Network: CTV Television Network
Broadcast Run: 1963 to 1985
Broadcast Medium: Television
A late 1950s feature film spawned this television series, first produced for Canadian and U.S. syndication in the early 1960s and then revived by CFTO Toronto for CTV prime time in 1979. As one of many websites for this highly-popular series described it: “It’s the old, old story….someone has a problem, dog comes along and saves the day, everyone wants the dog to stay……..dog b******rs off!”.
The best-known lead dog for the series was named London, but there were several look-alikes who played the role. A continuous stream of Canadian and U.S. guest actors played the human foils for Hobo’s ingeniously-devised accomplishments. The series premiered on the network in September 1979 at 7:30pm on Thursdays, where it stayed until ending its run in September 1985. That month it moved in repeats to Sundays at 5:30pm, a spot it held down with considerable success for another seven years.
In the Fall of 2005, an episode of CTV’s hit comedy Corner Gas featured a dog that one of the characters was sure was the Hobo reincarnated – which prompted enough reaction for there to be a reincarnation of the series itself on the network. CTV began scheduling repeats of the series on Saturday mornings at 7:30am, starting on October 29th 2005.