Is Firing Line coming back?
Firing Line (1966–1999) on Syndication
The answer: Concluded December 14, 1999.
33seasons
326episodes
About Firing Line
Firing Line was an American public affairs show founded and hosted by conservative William F. Buckley, Jr., founder and publisher of National Review magazine. Its 1,504 episodes over 33 years made Firing Line the longest-running public affairs show in television history with a single host. The program, which featured many influential public figures in the United States, won an Emmy Award in 1969. Although the program's format varied over the years, it typically featured Buckley interviewing a guest and exchanging views, with the two seated together in front of a small studio audience. Standing or sitting further away in the studio, an "examiner", typically a political liberal, would ask questions, generally toward the end of the show. Guests were people notable in the fields of politics to religion, literature and academia, and their views could sharply contrast or be in strong agreement with Buckley's. Most guests were intellectuals or those in positions of power, and they were interviewed about ideas and issues of the day.
Firing Line episode schedule
326 aired
Aired · 326
| Date | Ep. | Title |
|---|---|---|
| December 14, 1999 | S34·E36 | The End of Firing Line, Part I |
| November 2, 1999 | S34·E34 | The Conservative Search for a Foreign Policy |
| October 4, 1999 | S34·E31 | Philanthropy and the Conservative Movement |
| June 29, 1999 | S34·E20 | Looking Back on Senator Joe McCarthy |
| May 18, 1999 | S34·E16 | Professor Galbraith Names Names |
| April 15, 1999 | S34·E14 | Kissinger's Years of Renewal |
| January 19, 1999 | S34·E6 | Tom Wolfe and His Critics |
| January 13, 1999 | S34·E1 | Is New York City Out from Under? |
| January 12, 1999 | S34·E8 | Legalize Pot? |
| December 3, 1998 | S33·E44 | The GOP and the Hispanic Vote |
| September 18, 1998 | S33·E35 | On Impeachability |
| July 9, 1998 | S33·E31 | Looking Back on Bosnia |
| July 9, 1998 | S33·E29 | Goldwater Revisited |
| April 7, 1998 | S33·E8 | Do Economics and Morality Have Anything in Common? |
| January 13, 1998 | S33·E4 | Did Camelot Have a Dark Side? |
| October 29, 1997 | S32·E34 | The Problems of Privacy |
| October 14, 1997 | S32·E33 | Is the Cyberworld a Threat? |
| April 29, 1997 | S32·E13 | The Lucas Case and Private-Property Rights |
| March 20, 1997 | S32·E8 | Is Newt Permanently Damaged? |
| January 23, 1997 | S32·E3 | The Problems of Gay Life |
| July 11, 1996 | S31·E21 | Have We Learned Anything about the Good Society? |
| October 4, 1994 | S29·E30 | Mini-Series on Crime, Part IV: Realistic Insights into Crime and Punishment |
| October 4, 1994 | S29·E29 | Mini-Series on Crime, Part III: Do We Need Prisons at All |
| January 26, 1994 | S29·E2 | Are Medical Costs Controllable? |
| August 16, 1993 | S28·E37 | The Threat of Nuclear Destruction in the New World Order: New Voices, Part III |
| August 16, 1993 | S28·E36 | The Threat of Nuclear Destruction in the New World Order: New Voices, Part II |
| August 16, 1993 | S28·E35 | The Threat of Nuclear Destruction in the New World Order: New Voices, Part I |
| May 23, 1993 | S28·E14 | An Approach to Illegitimacy |
| January 12, 1993 | S28·E4 | Do We Need a Federal Community Property Act? |
