Firing Line
Contra Aid
TV Flash files “Contra Aid” as the last listed hour of season 23 — Firing Line (1966–1999) on Syndicated/PBS, season 23, episode 23, aired 1988-08-24, 120 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S23E23: listed hour 277 of 326 in the Firing Line guide, last listed hour of season 23. It aired 1988-08-24 (120 min). The listed hour before it is “Dirty Rock Lyrics” (S23E13). Next is “Saint or Sinner: Junipero Serra” (S24E05).
Viewer FAQ
Where does Contra Aid sit in the Firing Line guide?
S23E23 is listed hour 277 of 326 — last listed hour of season 23, season 23 episode 23.
When did Firing Line S23E23 air?
Contra Aid aired 1988-08-24 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…