Country of origin United States First episode date 3 July 1951 Language English Genres Talk show, News program | Running time 28 mins. Final episode date 11 October 1953 Audio format Monaural | |
Presented by Frank Blair (1950s)Lillian Brown (1970s-2009)Carole Sargent (2009-2016)Evan Barba and J.R. Osborn (2016-present) Picture format Black-and-white (1950s only) Original release July 3, 1951 (1951-07-03) – October 11, 1953 (1953-10-11) (television). Ongoing since 1953 as a radio program | ||
Georgetown University Forum is an American radio talk show. It is uploaded weekly to the Public Radio Satellite System as free content for National Public Radio member stations, with additional availability to Armed Forces Radio and Voice of America. It has existed since the 1940s, and in the 1950s was briefly a television program on now-defunct DuMont Television Network.
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Radio history
The first airdate was in the 1940s. Beginning in the mid-1970s it was hosted by Lillian Brown, a presidential makeup artist who had worked with every president from Eisenhower to Clinton. From 2009 to 2016 it was produced and hosted by Carole Sargent, the Director of the Office of Scholarly Publications who had previously been a faculty member in the English department. Since 2016 it has been produced and hosted by Evan Barba and J.R. Osborn, both professors in the Communication, Culture, and Technology program at Georgetown University
Television broadcast history
The series aired on Thursdays at 8pm ET from July 3, 1951. Beginning with the 1952 season, the series aired Sundays at 7pm ET. The show was a public affairs program hosted by Frank Blair, later a newscaster on NBC. The last show aired October 11, 1953.
The television version of the show, produced at Georgetown University in Washington, DC and distributed by DuMont, aired weekly. Most of the topics were political or related to current news events. When the series was cancelled in 1953, DuMont replaced the series with local (non-network) programming.
Radio episode status
The radio archive is at the Gelardin New Media Center of Lauinger Library at Georgetown University. The program is currently produced by two professors in the Communication, Culture, and Technology program.
Television episode status
A single kinescope of the series survives at the UCLA Film and Television Archive.