Firing Line
Presidential Hopeful: Ronald Reagan
TV Flash files “Presidential Hopeful: Ronald Reagan” as the first listed hour of season 15 — Firing Line (1966–1999) on Syndicated/PBS, season 15, episode 2, aired 1980-01-14, 120 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S15E02: listed hour 205 of 326 in the Firing Line guide, first listed hour of season 15. It aired 1980-01-14 (120 min). The listed hour before it is “The Year That Was” (S14E48). Next is “The United States in the 1980s--Foreign Affairs” (S15E03).
Viewer FAQ
Where does Presidential Hopeful: Ronald Reagan sit in the Firing Line guide?
S15E02 is listed hour 205 of 326 — first listed hour of season 15, season 15 episode 2.
When did Firing Line S15E02 air?
Presidential Hopeful: Ronald Reagan aired 1980-01-14 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…