Timmy and Lassie (Discovery Kids)

common sense media says

Timmy's stuck in the '50s, Lassie! Get help!


parents & educators say

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that this is the same show you yourself might have watched in reruns as a kid, with all of the '50s values intact -- good and bad. On the one hand, Timmy is always polite, caring, and happy to spend time with his family. On the other, female characters are generally as helpless as a fly in butter.

Positive messages: Characters reflect the values of their era. Women are consistently helpless, men humor them, and minorities, if shown, are stereotypical.
Violence & scariness: Not applicable.
Sexy stuff: Not applicable.
Language: Not applicable.
Consumerism: Not applicable.
Drinking, drugs, & smoking: Not applicable.

More on Timmy and Lassie

What to talk about

Talk to your kids
Families can talk about the differences between life now and how it was for Timmy and his family then (with the caveat that this was fiction then, too, and that real farm wives probably didn't cook in a dainty dress and pearl earrings). There's always room to talk about the role of women and any minority characters, as well as Timmy's scorn for anything "sissy" -- all concepts we might not want our kids to absorb today. Every episode has its own moral -- don't lie, don't disobey your parent or teacher, etc. -- and those, while didactic and obvious by the standards of today's kids, might still work on younger viewers.

What's the story?

What's the story?
TIMMY AND LASSIE is the old classic Lassie series (renamed for syndication), with Cloris Leachman in her pre-Phyllis, pre-liberation days playing Timmy's clueless farm-wife mom (later replaced by June Lockhart) and Jon Provost as Timmy. This is the second incarnation of Lassie, after runaway orphan Timmy has been adopted by the Millers, who bought the farm from the family at the center of the original show. The show follows a very simple format: Someone is in peril, and Lassie will run to get help.

Is it any good?

Is it any good?
 

Timmy and Lassie presents the same dilemma as so many programs from the early days of television -- the very-dated portrayal of women and, should they chance to appear, minorities. And then there's Timmy's scorn of all things "sissy." Will your son really stop playing with girls just because young Timmy spurns them? Probably not, and what with Timmy's neatly combed hair and formal conversational style, he probably can't really see himself playing with Timmy much, either. But it's tough to let it pass without comment -- and if you comment, you're going to be scrutinizing every episode.

TV themes & details

Themes
TV Details
TV Rating: TV-Y
Network: Discovery Kids
Cast: Cloris Leachman, Hugh Reilly, Jon Provost
Genre: Drama
Where to watch: Discovery Kids

This review was written by KJ Dell Antonia
 
 

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Sheila Zachreson
parent of and 21 , 24 , 27 year old
 
I Really love it and i wish it would come on again. Thanks

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ON: Content is appropriate for kids this age.
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