''Hopalong Cassidy'' is a

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmi ...

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

in the United States, featuring the character Hopalong Cassidy created by writer

Clarence E. Mulford Clarence Edward Mulford (3 February 1883 – 10 May 1956) was an American writer, best known as the creator of the character Hopalong Cassidy. Biography Mulford was born in Streator, Illinois. He created Hopalong Cassidy Hopalon ...

. It was syndicated via

electrical transcription Electrical transcriptions are special phonograph recordings made exclusively for radio broadcasting,Browne, Ray B. and Browne, Pat, Eds. (2001). ''The Guide to United States Popular Culture''. The University of Wisconsin Press. . P. 263. which wer ...

, beginning in 1948 and continuing into 1950. Its network broadcasts began on Mutual January 1, 1950, and ended on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

December 27, 1952.

Background

CBS produced an audition episode of a ''Hopalong Cassidy'' program that was broadcast in the summer of 1941 as part of ''Forecast'', a series of pilots for potential programs. After that, little, if anything, was heard about a ''Hopalong Cassidy'' radio production until five years later. An item in Radio Life in 1946 commented, "Radio's gone western with a vengeance, as if you didn't know!" and reported that a radio version of the Cassidy movies would be heard "in the near future." That "near future" turned out to be two years.

Format

The program has been classified as both a "juvenile adventure program"Reinehr, Robert C. and Swartz, Jon D. (2008). ''The A to Z of Old-Time Radio''. Scarecrow Press, Inc. . P. 129. and a "western adventure drama." As was true of the movies and television programs featuring Hopalong Cassidy, "the character was much more civilized than the rough-cut character portrayed in the novels" by

. In contrast, the revised Cassidy was described by radio historian John Dunning as "a knight of the range, a man of morals." A newspaper story about the program's debut on Mutual commented, "The radio broadcasts will be specially scripted to highlight the personality, mannerisms and unusual adventures of the steely-eyed, justice-dealing, gun-toting cowboy hero."

Characters and cast

William Boyd played Hopalong Cassidy, as he had in the movies featuring that character. Dunning wrote: "Boyd had one of radio's perfect voices. His voice could do anything – comfort a bereaved widow one moment, scare the boots off her husband's killer the next. It was strong, virile, and straight to the point. And that Hoppy belly-laugh became famous. It was one of his trademarks."Dunning, John. (1976). ''Tune in Yesterday: The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio, 1925–1976''. Prentice-Hall, Inc. . pp. 289–290. Andy Clyde, "the resident old coot sidekick from the later movies" had his same role in the radio program. Each episode's opening referred to Clyde's character, California Carlson, as "'the same California you've laughed at a million times.'"

Synergy of media

After a slow start (when producers Walter and Shirley White "were paying production costs for new episodes as money came in from initial clients"), the popularity of ''Hopalong Cassidy'' on radio began to increase. In 1948, a ''Hopalong Cassidy'' television series began, first shown on KTLA in Los Angeles, California. That series included both edited versions of Cassidy's movies and new episodes made for TV. "One medium fed on the other," Dunning wrote, and "for two years oydwas as big a media hero as the nation had seen." Both the radio and the television versions of ''Hopalong Cassidy'' benefited from the existing popularity the Cassidy character had developed through movies. The producers made good use of that popularity in promoting the syndicated program to stations and advertisers. An ad in the 1949 issue of Broadcasting Yearbook proclaimed:

"THIRTEEN YEARS OF MOTION PICTURE POPULARITY BEHIND IT! (NO OTHER RADIO SERIES CAN MAKE THIS CLAIM!) An action-packed film trailer will be shown in over 10,000 theatres announcing the radio series! "HOPALONG CASSIDY" comes to radio with a fabulous following ... a ready made audience for sponsors!

References

{{Reflist, 2

External links

Episodic logs

Log of episodes of ''Hopalong Cassidy'' from Audio Classics Archive

Streaming audio

Streaming audio of ''Hopalong Cassidy'' episodes (including audition program from 1941) from Internet Archive
American children's radio programs Western (genre) radio series 1948 radio programme debuts 1952 radio programme endings 1940s American radio programs 1950s American radio programs American radio dramas Mutual Broadcasting System programs CBS Radio programs Radio programs based on films Radio programs adapted into television shows