Firing Line
The Fight for Bach
TV Flash files “The Fight for Bach” as hour 280 of 326 in the TV Flash guide — Firing Line (1966–1999) on Syndicated/PBS, season 24, episode 18, aired 1989-06-07, 120 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S24E18: listed hour 280 of 326 in the Firing Line guide, hour 3 of 6 in season 24. It aired 1989-06-07 (120 min). The listed hour before it is “Mother Teresa Talks with William F. Buckley Jr” (S24E14). Next is “William F. Buckley Jr. Looks Back on Politics, Etc.” (S24E30).
Viewer FAQ
Where does The Fight for Bach sit in the Firing Line guide?
S24E18 is listed hour 280 of 326 — hour 3 of 6 in season 24, season 24 episode 18.
When did Firing Line S24E18 air?
The Fight for Bach aired 1989-06-07 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…