Lassie - Episode #319 - "Operation Woodland" Season 9, Ep. 28 - 04/21/1963

Timmy and Lassie start collecting unopened pine cones for a school tree planting project, and enlist a squirrel to help them. TRIVIA - the forest ranger in this episode is played by actor Russell Johnson (November 10, 1924 – January 16, 2014) who would later go on to acting fame as the smart and capable "Professor" in the popular 1970's tv sitcom "Gilligan's Island". According to news obituaries at the time of his death, Johnson was one of seven children. He joined the Army Air Corps during World War II and served as a B-24 bombardier on missions over the Pacific war zone, breaking his ankles in 1945 when his plane was shot down over the Philippine island of Mindanao. He was discharged as a first lieutenant in November 1945, having earned a Purple Heart and other medals. Upon his discharge, Johnson enrolled at the Actors Lab in Hollywood under the GI Bill. He soon landed a role as a villain in the film "For Men Only" and appeared in more than two dozen feature films, including "MacArthur," ''The Greatest Story Ever Told" and cult science fiction favorites such as "It Came From Outer Space." In the 1953 western "Law and Order," he took part in a gunfight with the film's star, Ronald Reagan. Right after he played the role of a forest ranger in this 1963 Lassie episode, Johnson landed a regular role as "The Professor" on a new TV comedy "Gilligan's Island" which was about a mismatched set of castaways stranded on a deserted island. Johnson's character, the ever cheerful and intelligent high school science teacher Roy Hinkley, built generators and other gadgets out of scraps of junk found on the island in hopes of assisting a rescue. Johnson later joked that the one thing The Professor never figured out how to do was to fix the leaky boat so the group could get back to civilization. The tv series ran from 1964 to 1967, and, while short lived, revived later in syndication to develop a huge, devoted fan base. The tv series is still in syndication today. NOTE: Lassie and the Lassie Trademark are owned by Dreamworks Animation LLC. This episode was publicly broadcast via free over the air (OTA) antenna TV by NBC affiliate COZI TV. Recorded, edited and uploaded by Collie Lover to YouTube with no remuneration whatsoever. All YouTube pre-video advertisements are authorized and placed by Lassie copyright owner.