| December 8, 1992 | S27·E33 | What's Wrong with the Deficit?, Part II |
Show next 200 of 296 earlier episodes
| December 8, 1992 | S27·E32 | What's Wrong with the Deficit?, Part I |
| October 6, 1992 | S27·E25 | Why Are We in a Recession? |
| September 16, 1992 | S27·E23 | Are Liberal Vulnerabilities Now Apparent? |
| August 29, 1991 | S26·E23 | Is the Democratic Party Falling Apart in the South? |
| June 4, 1991 | S26·E14 | Is There a Problem of Nuclear Waste Disposal? |
| January 15, 1991 | S26·E7 | Remembering Malcolm Muggeridge |
| December 13, 1990 | S25·E40 | New Insights on the Russian Revolution |
| December 13, 1990 | S25·E38 | What Do We Owe Our Country? |
| October 11, 1990 | S25·E33 | Two Friends Talk, Part II |
| October 11, 1990 | S25·E32 | Two Friends Talk, Part I |
| September 20, 1990 | S25·E28 | Crime and Punishment |
| May 22, 1990 | S25·E12 | Is England Still Influencing America? |
| January 22, 1990 | S25·E2 | The Link between Attitude and Healing |
| November 17, 1989 | S24·E32 | President Kennedy and Prime Minister Macmillan, Part I |
| October 16, 1989 | S24·E31 | William F. Buckley Jr. Looks Forward on Politics, Etc. |
| October 16, 1989 | S24·E30 | William F. Buckley Jr. Looks Back on Politics, Etc. |
| June 7, 1989 | S24·E18 | The Fight for Bach |
| June 2, 1989 | S24·E14 | Mother Teresa Talks with William F. Buckley Jr |
| January 10, 1989 | S24·E5 | Saint or Sinner: Junipero Serra |
| August 24, 1988 | S23·E23 | Contra Aid |
| June 8, 1988 | S23·E13 | Dirty Rock Lyrics |
| January 19, 1988 | S23·E4 | The Libertarian Candidate |
| January 7, 1988 | S23·E2 | Do Capitalists Go Too Far? |
| October 1, 1987 | S22·E36 | Three Young Latin Americans Wish to Be Heard |
| September 18, 1987 | S22·E28 | The Implications of MacDonald v. McGinniss |
| May 27, 1987 | S22·E16 | Are We Getting Anywhere in the UN? |
| April 15, 1987 | S22·E13 | Higher Education Has Failed Democracy |
| February 23, 1987 | S22·E5 | Pull Out of NATO? |
| October 16, 1986 | S21·E40 | Human Rights, Foreign Policy, and Ronald Reagan |
| October 10, 1986 | S21·E35 | The Textbook Controversy in Tennessee |
| October 2, 1986 | S21·E33 | For Central America: A Radical Prescription |
| May 30, 1986 | S21·E20 | Terrorism Viewed from Abroad |
| May 2, 1986 | S21·E15 | Debate: Resolved That We Should Move towards Privatization, Including the Schools, Part II |
| May 2, 1986 | S21·E14 | Debate: Resolved That We Should Move towards Privatization, Including the Schools, Part I |
| January 14, 1986 | S21·E5 | Bill Buckley and Firing Line Get Roasted |
| January 14, 1986 | S21·E4 | 1966-1986: A Potpourri of Persuaders |
| January 14, 1986 | S21·E2 | 1966-1986: World Leaders |
| December 2, 1985 | S20·E43 | What Does PEN Have to Offer? |
| September 26, 1985 | S20·E32 | Three Approaches to Terrorists |
| July 17, 1985 | S20·E25 | What Are Our Young Novelists Up To? |
| May 22, 1985 | S20·E18 | Psychiatry: New Explorations |
| December 11, 1984 | S19·E46 | Is There A Liberal Crack-Up? |
| December 6, 1984 | S19·E44 | Where Is the GOP Headed? |
| September 27, 1984 | S19·E36 | The Dalai Lama Looks Back |
| August 31, 1984 | S19·E29 | The Election: A View from New York |
| February 19, 1984 | S19·E4 | What's on Malcolm Muggeridge's Mind? |
