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KCET Airs Special Programming In Honor of Radio Pioneer Norman Corwin Beginning Oct. 29 at 8 P.M.

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KCET AIRS SPECIAL PROGRAMMING IN HONOR OF RADIO PIONEER NORMAN CORWIN BEGINNING OCT. 29 AT 8 P.M.

Programming includes "Corwin" documentary followed by the 1969 KCET production, "Norman Corwin's The Plot to Overthrow Christmas," featuring a special 100th birthday interview with the great radio dramatist in 2010.

Los Angeles - October 21, 2011 - KCET, the nation's largest independent public television station serving Southern and Central California, presents two distinctive programs to pay tribute to radio pioneer Norman Corwin, who passed away Oct. 18, 2011 at the age of 101.  The special KCET broadcast includes Corwin, Oct. 29, 2011 at 8 p.m. followed by Norman Corwin's The Plot to Overthrow Christmas at 9:20 p.m.

Directed by Les Guthman, Corwin chronicles the life and 60-year career of the great writer, producer and director of the Gold Age of Radio.  The program includes excerpts from many of Corwin's famous radio plays and television productions, along with interviews with CBS news anchor Charles Kuralt, CBS president William Paley, Ray Bradbury, Norman Lear, Bill Moyers and media historian Erik Barnouw. 

The program also covers his comedies, "The Undecided Molecule" and "My Cousin Curley", with casts that starred Groucho Marx, Vincent Price, Milton Berle, Fred Allen and Danny Kaye, to name a few

As featured in Corwin, actor Charles Laughton said at the time, "There is no actor on the stage, or the screen or in radio, who will not drop what he is doing to be in one of Norman Corwin's radio shows. We all look up to him as a writer of the first importance, as one of the most important writers in any medium in America today."  

Then at 9:20 p.m. on Oct. 29, KCET presents a charming broadcast of the Corwin's radio classic, Norman Corwin's The Plot to Overthrow Christmas.  Originally broadcast on radio December 25, 1938, KCET aired a televised reading of the radio play in 1969.  In 2010, the program was brought back to the screen in honor of Norman Corwin's 100th birthday, featuring a lively interview with Corwin who reminisces about the radio program and his acclaimed career.

For more information on KCET's distinctive programming, including Corwin and Norman Corwin's The Plot to Overthrow Christmas, visit kcet.org. For more information on Corwin's life, please visit http://uscnews.usc.edu/arts/in_memoriam_norman_corwin_101.html

About KCET

On-air, online and in the community, KCET plays a vital role in the cultural and educational enrichment of Southern and Central California. KCET currently produces the Emmy®, duPont-Columbia and Peabody Award-winning SoCal Connected, a hard-hitting prime-time weekly television news program that examines the issues and people of Southern California. Throughout its 47-year history, KCET has won hundreds of major awards for its local and regional news and public affairs programming, its national drama and documentary productions, its quality educational family and children's programs, its outreach and community services and its website, kcet.org. KCET is a donor-supported community institution. More than half of the funds raised to support KCET's operating budget come from individual support. For additional information about KCET productions, Web-exclusive content, programming schedules and community events, please visit kcet.org.

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