Lassie is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 television series that follows the adventures of a female Rough Collie

Rough Collie

The Rough Collie is a long coated breed of medium to large size dog that in its original form was a type of collie used and bred for herding in Scotland. Originating in the 1800's, it is now well known through the works of author Albert Payson Terhune, and through the Lassie novel, movies, and...

 named Lassie

Lassie

Lassie is a fictional collie dog character created by Eric Knight in a short story expanded to novel length called Lassie Come-Home. Published in 1940, the novel was filmed by MGM in 1943 as Lassie Come Home with a dog named Pal playing Lassie. Pal then appeared with the stage name "Lassie" in six...

 and her companions, human and animal. The show was the creation of producer Robert Maxwell

Robert Maxwell (producer)

Robert Maxwell Joffe was an American radio and television producer, screenwriter, and entertainment executive...

 and animal trainer Rudd Weatherwax

Rudd Weatherwax

Ruddell Bird "Rudd" Weatherwax was an American actor and animal trainer. He and his brother Frank Weatherwax are best remembered for training dogs for motion pictures and television. Frank's collie, Pal, became the original Lassie, handled by Rudd for the 1943 MGM film Lassie Come Home...

 and was televised from September 12, 1954, to March 24, 1973. One of the longest running dramatic series on television, the show chalked up seventeen seasons on CBS

CBS

CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

 before entering first-run syndication

Television syndication

In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...

 for its final two seasons.