Customer Reviews

The Paper Chase: Season Two

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Several years after its initial run on CBS, THE PAPER CHASE was revived on the Showtime cable channel. John Houseman returned in the role of Professor Kingsfield, along with James Stephens as Hart, Tom Fitzsimmons as Ford and James Keane as Bell. The characters of Logan and Anderson disappeared and were replaced by an assortment of new faces, most notably Jane Kaczmarek as Hart's girlfriend.
Those who never saw the episodes produced for Showtime in the early 80's are probably wondering how they compare to the first-year CBS segments. Actually the producers did an excellent job of continuing the series in the same spirit while making logical changes to mirror the progress of the students as they advanced through law school. The biggest surprise (or disappointment) about the episodes produced for cable is that while they were quite well done, the stories weren't significantly more dramatic or insightful than those done for CBS. One would have thought that the writers, freed from the constraints of network television, would have become more bold and produced some truly daring and thought-provoking scripts. Unfortunately, they more often than not focused on the romantic relationships of the characters (been there, done that) rather than exploring some of the more intriguing aspects of law and legal education.
The good news, though, is that when the Showtime productions were good, they were outstanding. A couple of the second season episodes, in fact, stand as two of the all-time best of the series. "Hart Goes Home" is an excellent story about Hart making a trip back to Minnesota for his sister's wedding, only to find that he can't escape his responsibilities back at school. Equally great is "My Dinner With Kingsfield", in which the professor gets stranded at Hart's apartment during a storm. The episode features some marvelous dialogue and gives new and fascinating insight into the two main characters.
As for Shout Factory's DVD presentation of the second year, the set is nicely packaged and the picture quality is excellent. The box states that four of the episodes are "edited" because the original Showtime presentations could not be "sourced". However, I compared the running times of the four segments with recordings made from the old Showtime airings, and the length is just the same, so I'm not exactly sure what is missing or altered. In any case, it's great to see THE PAPER CHASE - THE SECOND YEAR finally out on DVD. It's a superb drama and a welcome addition to anyone's collection of classic TV.

In England the first 8 episodes of this, the second season, were shown on the BBC in the '80s, the remaining 11 episodes being relegated to an afternoon timeslot, which was a shame because the episodes - many of which were written by John Jay Osborne Jr, the creator of the original source novel - were great television. It was later shown on Satellite channel Sky 1, but edited in order to fit ads in. Another shame.

I only hope that if seasons 3 and 4 are released by Shout Factory (soon, please!) they will be in a combined 2-season box, because season 3 consisted of only 12 episodes and season 4 only 6. There are 19 season 2 episodes here, however.

This show really is something special. I've been quoting it as my all-time favourite series for years... but so few people seem to remember it outside of the US.

At a time when the World saw most '80s American TV as "chewing gum for the eyes" this proved that quality was possible.

Imo, (Disk 1) of the 2nd season lacked all the sparkle of Season 1. I was disappointed to find that since the 1L's Study Group never finished their first season, nor said goodbye, there was no ending. Season 2 just began with three former students from 1L already moved into 2L's. At least 2 members of the study group, Logan and Anderson were permanently gone, no goodbyes, and were never spoken of again which was a big disappointment to me, and rather curious. Hart and Ford moved into an apartment, Bell was still living in the dorm as an organizer for the new 1L students. (The last student you would think of.) But he has matured some what and his part was interesting.

Hart has a girlfriend, whom I've seen before. She struck me as a Soap Opera character, (in fact the whole story line between Hart and Connie was like a Soap Opera) but Hart fell in love with her. She was having problems with Contracts and tried to borrow Hart's outlines. He loaned them to her, but after doing so, Hart caught her trying to copy them. She returned them to Hart, angrily. She apologized with a note, he forgave her, and unfortunately, they became lovers. She appeared quite a bit older than other 1L's. No doubt, she hung around Hart mainly because of his significant reputation, his apartment, and Hart's having made Law Review and gotten an A from Kingsfield, unheard of. She was also very manipulative, trying all her sweet sexy ways to get what she wanted, among practically living in Ford and Hart's apartment, (she hated the dorms) using his TV whenever she felt like it, and getting rid of Ford, by eating his food and interrupting Ford's time with his date. Her true colors came out when she got a Rhodes Scholarship, and she took it, playing the sad lover, but I think we all knew (or hoped) she'd definitely leave Hart, who was quite upset about her departure. I, on the other hand was not. She didn't have any of Logan's great personality, in fact she had little personality at all. With her sexy smile and sweet talk, I thought she was a user from day one and was sorry they cast her with Hart. yuk.

