The Paper Chase

It has been 20 years since broadcast, and it remains a favorite of mine.

The Paper Chase was then called "too good for television", assumedly due to its highly intellectual, fast moving content. The characters were well chosen right from the start. Running from 1983 to 1986 it was to follow a group of students through law school, from the very first day to graduation.

The show was extremely well written. Social interaction, challenge, struggle, and eventual triumph (in most cases) formed the plots. I recall describing this series as "making more points than a rose bush". It would be great to re-air the series, as every topic is just as valid today. John Houseman will be forever irreplaceable.

The television show "The Paper Chase" is one of the greatest television shows of all time. That seems like an incredible statement to say about a show that lasted about 2 seconds on commercial television but it was that good. It unfortunately never had a chance to continue because it was placed at the same time spot as one of the hottest shows on television at the time.

Amazingly enough, it got a second chance on the cable network Showtime years after it was cancelled! Because cable allowed the show greater freedom, I actually found the show to be superior to the commercial network version! The show centers around the great actor, John Houseman and James Stephens as the law professor Charles W. Kingsfield and his student James T. Hart but the ensemble cast was also excellent. Tom Fitzsimmons and James Keane were the main supporting characters but it also had major contributions in later years from excellent actors like Jane Kaszmarek, (Malcolm in the Middle) Penny Johnson (24 and The Larry Sanders Show)and Michael Tucci.

The show eventually ran its course on cable and ended with the graduation of the students, 8 years after the show started on commercial television! A show that should be rated with the greatest shows of all time but is largely forgotten today. Just superbly acted with great writing.

I am Stephen Seretan, and I wrote all the music for the series from CBS to Showtime. John Houseman was a joy to work with and a good friend. I miss him.

He was an original. The series was great fun and a dream job for me.

Thanks for all the nice comments.

I would love to see it aired again.

The shows had very little music for each episode, so my job was easy. Does anyone remember the scores to any shows? I would like to know. Film music is supposed to be "not heard" by the audience, but in our show it was prominent. I had several themes going to bind the drama together.

Please put this out on DVD or some odd cable channel in repeats. This is one of the few shows that outdoes the movie version and where even a with second broadcast chance on Showtime, there was no loss in quality either. I'm tired of HBO always getting the raves as having the best original series. This qualifies, as it received new castings each year and yet maintained quality throughout. I loved it so much I tried following the cast members who moved on to other TV shows, movies, etc.. The show even intermixed some humor and parody into basically a serious drama, for example; the episode "My Dinner with Kingsfield" or the "Moot Court" episode to name a few. I've had to keep my beta VCR working since I kept them on tape all this time. Easily the best thing ever put out on Showtime and probably in the top 10 on broadcast TV too.

Recipe for success. Put a bunch of graduate students from all levels of experience and schooling together in one place under one tough teacher, mix well, and cook thoroughly for 4 years. This concept worked better as a TV series than it did as a movie. Though the movie focused more on Hart and Susan, Kingsfields daughter, I found myself wondering more about the other students. Thanks to this well written and acted program, I found out more about o'Connor, and Ford, Bell, and the rest.

This television show first aired opposite the "Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley" hour, a death knell for any television show of that era. It moved to Friday nights in the grave yard and there it sat until Showtime picked it up and ran with it. Easily my favorite television show of all time. The writing was consistently excellent as was the ensemble acting. My only complaint was that in some ways it was predictable. We all knew that Hart was going to be at the top of his class. The guest players (Connie Lehman, among others) moved in and out with credibility. The message to this show is that no one makes it through school alone. I am in Seminary now and have made use of the "study group" as used in this show.

The comic relief (from Stots, and Zeiss, and Willis Bell) offset the drama quite nicely. This show just goes to show what a bunch of relative unknowns can do with quality material. (remember cheers, and taxi?.and particularly M*A*S*H?..yes those are comedies, but the rule holds.... ). I hope this show comes out on DVD sometime soon. I recorded most of the first season and some of the outstanding subsequent episodes on Showtime.