The Paper Chase (TV series)
Encyclopedia
The Paper Chase is a television series based on a 1970 novel by John Jay Osborn, Jr.
, as well as a 1973 film based on the novel. It follows the lives of law student James T. Hart and his classmates at Harvard Law School
.
television
network
aired the series in the 1978
–1979 season. John Houseman
reprised his movie
role, and James Stephens
played Hart. It was cancelled after one year; PBS
subsequently rebroadcast
all of the episodes. In 1983
, pay-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 three seasons on Showtime, Hart finally graduates from law school.
who enters the intensely competitive environment of Harvard Law School
. He has chosen Harvard specifically to study with Professor Charles 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 intense 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.
Hart works part-time at Ernie's Tavern to help pay his way through school. In the pilot, he worked at a pizza parlor, and had a girlfriend named Susu (Marilu Henner
).
(an honor reserved for the top students), under the leadership of Gerald Golden. He becomes seriously involved with a new law student, Connie Lehman, only to lose her. Later, he repeatedly clashes with Law Review rival Rita Harriman, though he admits to Ford that he is perversely attracted to her.
Bell, working as a dorm adviser, is smitten with one of his charges, Laura Kiernan, but she just wants to be friends.
) and former housewife Rose Samuels (Lainie Kazan
).
and Charles Fox
, and performed by Seals and Crofts
. In the pilot, the opening used an instrumental version, and the ending used a completely different vocal version, sung by someone who obviously wasn't Seals and Crofts at all. Starting in the second year, a piano instrumental tune replaced it.
has released the first two seasons on DVD in Region 1.
rebroadcast the entire series in a late-night time slot, at midnight Eastern Time, which did not receive wide reception. The series was later seen in the early-2000s on GoodLife Television
.
John Jay Osborn, Jr.
John Jay Osborn, Jr. is the author of the bestselling novel, The Paper Chase, a fictional account of one Harvard Law School student's battles with the imperious Professor Charles Kingsfield. The book was made into a movie starring John Houseman and Timothy Bottoms. Houseman won an Oscar for his...
, as well as a 1973 film based on the novel. It follows the lives of law student James T. Hart and his classmates at Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
.
Production
The CBSCBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
network
Television network
A television network is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, whereby a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay TV providers. Until the mid-1980s, television programming in most countries of the world was dominated by a small...
aired the series in the 1978
1978 in television
The year 1978 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1978.For the American TV schedule, see: 1978-79 American network television schedule.-Events:...
–1979 season. John Houseman
John Houseman
John Houseman was a Romanian-born British-American actor and film producer who became known for his highly publicized collaboration with director Orson Welles from their days in the Federal Theatre Project through to the production of Citizen Kane...
reprised his movie
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
role, and James Stephens
James Stephens (actor)
James Stephens is an American television and film actor best known as James T. Hart in the television series The Paper Chase .-Biography:...
played Hart. It was cancelled after one year; PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
subsequently rebroadcast
Rerun
A rerun or repeat is a re-airing of an episode of a radio or television broadcast. The invention of the rerun is generally credited to Desi Arnaz. There are two types of reruns—those that occur during a hiatus, and those that occur when a program is syndicated. Reruns can also be, as the...
all of the episodes. In 1983
1983 in television
The year 1983 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1983.For the American TV schedule, see: 1983-84 United States network television schedule.-Events:...
, pay-cable
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
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 three seasons on Showtime, Hart finally graduates from law school.
Season 1
James T. Hart is a law student from rural MinnesotaMinnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
who enters the intensely competitive environment of Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
. He has chosen Harvard specifically to study with Professor Charles 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 intense 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.
Hart works part-time at Ernie's Tavern to help pay his way through school. In the pilot, he worked at a pizza parlor, and had a girlfriend named Susu (Marilu Henner
Marilu Henner
Mary Lucy Denise "Marilu" Henner is an American actress, producer and author. She is best known for her role as Elaine O'Connor Nardo on the sitcom Taxi from 1978 to 1983.-Early life:...
).
Season 2
Hart survives the first year with flying colors and joins the staff of Harvard Law ReviewHarvard Law Review
The Harvard Law Review is a journal of legal scholarship published by an independent student group at Harvard Law School.-Overview:According to the 2008 Journal Citation Reports, the Review is the most cited law review and has the second-highest impact factor in the category "law" after the...
(an honor reserved for the top students), under the leadership of Gerald Golden. He becomes seriously involved with a new law student, Connie Lehman, only to lose her. Later, he repeatedly clashes with Law Review rival Rita Harriman, though he admits to Ford that he is perversely attracted to her.
Bell, working as a dorm adviser, is smitten with one of his charges, Laura Kiernan, but she just wants to be friends.
Season 3
Hart, now in his third year, is joined by two new students: Franklin Ford's younger brother Tom (Peter NelsonPeter Nelson
Peter Nelson is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his role as the evil Visitor youth leader Brian in the 1983 NBC miniseries V and the 1984 sequel V: The Final Battle as Brian.His film credits range include Purple Haze , The Last Starfighter , The Expendables ,...
) and former housewife Rose Samuels (Lainie Kazan
Lainie Kazan
Lainie Kazan is an American actress and singer.-Personal life:Kazan was born Lanie Levine in Brooklyn, New York City, the daughter of a Russian Ashkenazi Jewish father who worked as a bookie and a Turkish Sephardic Jewish mother, Carole, whom Kazan has described as "neurotic, fragile and...
).
