Skippy (1968–1970) User Reviews

Back on TV

[gardenia910 · 7/10 · 17 November 2013]

I enjoy a lot of the 60's & 70's family TV shows that are back on TV. Skippy is now shown on the KTV channel. I get it on Dish. I'm watching it right now; on a Sunday afternoon.

I like the outdoor setting of Skippy.

Typical bad guy gets his just dues at the end of the show...I love it.

Who cares if the 'click' noise is fake. It's kind of silly, but I guess they wanted to find a way to have Skippy 'communicate'.

We get to see other animals native to Australia, as well.

Need more fun, family shows on TV. Glad to see there a few new ones out now!

The bush kangaroo

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 21 September 2019]

Really taken from the American series Flipper this Australian series is set in one of their national parks. The ranger in residence is Ed Deveraux and his two sons Ken James and Garry Pankhurst. There's an assistant ranger who flies a helicopter played by Tony Bonner.

Young Pankhurst has a pet who is our title character. Skippy is one smart roo and like Flipper was constantly rescuing the kids and occasionally the adults from one kind of predicament or another.

No doubt that Skippy was ripped off from Flipper but I think it was good that it was broadcast in the USA. We got a look at Australian wildlife and we could appreciate what they did to protect it. Puts America to shame.

Nice show for kids and adults.

Pour la damille

[christopherey46 · 7/10 · 22 May 2022]

Bonne série des années 60 avec Flipper. A regarder en famille, beaucoup d'épisodes non traduit et jamais diffusé en France.

Série en court format de 25 minutes.

A fun kids show

[firedan · 28 January 1999]

This show, which revolves around an Australian bush kangaroo, is best described as Australia's "Gentle Ben" Television show. The show has the same story lines of a ranger, his son, their pet kangaroo, and the misadventures they get into. I like the show, as corny as it is, probably because it does remind me of other late 60's & early 70's adventure shows that I grew up with. If you like "Gentle Ben", "Flipper", "Lassie" and "Daktori!", you'll have fun with this Show.

Ah, the memories ...

[tforbes-2 · 10/10 · 31 December 2007]

I remember watching this show on our cable TV back in 1969 (WPIX in New York, I think), and I was immediately hooked. Out of all the animal shows being made at that time--Gentle Ben, Lassie, Daktari--I liked this one the best of all.

It had a great ensemble cast, in addition to Skippy. Everyone in the cast did a great job, and it was fun to see them interact with each other in every episode.

And since I had just studied about Australia during the 1968-69 school year, the locales Down Under were also of interest to me. I have not seen the show since, and I know it had aired on Animal Planet some time ago. Seems to me that it's time to revisit this show!

First Aussie Superstar

[damotomo · 8/10 · 3 July 2013]

As a kid growing up in West Australia in the late 60s this was one of the few TV shows I watched that was Australian. For the most part Aussie kids grew up watching American and British TV series and thinking that dolphins could talk, doctors could time-travel and birds flew south for the winter. All that changed when Skippy hopped into our lives and gave us Australian stories, Australian settings, Australian accents and Australian heroes. I had a Skippy cup, Skippy plate and insisted my Skippy Peanut Butter sandwiches and milk were served with them. We loved Skippy and were very proud when we discovered that the rest of the world loved Skippy too. The show was dubbed into 25 languages and was shown in 128 countries, something we Aussies didn't think possible for an Aussie TV show. We had thought that to be successful meant selling our TV shows to the American and British networks where our accent was believed to be a liability. At that time if an Aussie film or TV show made it to American audiences it was usually dubbed with American accented voices (Mad Max) or perceived as a British product. What Skippy demonstrated was that an Australian series could be successful beyond the American and British markets. Consequently Australian TV producers gained the confidence to produce more Aussie TV series knowing that they could sell them successfully to parts of the world where our strange accent wasn't an issue. Today the Aussie TV industry exports significantly more than it imports., particularly in children's programming. While Skippy is showing its age today, it's high production values, imaginative scripts and cultural integrity made it a quality product for its time. While it will always be a sentimental childhood favourite for most Aussies, it should also be remembered for its role as a catalyst for the establishment of a viable Australian TV & Film industry. It seems today that an Aussie accent is an asset in Hollywood and a talking kangaroo had more than a little to do with it.

Better than Lassie

[Ruxskull · 23 September 2005]

I always liked Skippy better than Lassie and Flipper. Most critics hated Skippy and the entire show. I have not seen it in 20 years, but the location was surely the attraction for me. It was quite a revelation seeing the adventures of a boy in location quite foreign to a Midwest town.

I doubt this would have much appeal to kids today, but you never know. Skippy was smart as a human and the exotic location of Outback Australia may not be as exciting for kids now as it was for me in the 1970s. I wish this was the type of show that would show up from time to time on one of the dozens of channels we have now. It would be good to see these old classics.

Childhood...

[TheLittleSongbird · 8/10 · 21 June 2010]

I thought even as a kid that this show was really nice, and revisiting this show after several years of not being able to find it I still do. The theme song is wonderful, and stuck in my head for a long while, and the Australian locations are really striking. The story lines were gripping, original and touching, yes perhaps there were moments when it was predictable but that is occasionally. The dialogue was also good in my opinion, not superb but it was humorous with some levels of intelligence. The acting from all the human actors is very good and the characters aren't annoying, but Skippy the Kangaroo steals the show, he is really cute and endearing not to mention smart. Overall, a nice show, that is worth watching for Skippy and the scenery. 8/10 Bethany Cox

G'day Skip!

