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The Paper Chase TV Show
CrazyAboutTV.com

Series Description:

The Paper Chase TV show was a 60 minute drama series on CBS for its first season and on Showtime thereafter. It was about a class of Law students at a prestigious Eastern U.S. Law School. Their struggle to make it through their demanding work load was complicated by Charles W. Kingsfield, their well-respected and often feared Professor.

The Paper Chase Cast:

John Houseman ................. Professor Charles W. Kingsfield Jr.
James Stephens ................ James T. Hart
James Keane ................... Willis Bell
Tom Fitzsimmons ............... Franklin Ford III
Robert Ginty .................. Thomas Craig Anderson
Francine Tacker ............... Elizabeth Logan
Charles Hallahan .............. Ernie
Michael Tucci ................. Gerald Golden
Carole Goldman ................ Carol
Jack Manning .................. Dean Rutherford
Betty Harford ................. Mrs. Nottingham
Stanley De Santis ............. Gagarian
Jessica Salem ................. Mallison

The Paper Chase Trivia:

You may have noticed that the Paper Chase TV show was off the air for four years from the time it was canceled by CBS until it returned on Showtime. The series was highly critically acclaimed during its first season on CBS but it never attracted a substantial audience. Part of the problem may have been that CBS changed its time slot three times in its first season. The Paper Chase was possibly also a bit too "intellectual" for a widespread viewing audience.

The first season of The Paper Chase TV show was well-received in reruns a few times on Public Broadcasting Stations during its hiatus between 1979 and 1983, further indicating that it appealed to a more intellectual audience.

Theme Song Lyrics

Title: "Paper Chase"

By: "Norman Gimbel & Charles Fox"

First years are hard years.
Much more than you know.
With good friends to love us,
we'll fill every row.

Stay open to all things,
Unknown and new,
Then one day, we'll all say
"Hey look, we've come through
The first years."

Opening Narrative:

(John Houseman's voice as Professor Charles W. Kingsfield, Jr.:)

"The study of law is something new and unfamiliar to most of you, unlike any other schooling you have ever known before. You'll teach yourself law but I'll train your minds. You come in here with a skull full of mush and, if you survive, you'll leave thinking like a lawyer."

Episodes List With Original Air Dates

The Paper Chase - The First Season

The Paper Chase (Pilot) (9/7/1978)
Great Expectations (9/12/1978)
A Day In The Life Of ... (9/19/1978)
Man Who Could Be King (9/26/1978)
Voices Of Silence (10/10/1978)
Consiglieri's Daughter (10/17/1978)
Da Da (10/31/1978)
Seating Chart (11/14/1978)
Moot Court (11/21/1978)
Kingsfield's Daughter (11/28/1978)
Sorcerer's Apprentice (12/5/1978)
Bell And Love (12/12/1978)
An Act Of Desperation (1/9/1978)
Losing Streak (1/16/1978)
Man In The Chair (2/6/1978)
A Matter Of Honor (2/13/1978)
Apprentice (2/20/1978)
Once More With Feeling (2/27/1978)
Clay Footed Idol (3/20/1979)
Tables Down At Ernie's (3/27/1979)
A Case Of Detente (4/17/1979)
Scavenger Hunt (5/15/1979)

The Second Season

Birthday Party (2/22/1983)
Plague of Locusts (2/25/1983)
Outline Fever (2/3/1983)
Commitments (3/4/1983)
Spreading it Thin (3/11/1983)
Snow (3/18/1983)
Cinderella (4/1/1983)
Labor of Love (3/1/1984)
Mrs. Hart (2/24/1984)
The Advocates (4/9/1984)
Tempest in a Pothole (4/9/1984)
My Dinner with Kingsfield (5/15/1984)
Limits (4/13/1984)
Burden of Proof (4/17/1984)
Hart Goes Home (5/3/1984)
War of the Wonks (4/29/1984)
Judgment Day (4/25/1984)
Billy Pierce (6/15/1984)
Not Prince Hamlet (5/15/1984)

The Third Season

The Choice (4/19/1985)
The Source (4/19/1985)
Pressure (4/19/1985)
Laura's Struggle (5/28/1985)
Decisions - Part 2 (4/19/1985)
Decisions - Part 1 (4/19/1985)
Free Advice (6/4/1985)
The Day Kingsfield Missed Class (5/28/1985)
Lasting Impressions (5/28/1985)
It's Only a Show (6/10/1985)
The Big D (6/10/1985)
Security (5/14/1985)

The Fourth Season

A Wounded Hart (2/1/1986)
Mistaken Identity (3/28/1986)
Suppressed Desires (4/25/1986)
Honor (3/28/1986)

TV Special:

Graduation (5/2/1986)

Theatrical Movie:

The Paper Chase (1973) - Inspiration for the series starring John Houseman as Professor Kingsfield, Timothy Bottoms as James Hart, and Lindsay Wagner as Susan Kingsfield.