Starting with 1974’s Benji, a series of films featuring that adorable little mixed-breed dog of the title found great success with movie-going audiences. Given that television has a history of dog-themed shows like The Adventures of Rin-Tin-Tin and Lassie, it was inevitable that something reminiscent of the Benji phenomenon would make its way to the small screen…
Hot on the pawed heels of 1980’s Oh! Heavenly Dog, Here’s Boomer debuted on NBC. A remake of a Canadian series called The Littlest Hobo, the show chronicled the adventures of Boomer, a smart, mixed-breed stray dog, as he wandered from town to town. The plucky pup would get involved in the lives of different people along the way and would always help the people he met through a crisis before moving on to the next town. There were the usual dog-related crimes—rings of dognappers and such—but Boomer also had a social conscience, once even helping a deaf little girl prove to her parents that a hearing impairment didn’t mean she was stupid.
The producers intended to implement a new element to the show for its proposed second season in the fall of 1980: an off-screen voiceover delivering Boomer’s thoughts. However, the show wasn’t picked up for the fall season that year, and the voiceover gimmick was only used in one episode, aired as a special in December of 1980. The show did return in September of 1981 and ran for one more season before being cancelled.
production details
USA / NBC / x25 minute episodes / Broadcast 14 March 1980 – 14 August 1982
Theme Music: Here’s Boomer by Zoey Wilson, Edward Leonetti / Boomer’s Trainer: Ray Berwick, Bryan Refreno
cast
Boomer
Tom Moore as Voice of Boomer’s Thoughts
