Timmy In The Well

“Timmy’s In The Well” is a catchphrase that I suspect came from a comedian’s stand-up routine, but don’t ask me to say who or when. It’s a reference to the old Lassie TV show, when Jon Provost played Timmy, replacing Tom Rettig, who had played Jeff. There was a Simpsons episode where Bart faked being trapped in a well. Perhaps that added fuel to the popularity of the joke.

The skit involves Lassie running up to an adult, presumably Timmy’s caring and responsible, — yet somehow hapless — father, barking frantically. The joke is that the human can understand the barking. “What’s that Lassie? Timmy’s fallen in the well??” I don’t know with absolute certainty that Timmy never fell in a well on the TV show, but that assertion was made by somebody on a TV Land bulletin board.

So where exactly did the notion come from that Timmy fell in the well? Perhaps it came from a 1962 Kenner Give-A-Show slide. I’ve inserted a scan of the slide into the upper corner of this paragraph. Click to enlarge. This being the only proof offered on the Net that Timmy did, in fact, fall in a well, it deserves a thoughtful frame-by-frame analysis.

Click pictures to enlarge

1. That isn’t a barbed wire fence, and Mr. Jones’ field appears to be for grazing cattle, making it likely the fence is electrified. Perhaps Timmy enjoys the tingling sensation.
2. A few boards over the well? Enough to make it obvious the well is there, but not enough to protect it. Timmy is indeed a thrill-seeker. He’s walking over the boards intentionally.
3. This is actually Lassie’s stunt double.
4. Good thing the well is so shallow that standing on a collie’s back is enough of a boost to escape. One can presume the well had been partially filled in.
5. If Timmy weighs enough to snap those boards, he’s breaking the stunt dog’s back. Otherwise, she’d be able to jump out by herself.
6. Timmy knows he’s going to catch Hell, yet he promises to fetch Mr. Jones.
7. But wait! Timmy doesn’t have to admit to being in the well, because this is the real Lassie with him. Her stunt double is back in the well, paralyzed.

All’s well that ends well for Timmy! But not for Mr. Jones, who finds a dead dog in his well and will later be sued by Timmy’s parents for failing to properly fill or seal the well.