The Paper Chase

The trials of a group of law students under the tutelage of a strict professor.

1978 HD United States English

James Bridges John Houseman Lainie Kazan James Stephens Penny Johnson Jerald Diana Douglas Peter Nelson Michael Tucci Betty Harford James Keane

Drama

law school strict teacher

S1E1 - The Paper Chase 1978-09-09

James Hart (James Stephens), a farmboy from Minnesota, starts his first year of law school. Being unprepared for his first day of ""Contracts"" he is shrouded by Professor Charles W. Kingsfield, Jr. (John Houseman), pronouncing the hapless Hart as ""dead"" in his class. This means that he will never call on Hart and his part of the classs ""Socratic dialogue will be at an end. Hart finds out that Kingsfield shrouds one student each year and that student remains deceased all year long. Kingsfield is the reason Hart has chosen to come to this school; we are shown a couple of his nightmares now that he is the ""former Mr. Hart"". Another student, Franklin Ford III (Tom FitzSimmons), is organizing a study group and invites Hart to join. The members of the study group decide to have each member do an outline of one of the classes that they can then copy for each member of the group. Hart wants to do the Contracts outline but the others worry that Hart cannot be effective if he is shrouded. In

S1E2 - The Man Who Would Be King 1978-09-19

Anderson pushes Hart to run for the first-year slot on the Law School Council. Elsewhere, Fords father and sister come for a visit. Fords father is an alumnus of the school, and his very presence (at the school and in the classroom) puts extra pressure on Ford to excel. To impress his father, Ford decides to run for the Law Council post (against Hart) which forces the study group members to choose sides. Harts part-time job is at Ernies Tavern.

S1E3 - A Day in the Life of . . . 1978-09-26

Hart asks Kingsfield to answer a question before he thoroughly researched the case himself. As a penalty, Kingsfield gives Hart additional research that is due the following morning. Hart is lost in thought while bicycling across campus, and is struck by a car driven by Leanne Laski, the president of the Law Review. Meanwhile, Bell misplaces his Property outline (actually stolen by Ford, as a prank). Elsewhere, Logan is arrested when her off-hand legal advice to some high school girls results in a riot at the girls private school.

S1E4 - Great Expectations 1978-10-03

The study group plans a weekend getaway picnic to blow off steam, but Professor Kingsfield assigns a lot of work at the last minute, causing the group to drop the getaway and just have an on-campus party. Self-styled ladies man Anderson makes the rounds, and inadvertently gets stuck at the scene of a campus burglary, and is hauled in by the police. Hart and the others come to his legal aid.

S1E5 - Voices of Silence 1978-10-10

As part of Prof. Rolfs prison internship program for first year students, Logan is assigned to help in a hearing of a political activist, Eric Ryerson, who was put in solitary confinement for stabbing a fellow prisoner. Ryerson convinces Logan that the prison establishment is only supressing him for his political activism and Logan is taken in, emotionally as well. Kingsfield is not in favor of this program because he believes that the students are not ready scholastically and that it takes away valuable time from their other studies. Logan is banished to the back bench in his class for being late as a result of her work in the program. Hart displays his fluency in Spanish, acting as interpreter of another prisoner, Sanchez - the prisoner who was stabbed. At first Sanchez denies that it was Ryerson who stabbed him (because he and other prisoners are afraid of Ryerson), but we find out that Ryerson stabbed him because Sanchez would not give Ryerson a cool pair of sunglasses. THINKING L

S1E6 - Nancy 1978-10-17

Hart has a girlfriend with whom he is very close and shares his deep love of the law. Together they uncover a ""secret"" repository of all of the collected books, articles, and even class notes of all the law schools professors (including Kingsfield). They look very good in the Contracts class the next day. Things seem to be moving to the next level when Hart is invited to her Fathers house for the weekend. All seems to go well, Father is impressed with Hart, Hart with the Dad. Dad makes Hart promise that, no matter what, he will try to help Nancy keep her dream alive of being a lawyer. Hart thinks the promise is a little odd, but agrees. Back at school, a news bulletin shocks Hart and Nancy with the news that Nancys father has been killed in a ""gangland hit"". We find out that Nancys dad is an underworld figure, one that Nancy does not want to emulate, but whom she loves nonetheless. She and Hart try hard to make the relationship work, regardless of the constant interference of news

S1E7 - Da Da 1978-10-31

This episode focuses on Tom Clayton, the guy with the ""photographic memory"" in the study group. Early in the episode Kingsfield intimidates Tom to the point he is incapable of speaking and freezes up. In an effort to ""start at the very beginning"" and teach him how to talk again, Kingsfield tells him to say ""da da"". In this episode Toms wife, Karen, announces shes pregnant. Faced with stresses due to his (losing) struggle with law school and the further complication of having a child, Tom goes on a drinking binge and falls behind in Kingsfields class. In an all-night cram session, where members of the class impersonate Kingsfield, Tom is helped to learn to synthesize the material he so easily memorizes into fully developed ideas and he is able to make a good showing in the actual class the next day.