Also missed Anderson, Logan and Ernie. But did not miss the soap operas placed in Season I. That is stories about characters interwoven with the school characters. Married couples and their problems, or a girlfriend of Hart's, whose father is murdered after we find out he's a member of the "syndicate". Silly story and out of place.

Bell has matured in his 2nd year, but still retained his comic personality.
I do think shows Bell's studies in Law have improved, though when pushed in his first year, his intelligence came out in Moot Ct. Hart has left most of his beloved innocence behind, which shows up when he went home for his sister's wedding and ignored his family by staying on the phone to Law Review most of the time, upsetting his sister who was so glad he came home. Ford seems a bit less serious, and frankly I thought he put up with a lot from Hart and Connie.

In the 2nd season, instead of students being the main characters, much older characters stepped in, and they, not the students seemed to be taking over the story line. But that was just the first 4 segments. It improved as the story went on.

I did watch the 2nd segment (Disk 2) of the Paper Chase Part II later and found a tremendous improvement in the story lines, both in the writing and each of the characters. For one thing, Connie, Hart's love interest, had left the story,(thank goodness) and Hart dealt with other problems in school. Golden, the editor of Law Review, was very good, in fact the running of Law Review was fascinating. The episodes about the Wonks was interesting and funny, and brought some comedy to a serious show. The actors in the Wonks portrayal were terrific! Kingsfield was Kingsfield and I thought the episode trying to convince him to run for the Supreme Ct. was a bad idea. He was almost 80 years old. Wish I could see the rest of the stories, but they don't seem to be available.

The Paper Chase TV series' history is pretty well known. CBS ran the excellent first season in 1978, didn't know what to do with it and cancelled it. In April of 1983 the cable network Showtime revived the series and was able to reconstitute it with much of the old cast, and creators of the first season. As a Paper Chase fan from it's inception being able to see season two is like visiting old friends.

As the start of a new year of law school must be, some students don't return and others do. Logan and Anderson (Francine Tacker, Robert Ginty) are gone. Season two finds Hart (James Stephens), Ford (Tom Fitzsimmons), and Willis Bell (James Keane) now starting their second year of law school. Hart and Ford are roommates. As 2L's Hart and Ford's main conflict is no longer with Professor Kingsfield (John Houseman) the main conflict is the law itself. As second year students they're moving away from the idealistic academic study of the law to its actual implementation, in real life they struggle with their idealism vs. real world practical applications of the law. Hart is a member of the prestigious Law Review magazine of which Kingsfield is the faculty advisor. Michael Tucci plays Law Review president Golden. Bell has become the dorm advisor for the new batch of 1L's, and there are some new additions to the cast and to the story lines. Jane Kaczmarek as Connie Lehman, Clare Kirkconnell plays Rita Harriman, Hart's Law Review rival, Andra Millian as Laura, a new 1L whom Bell has a crush on.

The quality of the writing is still there from the first season. The Paper Chase author John Jay Osborn Jr., wrote seven of the nineteen episodes. There must have been some disagreement about which direction to take the show because there are two distinct halves of the season. The first half follows Hart as he romances new 1L, Connie Lehman (Jane Kaczmarek), as Hart tries to balance the paper chase he is involved in with love and Connie's ambition. The second half of the season goes back to it's roots and focuses on, and follows the lives of the new 1L's.

The excellent story lines and plots is a hold over from the first season, not only involving us in the students lives but including themes that surprisingly still hold up today. One of the episodes penned by Osborn is War of the Wonks, which is about the invasion of technology into Law Review and the students lives, a subject that is still timely today as we become more and more reliant technology that further invades our lives. Ford struggles with his father and his idealism in Plague of Locusts, when he discovers his father is using money and influence to get insider information. In Burden of Proof, Hart interning for the public defenders office is torn between defending a suspect who had his rights violated, and not defending him after he discovers he mugged Kingsfield. A couple other standout episodes are Hart Goes Home, My Dinner with Kingsfield, and Not Prince Hamlet.