| November 3, 1983 | S18·E36 | The Economics and Politics of Race |
| September 15, 1983 | S18·E30 | What Is Radio Free Europe Up To? |
| June 9, 1983 | S18·E23 | Was Gandhi for Real? |
| April 14, 1983 | S18·E11 | How to Speak, How to Listen |
| February 22, 1983 | S18·E7 | Confidence and Betrayal |
| January 24, 1983 | S18·E3 | Buckley's Turn to Explain Himself |
| October 27, 1982 | S17·E38 | The Roosevelt Legacy |
| October 5, 1982 | S17·E36 | Debate: Resolved That the Feds Should Get Out of Higher Education, Part II |
| October 5, 1982 | S17·E35 | Debate: Resolved That the Feds Should Get Out of Higher Education, Part I |
| July 13, 1982 | S17·E31 | The Economy and the Blacks, Part II |
| July 13, 1982 | S17·E30 | The Economy and the Blacks, Part I |
| April 2, 1982 | S17·E12 | The Libertarian Credo |
| January 11, 1982 | S17·E5 | The Issues Involved in Local Control of Reading Matter |
| December 3, 1981 | S16·E45 | Why Are Our Intellectuals So Dumb? |
| December 3, 1981 | S16·E44 | What Is There to Learn from the Killing of Dr. Tarnower? |
| November 12, 1981 | S16·E41 | William F. Buckley Jr. on the Firing Line |
| November 12, 1981 | S16·E40 | The Economic Lot of Minorities |
| October 15, 1981 | S16·E39 | Is There an Answer to Malthus? |
| October 1, 1981 | S16·E37 | Is Modern Architecture Disastrous? |
| October 1, 1981 | S16·E36 | Where Do We Go on Immigration? |
| September 10, 1981 | S16·E33 | How to Win Arguments |
| September 10, 1981 | S16·E32 | Does the Warren Report on the Kennedy Assassination Hold Up? |
| July 17, 1981 | S16·E29 | The Question of Namibia |
| July 15, 1981 | S16·E31 | A Strategy for Cuba |
| July 15, 1981 | S16·E26 | Do We Need a Foreign Policy Doctrine? |
| June 5, 1981 | S16·E21 | John Kenneth Galbraith Looks Back |
| June 5, 1981 | S16·E20 | What to Do about Terrorism? |
| March 25, 1981 | S16·E13 | The Question of Gay Rights |
| January 22, 1981 | S16·E4 | Are We Menaced by Moral Majority? |
| January 5, 1981 | S16·E2 | The Abscam Controversy |
| January 5, 1981 | S16·E1 | Are Ideology and the CIA Compatible? |
| December 9, 1980 | S15·E44 | Why Is Jazz Neglected? |
| December 4, 1980 | S15·E43 | How Should Ex-Communists Cooperate? |
| September 6, 1980 | S15·E34 | Do We Need Religion or Religious Institution? |
| September 6, 1980 | S15·E33 | How Does One Find Faith? |
| September 4, 1980 | S15·E31 | The Crisis in Labour |
| August 15, 1980 | S15·E28 | Defense and the Democrats |
| August 15, 1980 | S15·E27 | What Happened at Madison Square Garden? |
| July 21, 1980 | S15·E29 | Have We Learned Anything about Gun Control? |
| July 21, 1980 | S15·E25 | Is Camp David Falling Apart? |
| April 22, 1980 | S15·E16 | Allard Lowenstein on Firing Line: A Retrospective |
| April 22, 1980 | S15·E15 | The Fight over Catholic Orthodoxy |
| February 14, 1980 | S15·E7 | Government Bailout |
| January 17, 1980 | S15·E4 | The United States in the 1980s--Domestic Affairs |
| January 17, 1980 | S15·E3 | The United States in the 1980s--Foreign Affairs |
| January 14, 1980 | S15·E2 | Presidential Hopeful: Ronald Reagan |
| December 13, 1979 | S14·E48 | The Year That Was |
| November 28, 1979 | S14·E46 | Debate: Resolved That the United States Should Refuse Recognition to the PLO, Part II |
| November 28, 1979 | S14·E45 | Debate: Resolved That the United States Should Refuse Recognition to the PLO, Part I |