S1E8 - The Seating Chart 1978-11-14

The ""Paper Chase"" meets ""I love Lucy:"" as the weekend approaches, Hart gets a special, paying assignment to index Kingsfields new book of essays, due Monday â€“ an impossibly difficult deadline. On top of that, Ernie, his employer, asks him to manage the tavern for the weekend while hes away. Meanwhile, Willis Bell, the portly, disorganized member of the study group whos always perceverating about his 200+ page property outline becomes obsessed with his goofy picture on Kingsfields seating chart. He believes that its why he always gets called on first in each class and sets about to get his picture changed. When Kingsfields secretary declines to change it without his approval, Bell arrives on the hair-brained scheme to break into Kingsfields office and change it. While everything possible is going wrong at Ernies and the index is still looming large, Hart inexplicably agrees to accompany Bell in this ill-fated mission becoming the Ethyl to Bells Lucy. Of course, even thoug

S1E9 - Moot Court 1978-11-21

This is one of the standout episodes written by the John Jay Osborn, Jr., the author of the original book and screenplay for the 1974 movie. Moot court is the chance for first year law students to compete against each other (in teams of two) in a courtroom setting in front of a distinguished panel of judges, including Kingsfield. To win is a high prestige â€“ Kingsfield himself won this competition when he was in law school there. Teams are drawn at random and the pairings are: Hart and Logan (a pseudo romantic relationship ensues), Bell and Raymond Livingston (a new character introduced for this episode), Anderson and Gagarian (minor emphasis on this pair), and other minor pairings. Raymond Livingston is being put through law school by the military, he is black, and from an economically challenged background. He is highly motivated to achieve in all endeavors of his life and unhappily finds himself in a team with the lazy, slovenly Bell who doesnt care to win (his main focus has al

S1E10 - Kingsfield's Daughter 1978-11-28

Hart falls for a woman who turns out to be Kingsfields daughter - Susan Fields.

S1E11 - The Sorcerer's Apprentice 1978-12-05

This episode features Elizabeth Logan. Supreme Court Justice Reynolds pays a visit to campus to commemorate a milestone anniversary of women being admitted to the law school. During a question and answer session in Kingsfields class, Logan confronts the judge as to why he has never hired a female law clerk. Professor Kingsfield attempts to stifle her, yet she persists, but does not get an answer from the judge. News of Logans audacity quickly spreads across campus, and to national womens activist organizations, who send a bunch of demonstrators/hecklers to campus for the judges celebratory speech. Much to Logans dismay, the outsiders have turned it into an embarrassing circus.

S1E12 - Bell and Love 1978-12-12

A female friend from Harts hometown comes to visit Hart while trying to sort out her struggling marriage. As usual, Hart is swamped, so he asks Bell to keep her company for a few days. Love-struck Bell skips classes to be with her, and goes so far as to start looking for apartments where he and she can live together. Her husband shows up to reconcile, but Bell forgets to inform her of that development.

S1E13 - An Act of Desperation 1978-12-19

A struggling Jonathan is so desperate to pass Kingsfields midterm, he hires someone to steal a copy of the test. He tricks the rest of his study group into believing that it is an old Kingsfield exam, making them unwitting accessories to his cheating.

S1E14 - Losing Streak 1979-01-19

Anderson, who has been making a small killing at poker amonst his friends, sees a lovely 3L (3rd year law student), Chris Carlyle (Christine Belford), and wants to get to know her better. She lives in the Hamilton Society House, known for it pokerplaying, less than academically gifted upper classmen. She is bright, but because of her limited cash flow she exchanges room and board for her class ""notes"". Kingsfield tells her that he regrets the fact that the others get by ""on her coattails"". Anderson, who visits her at the Hamilton House, get sucked into their nightly poker game and loses to the tune of $800 and signs a countercheck for the amount (for which he know he doesnt have the funds). His gambling gets him behind in Kingsfields class who gives more work to make up for his lack of preparation in class. The rest of the study group feels he is not fufilling his contract to the group, but they help him to get his extra work done and Ford through Logan gives him the money to pay

S1E15 - The Man in the Chair 1979-02-06

A new student, Paul Chandler, joins the class mid semester. He is wheelchair bound yet athletic and handsome. The study group welcomes him in and in their interactions we gradually see that contrary to the good initial impression Chandler makes, he is manipulative, takes advantage of his situation, and is highly competitive. We also learn that through his mother he is friends (on a first name basis) with Kingsfield. Chandlers competitive nature reveals its dark side when he sets his sights on Hart. He tries to seduce Logan, thinking that she is Harts girlfriend, he applies to a need-based scholarship that Hart is trying hard to win, and both he and his mother try to use their relationship with Kingsfield to win the scholarship. Finally, in Kingsfields office, he experiences a life changing moment where he sees himself as what he is and turns over a new leaf.

