time period as part of a change in its target demographics.) Lassie then entered first-run syndication with Jack Wrather and Campbell's Soup still on board, and remained on the air for another two years with its final episode airing in March 1973. All totaled, 591 episodes were produced. An animated reworking, Lassie's Rescue Rangers, followed in fall 1973, immediately after the original series ended (the pilot movie aired in 1972 while the live-action series was still on the air). Lassie's Rescue Rangers was denounced by both Weatherwax and the National Association of Broadcasters, the latter of which made note of the animated series' "violence, crime and stupidity." The Miller years were sold into syndication in 1958 under the title of Jeff's Collie. In rerun syndication, the Martin family episodes aired under the title of Timmy & Lassie. Re-runs of the series aired on Nickelodeon from 1984 until 1996. Later series While the original series had no direct spinoffs, a few subsequent productions would use the Lassie character. In 1973, ABC created an animated Saturday-morning animated program called Lassie's Rescue Rangers produced by Filmation. In 1989, what was essentially a sequel series, The New Lassie – featuring Jon Provost as Steve McCullough – aired in first-run syndication. In its seventh episode ("Roots"), June Lockhart reprised her Ruth Martin role when Steve McCullough is revealed to be the adult Timmy Martin. It is revealed that Timmy was never properly adopted by the Martins and consequently was forced to remain in the U.S. when Ruth and Paul emigrated to Australia. Timmy was then subsequently adopted by the McCullough family and began going by his middle name Steven. In 1992, Tommy Rettig made a guest appearance in the final episode, "The Computer Study". This would be his last television appearance prior to his death in 1996. In 1997, a modified remake – also called Lassie – debuted, airing in the U.S. on the then new Animal Planet cable network. This show (which was filmed in Canada and set in Vermont) also revolved around a boy named Timmy and his dog, though differences in setting and character circumstances precluded it from being an exact remake of the original series. Feature film During Thanksgiving week 1962, a five-part color episode called "The Journey". was filmed in the High Sierra. First telecast in February and March 1963, the episode follows Timmy and Lassie, as the two are