The Paper Chase: Season 1

Many thanks and cheers to Shout Factory for a long-overdue release of this fantastic series! I've loved "The Paper Chase" since I first saw the series as a teenager in the late `70s and unlike most shows from that era, it holds up remarkably well today. This is due primarily to strong ensemble acting, intelligent writing (for the most part), and of course John Houseman's signature role as tyrannical law professor Charles W. Kingsfield.Even if you're discovering the series for the first time on this DVD set, it's easy to see why it has remained so highly regarded for the last 30 years. It was written and developed by James Bridges (director of the original film) and John Jay Osborn Jr. (author of the original novel), so it retains the tone of the movie. James Stephens as Minnesotan farm boy James Hart is a much more focused and empathetic character than the one played by Timothy Bottoms in the original film. He's initially naïve, but ingenious enough to overcome his first stumbling encounters with his idol Kingsfield in a way that earns the professor's respect and watchful eye for the rest of the year.The other four key members of Hart's study group are well cast as very different personalities that click strongly as a team. The best episodes of the season are those that feature all five working as a team, but any combination of the characters is equally well played: Tom Fitzsimmons as privileged Franklin Ford III, who has to live up to the reputation of generations of lawyers in his family; James Keane as Willis Bell, who looks like the stereotypical "lovable lug/mascot" but who is very sharp and dedicated; Robert Ginty as Tom Anderson, the laid-back California type who's sometimes his own worst enemy; and Francine Tacker as Elizabeth Logan, the passionate and outspoken radical. You can actually get a pretty good snapshot of their characters in the opening credits montage. The five make a strong group that is respected by their class and admired by Kingsfield.For the first half of the season, the last member of the study group is Jonathan Segal as Jonathan Brooks, a married student who has to struggle much harder than the others to keep up with Kingsfield. Brooks is a much weaker character overall, but his final episode where he crashes and burns ("An Act of Desperation") is one of the best of the season. Brooks' wife Asheley, though in the opening credits for the first 13 episodes, only appears in 2 or 3 episodes.Because the main five student characters are so strong, the episodes that center on them are the best. The season stumbles when the focus shifts to the "guest law student of the week," whose conflict usually reflects some hot-button issue or social concern (the student whose studies are affecting his marriage; the mob boss' daughter (!) who falls for Hart; the handicapped student; the minority student who must fight to prove herself, etc.) And of course, we never again see these "guest students" before or after their showcase episodes, when logically we should be seeing them in the background during every classroom scene. Thankfully there are only a handful of these episodes; I guess the writers had to fill 22 episodes somehow. When the show returned for The Second Year and The Third Year on Showtime, there was far more emphasis on law school life and the main characters.For the Showtime episodes, only Stevens, Fitzsimmons and Keane return from the student roster. It's never explained what happened to the characters of Anderson and Logan (though Anderson is name-checked in the series finale, "Graduation"), creating a huge unaddressed question in the series as a whole. Neither character would have just left after one year. In that sense, this First Season is the best of the three because even with a fair share of lesser quality episodes, it still has the chemistry of the entire study group.The writers also deftly manage to humanize Kingsfield without weakening the character - letting us occasionally see the "man behind the curtain" that never takes anything away from the complete authority with which he rules the students and the entire university. This is a testament to Houseman, who was always concerned about maintaining the integrity of the character.This is evident in the season's big clunker episode, "A Case of Détente." Here, Hart falls for a visiting Russian gymnast (Huh?) and nearly causes an international incident. Houseman reportedly hated this script so much he refused to appear in it, so they had to bring in Pernell Roberts (a few months prior to "Trapper John, M.D.") as a visiting professor. Roberts is good, but the episode is terrible!Many obvious changes were made after the pilot episode, all for the better. In the pilot, the students are too button-down; Anderson and Bell are way too intense; and Logan isn't there - the female character, played by a different actress, is the prim O'Connor. Logan is a much stronger character. Hart doesn't work in Ernie's Tavern yet, but in a more stereotypical pizza parlor (with a pre-"Taxi" Marilu Henner as a waitress). The tavern has more character, and is more appropriate for the Harvard-esque setting of the series, so that's a good change too.The season's half-dozen best episodes are:Scavenger Hunt - The class is assigned a make-or-break final exercise that pits all the study groups against each other.The Clay-Footed Idol - While researching an old case, Hart's group finds indications that a young Kingsfield might have been paid off to throw the case.Moot Court - Bell and an overly disciplined "guest student of the week" face Hart and Logan in the annual Moot Court competition.The Seating Chart - Bell and Hart are accidentally locked in Kingsfield's office closet over a long weekend when Bell tries to replace his goofy picture on the seating chart.An Act of Desperation - A desperate Jonathan buys the question for Kingsfield's upcoming midterm, putting the rest of the unwitting study group in the position of having cheated too.The Tables Down at Ernie's - Hart is pitted against Kingsfield when the study group tries to prevent the demolition of Ernie's Tavern.I almost decided to go to law school just because of this series. Back then, and even more so today, it was great to have a TV series that focused on people devoted to the pursuit of excellence in ANYTHING, without cynicism or selfish motivations...and one that showed how amazing it would be to have someone like Kingsfield in your life who epitomizes everything you admire and want to strive for.Please go out and buy this great series, whether for nostalgia's sake or even if you've never seen it. If you like it, e-mail Shout Factory and let them know, so they can see that there's enough support to release the rest of the series.

