BigSkyMax This program went off the air when I was 5 years old so I only have vague recollections of it, mostly from older brothers talk. I think there was a comic book too. What I do remember is that in the sixties just about everybody had a German Shepherd in their backyard and I suspect this kiddie show was the reason. Now pit bulls are all the rage, and Shepherd puppies sell for between $600-2500!I just watched the only episode available on YouTube, "Sorrowful Jones" with Sterling Holliday. What a sad, racist depiction of "Indians" -- white guys running around committing mayhem while wearing, for no logical reason, full ceremonial headdresses and buckskins. In the Arizona desert? What a lazy lesson of unhistorical hatred to serve up to kids. I suspect that's why you can't find the series on DVD. But I was also disappointed by how little the dog actually did. He had a few reaction shots, a couple of dubbed barks and 'saves' the day at the end by jumping on the bad guy. Not very sophisticated tricks. This was an influential show and I wish I could see more episodes to judge it better. From the one I've seen, it's kind of a bad dog.

John T. Ryan The Scene: Board Room, Screen Gems TV Unit; Subsidiary of Columbia Pictures Corporation. A paunchy, Balding and Bespectacled 50ish man is presiding over a strategy meeting. The "Suits" have to make a decision about what to do with a property that they have an option on using in Movies or TV.Bald Head: "Well, what are we gonna do with this, this,...Watzis name, Schultz? Schultz: "Uh, the Dog, sir? It's Rin-Tin-Tin." Bald Head: "Yeah, that German Shepherd from World War I, the Army Dog! Our option runs out and that'd be $8,000,000.oo down the drain if we don't do something with 'em! What we gonna do?" Board Man 1: "That's the dog from France in World War II, right?" Board Man 2: "No, genius, it was in the First Big War, 1918. The mutt is supposed to have saved Warner Brothers from going belly up!" Bald Head: "Yeah, he was a sort of canine War Bride or somethin' like that! But we can't put him in a World War or anything like that! People are sick of War! We just finished that Korean "Police Action!" C'mon you guys! Think of somethin'! THINK!" BOARD MAN 3: "Hell, why don't we put 'em in the Cavalry or somethin' like that?" BALD HEAD: "The Cavalry!!! Are you nuts!?!?" ...............And thus if not exactly a Legend, a Series is born!The Series THE ADVENTURES OF RIN TIN TIN successfully combined several popular themes into a highly successful Kiddie Western. We took a Dog, a Kid (an orphan, yet) and had the good Cavalrymen at Fort Apache's "B" Company adopt him and give him their Unit name as his Family or Surname.They added a good sampling of veteran Hollywood Film Actors to give the thing a certain dependability. Lt. Rip Masters (Former "B" Movie Leading Man and a capable dramatic Actor name of James Brown), Sgt. Biff O'Hara (Joe Sawyer, always cast as the Sergeant, always), Jimmy Lyden (The former Henry Aldrich of the Movies) and a cast of seemingly thousands of guest starring actors; a veritable Who's Who of supporting players available then.This Fort Apache seemed to have everything a boy could want. Heroes to hero worship, towns folk to rescue, horses to ride. They even had all kinds of Injuns! And not all the Apaches were bad. They had the renegades led by Geronimo and the friendly Apaches headed up by Cochise. Who said that all Hollywood Indians were bad? It certainly wasn't here!THE ADVENTURES OF RIN TIN TIN provided us with a Western adventure all our own. And thanks to our folks, Clement J. & Bertha F.Ryan (nee Fuerst), we learned of the Origin of the FIRST RINTY and his coming to America from the Western Front in World War I France.That's the sort of Mom and Dad we had!NOTE: * From the old World War I Song (as if they're are any new World War I songs)!

bkoganbing Back in the day when I was in my single digit years, Rin Tin Tin made his television debut in a series about an orphan kid and the German shepherd puppy found by Cavalry as the only survivors of a wagon train massacre. It was a great TV kid's show and still running in syndication someplace in the world.We never knew what Rusty's last name was. Lee Aaker played the boy who I thought was lucky at the time to live and grow up on an army post in territorial Arizona. What a great childhood. Aaker was supported by a good group of movie professionals like James Brown, Joe Sawyer, and Rand Brooks. But it was the boy and the dog and like the previous reviewer, I can still hear the cry of Yo Rinty when Rusty sicced him on a bad guy.I still remember the episode where Rusty saw the legendary White Buffalo and there were two episodes in which a British colonel and his batman came over from India and later the Fort Apache regulars go over there to deal with real Indians.Shows for a more innocent time.

juliafwilliams This year marks the 50th anniversary of two great family programs -- Lassie (q.v.) and the subject of this comment, Rin Tin Tin. I remember that the show was sponsored by the National Biscuit Company, Nabisco to you, and that the stars, like stars of other programs of the time advertised certain products. Needless to say, Rinty and Rusty sold a great deal of Shreaded Wheat, to say nothing of Oreo cookies.The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin was part of my growing up years and the call 'Yoooooooo, Rinty' echoes in my ears to this day.'Lassie' and 'The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin' are proof positive that the dog is man's (and woman's) best friend.Happy 50th television anniversary, Rinty.