| October 30, 1979 | S14·E41 | Can New York City Govern Itself? |
| October 20, 1979 | S14·E42 | Is There a Role for the Private College? |
| October 11, 1979 | S14·E40 | Crime and Punishment: Gary Gilmore |
| September 20, 1979 | S14·E36 | The Crisis in the U.S. Military |
| September 20, 1979 | S14·E35 | SALT II and the U.S. Senate |
| September 6, 1979 | S14·E34 | Human Rights in Vietnam |
| June 29, 1979 | S14·E30 | The Television Machine |
| June 15, 1979 | S14·E23 | Lifting the Trade Ban on Rhodesia |
| June 8, 1979 | S14·E22 | Real Music |
| May 4, 1979 | S14·E17 | The Crisis of Nuclear Energy |
| March 16, 1979 | S14·E14 | The Rising Tide of Islam |
| February 12, 1979 | S14·E8 | Reason and Politics |
| February 12, 1979 | S14·E7 | NATO and European Security |
| December 12, 1978 | S13·E44 | What Should Our China Policy Be? |
| September 6, 1978 | S13·E35 | The Mission of the Pope |
| July 21, 1978 | S13·E32 | Three vs. William F. Buckley Jr. |
| July 21, 1978 | S13·E27 | The Rhodesian Dilemma |
| June 27, 1978 | S13·E28 | Muggeridge Revisited |
| May 31, 1978 | S13·E20 | The Crisis of Intelligence |
| March 30, 1978 | S13·E12 | Debate: Resolved That the Price of Oil and Natural Gas Should Be Regulated by the Federal Government |
| March 21, 1978 | S13·E11 | The Guilt of Alger Hiss |
| March 16, 1978 | S13·E8 | The Role of Liberals in the Republican Party |
| January 30, 1978 | S13·E7 | Is Soviet Policy an Extension of Russian Policy? |
| January 13, 1978 | S13·E1 | Debate: Resolved That the Senate Should Ratify the Proposed Panama Canal Treaties |
| January 11, 1978 | S13·E2 | G. Gordon Liddy: An Enigma |
| November 17, 1977 | S12·E41 | Ferdinand Marcos: A Discussion |
| November 12, 1977 | S13·E4 | Exclusive Conversation with Chiang Ching-kuo |
| November 7, 1977 | S12·E39 | Is There a Case for Private Property? |
| September 14, 1977 | S12·E32 | The Problem of the Illegals |
| July 25, 1977 | S12·E27 | What Have We Learned from the Failure of British Socialism? |
| July 25, 1977 | S12·E26 | Human Rights in the USSR |
| June 27, 1977 | S12·E23 | What's Up with Eurocommunism? |
| May 12, 1977 | S12·E20 | What's Happening in South Africa? |
| March 9, 1977 | S12·E12 | Is There a Solution for Rhodesia? |
| February 1, 1977 | S12·E7 | Terror in Latin America |
| February 1, 1977 | S12·E6 | Borges South America's Titan |
| January 31, 1977 | S12·E9 | Should the U.S. Pressure Argentina? |
| December 13, 1976 | S11·E47 | Ten Years of Firing Line (1966-1976): Part I |
| December 13, 1976 | S11·E46 | The Death Penalty |
| December 13, 1976 | S11·E45 | Deep Throat and the First Amendment |
| September 20, 1976 | S11·E33 | Subversion and the Law |
| August 26, 1976 | S11·E31 | Should Books like Little Black Sambo Be on Library Shelves? |
| July 15, 1976 | S11·E24 | Who's More Electable: Ford or Reagan? |
| May 6, 1976 | S11·E18 | Is There Any Soviet Justice? |
| February 23, 1976 | S11·E8 | The Future of Spain |
| January 26, 1976 | S11·E6 | The Uses of the United Nations |
| October 9, 1975 | S10·E37 | Is Our Military Defense Adequate? |
| October 3, 1975 | S10·E36 | The Practical Limits of Liberalism |
| September 14, 1975 | S10·E33 | The British Mess |
| September 10, 1975 | S10·E35 | How the Vietnam War Was Lost |
