Firing Line
Subversion and the Law
TV Flash files “Subversion and the Law” as hour 161 of 326 in the TV Flash guide — Firing Line (1966–1999) on Syndicated/PBS, season 11, episode 33, aired 1976-09-20, 120 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S11E33: listed hour 161 of 326 in the Firing Line guide, hour 6 of 9 in season 11. It aired 1976-09-20 (120 min). The listed hour before it is “Should Books like Little Black Sambo Be on Library Shelves?” (S11E31). Next is “Deep Throat and the First Amendment” (S11E45).
Viewer FAQ
Where does Subversion and the Law sit in the Firing Line guide?
S11E33 is listed hour 161 of 326 — hour 6 of 9 in season 11, season 11 episode 33.
When did Firing Line S11E33 air?
Subversion and the Law aired 1976-09-20 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…