Firing Line
The Mission of the Pope
TV Flash files “The Mission of the Pope” as hour 187 of 326 in the TV Flash guide — Firing Line (1966–1999) on Syndicated/PBS, season 13, episode 35, aired 1978-09-06, 120 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S13E35: listed hour 187 of 326 in the Firing Line guide, hour 12 of 13 in season 13. It aired 1978-09-06 (120 min). The listed hour before it is “Three vs. William F. Buckley Jr.” (S13E32). Next is “What Should Our China Policy Be?” (S13E44).
Viewer FAQ
Where does The Mission of the Pope sit in the Firing Line guide?
S13E35 is listed hour 187 of 326 — hour 12 of 13 in season 13, season 13 episode 35.
When did Firing Line S13E35 air?
The Mission of the Pope aired 1978-09-06 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…
Also in season 13
- S13E01 Debate: Resolved That the Senate Should Ratify the Proposed Panama Canal Treaties
- S13E02 G. Gordon Liddy: An Enigma
- S13E04 Exclusive Conversation with Chiang Ching-kuo
- S13E07 Is Soviet Policy an Extension of Russian Policy?
- S13E08 The Role of Liberals in the Republican Party
- S13E11 The Guilt of Alger Hiss