If you want to watch this show, go to: moviesonline (dot) mx and search for it. The quality is far from HD, but you will get the entire series. This is a very good TV and is horribly dated. The theme music is like nothing you will hear ever it is that bad. Many of the story lines are average and the acting as well, but this is an intelligent show. It is worth viewing just for John Houseman's performance. It is next to impossible to believe he is not a Harvard contracts law professor. Outside of Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter, Houseman is perfection in every scene. The content is also intelligent even though its presentation (acting, editing) isn't great. If you can get past how dated it looks, you will find many of the topics relevant today and looking back historical. Take S1 Ep 11 titled, The Sorcerer's Apprentice. Again, it is poorly executed by today's standards, but the idea of women as clerks and women's liberation mimics sexism today with the 'Me Too' movement currently happening. This episode was filmed in 1978 and fast-forward 40 years and the same conflicts are present. This show gives a realistic account of how personalities are shaped and formed. It presents the humanity of law school and inhumanity. How tribes are formed and allegiances catered to. You can think of Hilary Clinton or Barrack Obama in law school, seeing the before rather than the after. Of course we witness how technology radically has changed lifestyle. No computers of cell phones, no internet so research was books and libraries. Time was slower yet the stress as great. Check this show out if you can.

I tend to agree with ClassicSteve about his comparison between the original 1973 movie, "The Paper Chase," and the TV series "The Paper Chase." I found the 1973 movie to be much more powerful, intense and convincing than the TV series, which seems to pale in comparison to the original 1973 movie. In fact, I think the movie version is much more realistic and convincing than the entire TV series put together. While some of the TV episodes weren't too bad, overall, the TV series, when compared to the original 1973 movie version, appears to be watered down.John Houseman seemed to slow down quite a bit in the TV series, especially in the later years as opposed to the movie version. Although his age may have had something to do with it, I think that lower quality scripting may have played a bigger role.In the TV series, I think I caught at a mistake. Rita Harriman wanted to be the first president of the Harvard Law Review, but if I remember correctly, there was a woman president of the Harvard Law Review that hit Hart with her car while he was riding his bicycle during his earlier law school years.Although I never went to law school, the 1973 movie version of the PC reminded me of my college years in acquiring my bachelor's degree. I tend to identify myself with Kevin Brooks (the guy with the photographic memory) and his inadequacies. His part reminds me so much of myself that, in real life, I think I could have been his understudy. Anybody that wants to undertake any worthwhile endeavor should watch the 1973 Paper Chase movie. It clearly shows the weed-out process and the high price that has to be paid for success.

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.

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.