Television has become a time machine for me like visiting an old friend and you're able to go back to a time and place. The problem with nostalgia is that maybe the friend isn't as you remember them or you discover it was only the time and place that made you friends. The Paper Chase TV series came along at a formative time of my life and I remember it with fond memories.While the movie The Paper Chase was more of a 60's parable on the absurdities of the chase after the ephemeral materialistic goals of society, the series is much more about the human stories behind the students, behind the discipline of studying the law, a much more late 70's view point or even a new century point of view.The series follows James Hart, an idealistic student of the law and his study group through the rigors of an unnamed but prestigious east coast law school, where Hart's nemesis is contracts law Professor Kingsfield. The stories examine aspects of life through the prism of contracts law. The series not only presented dramas but all the elements of life love stories such as when Hart falls in love with Logan. There are humorous episodes such as when Bell decides that Kingsfield is picking on him because of a goofy picture on the seating chart and enlists Hart to help him change the picture and they end up trapped for a weekend in Kingsfield's closet. There's a look at what it's like to be a law student, such as the moot court episode, and issue oriented episodes that present both sides of the issue.The casting is superb, John Houseman seems to have been born to play Kingsfield, the dignified, unbending law Professor. It's hard to imagine that Houseman had once been a firebrand actor and colleague of Orson Welles. James Stephens perfectly embodies the idealistic eagerness of Hart, Tom Fitzsimmons as Ford, the legacy student with a family tradition to uphold, Robert Ginty (who would later go on to the TV series Baa Baa Black Sheep) as Hart's friend, James Keane as Bell the goofy underdog who everybody underestimates. Keane would later be seen in a lot of movies in the 80's usually as a cop. Francine Tacker as Elizabeth Logan feminist student and occasional love interest to Hart, and Jonathon Segal as Brooks the married student who is on the verge of flunking out and unfortunately Segal's character mirrors the character's place in the show a little too closely and is given short shrift in the series except for the episode, An Act of Desperation. And like a lot of TV series you can find actors in bit parts who go on to bigger things, such as Marilou Henner as a waitress in the pilot episode in a role that probably would have been bigger in the series had she not gone to make Grease, Kim Cattrall shows up pre-Porky's and, of course, Sex In The City.There aren't any bonus features which was initially a little disappointing but as I watched the episodes the overall quality of the show more than makes up for a making of featurette.The Paper Chase has always been a quality show produced by James L Brooks and a few of the episodes written by the novel's author John Jay Osborn Jr, it received the fate of a lot of quality shows that have been on TV, cancellation. The show was revived by PBS and future seasons found their way on to the air. So whether you're looking to rediscover an old friend, or make a new one, the first season of The Paper Chase is a good start.

great tv show well worth the price will need a universal player to watch

I first saw this series when I was in my last year of junior high. Even at such a tender age, I recognized the series was special, so when it was cancelled after a year, I really felt a great injustice had been done.It was more than 30 years later that I saw the series again, and as well as being a wonderful trip back in the time machine, I finally understood why the series was special. It's writing was, quite frankly, too good for TV. It dealt with fascinating issues, some specific to the field of law and others relevant to any walk of like. Of course, there's the larger than life Professor Kingsfield and how we the viewer could see two very different sides of this formidable giant, something the students were not privy to. Finally, it might have the best theme song of any TV show, but I accept that is highly debateable. What is undeniable is the lyrics of the song carry deep meaning.I recently purchased the series and I can't say how much I am enjoying it. It is really like spending time with old friends.Some years back, I happened to catch part of an episode of the Showtime series, and while it might have been that particular episode, it struck me that the series had a bit too much "Animal House" to it. I am willing to give the later seasons a shot.

I was so grateful I could still obtain this rare boxset. I was amazed you still had it available and it was in excellent condition.

Bonne série qui complète le film du même nomL'univers de la faculté de droit de Harvard, avec la vie au quotidien des étudiants

What can I say...amazing, fabulous and outstanding!! We have watched this over and over. If you love old shows and great story lines..you will love this. Waiting for season 3 and 4.