Season 4
It is now the final year for Hart at Harvard. In the 2-hour series finale, Hart finally graduates from Harvard, and even tries to take over the soon-to-be-retired Professor Kingsfield's job. But his dreams are shattered when Kingsfield tells him that he needs to experience more of the real world before he can teach. Disappointed, but not willing to give up, Hart ends up joining a law firm instead, thus bringing the series to a officially fulfilled close.Cast
| Character | Actor |
|---|---|
| Professor Charles W. Kingsfield, Jr. | John Houseman John Houseman John Houseman was a Romanian-born British-American actor and film producer who became known for his highly publicized collaboration with director Orson Welles from their days in the Federal Theatre Project through to the production of Citizen Kane... |
| James T. Hart | James Stephens James Stephens (actor) James Stephens is an American television and film actor best known as James T. Hart in the television series The Paper Chase .-Biography:... |
| Franklin Ford III | Tom Fitzsimmons |
| Willis Bell | James Keane |
| Elizabeth Logan | Francine Tacker Francine Tacker Francine Tacker is an American actress known for her brief appearance in the television series Dallas as Jenna Wade. Tacker was the second actress to play the character, succeeding Morgan Fairchild and preceding Priscilla Presley... |
| Robert Craig Anderson | Robert Ginty Robert Ginty Robert Ginty was an American movie actor, producer, scenarist, and director of movies and TV series episodes.-Early life:... |
| Jonathan Brooks | Jonathan Sagall Jonathan Sagall Jonathan Sagall is an Israeli actor, film director, TV director and screenwriter.-Biography:Sagall was born in Toronto, Canada. Several members of his family were survivors of the Holocaust, who then emigrated to Israel after World War II, then to Canada. Sagall immigrated to Israel from Canada... |
| Mrs. Nottingham, Kingsfield's secretary | Betty Harford Betty Harford Betty Harford , is an American actress, highly active on television.Her credits include: Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Gunsmoke, Dr. Kildare, The Twilight Zone, The Big Valley and The Paper Chase.... |
| Ernie | Charles Hallahan Charles Hallahan Charles John Hallahan was an American film, television and stage actor best known for his performances in Going in Style, The Thing, and Dante's Peak.-Life and career:... |
| Connie Lehman | Jane Kaczmarek Jane Kaczmarek Jane Frances Kaczmarek is an American actress. She is best known for playing the character of Lois on the television series Malcolm in the Middle. Kaczmarek is a three-time Golden Globe and seven-time Emmy Award nominee... |
| Gerald Golden, president of Harvard Law Review Harvard Law Review The Harvard Law Review is a journal of legal scholarship published by an independent student group at Harvard Law School.-Overview:According to the 2008 Journal Citation Reports, the Review is the most cited law review and has the second-highest impact factor in the category "law" after the... |
Michael Tucci Michael Tucci Michael Tucci is an American film, TV, and stage actor.-Biography:He played the T-Birds member Sonny LaTierri for the 1978 film version Grease, a role that he is best known for. He portrayed law student Gerald Golden in the TV series The Paper Chase from 1983 to 1986... |
| Laura Kiernan | Andra Millian |
| Vivian Conway | Penny Johnson Penny Johnson Jerald Penny Johnson Jerald is an American actress. She played Beverly Barnes on the HBO comedy series The Larry Sanders Show, Kasidy Yates on the syndicated science fiction series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and Sherry Palmer on the Fox action/drama series 24.-Career:Trained at the Juilliard School,... |
| Rita Harriman | Clare Kirkconnell |
Theme music
In the first year, the theme song was "The First Years", written by Norman GimbelNorman Gimbel
Norman Gimbel is an American lyricist of popular songs, television and movie themes whose writing career includes such titles as "Sway", "Canadian Sunset", "Summer Samba", "The Girl from Ipanema", "Killing Me Softly With His Song", "Meditation" and "I Will Wait for You", along with an Oscar for...
and Charles Fox
Charles Fox
Charles Fox may refer to:*Charles Fox Mathematician*Charles Douglas Fox , British civil engineer*Charles James Fox , British politician*Charles Fox , film and television composer...
, and performed by Seals and Crofts
Seals and Crofts
Seals and Crofts is a band made up of Jim Seals and Dash Crofts . The soft rock duo was one of the most successful musical acts of the 1970s. They are best known for their hits "Summer Breeze" and "Diamond Girl"...
. In the pilot, the opening used an instrumental version, and the ending used a completely different vocal version, sung by someone who obviously wasn't Seals and Crofts at all. Starting in the second year, a piano instrumental tune replaced it.
Opening narrative
DVD releases
Shout! FactoryShout! Factory
Shout! Factory is an entertainment company founded in 2003 that was started by Richard Foos , Bob Emmer and Garson Foos initially as a specialty music label...
has released the first two seasons on DVD in Region 1.
| DVD name | Ep# | Release date |
|---|---|---|
| Season One | 22 | April 7, 2009 |
| Season Two | 19 | December 15, 2009 |
Syndication
In the late 1980s, The Family ChannelABC Family
ABC Family, stylized as abc family, is an American television network, owned by ABC Family Worldwide Inc., a subsidiary of the Disney-ABC Television Group division of The Walt Disney Company...
rebroadcast the entire series in a late-night time slot, at midnight Eastern Time, which did not receive wide reception. The series was later seen in the early-2000s on GoodLife Television
AmericanLife TV Network
Youtoo TV, formerly known as American Life TV Network , GoodLife TV Network, and Nostalgia Television, is an American cable-television channel launched on May 1, 1985. It now claims over 15 million subscribers throughout the U.S...
.