Old TV

I was watching Encore Westerns late one night and a real gem came on. I use gem only in the context of nostalgia, it was not a great movie. It was Hills of Old Wyoming starring William Boyd from 1937. For you young folks, William Boyd played western hero Hopalong Cassidy for decades in movies and on TV. OK, again for the young folks, ask your grandparents who Hopalong was. This particular movie had an added bonus, it co-starred George "Gabby" Hayes. At one time or another, Gabby played the sidekick to just about every western star in the 1930s, '40s, and '50s. This movie also featured Chief Big Tree who played the part of Chief Big Tree, a real acting stretch. The movie was fairly typical of the westerns from that era. Low budget, many continuity gaffes, weak story/script, and stereotypes and cliches for all the characters. The Indians were rather slow and easily influenced by the superior white men. Hoppy took on a slow staccato speech pattern with a strange accent when speaking to Chief Big Tree. Also, Boyd never took his hat off during the film so I don't know if his hair was completely white yet. He would have been about 42 when it was filmed. 

Boyd did over a couple of dozen Hopalong films in the '30s and '40s. The film series ended in 1948. Boyd bought the rights to all those films. In that year he rented one of those movies to a local TV station. It proved popular and eventually, NBC leased the whole library of movies. They made new Hopalong Cassidy TV episodes in the early '50s. There was also a radio program. Hoppy became a huge hit and began selling all kinds of merchandise like lunchboxes, plates, comics, dishes, cups, and of course, cowboy outfits. I had at least part of a Hopalong cowboy outfit when I was a kid. I remember the hat for sure but don't know if I had Hoppy holsters and guns or other outfit pieces.   

A couple of other interesting, at least to me, old TV facts from recent viewing were from Cannon and 77 Sunset Strip. 

A 1973 episode of Cannon guest starred David Jansen. The Cannon star was fat man William Conrad who was the narrator on The Fugitive TV show which starred David Jansen. 

During the '60-'61 season of 77 Sunset Strip, Richard Long joined the cast as a third private eye in the firm. He retained the character name and persona he used in the canceled Bourbon Street Beat detective series. In a '61 episode that featured Long, one of the guest stars was Peter Brock. Long and Brock would later star as brothers on The Big Valley.

Many of these old TV shows and movies don't really hold up very well but they are fun to watch. The stories are pretty thin and every show of a similar genre recycled the same stories. Like the old movie, the stereotypes are obvious and shocking. There was always a chance some future big star would be a young guest star or have a bit part. I wonder how the new programs and movies from 2018 will hold up in 50 or more years? 

wjh