The Paper Chase
- TV Series
- 1978–1986
- 1h
IMDb RATING
8.1/10
1.1K
YOUR RATING
The trials of a group of law students under the tutelage of a strict professor.The trials of a group of law students under the tutelage of a strict professor.The trials of a group of law students under the tutelage of a strict professor.
- Nominated for 3 Primetime Emmys
- 4 wins & 20 nominations total
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Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe 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 two years 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.
- GoofsIn one show, Professor Charles Kingsfield (John Houseman) is meeting with several law school administrators. One of whom calls Kingsfield "John" rather than "Charles", his character's name during their conversation.
- ConnectionsFeatured in The 31st Annual Primetime Emmy Awards (1979)
- SoundtracksFirst Years
(Theme Song - 1st season only)
Music by Charles Fox
Lyrics by Norman Gimbel
Sung by Seals & Crofts
Featured review
A very good series that follows a terrific film
I did not think it would be all that good, but the series has lived up to the film, not an easy thing to do. Many new characters are added as the students progress through the three years of Harvard Law. Some come and go for various reasons but the main ones remained - Hart, Bell, Ford, Golden, Kingsfield, and Mrs. Nottingham. While there are a few less interesting episodes, most do not disappoint even though it is a 45 minute television show. There are ones on tenure, cheating by students, plagiarism by a faculty member, job interviews, stress, faculty abuse of power over female students, love versus career, law review pressure and even suicide. One of the most entertaining was My Dinner with Kingsfield, a great episode. John Houseman, even over 80 years old at the time does not miss a step with his perfect diction, measured speech, wisdom and dominating personality even though his role is very limited in several shows. All in all, they did a very good job creating this series after the film. It certainly was not filmed in Boston which took away from the urban grit, colorful autumns and dreary winters that gave a lot of character to the original film. But all in all, it was ery enjoyable to watch even decades after its first run on TV.
helpful•40
- mxsuba26
- Feb 24, 2019
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- The Paper Chase: The Fourth Year
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