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Article: A Farewell to Firing Line.(last broadcast of political TV show)
- Article from:
- National Review
- Article date:
- December 31, 1999
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1999 National Review, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Can you remember a time before Firing Line? If so, then you can remember . . . a fair amount. The show was born in 1966, fathered by William F. Buckley Jr., who has fathered so much. It taped its final program on December 14, 1999. Television will not be the same without it. It will be worse.
Mr. Buckley has said that he is quitting now because "I don't want to die onstage"-which raises the question, When is Buckley not onstage? On Firing Line, he has hosted, prodded, jousted with just about everyone of public consequence over three decades. Presidents, prime ministers, and monarchs have been there, as have poets, musicians, scientists, and athletes. One could ...