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The Littlest Hobo is a Canadian television series based upon a 1958 American film of the same name directed by Charles R. Rondeau. The series first aired from 1963 to 1965 in syndication, spanning six seasons and was revived for a popular second run on CTV from October 11, 1979 to March 7, 1985. It starred an ownerless dog. All three productions revolved around a stray German Shepherd, the titular Hobo, who wanders from town to town, helping people in need. Although the concept was perhaps similar to that of Lassie, the Littlest Hobo's destiny was to befriend those who apparently needed help. Despite the attempts of the many people whom he helped to adopt him, he appeared to prefer to be on his own, and would head off by himself at the end of each episode. Never actually named on-screen, the dog is often referred to by the name Hobo or by the names given by temporary human companions. Hobo's background is also unexplained on-screen. His origins, motivation and ultimate destination are also never explained. Although some characters appeared in more than one episode, the only constant was the Littlest Hobo himself.

The Kids of Degrassi Street is a Canadian children's TV show that aired from 1979 to 1986, and is the first in the Degrassi series, about the lives of a group of children living on Degrassi Street in Toronto, Canada. It grew out of four short films: Ida Makes a Movie, Cookie Goes to the Hospital, Irene Moves In and Noel Buys a Suit, which originally aired as after-school specials on CBC Television in 1979, 1980, 1981 and 1982, respectively. The show was acclaimed for its realistic depiction of every day children's lives and tribulations, and remains memorable to many Canadians because of this. Kids of Degrassi Street featured many of the same actors who would later appear on Degrassi Junior High and Degrassi High, including Stacie Mistysyn, Neil Hope, Anais Granofsky, Sarah Charlesworth and others. However, their character names and families were different, so this series cannot technically be seen as an immediate precursor to the later shows.

Read All About It! was a Canadian educational television series that was produced from 1979 to 1983 by TVOntario that aired during the early to mid-1980s; It also aired in repeats in the 1990s. It starred David Craig Collard as Chris, Lydia Zajc as Lynne, Stacey Arnold as Samantha, and Sean Hewitt as Duneedon, ruler of the galaxy Trialviron. In the second season Michael Dwyer joined the cast as Alex. The main goal of the show was to educate viewers in reading, writing and history. Each episode ran for approximately 15 minutes. Eric Robertson composed the music for the show.

Thinkabout, "a cooperative project for acquiring skills essential to learning", was an instructional program for children, produced in 1979 by the Agency for Instructional Television, in association with various contributing television stations in the United States and Canada. It was distributed to PBS and educational stations across the US and Canada as late as the mid-to-late 1980s. The sixty programs produced were aimed for fifth and sixth grade students to understand their learning process in topics as varied as language arts, mathematics, study skills, as well as thinking skills. Thinkabout was funded by various state and local agencies, with additional support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, one of very few CPB-funded programs not distributed by PBS.