4x1 - The Runaway

September 8, 1957

Lassie discovers a small, waiflike boy hiding in the barn, but the child won't talk. The Millers soon find out he's Timmy, an orphan living in Olive Branch with his elderly relatives, Uncle Jed and Aunt Abby Clausen. (Some type of accident killed Timmy's parents.)

4x2 - The Suit

September 15, 1957

Timmy is so excited about his new suit that Ellen allows him to wear it until Jeff gets home, but when he tears it, afraid they will send him back to his aunt and uncle, Timmy lies and lays the blame on Lassie. To make him confess, Ellen makes him decide Lassie's punishment.

4x3 - Graduation

September 22, 1957

Jeff is thrilled to accept a summer job at Doc Weaver's office, but when he neglects his duty for a few minutes, a potentially rabid dog is let loose

4x4 - The Burro

September 29, 1957

When Timmy and Lassie find a sick burro, abandoned by neglectful but well-meaning owners, everyone thinks Timmy's exaggerating until Ellen finds the creature. Timmy's faith and the family's nursing save the burro, but then her owners come return.

4x5 - The Berry Pickers

October 6, 1957

With Jeff at the dentist, Timmy and Gramps go out to pick huckleberries for pies for the church supper. Timmy thinks Gramps is ill when he naps after berrying, but it's Timmy who must be rescued after eating nightshade berries.

4x6 - The Raccoon

October 13, 1957

Timmy and Jeff nurse an injured raccoon against protests from Gramps--and ""Sam"" repays them by wreaking havoc in kitchen, barn, and chicken coop. Released to the wild, he returns to begin stealing things from the house.

4x7 - The Ballerina

October 20, 1957

Jeff tries every way he can to avoid meeting Debbie, the daughter of Ellen's visiting college roommate Lucy Hopkins--until he sees her dance and is smitten. But when Porky lampoons her dancing, Debbie tells both boys off.

4x8 - The Elephant

October 27, 1957

Jeff and Timmy saw a huge elephant. Ellen & Gramps doesn't want it as an 2nd Pet for Lassie. They decided to keep it until the animal control person comes by and wanted to get rid of the elephant.

4x9 - The Spartan

November 3, 1957

4x10 - Happy

November 10, 1957

4x11 - The Wolf

November 17, 1957

4x12 - The Tooth

November 24, 1957

4x13 - Transition

December 1, 1957

4x14 - Timmy's Family

December 8, 1957

Timmy believes he and Lassie are unloved and unwanted by the Martins, and sends Lassie to the Millers in Capitol City. Ellen Miller, knowing that Timmy is mistaken, returns to the farm to reunite Timmy with his loving adoptive parents.

4x15 - The Bike

December 15, 1957

Timmy borrows a bike to learn to ride, but when the bike is stolen, he must replace the stolen one with his new bicycle. The situation is resolved when Lassie plays detective to hunt down the bike thief.

4x16 - The Goose

December 22, 1957

4x17 - The Baby-Sitter

December 29, 1957

4x18 - The Crisis

January 5, 1958

Paul, Timmy, and Lassie are stranded on a deserted road when Paul realizes Timmy is becoming seriously ill. Lassie must risk her life to bring help to the sick child.

4x19 - The Business

January 12, 1958

When Timmy and Scott launch a bait-worm selling business, their only potential customer refuses to buy anything. He changes his mind, however, when Lassie saves him from drowning.

4x20 - The Ring

January 19, 1958

Timmy believes one of Uncle Petrie's tall tales and is hurt to discover he has been lied to. A gift of a friendship ring, crafted by Uncle Petrie himself, mends their relationship.

4x21 - The Greyhound

January 26, 1958

4x22 - Inoculation

February 2, 1958

4x23 - The Pony

February 9, 1958

Timmy comes running home with a story about a rabbit-sized pony--but no one believes him.

4x24 - Sinbad

February 16, 1958

To replace Uncle Petrie broken guitar Timmy enters a borrowed parrot in a contest to win the prize of a new guitar.

4x25 - The Square Dance

February 23, 1958

Timmy refuses to attend the Grange Square Dance out of fear that he will have to dance with a girl. After Uncle Petrie reassures him this will not happen, he relents. To everyone's surprise, a fire disrupts the children's dance and Lassie must save the day.

4x26 - The Garden

March 3, 1958

A drought is hitting the area pretty hard, and Timmy desperately attempts to keep his own small garden from perishing.

4x27 - Concussion

March 9, 1958

When Timmy insists on going to a blasting site despite Lassie's protests, she is struck on the head by a dynamite-propelled rock and appears to not know who she is. Then she wanders away from the farm.

4x28 - The Hungry Deer

March 16, 1958

Members of the community band together to hunt down deer driven to eat their crops, but Timmy and Scott fight to do something that doesn't involve killing them.

4x29 - The Hospital

March 23, 1958

Timmy is stricken with severe stomach cramps and keeps calling out for Lassie.

4x30 - The Penguin

March 30, 1958

A crate holding a penguin enroute to the Capitol City zoo falls off its truck, and Timmy and Scott adopt the creature

4x31 - The Bird House

April 6, 1958

Timmy tends an injured sparrow.

4x32 - Seeing Eye Dog

April 13, 1958

When Lassie finds an injured seeing-eye dog, the family searches in vain for the dog's owner. The situation appears hopeless until Lassie leads them to the dog's missing collar, and a telephone call to Capitol City Hospital reunites dog and owner.

4x34 - The Blanket

April 27, 1958

Ruth tries to replace Lassie's disreputable old blanket with a new one, but Lassie will have none of it.

4x35 - The Rabbits

May 4, 1958

Timmy's new rabbits take precedence over Lassie.

4x36 - The Cub Scout

May 11, 1958

Scott's city cousins make fun of Timmy and Scott's interest in the Cub Scouts

4x37 - The Crow

May 18, 1958

Timmy's ""patient,"" an injured crow he names ""Peck,"" recovers to become a farm pest.

4x38 - The Mother

May 25, 1958

On the sly, Lassie tends some orphaned puppies.

4x39 - The House Guest

June 1, 1958

Timmy becomes annoyed with a house guest of Ruth when all she can talk about is all the finer things Ruth is missing by living on a farm.

4x40 - The Sermon

June 8, 1958

Inspired by Uncle Petrie's tale of a boy who talks to the animals, Timmy sets out to befriend animals himself. But he helps some people along the way and it is their friendship and kindness that save Lassie from a precarious situation.