Even in its day, Firing Line was highbrow TV. Can you imagine anything even remotely like William F. Buckley and Joe Sobran's conversation with Kenneth Minogue on "Is There a Conservative Ideology?" appearing on a television talk show today? Here's part one, part two, part three, part four, part five, and part six of the conversation. Sorry, WFB didn't do a ticker, he let his guests speak without interruption for minutes at a time, and he never utilized the four-way split-screen of talking heads all saying nothing at once. I realize that the Firing Line model could never get O'Reilly-type ratings, or even Olbermann-type ratings for that matter. But with hundreds and hundreds of channels, isn't there room on cable for one thought-provoking, rather than thought-deadening, discussion show a la Firing Line?
I agree, it would be great to have a show like that back on the air.
However, I don't agree that we are totally without thought provoking programming. There is some great stuff on BookTV!
I love hardball and the like, but those shows are for politicians and not thinkers. I learn more on how not to answer a question from these shows than I do about their answer of the question. I learn political maneuvering and spinning, and not thought provoking ideas.
I agree, CSPAN is our closest thing to this across the country. Although, there is 1 public TV show from the Hoover Institute called Uncommon Knowledge - http://www.hoover.org/publications/uk
This show is the closest thing to "Firing Line." My favorites are: Dinesh D'Souza/Gore Vidal on "Why The US is Hated" and Gingrich/C.Hitchens on "What Kind of War Are We Fighting?"
You should check it out.
While I know it's not the same sort of show, Charlie Rose, on PBS, is one such interviewer. He actually lets his guests talk. For movie reviewers, I'd also cite Patrick Stoner (also on PBS). They guy is totally freakin' boring, but that's because he hardly talks, and instead lets his guests do the talking.
Again, not politics, so it's sort of OT.
RW, is Uncommon Knowledge still on? I thought it got cancelled.
aww for crying out loud, it's over:
"Uncommon Knowledge, produced by the Hoover Institution in conjunction with KTEH-TV, San Jose, in June 2005 concluded a 10-year run with 300 episodes broadcast on the Public Broadcasting Service."
I always used to go on the site and look up old shows and play them online, have not done it about a year.
Well, there goes another one.
Watched those videos, and they were great. Joe Sobran can be a cool guy. I want to read that book now.
I'm curious, has anyone else besides me rented Idiocracy?
It looks like more Firing Line episodes can be found here:
http://hoohila.stanford.edu/firingline/programList.php
Where is that guy who kept asking Dan to explain how conservatism isn't an ideology? I have to laugh watching that Firing Line episode b/c they never got around to addressing let alone answering the stated question of the show, whether or not there exists a conservative "ideology"?
The only wholesome t.v. I am aware of is "The Dog Whisperer" and "Dog: The Bounty Hunter." I actually find both mildly thought provoking as well.
. . .
Oh, and Obi Juan, I have rented and loved Idiocracy, but we are all living it anyway.
