In the summer of 1968, television news changed forever when a struggling ABC hired two towering public intellectuals to debate each other during the Democratic and Republican national conventions. William F. Buckley Jr. was a leading light of the new conservative movement. A Democrat and cousin to Jackie Onassis, Gore Vidal was a leftist novelist and polemicist. Armed with deep-seated distrust and enmity, Vidal and Buckley believed each other's political ideologies were dangerous for America. Like rounds in a heavyweight battle, they pummeled out policy and personal insult—and their explosive exchanges devolved into vitriolic name-calling. It was unlike anything TV had ever broadcast, and all the more shocking because it was live and unscripted. Viewers were riveted. ABC News' ratings skyrocketed. And a new era in public discourse was born—a highbrow blood sport that marked the dawn of pundit television as we know it today. Co-directed by Morgan Neville (20 FEET FROM STARDOM) and Memphis-based filmmaker Robert Gordon (SHAKESPEARE WAS A BIG GEORGE JONES FAN).

“For American viewers of an intellectual/historical persuasion, there could scarcely be any documentary more enticing, scintillating and downright fascinating than Best of Enemies.” – Todd McCarty, Hollywood Reporter

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