The Paper Chase (TV series)

Plot overview

James T. Hart, a law student from rural Minnesota, enters a prestigious law school specifically to study under Professor Charles W. Kingsfield, a leading authority on contract law who inspires both awe and fear. To manage the workload, Hart joins a study group organized by Franklin Ford III, who faces immense family pressure to succeed as a lawyer. The group includes Thomas Craig Anderson, Willis Bell, Elizabeth Logan, and Jonathan Brooks, who later drops out after confessing to cheating.

Hart works part-time at Ernie's Tavern. After a four-year hiatus between seasons, Hart survives the first year with top marks and joins the Law Review under Gerald Golden. He becomes involved with Connie Lehman but loses her when she wins a Rhodes Scholarship. He later clashes with rival Rita Harriman.

As president of the Law Review, Hart interacts with new students including Ford's younger brother Tom and older student Rose Samuels, who deals with divorce. In the six-episode season, Hart must choose between a federal court clerkship, a small private firm, or a faculty position opposed by Kingsfield. He graduates as top student and delivers the commencement speech.

Production

CBS aired the series in the 1978–1979 season. John Houseman reprised his role from the film, and James Stephens played Hart. Despite critical praise, low ratings led to cancellation after one year; PBS later rebroadcast all episodes. In 1983, Showtime revived the show with Houseman, Stephens, and other original cast members. Hart graduates at the end of the fourth season. The first season's theme song was 'The First Years' by Seals and Crofts; the pilot used an instrumental version. From the second season, a classical instrumental piece replaced it. The program opened with Kingsfield saying, 'The study of law is something new and unfamiliar to most of you.' The pilot had a different opening credits sequence with an instrumental theme, no Kingsfield narration, and a seating chart introducing characters, including a different female character, Linda O'Connor.

Broadcast

In the late 1980s, The Family Channel rebroadcast the series at midnight Eastern Time. It later aired on A&E in the early 1990s and on GoodLife Television in the early 2000s. Internationally, it aired on BBC Two in the UK, in Venezuela and Colombia, on CBC TV 8 in Barbados in the 1980s, and in South Africa dubbed into Afrikaans as 'Beste Professor'.