Access
Use
Acquisition Information
Preferred Citation
Alternate Forms Available
Historical Note
Scope and Content of Collection
Title: Firing Line (Television program) broadcast records
Date (inclusive): 1966-1999
Collection Number: 80040
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
190 manuscript boxes, 222 oversize boxes, 3 card file
boxes, 3 audio trays, 1 motion picture film, 352 linear feet of videotapes,
digital media
(952.3 Linear Feet)
Abstract: The Firing Line
broadcast records include videotapes from the
Firing
Line
television show, as well as sound recordings, administrative and
speaker files, program research files, photographs, transcripts, and other materials
from the show. The types of program research materials available for each program
are listed in the Episode Guide. The Episode Guide also includes a summary and guest
list for each episode, as well as a link to the episode details page on Hoover's
digital collections website. When applicable, links for purchasing full-length
episodes and the availability of special order DVDs are also included. Digital
copies of select records also available at
https://digitalcollections.hoover.org.
Creator:
Buckley, William F.,
Jr, 1925-2008
Creator:
Southern Educational
Communications Association
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library &
Archives
Access
The collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our
reservation system. If there are audiovisual or digital media material in the
collection, they must be reformatted before providing access. Digital copies of
select records also available at
https://digitalcollections.hoover.org.
Use
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library &
Archives.
Acquisition Information
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 1980, with a large
increment acquired in 2001.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Firing Line (Television program) broadcast records, [Box
no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Alternate Forms Available
Historical Note
With 1,505 installments over 33 years,
Firing Line is
the longest-running public-affairs show with a single host, William F. Buckley Jr.,
in television history.
Firing Line kept substantially the same basic format
throughout its run, but with certain variations.
(1) It began as an hour-long show for commercial television (i.e., with time
subtracted for commercial breaks), syndicated by WOR in New York City.
In 1971, under the auspices of the Southern Educational Communications Association
(SECA), it moved to public television and became a full hour. This move is reflected
in a numbering change in the programs: shows numbered 1 through 240 were on
commercial television; the SECA series then begins with s0001, taped on May 26,
1971. The WOR shows were numbered according to the order in which they were taped;
the SECA shows were numbered according to the order in which they were first
broadcast.
In 1988 the length of the regular shows was changed to a half-hour.
(2) Starting in 1978, interspersed among the regular shows are occasional specials
and two-hour formal debates, with opening statements, cross-examination, and closing
statements. The debates were initially numbered as regular shows (the first
Firing Line Debate was s0306, although a debate
sponsored by Columbia College's Debate Council was filmed as shows s0296 and s0297 a
few weeks earlier). Beginning in 1986, a separate numbering system was instituted
for
Firing Line Specials (with the number prefaced by
the letters FLS). (Note: Debates listed as "Part I" and "Part II" were shown on
consecutive weeks in the regular time slot, rather than being shown all at once in a
special two-hour time slot.)
Starting with S0961 in March of 1993, the formal debate would often be followed by
two or more shows in which roughly the same participants were released from the
debate format for informal discussion.
(3) Over the years, Buckley and his producer, Warren Steibel, used various methods of
bringing an extra perspective to the discussion. In the early years there would
often be a panel of three questioners--sometimes students, sometimes adults.
Starting in 1977 there would often be a single "examiner," who would play a larger
part in the proceedings than the panel of questioners had typically done. The
examiners who appeared most frequently were Jeff Greenfield, Michael Kinsley,
Harriet Pilpel, and Mark Green.
In 1988, when the show went to half an hour, the examiner was eliminated, but there
was often a "moderator," whose role was similar to that of the moderator in a formal
debate. The moderator would introduce both host and guest, and then ask the opening
question. The moderator appearing most frequently was Michael Kinsley. Some early
programs included a person called a "chairman," who functioned like a moderator.
(4) Beginning with show 171, in October of 1969, approximately twice a year the
tables would be turned, with a panel of questioners putting Buckley "on the firing
line."
Source: Preface to the program catalogue compiled by
Firing
Line
staff member Linda Bridges, included in box 1.
Scope and Content of Collection
The collection contains the records of the
Firing Line
television series, which was hosted by William F. Buckley Jr. Materials include the
original broadcast videotapes from Firing Line, as well as transcripts, photographs,
sound recordings, program research materials, and other materials. The types of
materials available for each program vary.
The collection is organized into three series: Episode Guide, Production Materials
File, and Audiovisual File.
The
Episode Guide is arranged by show number and includes
the title, episode summary, and guest names for each show. Numbers that are followed
by an "R" are repeat broadcasts of the same program, while numbers followed by an
"E" are edited repeat broadcasts. When applicable, links for purchasing full-length
episodes and the availability of special order DVDs are also included. The Episode
Guide also lists the supporting documentation for each program: background files,
publicity files, and transcripts. Supporting documentation varies by program.
Background files include program research materials such as clippings,
correspondence, transcripts, histories, press summaries, and printed matter, as well
as collected materials on speakers and their appearances on
Firing Line.
Publicity files are available for public television shows produced by SECA and
contain materials such as photographs, negatives, slides, transcripts, newsletters,
and other materials. The types of materials available for each show vary.
Transcripts of
Firing Line are both typewritten and
printed. Also included among transcripts are two productions hosted by William F.
Buckley Jr. that were not
Firing Line programs. The
shows have been designated as 000a and 000b. These programs are included in the
Episode Guide and the transcripts are located in box 159. Downloadable transcripts
for most
Firing Line programs are available on
Hoover's digital collections website and can be accessed through the links that
accompany each program entry in the Episode Guide.
The
Production Materials File includes administrative
files and speaker and research files. Administrative files document the creation of
the program. Files contain a catalogue of transcripts;
Firing
Line
guests' topic lists; programs lists; special debates lists;
correspondence with prominent politicians, economists, and scientists; and viewer
comments and suggestions. Press releases, newsletters, newspaper clippings, and
files on William F. Buckley Jr. and Warren Steibel,
Firing
Line's
producer-director, are also included. Photographs, negatives, and
slides of William F. Buckley Jr. individually and with the guests on his shows
complete the records.
Speaker and research files include clippings, correspondence, transcripts, histories,
press summaries, and printed matter, as well as other collected materials on
speakers and their appearances on
Firing Line. Not
every show or speaker is represented with a file. The original order of the files
was retained, and they are arranged alphabetically by the last name of the speaker.
Speakers who made multiple appearances may have several files. The William F.
Buckley Jr. book
On the Firing Line: The Public Life of Our
Public Figures
(Random House, New York, 1989) contains an alphabetical
list of guests who appeared on
Firing Line (see box
7).
The
Audiovisual File includes videorecordings, sound
recordings, and motion picture film.
Sound recordings contain sound tracks of the early
Firing
Line
television shows on open reel tapes and compact sound
cassettes.
Videorecordings include the original broadcast videotapes from
Firing Line. Many videotapes have been reformatted to more durable
media; additional reformatting depends on funding. Priority for reformatting is
assigned to the most endangered videotapes and those programs in highest demand from
viewers. Reformatted programs can be viewed on Hoover's digital collections website
or on-site in the reading room, or purchased from Amazon. Videotapes of programs
that have not been reformatted cannot be viewed at this time. Please contact the
Hoover Institution Library & Archives References Services at
hoover-library-archives@stanford.edu for more information.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Video tapes
Conservatism
United States -- Politics and
government -- 20th century
United States -- Foreign relations
-- 20th century