo is a wonderful Canadian TV series starring a German Shepherd named London. It follows the life of a stray dog who wanders from adventure to adventure, Lassie-style, but who always remains owner-less and moves on at the end of each episode.

The series was first broadcast in 1963 and ran until 1965. It was based on a 1958 film of the same name, and this original series included a very memorable scene of the dog parachuting (filmed before animal treatment regulations forbade such filming activities!) which was later included in the closing credits of most episodes.

I am more familiar with the later series, however, which originally aired from 1979 to 1985 after the show was brought back for a popular second run. Here in the UK, I used to enjoy watching it in the nineties as a teenager.

The dog is unnamed in the show, and usually referred to as Hobo after the title. The dog who played him was known as London, but there were, in fact, several Londons!

Aside from lovely London, one of the most famous things about the series is the theme tune, "Maybe Tomorrow", which has become something of a cult song!

This lens looks back at this lovely little series and showcases the exploits of the brilliant Littlest Hobo himself, London!

1979-1985

London plays an extremely intelligent, wandering German shepherd who walks into a different place in each episode of this long-running television series, and comes upon people down on their luck or in trouble. He always befriends and helps the struggling person or persons. Then, when his job is done at episode's end, he declines to be the pet of the people he has helped and departs to continue his cross-country drifting.

The series that I remember watching is the second version which ran over six seasons, originally from 1979 to 1985. It is sometimes known as the New Littlest Hobo. This series was colour, and featured an array of stories from dog helps boy to secret agent adventures! This series included the much-loved theme tune "Maybe Tomorrow", sung by Terry Bush, which was released commercially in 2005 by Terry as part of his debut album of the same name.

Some of the adventures Hobo enjoyed included reuniting a mother and baby, rescuing a balloonist, taking on animal trappers, aiding a wrongly-accused "murderer", saving kidnap victims, foiling a dognapping scam, playing Cupid to jilted lovers, helping a handicapped boy and stopping a crime on a film set!

Notable guest stars who went on to become very well known indeed include:

* Mike Myers

* Leslie Nielsen

* Alan Hale, Jr.

* DeForest Kelley

* Morey Amsterdam

* Patrick Macnee

* Vic Morrow

* Henry Gibson

* John Carradine

The show continues to air on CTV today, and was even spoofed in 2005 on CTV's "Corner Gas", in an episode titled, "The Littlest Yarbo", where a mysterious German Shepherd appears in Dog River and Hank is sure it's TV's Littlest Hobo.

The Real Littlest Hobo!

The Littlest Hobo was played by German Shepherd dogs in both the 1960s and 1980s shows. Owned and trained by Chuck P. Eisenmann, the primary star was named London, but as with many film and TV animal characters, Hobo was played by several dogs, including many of London's relatives by the names of Toro, Litlon and Thorn, according to Wikipedia. Different dogs were used according to their abilities, for example for stunts and other agility-based requirements.

Eisenmann is a dog trainer who wrote several books on the subject. He educated his dogs to think and understand very specific directions, as well as to recognise colours and understand different languages, including English, French and German!

Eisenmann toured with his dogs to spread his method of dog education through live demonstrations. The books he wrote included Stop! Sit! And Think, which includes many stories from the filming of the 1968 Littlest Hobo series. His other books include The Better Dog: The Educated Dog and A Dog's Day in Court. The latter reveals the dog Litlon was London's grandson, and that he was also known as London.

London and his fellow acting dogs are described as German Shepherds, but, like me, I am sure you are probably thinking "London doesn't look like a typical German Shepherd!"

In fact, London and co are German Shepherds with "reverse mask" markings. Eisenmann began to breed his own dogs after buying London, breeding particularly for the reverse mask, common on all of his dogs. This is actually unpopular with breeders of the German Shepherd dog as it is not in the breed standard. According to Wikipedia, there is no proof of London's German Shepherd bloodline, and there is speculation that he is a mixed breed, as that particular brown and white sable with reverse mask coloration is achieved in mixed dog breeds such as the Tamaskan Dog, Northern Inuit and Utonagan.

Wikipedia also states that Shiloh Shepherd dogs are stated to trace their heritage back to London's relatives and are inspired by the intelligence Chuck's dogs were reputed to have.

Chuck Eisenmann's books as mentioned above are out of print and hard to find, but Amazon does have stocks occasionally through their marketplace sellers. The books that mention The Littlest Hobo are Stop! Sit! And Think, which includes numerous stories from the set, and A Dog's Day in Court, which links Litlon to London.

1963-1965 (film 1958)

The original series was in black and white, and had a different theme tune, which was "Road Without End" by Ronald Stein, performed by Randy Sparks.

Episodes included Cry Wolf, Come Next Fall Session, Blue Water Sailor, Chico, Honor Ranch, and The Great Manhunt.

A recent DVD release of this original series brought the first three episodes to life in colour for the very first time.

Although the series is Canadian, it was based upon a 1958 American film directed by Charles R. Rondeau.

I adored this theme song when I used to watch the show, and can remember it to this day! I'm not alone - the song became a cult in its own right and was finally released in 2005 when singer Terry Bush released his debut album.

"There's a voice that keeps on calling me

Down the road, that's where I'll always be.

Every stop I make, I make a new friend,

Can't stay for long, just turn around and I'm gone again

Maybe tomorrow, I'll want to settle down,

Until tomorrow, I'll just keep moving on.

Down this road that never seems to end,

Where new adventure lies just around the bend.

So if you want to join me for a while,

Just grab your hat, come travel light, that's hobo style.

Maybe tomorrow I'll want to settle down,

Until tomorrow, the whole world is my home.

So if you want to join me for a while,

Just grab your hat, come travel light, that's hobo style

Maybe tomorrow, I'll want to settle down,

Until tomorrow, I'll just keep moving on.

Maybe tomorrow, I'll want to settle down,

Until tomorrow, I'll just keep moving on.

There's a world that's waiting to unfold,

A brand new tale no-one has ever told.

We've journeyed far far and know it wont be long;

We're almost there, and we've paid our fare with our hobo song.

Maybe tomorrow, I'll want to settle down,

Until tomorrow, I'll just keep moving on.

So if you want to join me for a while,

Just grab your hat, come travel light, that's hobo style.

Maybe tomorrow, I'll find what I call home, Until tomorrow, you know I'm free"

You can buy a T-shirt featuring London and the line from the theme tune (the design in the picture) from 8 Ball.co.uk.

The Littlest Hobo Theme is available to download!

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