<P> Boyd resumed production in 1946, on lower budgets, and continued through 1948, when "B" westerns were being phased out . Boyd thought Hopalong Cassidy might have a future in television, spent $350,000 to obtain the rights to his old films, and approached the fledgling NBC network . The initial broadcasts were so successful that NBC could not wait for a television series to be produced and edited the feature films to broadcast length . On June 24, 1949, Hopalong Cassidy became the first network Western television series . </P> <P> The success of the television series made Boyd a star . The Mutual Broadcasting System began broadcasting a radio version, with Andy Clyde (later George MacMichael on Walter Brennan's ABC sitcom The Real McCoys) as the sidekick, in January 1950; at the end of September, the show moved to CBS Radio, where it ran until 1952 . </P> <P> The series and character were so popular that Hopalong Cassidy was featured on the cover of national magazines such as Look, Life, and Time . Boyd earned millions as Hopalong ($800,000 in 1950 alone), mostly from merchandise licensing and endorsement deals . In 1950, Hopalong Cassidy was featured on the first lunchbox to bear an image, causing sales for Aladdin Industries to jump from 50,000 to 600,000 in one year . In stores, more than 100 companies in 1950 manufactured $70 million of Hopalong Cassidy products, including children's dinnerware, pillows, roller skates, soap, wristwatches, and jackknives . </P> <P> There was a new demand for Hopalong Cassidy features in movie theaters, and Boyd licensed reissue distributor Film Classics to make new film prints and advertising accessories . Another 1950 enterprise saw the home - movie company Castle Films manufacturing condensed versions of the Paramount films for 16 mm and 8 mm film projectors; they were sold through 1966 . Also, in January 1950 Dan Spiegel began to draw a syndicated comic strip with scripts by Royal King Cole; the strip lasted until 1955 . </P>

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