"The Paper Chase" (1978) TV series 1978-1986

User Rating:

8.3/10   

Directors:

Georg Stanford Brown
Mark Cullingham

Writers:

Albert Aley (writer)
Daniel Benton (writer)

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Release Date:

9 September 1978 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A TV Series about a bunch of Law students, their everyday lives and their effort to make it through Law School...

Plot Keywords:

Law School | Student | Professor | Law Student | Boston Massachusetts

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 2 wins & 9 nominations

Cast

John Houseman	...	Professor Charles W. Kingsfield, Jr. / ... (41 episodes, 1978-1986)
James Stephens	...	James T. Hart (40 episodes, 1978-1986)
Tom Fitzsimmons	...	Franklin Ford III (39 episodes, 1978-1986)
James Keane	...	Willis Bell (33 episodes, 1978-1986)
Betty Harford	...	Mrs. Nottingham / ... (26 episodes, 1978-1986)
Robert Ginty	...	Thomas Craig Anderson (22 episodes, 1978-1979)
Francine Tacker	...	Elizabeth Logan (21 episodes, 1978-1979)

Also Known As:

The Paper Chase: The Fourth Year (USA) (new title)
The Paper Chase: The Graduation Year (USA) (new title)
The Paper Chase: The Second Year (USA) (new title)
The Paper Chase: The Third Year (USA) (new title)

Runtime:

60 min (57 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

20th Century Fox Television

Trivia:

The show lasted only one season on CBS, from 1978 to 1979, and was canceled because of low ratings. The cable channel Showtime revived the series in 1983, where it ran for three years without commercials and was a great success. John Houseman passed away a year after the series went off the air. The first season was released on DVD in April 2009, with Season 2 scheduled to follow in December.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Who Is Norman Lloyd? (2007)

Soundtrack:

First Years

Harvard Law School was never so much fun.

This was a most enjoyable series. It was designed for the more intelligent viewer. With rare exception, the characters were sensitive, intelligent and sometimes foolish enough to be totally believable. I taped most of the episodes and enjoy them even today.

Sadly, with John Houseman's passing, there will never be another Prof. Charles Kingsfield, though George C. Scott may have made an interesting one also. This is one I would like to see re-run.

The movie was good, but the series was better. Most can relate better to the real people of the series over the movie.