Some of the stories revisit the original theme of the movie and first season of The Paper Chase. In Labor of Love, Golden is torn between having a girlfriend and the demands of Law Review and Kingsfield. In the first season they could afford to reiterate the themes of movie (and they did) but in the second season it seems to be relying on the plot a little too much, but it is only one episode and other similarities to previous plot lines is only incidental.

In old TV shows it's always fun to see people who later went onto bigger things perhaps getting their first roles. David Caruso skulks about in one episode, Timothy Busfield, Jon Lovitz, David Paymer, Brent Spinner as well as other actors you`ll recognize as soon as you see them.

A couple minor technical problem exists with the DVD's. The first is the video quality looks second generation and it looks grainy. The second problem is the audio is inconsistent it goes from being at a good level then suffers some drop-off or goes up in volume. One thing I think is missing are bonus features. I would love to see where the actors are today and/or their thoughts on being part of The Paper Chase. Or maybe some behind the scenes things, this is one area entirely lacking in The Paper Chase boxed sets. These are extremely minor considerations and you shouldn't let them override your enjoyment of the shows.

If you were a fan when the show was originally on the air, as I am you'll enjoy seeing the shows again and visiting with old friends. If you've never seen the shows before I think you'll discover a quality show with thought provoking plots and well acted shows.

XXXXX

This television series had an interesting past. Its first season (1978 to 1979) was originally aired on CBS. It was cancelled. The public broadcasting system (PBS) rebroadcast the cancelled series. Then the "Showtime" cable network decided to revive it in 1983. Season two of this series ran from 1983 to 1984.

Thus, the second season of "The Paper Chase" (entitled "The Paper Chase: The Second Year") is one of the first, if not the first, serious cable dramas.

Season two, as for season one, is based on the novel "The Paper Chase" (1971) by John Jay Osborn, Jr. as well as the 1973 movie of the same name. Osborn wrote six of the nineteen episodes.

For this second season, only two of Hart's (James Stephens) former first year study group companions appear in these episodes: Ford (Tom Fitzsimmons) and Bell (James Keane). (There is no mention of previous first year study group members Anderson and Logan.) And of course, returning is Professor Kingsfield (John Houseman, 1902 to 1988, who reprised his Oscar-winning performance from the movie).

In the second year, Hart gets involved with the law review and still has to report to Kingfield. (The law review is a scholarly journal focusing on legal issues, and is published by an organization of students at a law school.) Hart is also somewhat of a celebrity as he was the only first-year student to get an "A" in Kingsfield's contract law class.

Season two's content is of high quality. There are episodes that deal with topics such as plagiarism, single motherhood, recruitment, senility, getting tenure, suicide, and even exam cheating.

It should be noted that the seven episodes of 1983 were broadcast about once per month and in one instance, there's a two month break between episodes. I think the writers were trying to find a direction for the show. Don't get me wrong. These episodes are of good quality. By the beginning of 1984, the writers seemed to have found a concrete direction for the show with the result that the twelve 1984 episodes were of higher quality than the seven 1983 episodes.

For show content and quality, I feel this second season deserves a 5-star rating.

Picture transfer quality for this season was much better than for season one. There are only occasional imperfections. Note that on the box we are told that four of the nineteen original Showtime episodes could not be sourced so edited masters were used in their place.

Picture quality deserves a 4.5 star rating in my opinion.

Sound quality is also better than that of the first season. There is occasional sound distortion and some episodes have a low hissing. You will have to turn up the volume to adequately hear the dialogue.

Sound quality deserves perhaps a 4.0 star rating.

My final rating is an average of the above three ratings.

When rounding to the nearest minute, all nineteen episodes are between (43 minutes and 55 minutes) long (excluding opening and end credits). The opening and end credits are accompanied by an orchestral piece with a prominent piano and last (1 minute, 30 seconds) and (45 seconds) respectively.

Finally, there are no extras, no subtitles, and no closed-captioning.

