The rape trial of William Kennedy Smith the previous fall had kept the nation's cartoonists in clover--and its feminists, who tend to be Kennedy-lovers, in a state of trauma--for two months. In contrast, this is a civil and productive discussion of why--feminism apart--rape is such a difficult crime to prosecute justly.

This show -- the first in an election-year series -- is accurately described as a mini-debate: there are no big opening or closing statements, but instead of the informal give-and-take of a regular Firing Line, the participants take turns cross-examining each other, as in the middle portion of a formal debate. Good fun even if there aren't many surprises.

A year earlier Vice President Quayle had publicly complained about the litigiousness of American society, and Mr. Starr--whose name six years later would, for better or for worse, become a household word--had undertaken to draw up a program of reforms. He skillfully makes the case for his proposals, Mr. Glasser equally skillfully makes the case against, and Messrs. Buckley and Taggart keep the discussion on course.