Firing Line
The Year That Was
TV Flash files “The Year That Was” as the last listed hour of season 14 — Firing Line (1966–1999) on Syndicated/PBS, season 14, episode 48, aired 1979-12-13, 120 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S14E48: listed hour 204 of 326 in the Firing Line guide, last listed hour of season 14. It aired 1979-12-13 (120 min). The listed hour before it is “Debate: Resolved That the United States Should Refuse Recognition to the PLO, Part II” (S14E46). Next is “Presidential Hopeful: Ronald Reagan” (S15E02).
Viewer FAQ
Where does The Year That Was sit in the Firing Line guide?
S14E48 is listed hour 204 of 326 — last listed hour of season 14, season 14 episode 48.
When did Firing Line S14E48 air?
The Year That Was aired 1979-12-13 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…