| September 10, 1975 | S10·E32 | The Politics of Henry Kissinger |
| July 9, 1975 | S10·E25 | Tom Wolfe and The Painted Word |
| July 9, 1975 | S10·E24 | The Ozone Controversy |
| April 11, 1975 | S10·E15 | Who Killed Bobby Kennedy? |
| March 31, 1975 | S10·E13 | Feminism |
| March 10, 1975 | S10·E10 | Integrity and Journalism |
| February 5, 1975 | S10·E9 | William F. Buckley Jr., Malcolm Muggeridge, and the World |
| February 5, 1975 | S10·E8 | The Intellectual's Responsibilities in a Totalitarian Age |
| December 2, 1974 | S9·E42 | Jews and American Politics |
| November 15, 1974 | S9·E41 | Democratic Culture |
| September 20, 1974 | S9·E35 | The Economy |
| September 20, 1974 | S9·E33 | Chile and the CIA |
| September 4, 1974 | S9·E31 | The Nixon Experience and American Conservatism |
| July 9, 1974 | S9·E23 | The Limits of Journalistic Investigation |
| June 28, 1974 | S9·E29 | The Political Responsibility of Artists |
| June 28, 1974 | S9·E21 | The Future of the GOP |
| June 10, 1974 | S9·E26 | Public Medicine |
| June 10, 1974 | S9·E24 | Shockley's Thesis |
| June 3, 1974 | S9·E20 | Government and the Arts |
| June 3, 1974 | S9·E19 | Amnesty |
| May 15, 1974 | S9·E15 | Where Do We Go from Here in the Middle East? |
| May 10, 1974 | S9·E16 | Should the United States Disarm? |
| May 10, 1974 | S9·E14 | The Blackmailing of the President |
| May 3, 1974 | S9·E13 | The Republican Party and Mr. Nixon |
| March 15, 1974 | S9·E12 | The Question of Rhodesia |
| March 13, 1974 | S9·E11 | The Question of South Africa |
| February 13, 1974 | S9·E6 | Enoch Powell and the British Crisis |
| February 12, 1974 | S9·E5 | The British Crisis |
| January 23, 1974 | S9·E8 | Politics and Black Progress |
| January 23, 1974 | S9·E2 | The Revisionist Historians |
| January 21, 1974 | S9·E7 | Tax Reform |
| December 7, 1973 | S8·E46 | The Jesus Movement |
| November 12, 1973 | S8·E42 | The Middle East Explosion and American Detente |
| October 16, 1973 | S8·E40 | Heredity, IQ, and Social Issues |
| October 16, 1973 | S8·E39 | The Mechanism of Moral Development |
| September 28, 1973 | S8·E38 | The Nixon Presidency |
| September 13, 1973 | S8·E36 | Amnesty |
| September 13, 1973 | S8·E35 | The Energy Crisis and Energy Policy |
| August 20, 1973 | S8·E34 | Has America Had It? |
| July 30, 1973 | S8·E30 | Russian Jewry and American Foreign Policy |
| July 30, 1973 | S8·E29 | World Federalism Today |
| July 24, 1973 | S8·E28 | What Now for the Ghetto? |
| May 16, 1973 | S8·E19 | The Implications of Watergate |
| May 1, 1973 | S8·E26 | Is There an Ecological Crisis? |
| April 23, 1973 | S8·E18 | What to Do About the Post Office? |
| April 23, 1973 | S8·E17 | Proposals for Welfare |
| March 30, 1973 | S8·E16 | The Equal Rights Amendment |
| February 27, 1973 | S8·E13 | Corporal Punishment |
| January 23, 1973 | S8·E8 | How Does It Go with the Black Movement? |
| January 23, 1973 | S8·E7 | Texas Politics |
| January 10, 1973 | S8·E4 | What are the Challenges for Conservatives in 1973? |
| December 21, 1972 | S7·E42 | A Conservative Look at Marijuana |
| December 21, 1972 | S7·E41 | The Young |
| December 12, 1972 | S7·E40 | The Southern Imagination |
| October 3, 1972 | S7·E32 | Hate America |
…and 96 earlier episodes not shown. Long-running show.
