The run
- Network
- NBC / CBS
- Years active
- 1944–1945
- Surviving broadcasts
- 44
- Genre
- soap
Road of Life began on NBC in 1937, another Irna Phillips creation, and ran until 1959. Built around surgeon Jim Brent, it was the first daytime serial set principally in a hospital and was noted for taking medical detail seriously. These surviving episodes are public domain and stream from the Internet Archive.
Source collection
Internet Archive audio collections
Rights
Public domain — no renewed US copyright
Cataloguing
Air dates and notes from the Archive item record
The shape of the run
What survives, year by year
3 dated broadcasts across 2 years on the air. Brightness is transfer quality; empty cells are months lost to time.
Episodes
Start here
Listen to the run in order
Restored broadcasts from 1944, in original transmission order.
- 1. 1944-12-27 1905 Dr. Brent Inquires About His Son · 27 Dec 1944
- 2. 1945-01-03 1911 Carol Argues With Her Aunt About Divorcing Jim · 3 Jan 1945
- 3. 1945-01-08 1914 Carol Boards Train For Reno to Get Divorced · 8 Jan 1945
1944-12-27 1905 Dr. Brent Inquires About His Son
27 Dec 1944 · 14 min
Road of Life was a popular radio soap opera, produced by Procter and Gamble, featuring the story of Dr. Jim Brent. While on rounds, the intercom would sound "Dr. Brent... call surgery... Dr. Brent... call surgery..." The series began in 1937 and ended on radio in 1959. A concurrent television run began in 1954. Irna Phillips developed the program. Its appeal was its more natural dialogue compared to other soap operas, and that the characters aged over the years. Listeners heard Brent as an intern, as a physician and surgeon, and through all of the life challenges he faced through friendships a
1945-01-03 1911 Carol Argues With Her Aunt About Divorcing Jim
3 Jan 1945 · 14 min
Road of Life was a popular radio soap opera, produced by Procter and Gamble, featuring the story of Dr. Jim Brent. While on rounds, the intercom would sound "Dr. Brent... call surgery... Dr. Brent... call surgery..." The series began in 1937 and ended on radio in 1959. A concurrent television run began in 1954. Irna Phillips developed the program. Its appeal was its more natural dialogue compared to other soap operas, and that the characters aged over the years. Listeners heard Brent as an intern, as a physician and surgeon, and through all of the life challenges he faced through friendships a
1945-01-08 1914 Carol Boards Train For Reno to Get Divorced
8 Jan 1945 · 14 min
Road of Life was a popular radio soap opera, produced by Procter and Gamble, featuring the story of Dr. Jim Brent. While on rounds, the intercom would sound "Dr. Brent... call surgery... Dr. Brent... call surgery..." The series began in 1937 and ended on radio in 1959. A concurrent television run began in 1954. Irna Phillips developed the program. Its appeal was its more natural dialogue compared to other soap operas, and that the characters aged over the years. Listeners heard Brent as an intern, as a physician and surgeon, and through all of the life challenges he faced through friendships a
1945-01-17 1917 A Chat Between Nurse Sylvia and Dr. Brent
17 Jan 1945 · 14 min
Road of Life was a popular radio soap opera, produced by Procter and Gamble, featuring the story of Dr. Jim Brent. While on rounds, the intercom would sound "Dr. Brent... call surgery... Dr. Brent... call surgery..." The series began in 1937 and ended on radio in 1959. A concurrent television run began in 1954. Irna Phillips developed the program. Its appeal was its more natural dialogue compared to other soap operas, and that the characters aged over the years. Listeners heard Brent as an intern, as a physician and surgeon, and through all of the life challenges he faced through friendships a
1945-01-22 1920 Jim Has Dinner With Sylvia
22 Jan 1945 · 14 min
Road of Life was a popular radio soap opera, produced by Procter and Gamble, featuring the story of Dr. Jim Brent. While on rounds, the intercom would sound "Dr. Brent... call surgery... Dr. Brent... call surgery..." The series began in 1937 and ended on radio in 1959. A concurrent television run began in 1954. Irna Phillips developed the program. Its appeal was its more natural dialogue compared to other soap operas, and that the characters aged over the years. Listeners heard Brent as an intern, as a physician and surgeon, and through all of the life challenges he faced through friendships a
1945-01-25 1923 Ethics Committee Meeting Begins
25 Jan 1945 · 14 min
Road of Life was a popular radio soap opera, produced by Procter and Gamble, featuring the story of Dr. Jim Brent. While on rounds, the intercom would sound "Dr. Brent... call surgery... Dr. Brent... call surgery..." The series began in 1937 and ended on radio in 1959. A concurrent television run began in 1954. Irna Phillips developed the program. Its appeal was its more natural dialogue compared to other soap operas, and that the characters aged over the years. Listeners heard Brent as an intern, as a physician and surgeon, and through all of the life challenges he faced through friendships a
1945-01-30 1926 Nurse Palmer Testifies
30 Jan 1945 · 14 min
Road of Life was a popular radio soap opera, produced by Procter and Gamble, featuring the story of Dr. Jim Brent. While on rounds, the intercom would sound "Dr. Brent... call surgery... Dr. Brent... call surgery..." The series began in 1937 and ended on radio in 1959. A concurrent television run began in 1954. Irna Phillips developed the program. Its appeal was its more natural dialogue compared to other soap operas, and that the characters aged over the years. Listeners heard Brent as an intern, as a physician and surgeon, and through all of the life challenges he faced through friendships a
1945-02-02 1929 Dr. Brent Found Guilty
2 Feb 1945 · 14 min
Road of Life was a popular radio soap opera, produced by Procter and Gamble, featuring the story of Dr. Jim Brent. While on rounds, the intercom would sound "Dr. Brent... call surgery... Dr. Brent... call surgery..." The series began in 1937 and ended on radio in 1959. A concurrent television run began in 1954. Irna Phillips developed the program. Its appeal was its more natural dialogue compared to other soap operas, and that the characters aged over the years. Listeners heard Brent as an intern, as a physician and surgeon, and through all of the life challenges he faced through friendships a
Also on NBC / CBS
NBC / CBS in 1944–1945
Other series the network carried while Road of Life was on the air.
Same seasons
soap on the air then
Series in the same genre whose runs overlapped this one.
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