Mobil Showcase Network

The Mobil Showcase Network was the umbrella title for a series of syndicated television specials showcasing cultural dramas and specials sponsored by Mobil. From 1983 to 1984, it was known as Mobil Showcase Theatre and hosted by Peter Ustinov (prior to 1983, it was unhosted).

The series was unusual in that it was not shown by PBS, but on local commercial television affiliates in some cities, representing most likely the last efforts of commercial television stations to bring "cultural fare" to a television audience, rather than relegating it to PBS.

Most of the specials in this series, especially in the 1980s, were British imports that had already been shown in the U.K. Two of them featured Laurence Olivier as star, but perhaps the most notable of the telecasts was one that did not - the nine-hour stage version of Charles Dickens's The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, with the Royal Shakespeare Company. Most of the actors played their original stage roles, although a few, such as Ben Kingsley, the original Squeers, were replaced by others. This historic telecast was spread out over four evenings in a row -three of the episodes lasting two hours and the last taking three hours to perform. Other telecasts included the Olivier King Lear (1983).

Three of the productions have been released on DVDs - King Lear, A Voyage Round My Father and Nicholas Nickleby. Two by Forsyth, featuring two short stories by Frederick Forsyth, has not.

During the 1970s, its most distinguished production was the 1975 television version of Ceremonies in Dark Old Men.

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