The first season of the Theme Time Radio Hour, hosted by Bob Dylan, ran from May 3, 2006, to April 18, 2007 on XM Satellite Radio for a total of 50 shows.

Overview

With the exception of the Halloween show - Episode 26 - introduced by comedian Steven Wright, all the episodes in Season One were introduced by an uncredited Ellen Barkin who would open with the lines, "It's night (or night time) in the Big City" and then describe a city scene - such as a woman walking in the rain, a shopkeeper closing his doors, angry hookers arguing on a street corner - before introducing the show and "your host, Bob Dylan." Barkin would identify herself in a Christmas greeting delivered to listeners on Season One's Christmas/New Year Special - Episode 34 - ending fan speculation as to whether it was her voice in the introduction. Barkin was officially named as the show's introductory announcer in an XM press release for Season Two. Season One's closing credits were delivered by announcer "Pierre Mancini". Interspersed between the music on the shows are old station promos and jingles; pre-recorded show promos and commentary from personalities such as Penn Jillette, Jimmy Kimmel and Sarah Silverman; Dylan answering email the show has supposedly received (some of the emails are obviously made up. However, at least one email read on the "Friends and Neighbors" episode, came from a real listener. ); Dylan reading poetry, often citing the author as a "def poet;" occasional food and drink recipes; even household cleaning tips from Dylan; and his comments on the music and musicians the show is featuring. Although most of Dylan's monologues are scripted - keen-eared listeners can hear him turning pages and members of various Dylan Web forums have pointed out the similarities between his stories and Wikipedia entries on the same subject - he has had the occasional memorable outburst which sounded as if it came directly from the heart, such as this one on country music from the "Friends and Neighbors" episode (Episode 17): “Now I love country music, but I say 'What happened to it?' "You hear a song like this and it's obvious it's about real people, and real emotions, and real problems, that's all, that's the country music we learned to love. Nowadays they want to sweep all the problems under the rug and pretend they don't exist. "Well guess what folks – they do exist! And if you try and sweep 'em under the rug, they're just gonna pop up somewhere else. So we might as well all just face it and listen to the old style country music, the real country music. You know, about drinking and sleeping around. That's my kinda country music, and I hope yours!" All but three of Season One's episodes ran one hour in length, the exceptions being the 2-hour Christmas/New Year special, the 2-hour season finale (Episode 50 - "Spring Cleaning") and Episode 24, "Time," which ran into overtime for approximately 13 additional minutes, apparently in a joking reference to the episode's subject matter.

Season 1 - Episodes 1 to 50

Episode 1: Weather

First aired on May 3, 2006.

Episode 2: Mother

First aired on May 10, 2006.

Episode 3: Drinking

First aired on May 17, 2006.

Episode 4: Baseball

First aired on May 24, 2006.

Episode 5: Coffee

First aired on May 31, 2006.

Episode 6: Jail

First aired on June 7, 2006.

Episode 7: Father

First aired on June 14, 2006.

Episode 8: Wedding

First aired on June 21, 2006.

Episode 9: Divorce

First aired on June 28, 2006.

Episode 10: Summer

First aired on July 5, 2006.

Episode 11: Flowers

First aired on July 12, 2006.

Episode 12: Cars

First aired on July 19, 2006.

Episode 13: Rich Man, Poor Man

First aired on July 26, 2006.

Episode 14: The Devil

First aired on August 2, 2006.

Episode 15: Eyes

First aired on August 9, 2006.

Episode 16: Dogs

First aired on August 16, 2006.

Episode 17: Friends & Neighbors

First aired on August 23, 2006. Released in 2009 as a bonus CD with "Together Through Life".

Episode 18: Radio

First aired on August 30, 2006.

Episode 19: The Bible

First aired on September 6, 2006.

Episode 20: Musical Map

First aired on September 13, 2006.

Episode 21: School

First aired on September 20, 2006

Episode 22: Telephone

First aired on September 27, 2006.

Episode 23: Water

First aired on October 4, 2006.

Episode 24: Time

First aired on October 11, 2006. This episode exceeded the usual 1 hour duration by approximately 17 minutes.

Episode 25: Guns

First aired on October 18, 2006.

Episode 26: Halloween

First aired on October 25, 2006. Steven Wright introduces this episode in lieu of Ellen Barkin.

Episode 27: Dance

First aired on November 1, 2006.

Episode 28: Sleep

First aired on November 8, 2006.

Episode 29: Food

Aired November 15, 2006

Episode 30: Thanksgiving Leftovers

Aired November 22, 2006

Episode 31: Tennessee

Aired November 29, 2006

Episode 32: Moon

Aired December 6, 2006

Episode 33: Countdown

Aired December 13, 2006

Episode 34: Christmas & New Year's

Aired December 20, 2006. 2 hour-long special.

Episode 35: Women's Names

Aired January 3, 2007

Episode 36: Hair

Aired January 10, 2007

Episode 37: Musical Instruments

Aired: January 17, 2007

Episode 38: Luck

Aired: January 24, 2007

Episode 39: Tears

Aired January 31, 2007

Episode 40: Laughter

Aired February 7, 2007

Episode 41: Heart

Aired February 14, 2007

Episode 42: Shoes

Aired February 21, 2007

Episode 43: Colors

Aired February 28, 2007

Episode 44: Texas

Aired March 7, 2007

Episode 45: Trains

Aired March 14, 2007

Episode 46: More Trains

Aired March 21, 2007

Episode 47: Fools

Aired March 28, 2007

Episode 48: New York

Aired April 4, 2007

Episode 49: Death & Taxes

Aired April 11, 2007

Episode 50: Spring Cleaning

Aired April 18, 2007. 2-hour long special.