Lassie
The Gift of Life
TV Flash files “The Gift of Life” as hour 401 of 591 in the TV Flash guide — Lassie (1954–1973) on CBS, season 12, episode 16, aired 1965-12-26, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S12E16: listed hour 401 of 591 in the Lassie guide, hour 16 of 32 in season 12. It aired 1965-12-26 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “Temper the Wind” (S12E15). Next is “Lassie Catches the Poachers” (S12E17). Broadcast log — titles and dates, not a plot bible.
Viewer FAQ
Where does The Gift of Life sit in the Lassie guide?
S12E16 is listed hour 401 of 591 — hour 16 of 32 in season 12, season 12 episode 16.
When did Lassie S12E16 air?
The Gift of Life aired 1965-12-26 and is listed at 30 minutes.
Where should I start?
Start in the early Jeff or Timmy household eras, when the boy-and-collie contract is clearest, rather than treating every later caretaker stretch as required.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Lassie is the collie who saved more kids than most sitcom dads: loyalty as a weekly serial, Jeff then Timmy, a revolving human cast around one branded bark. Watch it now as the animal-star franchise that defined family adventure across two decades — training lore, collie succession, and devotion as the whole plot engine.
The silhouette is fur and a look. Not a gown, not a tag, not the timeline's joke about a dog: a collie centered on the call sheet while humans revolve. *Lassie* ran on CBS from 1954 into the early 1970s — 591 episodes, 19 seasons, loyalty as a weekly serial. Early child-star eras include Tommy Rettig's Jeff and Jan Clayton's Ellen, then Jon Provost's Timmy and June Lockhart's Ruth. Multiple trained collies portrayed the brand. The bark outranked the wardrobe, which is a kind of image management the stan accounts…
Filed against
- Tommy Rettig as Jeff Miller
Tommy Rettig was Jeff Miller on Lassie — the boy in the first collie era, loyalty as a weekly serial, a revolving human cast around one branded bark. Jeff then Timmy; the dog stayed the franchise. TV Flash files him as 1950s…
- Jan Clayton as Ellen Miller
Jan Clayton’s Ellen Miller mothered Lassie’s first television household — collie loyalty as a weekly serial, Jeff then the revolving humans around one branded bark. 1950s family adventure with a dog as the franchise. TV Flash files her as…
- Jon Provost as Timmy Martin
Jon Provost’s Timmy Martin made Lassie a boy-and-collie liturgy — loyalty as a weekly serial, Jeff then Timmy, a revolving human cast around one branded bark. Animal-star franchise that defined family adventure across two decades. TV…
- June Lockhart as Ruth Martin
June Lockhart mothered two American fantasies without blinking: Ruth Martin on Lassie, then the Robinson household on Lost in Space. Collie loyalty as a weekly serial; Irwin Allen’s space-opera danger with a stowaway and a clanking robot.…