Here's Boomer

"Here's Boomer" was an American television program produced by Paramount that aired on the NBC beginning in March 1980. A made-for-TV movie called "A Christmas for Boomer" aired on December 6, 1979 and introduced the character.

The show ran for two seasons, ending its run in August 1982. The final original episode, "Flatfoots," aired on July 3 of that year.

The part of Boomer in all of the shows was played by a mixed-breed dog named Johnny, whose appearance was primarily that of a terrier. One early title considered for the series was "Here's Johnny", after the dog who played the part, which was rejected owing to the use of that catch-phrase on "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson".

"Here's Boomer" owed a great deal to the popularity of the Benji films and television specials of the 1970s and 1980s. In real life, both Johnny and Higgins, the dog who first played Benji, were abandoned or lost mixed-breed dogs who were adopted from animal shelters by animal trainers in California. On screen both played the parts of stray dogs who were smart, friendly, and loving of their human and animal friends.

Johnny had a stunt dog, named Boomer J, who stood in for him on some of his more difficult tricks. As with human stunt actors and the stars for whom they double, the scenes featuring Boomer J were filmed at a distance to minimize the visual differences between him and Boomer.

During the run of the show, Boomer made guest appearances on "Late Night with David Letterman" and "The Tonight Show".

ee also

*"The Littlest Hobo", another TV series featuring the adventures of a stray dog

References

*imdb title|id=0147772|title=Here's Boomer
* [http://members.libcom.com/boomer "Here's Boomer" on The World Wide Woof]