[pilonpatrol · 8/10 · 12 January 2014]

I love Skippy the bush kangaroo! He comes from the outback and he has a pouch full of fun adventures. OK so it is stupid so what, it is just a kids show but back in Australia we used to love this show. My sister and I would watch and just laugh our heads off like kids always seem to do. I'm trying to find a North American equivalent to compare it to but I can't really come up with the right one, at least not yet. I'm tempted to just say it's like Flipper except instead of a dolphin it's a kangaroo but the shows feel a lot different. In Flipper there would sometimes be real danger and the dolphin was really smart and playful but the show wasn't nearly as much fun as Skippy. Skippy the bush kangaroo was all about having fun and he was really funny, well at least as funny as a kangaroo could be.

Innocent childhood days-Skippyone of God's creatures

[abethell-2 · 29 May 2006]

This series is timeless. It will be watched in 100 years time.

You cannot get back to the innocent 50's 60's of Australian National Park life because there are so many people these days and so few animals.

This was made in the early years of TV when TV's were just becoming accessible to all in Australia. It no doubt helped popularise Australia.

Unfortunately Australia is no longer a quirky low populated part of world-it is modern country with large and complex cities with almost non-stop 24 hour activity.

Give me back my simple childhood days of coming home from school and watching Skippy or re-runs of Skippy.

I was even too young to appreciate Lisa Goddard as the 16-17 yo Englsih girl.

God bless all creatures great and small like Skippy the Bush Kangaroo.

Hero

[bevo-13678 · 10/10 · 30 March 2020]

I like it when skippy alerts people to a potential danger and leads people to provide assistance

Always looked forward to it!!!

[tforbes-2 · 10/10 · 19 November 2018]

I took to this show from the first time I saw it in the late 1960s. I think it was airing on WPIX, but whatever the case, I enjoyed it immediately. I was already a sort of Anglophile, and that extended to things from Commonwealth nations such as Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

Nonetheless, the show had great episodes, and I enjoyed the cast very much. Looking back at it, I preferred this over its American counterparts, because the US shows seemed a little sappy by comparison. I suspect it's because the show just came off better. What else can I say?!?

A Wonderful series from a forgotten childhood

[raysond · 10 October 2003]

THE THEME SONG................ "Skippy.....Skippy..........Skippy,The Bush Kangaroo Skippy......Skippy..........A good friend true and through.

If you were a kid going up in the mid-1960's/early 1970's,then this show is for you and it bring back wonderful memories of a lost childhood. It is the Austrailan version of Lassie and the Down Under version of Flipper. This show ran mostly on Saturday Mornings during its day,but its legion of fans who grew up with the classic series finally brought back after a decade long absence. The show centered a ranger stationed park deep in the Austrailan outback with the father who was the ranger and responsible for the park and Skippy as head of operations and his three sons,and their marvelous pet, a intelligent and quick witted Kangaroo from the bush named Skippy whom the family took in as a pet---believe me,any kids dream pet!! Anytime the family and the ranger were in a tight situation it was always Skippy to the rescue to save the day from the common sight of outlaws,poachers,and anybody who trying to destroy his blessed home! Skippy was the coolest ever!! Recently,the cable network,Discovery Kids has digitally remastered these episodes and it is worth seeing them again as part of your family!!!! I would love to see a movie version of this soon in theatres with Heath Ledger worth taking a look at!

Australia's Lassie

[bcolquho · 22 September 2003]

I remember watching Skippy when I was little. It was in syndication here in the U.S. back in the late '60s and early '70s. Skippy was a kangaroo. There was one episode in which Mike Hammond had to dart a wild kangaroo to relocate it away from a populated area.

Sonny, Mike's son, didn't want him to shoot Skippy by mistake.

Mike's love interest in the show was Clarissa "Clancy" Merrick. I haven't seen the new series.

I loved this show!

[evance10461 · 5 March 2013]

I recently stumbled upon Skippy again after not seeing it for 40+ years and I still love it. I used to pretend that Clancy, Mark and Sonny were my siblings and Skippy was mine too. I thought Clancy was beautiful and envied her her long blonde hair. I also had a crush on Matt Hammond, completely overlooking the eye-candy helicopter pilot, but I was only 7, what did I know? It's a nice, fun little show that modern parents can watch with their kids and not worry about what they're seeing, and can also show modern kids that things managed to get done without smart phones or the Internet. They might also find Sonny's homeschooling via two-way radio interesting, too.

Good old Aussie adventure

[cbhookers · 5 May 2003]

"Skippy" is on tv here again, good I say.. It is like "Rainbow Country" but they are both on late in the morning. Of course kangaroos arnt as smart as Skippy!! Also the house they lived in is on the heritage list. It is close to Sydney. Ku-Ringia Chase National Park. (spelt wrong) Tis a good show!!

Spelling error

[gailmg · 19 August 1999]

This genre is also reminiscent of Jay North TV Show, "Maya", about a rich runaway white boy seeking his father, his Indian friend, Sajid Khan and their elephant, Maya. Marshall Thompson show set in Africa was "Daktari".