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+ Beginning in 1942, NBC had reinaugurated its concept of the NBC University of The Air and its companion NBC Inter-American University of The Air. Throughout the mid-1940s NBC produced some twenty-five productions specifically designed to both educate and entertain. Indeed, many of those programs were incorporated into the curricula of high schools, colleges and universities throughout the U.S. and Canada. With the final episode of NBC University of The Air's production of The World's Great Novels in 1948, NBC reevaluated the NBC University of The Air concept and success over the past decade, determined to both continue the educational priorities of its NBC University concept, while at the same time developing further educational programming as equally entertaining as it was instructive. Indeed, NBC University Theater, after airing two 'semesters' and a 'Summer Schedule' of NBC University Theater, changed the title of NBC University Theater to simply, NBC Theater. As reported in Time Magazine, NBC executives felt that the presence of the word 'University' in the title of the program left the wrong impression with its listeners. Irrespective of the title change, NBC University Theater continued to maintain the same high standards and continued to expand the number of colleges offering college credit for listening to and studying the program's offerings from the initial three institutions to six educational institutions by the series' end. For the formal curricula offerings, NBC University Theater and NBC Theater referred to their regular season offerings as both 'seasons' and 'semesters', interchangeably. For the Summer seasons NBC University Theater referred to them as their 'Summer Schedules.' The University of Louisville, in Louisville, Kentucky was the first to collaborate with NBC Unversity in offering a formal 'College by Radio' course in 'American and British Fiction.' Other colleges and universities followed during the subsequent two years, as indicated in the sidebar at left. So successful were these programs that by the last season, some of the six participating institutions were offering a complete set of The Encyclopedia Britannica to students enrolled at each participating institution who submitted the most interesting paper during their coursework Click here to read more about NBC University Theater

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Please enjoy these 119 old time radio episodes:

Air Date	Title	Synopsis
07.16.1949	nbc university theater (049) point of no return	+NBC net, KUOW, Seattle rebroadcast. "Point Of No Return". A banker leads a life of quiet desperati...
07.23.1949	nbc university theater (050) how green was my valley	+ "How Green Was My Valley". The story of the life of a young man growing up in a coal mining valle...
07.30.1949	nbc university theater (051) this side of paradise	+ "This Side Of Paradise". F. Scott Fitzgerald's first novel of the Jazz Age and flaming youth.This...
08.06.1949	nbc university theater (052) the death of a heart	+ "The Death Of The Heart". Portia faces life! A young girl living among those who dislike her keep...
08.13.1949	nbc university theater (053) the big sky	+ "The Big Sky". The story of a "mountain man" of the old American mid-west, his adventures and rom...
08.20.1949	nbc university theater (54) the crusaders	+ "The Crusaders". An Army story about a conflict of wills, set in occupied Germany during and afte...
08.20.1949	nbc university theater (055) the crusaders	+ "The Crusaders". An Army story about a conflict of wills, set in occupied Germany during and afte...
08.27.1949	nbc university theater (055) 1984	+ "Nineteen-Eighty-Four". Announced as the first radio production of the story. A romance in the ag...
09.03.1949	nbc university theater (056) precious bane	+ "Precious Bane". A dramatic story of the rural Shropshire of one hundred years ago.NBC University...
09.25.1949	nbc university theater (057) penrod	+ "Penrod". Episodes from the famous ode to boyhood.A light-hearted story by Robert Gray based on t...
10.02.1949	nbc university theater (058) portrait of a lady	+ "The Portrait Of A Lady". Isabel Archer's life story: her acquisition of wealth, unhappy marriag...
10.09.1949	nbc university theater (059) the house of mirth	+ "The House Of Mirth". An accurate portrait of American high society at the turn of the century. I...
10.16.1949	nbc university theater (060) sister carrie	+ "Sister Carrie". The engrossing melodrama of the rise of Carrie and the fall of George. The closi...
10.23.1949	nbc university theater (061) the romantic comedian	+ "The Romantic Comedians". A story set in the deep South. A sixty-five-year-old judge marries a tw...
10.30.1949	nbc university theater (062) dark laughter	+NBC net, KUOW-FM, Seattle rebroadcast. "Dark Laughter". "Stream-Of-Consciousness" story about a fa...
11.06.1949	nbc university theater (063) dodsworth	+ NBC net, KUOW-FM, Seattle rebroadcast. "Dodsworth". The small town couple from Zenith, U. S. A. d...
11.13.1949	nbc university theater (064) babylon revisited	+ NBC net, KUOW-FM, Seattle rebroadcast. "Babylon Revisted". The hangover after "The Jazz Age." A f...
11.20.1949	nbc university theater (065) for whom the bells toll	+NBC net, KUOW-FM, Seattle rebroadcast. "For Whom The Bell Tolls". The Loyalists vs. the Fascists d...
11.27.1949	nbc university theater (066) point of no return	+ "Point Of No Return". A New England banker finds himself at age 43 leading a life of quiet desper...
12.04.1949	nbc university theater (067) the wild palms	+ "The Wild Palms". A romance-noir about a doctor and his first lover who try to start anew in Chic...
12.18.1949	nbc university theater (068) you can't go home again	+ "You Can't Go Home Again". An author comes to grips with his own mortality. Excerpts from portion...
01.01.1950	nbc university theater (069) great expectations	+NBC net, KUOW-FM, Seattle rebroadcast. "Great Expectations". The famous story of the lad named "Pi...
01.08.1950	nbc university theater (070) manhattan transfer	+ "Manhattan Transfer". A "collective novel" of modern life. Sound portraits of lives in New York C...
01.15.1950	nbc university theater (071) the ides of march	+ "The Ides Of March". A dramatic, well-written and literate look at the last days of Julius Caesar...
01.22.1950	nbc university theater (072) at heaven's gate	+ "At Heaven's Gate". The program is often referred to as "NBC Theatre Of The Air.." A drama of lov...

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This series featured dramatized novels by famous authors for college classes. Many American colleges accepted the series as a study tool, and provided pupils with credits. It was broadcast by NBC from 1948 to 1951 as a sustained program.

NBC UNIVERSITY THEATER