The Paper Chase is a 1978 American drama television series based on the 1971 novel of the same title by John Jay Osborn Jr., and a 1973 film adaptation. It follows the lives of law student James T. Hart and his classmates at an unnamed law school, modeled on Harvard Law School.

Plot overview

Season 1 James T. Hart is a law student from rural Minnesota who enters the intensely competitive environment of a prestigious law school specifically to study with Professor Charles W. Kingsfield, the world's leading authority on contract law. Kingsfield inspires both awe and fear in his students in his unremitting determination to prepare them for the practice of law.

To cope with the heavy workload, Hart joins a study group organized by Franklin Ford III. Ford is under immense pressure to succeed. His family has produced an unbroken string of outstanding lawyers going back generations, culminating in his demanding father, the senior partner in a very prestigious Wall Street law firm. The study group includes smooth woman-chaser Thomas Craig Anderson, slob Willis Bell, idealistic activist Elizabeth Logan, and struggling Jonathan Brooks, who is married to Asheley. Brooks drops out after he voluntarily confesses to cheating.

Hart works part-time at Ernie's Tavern to help pay his way through school. In the pilot, a waitress (Marilu Henner) shows him the ropes.

There was a four-year hiatus between the end of the first season and the start of the second.

Season 2 Hart survives the first year with flying colors and joins the staff of the student-published Law Review (an honor reserved for the top students), under the leadership of Gerald Golden. He becomes romantically involved with first-year law student Connie Lehman, only to lose her when she wins a Rhodes Scholarship and goes to Oxford University. Later, he repeatedly clashes with Law Review rival Rita Harriman, herself a brilliant student, though he admits to Ford that he is perversely attracted to her.

Season 3 Hart is now the president of the Law Review. The new students include Ford's younger brother Tom and former housewife Rose Samuels. The Ford brothers have to come to terms with their sibling rivalry. Rose deals with a surprise divorce and being so much older than her classmates.

Season 4 This season consists of only six episodes, including a two-part finale in which Hart has to decide between taking a federal court clerkship or a position in a small private firm with idealistic goals after graduation. His decision is further complicated when he is invited to apply for a newly vacant faculty position at the school, an option opposed by Kingsfield, who believes he lacks the necessary experience. Hart, the top student in the graduating class, gives the commencement speech, bringing the series to a close.

Cast Ordered by number of credited episodes; only actors with eight or more episodes are listed.

Character Actor Notes Seasons James T. Hart James StephensA brilliant and hardworking Minnesota-born law student who greatly admires Professor Kingsfield.1–4Prof. Charles W. Kingsfield Jr.John HousemanA professor of contract law, regarded as one of the legal field's foremost minds but acerbic and demanding of his students. Houseman appeared in all but one of the episodes, the exception being "A Case of Détente".1–4Franklin Ford IIITom FitzsimmonsHart's closest friend in law school and the leader of his study group. Ford belongs to a multigenerational family of distinguished lawyers and feels pressured to live up to their example.1–4Willis Thomas BellJames KeaneAn abrasive member of Hart's study group.1–4Mrs. Nottingham Betty HarfordKingsfield's longtime secretary.1–4Gerald GoldenMichael TucciThe top student in the class ahead of Hart's, and the president of the Law Review.2–4Vivian ConwayPenny JohnsonAn African-American law student.2–4Rita HarrimanClare KirkconnellA law student and Hart's fiercest competitor.2–4Laura KiernanAndra MillianA law student.2–4Thomas Craig AndersonRobert GintyA member of Hart's study group.1Elizabeth LoganFrancine TackerA member of Hart's study group with radical political views.1Martin ZeissWortham KrimmerA law student. Krimmer actually became a lawyer after his acting career ended.2–4Tom FordPeter NelsonA law student and Franklin Ford's younger brother.3–4Rose SamuelsLainie KazanAn older law student.3–4Professor TylerDiana DouglasA law professor, former head of the Securities and Exchange Commission.3–4ErnieCharles HallahanProprietor of Ernie's Tavern, where Hart works.1Jonathan BrooksJonathan SegalA struggling member of Hart's study group.1Asheley BrooksDeka BeaudineJonathan Brooks' wife.1GagarianStanley DeSantisA law student.1William James StotzSteve LevittA law student.2–4Eugene SolowaySteven PetermanA nerdy law student.2–4Dean PerryMichael PrinceDean of the law school.2–4Connie LehmanJane KaczmarekA law student and Hart's love interest.2

Production Development The CBS television network aired the series in the 1978–1979 season. John Houseman reprised his movie role, and James Stephens played Hart. Despite extensive critical praise, ratings were low and it was cancelled after one year; PBS subsequently rebroadcast all of the episodes. In 1983, cable network Showtime brought back the show with both Houseman and Stephens, as well as some other members of the original television cast. At the end of the fourth season, Hart finally graduates from law school.

Theme music In the first year, the theme song was "The First Years", written by Norman Gimbel and Charles Fox, and performed by Seals and Crofts. In the pilot, the opening used an instrumental version, and the ending used a different vocal version. Starting in the second year, a classical instrumental piece replaced it.

Opening narrative In the first year, the program opens with Professor Kingsfield, in class, saying, "The study of law is something new and unfamiliar to most of you—unlike any other schooling you have ever known before." After the theme song, he continues: "You teach yourselves the law but I train your minds. You come in here with a skull full of mush, and, if you survive, you leave thinking like a lawyer."

Pilot episode The pilot episode had a different opening credits sequence which featured an instrumental version of the theme song, omitted Professor Kingsfield's opening narrative, and introduced the characters through the use of the class seating chart. It also featured a different female character, Linda O'Connor (played by Katharine Dunfee Clarke).

Episodes

Season Episodes Network Premiere Finale DVD release date 1 22 CBS September 9, 1978 April 24, 1979 April 7, 2009 2 19Showtime April 15, 1983 August 21, 1984 December 15, 2009 3 12 May 11, 1985 September 10, 1985 September 26, 2017 4 6 June 28, 1986 August 9, 1986 January 23, 2018

Awards The show won the CableACE Award for Best Dramatic Series in 1985 and 1987.

Home media Shout! Factory has released the four seasons on DVD in Region 1.The Paper Chase - 'Season 4: The Final Season' is on the Docket for DVD Coming from Shout! Factory in late January

DVD nameEp#Release date Season One22 April 7, 2009 Season Two19 December 15, 2009 Season Three12 September 26, 2017 Season Four6 January 23, 2018

Broadcast Syndication In the late 1980s, The Family Channel rebroadcast the entire series in a late-night time slot, at midnight Eastern Time. The series was later seen in the early 1990s on A&E, and in the early 2000s on GoodLife Television.

International broadcast The series aired in the UK on BBC Two, in Venezuela (Alma Mater) and Colombia. The series aired on CBC TV 8 in Barbados in the 1980s. The series aired in South Africa, around the early 80's. It was dubbed into Afrikaans, and titled "Beste Professor", which, in English, means "Dear Professor".

References

External links