12-05-2013, 06:54 PM
Okay, I'll tell you: His name is Jon Shepodd.
From what I've read, not only did Cloris Leachman dislike the Ruth Martin role, she was apparently also not popular with the TV audience. When she was let go at the end of the fourth season, the producers decided to let Shepodd go as well as it was felt that Paul Martin suddenly having a different wife would be hard to explain to the audience (keeping in mind that Lassie was mainly a children's show).
As if Timmy suddenly having a different mommy and daddy with the same names wouldn't be hard to explain...
Well, the audience accepted June Lockhart and Hugh Reilly. I think June Lockhart was a much better choice as Ruth Martin. Both Jon Shepodd and Hugh Reilly performed well in the Paul Martin role...in my opinion.
The "Timmy" years lasted more than twice as long as the "Jeff" years, which may be why people are more familiar with Timmy Martin than Jeff Miller.
Personally, I saw Timmy and Lassie (the syndicated name for the "Timmy" years of the series) in reruns for a long time before I ever got to see Jeff's Collie. But once I was finally able to see Jeff's Collie, I found that I preferred the earlier version of the series. The writing seemed better...somewhat more believable and less hokey. And Tommy Rettig, Jan Clayton and George Cleveland were excellent actors that all made their roles more believable, as well. Not that Jon Provost, June Lockhart and Hugh Reilly were bad actors...because they were very good as well...but I do think the quality of the scripts slipped somewhat after the "Jeff" years. Maybe it's because for every "Jeff" episode I've seen, I've seen a "Timmy" episode five times as often (due to repeated viewing as I grew up), and I'm now sort of burned out on the "Timmy" episodes for the most part.
From what I've read, not only did Cloris Leachman dislike the Ruth Martin role, she was apparently also not popular with the TV audience. When she was let go at the end of the fourth season, the producers decided to let Shepodd go as well as it was felt that Paul Martin suddenly having a different wife would be hard to explain to the audience (keeping in mind that Lassie was mainly a children's show).
As if Timmy suddenly having a different mommy and daddy with the same names wouldn't be hard to explain...
Well, the audience accepted June Lockhart and Hugh Reilly. I think June Lockhart was a much better choice as Ruth Martin. Both Jon Shepodd and Hugh Reilly performed well in the Paul Martin role...in my opinion.
The "Timmy" years lasted more than twice as long as the "Jeff" years, which may be why people are more familiar with Timmy Martin than Jeff Miller.
Personally, I saw Timmy and Lassie (the syndicated name for the "Timmy" years of the series) in reruns for a long time before I ever got to see Jeff's Collie. But once I was finally able to see Jeff's Collie, I found that I preferred the earlier version of the series. The writing seemed better...somewhat more believable and less hokey. And Tommy Rettig, Jan Clayton and George Cleveland were excellent actors that all made their roles more believable, as well. Not that Jon Provost, June Lockhart and Hugh Reilly were bad actors...because they were very good as well...but I do think the quality of the scripts slipped somewhat after the "Jeff" years. Maybe it's because for every "Jeff" episode I've seen, I've seen a "Timmy" episode five times as often (due to repeated viewing as I grew up), and I'm now sort of burned out on the "Timmy" episodes for the most part.
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Ron Ramirez
Ferdinand IN