S1E16 - A Matter of Anger 1979-02-13

A black woman has an inferiority complex because she was accepted to law school through the Affirmative Action program. At Kingsfields request, Hart reluctantly becomes the angry womans tutor. An influential white alumnus, his son having been rejected despite having better grades than the woman, does his best to change the governments stance on Affirmative Action.

S1E17 - The Apprentice 1979-02-20

Kingsfield hires Hart to help his assistant on an important appellate case, an unprecedented distinction for a first year student. The assistant, much sought after and soon to graduate, dumps most of the work on Hart so he can go to job interviews. When Kingsfield finds out, he fires the assistant, leaving Hart to carry the burden alone.

S1E18 - Once More with Feeling 1979-02-27

When Logan spurns a respected law professor who makes improper advances toward her, she is surprised to see the result is a low grade. However, Kingsfield, head of the disciplinary committee, dismisses her complaint because she has no proof.

S1E19 - The Clay Footed Idol 1979-03-20

Kingsfield has his students form groups to argue both sides of a case of their choice. When Harts study group selects a case that the professor lost early in his career, they start to question his ethics after they learn that he did not file what appears to them to be a routine appeal. Even Hart has his doubts after a now-prominent attorney who assisted Kingsfield on the case refuses to shed light on the matter.

S1E20 - The Tables Down at Ernie's 1979-03-27

This episode further develops Kingsfields character and fleshes-out his past. It begins with the news that Ernies bar, a favorite campus hangout for generations, will be closed along with the other small businesses on the block. All the buildings will then be razed for parking for a new gym the college is building. Kingsfield has been retained by the school to represent the schools interest in the project. Meanwhile, Hart has taken on the cause to save Ernies (where he works) and he confronts Kingsfield in his office. After some difficulty finding a lawyer who will take the case, Hart appeals to Kingsfields nostalgic side by telling him he knows that he frequented that establishment back in his law school days in the 1930s because there is a table with his initials carved in it. This sparks some distant memory in Kingsfields mind and he pays a visit to Ernies. It so happens that the original Ernie, Sr. is there at the same time and they recognize each other and reminisce

S1E21 - A Case of Detente 1979-04-17

Although this was not the last episode shown, as the production numbers tell, it was the last one produced. I remember that the last episode was about Hart falling in love with a Russian gymnast. John Houseman did not appear as Kingsfield in this episode. I heard that, because the network had caused the scripts to be ""dumbed"" down to this level, that Houseman refused to be in it. A visiting professor played by Pernell Roberts had to help Hart with his love life. I also understand that Houseman refused to do the Showtime seasons unless it was understood that this episode would never be reshown.

S1E22 - Scavenger Hunt 1979-04-24

The main story concerns a ""scavenger hunt"" assignment that Prof. Kingsfield gives the students. They must get at least 70 questions correct out of 100 concerning various aspects of contract law whose answers may be found anywhere in the University. There are no rules and anyone who does not get the required numbers of questions will flunk the assignment. A secondary story line involves the visit of Bells younger sister, Lisa (Wendy Rastatter), onto the scavenger hunt crazed campus. She is a free spirit who ends up ""distracting"" Ford from his scavenger hunt obligations to his study group. Bell shines as the ""bulldog"" of the scavenger hunt, outdoing even the illustrious Hart at finding answers to the questions. THINKING LIKE A LAWYER: The purpose of contracts is not simply words on a page. Contracts evolved as a vehicle and context for people to cooperate and work together to achieve that which they cannot do individually and in a way that is fair to everyone.

S3E1 - Decisions (1) 1985-05-11

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S3E2 - Decisions (2) 1985-05-11

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S3E3 - Free Advice 1985-06-25

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S3E4 - Laura's Struggle 1985-07-02

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S3E5 - Pressure 1985-07-09

Tom Ford defends a student who assaulted a teacher. Rose goes on a date.

S3E6 - The Big D 1985-07-16

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