Firing Line
Has America Had It?
TV Flash files “Has America Had It?” as hour 113 of 326 in the TV Flash guide — Firing Line (1966–1999) on Syndicated/PBS, season 8, episode 34, aired 1973-08-20, 120 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S08E34: listed hour 113 of 326 in the Firing Line guide, hour 13 of 20 in season 8. It aired 1973-08-20 (120 min). The listed hour before it is “Russian Jewry and American Foreign Policy” (S08E30). Next is “The Energy Crisis and Energy Policy” (S08E35).
Viewer FAQ
Where does Has America Had It? sit in the Firing Line guide?
S08E34 is listed hour 113 of 326 — hour 13 of 20 in season 8, season 8 episode 34.
When did Firing Line S08E34 air?
Has America Had It? aired 1973-08-20 and is listed at 120 minutes.
Where should I start?
A Buckley hour with a guest from across the aisle and room for full sentences is the contract. Clipboard, drawl, no countdown clock. Sample debates, not a serialized doctrine.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Firing Line is William F. Buckley Jr. turning argument into spectator sport: clipboard, drawl, and guests from across the aisle in conversations that refused the sound bite. Syndicated, then PBS, it ran for decades on polysyllables. Political talk before the countdown clock — intellectual blood sport with manners, and sentences allowed to finish on national television.
Clipboard, drawl, and a guest from across the aisle — argument as spectator sport before the countdown clock. Firing Line is William F. Buckley Jr. turning political talk into ballet and blood sport at once. Premiered 1966, then ran through syndication and PBS into 1999. Sesquipedalian flair, pointed civility, ideas as combat. Public-affairs TV with a maestro's ego. Sentences allowed to finish on national television. **It set a gold standard for intellectual TV debate across ideological lines.**
Filed against
- William F. Buckley Jr. as Host
William F. Buckley Jr. hosted Firing Line as argument-as-spectator-sport — clipboard, drawl, guests from across the aisle in conversations that refused the sound bite. Syndicated, then PBS, decades on polysyllables. TV Flash files him as…