|
Post by mikef6 on Jul 30, 2017 3:44:15 GMT
“Hopalong Cassidy” (NBC, 1951; Syndicated 1952 – 1954). William Boyd had played Hopalong Cassidy and nothing else in movies for 13 years before the “B” western theater market dried up. He was aging, typecast, and out of work. At that point, he pulled one of the shrewdest moves in just about any actor’s career. He bought the “Hopalong” trademark and the rights to all his old movies then took them to that new-fangled contraption, television. It made him rich and more popular than ever because TV in its infancy badly needed programming to fill its available broadcast time. This four year series of half-hour adventures added to Boyd’s fame. The show was aimed at the youngest viewers but didn’t insult their intelligence. Many of the stories had elements of detective fiction and featured Hoppy pulling a twist ending out of his ten-gallon hat. At the end of each show, Hoppy would address his audience directly, urging his Little Partners to be careful crossing the street or to never play with guns.
|
|
|
Post by Matthew the Swordsman on Jul 30, 2017 17:45:46 GMT
Hopalong Cassidy was also a part of early Australian television (which started in 1956). During 1956 aired at 6:30PM Sundays in Sydney on TCN-9 and 6:30PM Saturdays in Melbourne on HSV-7. In Sydney it originally aired against nothing (ABN-2 did not program a show at 6:30PM, and ATN-7 hadn't begun operations yet), but later in 1956 it aired against ATN-7's live interview show "Books and Authors". In Melbourne it also aired against nothing, but by March 1957 it was airing against "Saturday Sports Round Up" on GTV-9 (ABV-2 aired no programming at 6:30PM on Saturdays at the time).
|
|