Does a good boy make for a good TV show? Sometimes! There have been dogs on the small screen for decades, and a few of these pooch programs are among the most beloved TV series ever to air. These are five of the best shows that starred dogs, ranked
While they say every dog will have its day, not every series featuring a dog is eligible, however. The competition to be the best TV show starring a dog is dog eat dog, and only series that truly have a canine in the lead can contend. Eddie, the Jack Russell Terrier on “Frasier,” may have been a big part of the erudite and hilarious NBC sitcom, but the show was about Kelsey Grammer’s title character and the other humans, first and foremost. Likewise, Brian is an essential part of “Family Guy,” but the name of the series isn’t “Family Dog.”
On that note, animated dogs are eligible to appear with some caveats. The cartoon canines can’t be too overly anthropomorphized. Brian on “Family Guy” walks upright, talks, and has a drinking problem. That’s not exactly what people picture when they’re thinking about dog shows. “Bluey” is a wonderful children’s program, but the Heeler family and all the other dogs are functionally people. Even in animation, a good TV dog needs to have some distinctly dog-like qualities to make the cut
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5. The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin
Truth be told, Rin Tin Tin is really more of a movie icon than a TV star. The dog was a real-life German Shepherd who was rescued from a World War I battlefield as a puppy and brought back to the states where he became a silent film star. A few decades after the original dog went to a farm upstate (so to speak), Rin Tin Tin became the title character of a children’s adventure series in a ’50s TV show
“The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin” was a hit, running for five seasons on ABC from 1954 to 1959. Though Rin Tin Tin IV — a descendant of the original dog — was clocked to play the title character, the pooch was not a natural actor and other German Shepherds ended up doing a lot of the performing. Set in the American West, the show followed the pup and an orphaned boy who had been adopted by the 101st Cavalry
While not the most groundbreaking or progressive series, it’s nevertheless a testament to Rin Tin Tin’s impact and legacy that the show was a hit. The dog who conquered the big screen dug up success on the small one, as well.
4. Courage the Cowardly Dog
“Courage the Cowardly Dog,” which premiered on Cartoon Network in 1999 and ran for four seasons into the early ’00s, is a masterpiece of children’s horror and one of the best Cartoon Network shows ever made. Several episodes are legitimately scary — and the title character agrees
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Even though Courage is somewhat anthropomorphized — considering he talks a little and clearly thinks about things on a higher and more neurotic level than any real dog would — he still very much reads as a pooch rather than a furry human. Part of this comes from the clever way “Courage the Cowardly Dog” riffs on the very idea of a guard dog. Plenty of pet-owners ignore their dog when it’s barking to alert them of a dangerous threat outside. In real life, the “threat” is often just some neighbor who happens to be walking by the front yard, much to the dismay of the howling dog.
Courage, meanwhile, is trying to alert his owners that actual, supernaturally scary threats like a resurrected mummy, or creepy lady in a porcelain mask, are haunting his farmhouse in the middle of Nowhere, Kansas. His owners, Eustace and Muriel, tend to ignore him — to their own detriment
3. Wishbone
Wishbone, the titular Jack Russell Terrier of the ’90s PBS series, is more than just one of the greatest dogs in TV history. He’s also a literary icon
While each episode of “Wishbone” had a plot where the dog would interact with his owners in the real world, the actual appeal of the series were its adaptations of famous works of fiction — with Wishbone in a leading role. Wishbone was Odysseus in “The Odyssey,” Victor Frankenstein in “Frankenstein,” and Mr. Darcy in “Pride & Prejudice.” When the show adapted the Sherlock Holmes story, “The Hound of the Baskervilles,” Wishbone played the famous detective rather than the monstrous hound
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It’s a testament to Soccer, the animal actor who played Wishbone, (as well as to all the handlers and technicians who made these reenactments happen), that you firmly believe this dog is the main character of a famous work of literature. Give man’s best friend a best actor trophy
2. Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!
Upon being unmasked, the bad guys in “Scooby-Doo” would often blame the foiling of their nasty plot on “meddling kids,” but, of course, Mystery Inc. wouldn’t have thwarted nearly as many fake ghouls and ghosts without their snack-loving great dane
The title character of Hanna-Barbera’s classic Saturday morning cartoon, which debuted on CBS in 1969, is undoubtedly one of the most famous fictional dogs of all time, and for good reason. “Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!” is a kitschy, fun, and slightly spooky-but-mostly silly delight, and Scoob is a big reason why
Scooby can talk — sort of — but he’s got a lot of hallmarks of real dogs. He has a similar vibe as his owner, Shaggy. He’s kind of a coward despite his large size. And, sometimes, the only way to get him to do what he’s supposed to do is by bribing him with treats, something any dog owner can relate to
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(Scrappy-Doo, it should be noted, would not qualify for this list of greatest TV shows starring dogs because he’s too anthropomorphized and barely acts like a dog. The spin-off series he’s in are also not the franchise’s best)
1. Lassie
Perhaps the most-beloved fictional dog of them all, Lassie is a canine icon. She made her debut in a 1938 short story before gracing the silver screen in a series of films in the ’40s, but it’s on television where the loyal rough collie cemented her legacy. Premiering on CBS in 1954, “Lassie” would be a fixture on television for the next two decades, ending in 1973, making it one of the longest-running American TV shows. “Lassie” would also get live-action reboots and revivals in the ’80s and ’90s, though the original series remains best remembered.
The first several seasons of the original show were formulaic, though comfortingly so. Timmy would get in trouble and Lassie would go and get help, leading to his rescue. Later seasons would see the dog leave the farm and have adventures with the U.S. Forest Service, and the last two seasons ditched the humans almost entirely and instead just had Lassie travel about and go on adventures
In all her appearances on TV, Lassie was a very, very good girl. Even if the wholesome, family friend Americana sort of storytelling the series excelled in has largely fallen out of vogue, the series, and the dog, remains a cultural touchstones
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