SHAKESPEARE ON TV (KING LEAR WEEK 01 OF 3) 1953

Year Published: 1953

Description: This 42-minute film is the first of three weekly installments of a USC distance-learning course (Class 356A) titled "Shakespeare on TV," which aired on Sunday mornings at 8:30am on KNXT Channel 2 in Los Angeles on December 12, 1953 — described as one of the very first long-distance learning classes ever, in which students would watch at home and then come to campus to take exams. The AI-assisted transcript captures a lively lecture-style introduction to King Lear, with the professor advising that "the best way to begin King Lear is to plunge bodily into the play," and contextualizing Shakespeare's career as a playwright who wisely "moved in on" an already flourishing London theater scene rather than having to blaze new trails. The video offers a remarkable glimpse into the dawn of educational television broadcasting and the pioneering use of TV as a teaching medium.