>> Baxter and Bard

08/01/08

Shakespeare on TV was the first televised college course to be taught for academic credit in Southern California, and it starred erudite USC English professor Frank C. Baxter, whose lively campus Shakespeare classes packed in the students. It debuted in 1953 on the Los Angeles CBS affiliate KNXT. Baxter thought it would be a “roaring success” if it drew 150 viewers per week. To his astonishment, it attracted 400,000. Baxter went on to host a long list of network TV programs, many on science topics, and was as familiar to baby boomers as Buffalo Bob. Along the way, he picked up a Peabody and seven Emmy awards.