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| Pet Set - 1971 |
Welcome to a new feature on the blog: TV Tuesday. Each Tuesday we'll focus in on an episode of a TV show. Old, new, middle-aged...they'll be here.
For our first installment, we feature the very first episode of "Pet Set", a show created by Betty White, which highlights one celebrity each week and their pets. Betty specifically molds the show around her celebrity guest. This episode's guest is "Bonanza" cast member Lorne Greene.
Recently re-released, it's an absolute joy to watch. I'd like to take a moment to ooh and ahh over this adorable graphic art that Albets Enterprises uses for the re-release. It features Betty, her husband Allen Ludden, and a furry friend.
Diving right into the episode, Betty introduces us to Lorne Greene (who at the time was better known as Pa Cartwright on "Bonzana"). He has brought his two German Shepherds, who are named Kola and Wolfgang. Kola is Wolfgang's mother. Lorne describes the moment when Wolfgang was born, and it is very sweet.
After saying hello to Lorne's furry friends, we meet Ginger, a pot-sniffing dog who works with the police department and whose testimony would actually hold up in a court of law. It's fascinating to learn how Ginger was trained and the work that she actually does. At the time of the filming, she was one of the few dogs who had been allowed by the airlines to fly first-class!
From there we meet Ralph Helfer, who owns Africa USA, which supplies the wild animals for television and film productions. He educates Betty and Lorne on the differences between wolves and dogs, and points out that they are so not closely related as many would think. He provides us with some footage of wolves at his ranch.
He even brings us an example in the form of Little Wolf, a very friendly guy. Little Wolf is part of Ralph's "affection training" program at the ranch, which allows the animals to be trained in such a way that they would pose no danger to actors on film/television sets.
Betty tells of a time a few weeks earlier when she was at Ralph's ranch on the very day that two wolf pups were born. Ralph brings some footage of the two pups about two weeks after their birth.
Then, Ralph actually brings out the two babies, and Betty and Lorne happily hold the two frisky pups in their arms. Betty stresses the point that wild animals are not pets and admonishes people to please not keep them.
Afterwards, Betty and Lorne compare the three-week old wolf pup with a six-week old German Shepherd puppy.
And they round things out with a look at German Shepherds in every stage of their lives, from about fourteen weeks old to maturity.
As they say goodbye, Betty and Lorne meet up with a dog that is a triple champion, meaning it has won national championships in the USA, Mexico, and Canada, something which (at the time this show was produced) has only happened twice in the German Shepherd breed.
Cast rundown:
Betty White..............................Herself
Lorne Greene............................Himself
Ralph Helfer..............................Himself
Allen Ludden.............................Announcer (voice only)
And that's it for Pet Set. I hope you enjoy this new feature on the blog. While there are a great many films out there, I feel the small screen deserves a little attention, too. And since so many stars fluctuated between television and film, it's only fitting that we recognize them here.
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