In conclusion, I want to remind all potential viewers that this television series is only for those that don't have a "skull full of mush."

**** ½

(1983 to 1984; about 900 min or 15 hr; 19 episodes; 6 discs; full screen)

<<Stephen Pletko, London, Ontario, Canada>>

XXXXX

The 2nd season of The Paper Chase starring John Houseman and James Stephens is an interesting find. I'd never seen them, because after the idiots at CBS couldn't think what to do with the series and PBS could afford only to run the ones that had already been made and broadcast, Showtime decided to continue the series with new episodes after a gap of six years. And I didn't subscribe to Showtime. So this set is brand new to me.

For Showtime, it was their first attempt at an original series. I haven't watched them all yet, but I can see that they are at least trying to maintain the same ideals and goals that the original series had. The show obviously has a much lower budget than it had on CBS. They forego the big lecture hall (despite the fact that it would be the correct way to handle 1L Contract Law) with its excess real estate and 12,000 screaming extras. (Not exactly.) But it's a compromise that is understandable.

Inevitably, since the "second" year was recorded some 6 years after the first, not all the original cast made it. Hopefully none of them were unemployed during those years and they simply had other commitments.

The writing is still good, and if the characters are not yet exactly comfortable in their skins at the beginning, chalk it up to "opening night jitters". A learning curve. Polish retraining. Whatever. But they are trying.

The only place where the show is noticeably weaker is with Houseman himself. He was unquestionably an outstanding actor and acting teacher, but he had to be around 84 when this show went back on the air, and he had reached the point where it began to show. He is a little slow on the uptake (although still better than most), and he lacks a little bit of the energy and stamina that made him such a formidable character in the original series.

I should point out that 4 of the 19 episodes are incomplete here. It so states prominently on the box. (Not enormous type, but difficult to miss nevertheless.) Apparently the original Showtime airings could not be located. I'm as adamant a proponent as anyone of not shortchanging audiences. Give them "complete and unabridged". Also without redubbing all the music, as was done in the disastrous rendering of WKRP. In this case, however, I can believe that they really did have trouble finding the original episodes. In 1983 no one could have guessed the kind of demand that would prompt someone to resurrect the old show. They had no alternative. They had to include the best version they could find. That fact should NOT deter someone from buying the set.

The shows are unquestionably not perfect, but compared to the kind of garbage that makes up most of the rest of the broadcast (and narrowcast) spectrum, they are indeed a breath of fresh air.

This was, and is a good show: it raises important moral, ethical issues. The only thing I don't like--and many DVD releases do this--is the piecemeal release of the individual episodes / seasons, which may or may not ever be released. Why don't they just make the entire series, and sell it as a set, as well as individual seasons, for those who prefer.

Here's hoping seasons 3 and 4 are released soon. It would make sense for these two seasons to be released together as season 3 had only 12 episodes and season 4 had only 6 episodes.

After The Paper Chase was canceled after one season on CBS, the then young cable network Showtime picked it up and continued it for two more seasons (well, three more by Showtime's reckoning, but the final two effectively comprise one season.) They promoted it with the admittedly smug but accurate slogan "The show that was too good for commercial television."

Those who watched the first season will note only three student characters continued to the second season: Hart (the idealistic lead character), Ford (the rich preppy with a future in corporate law, and probably 5-10 years for insider trading), and Bell (the lovable schlub almost overwhelmed by law school). The first season's token female Logan is gone, along with a couple of others whose name I can't even remember (and I think my lack of memory of their names speaks to them being not very useful characters.)

The brilliant John Houseman continues, of course, as the intimidating Professor Charles W. Kingsfield, as does Betty Harford as his secretary, Mrs. Nottingham, a character whom the term "long-suffering" seems to have been invented to describe.

We get several new characters. Jane Kaczmarek is in 6-8 early episodes as Hart's girlfriend, but the character is written out. We get three new female characters -- Laura, a first year student whom Bell is attracted to, Vivian, an African-America first year student who only gets anything more than a few lines late in the season and isn't well-developed as a character, and Harriman, a second year student and Hart's main rival at the law review. She seems to largely fill the role Logan played in the first season, and the only reason I can guess as to why they didn't use the same character was the actress was no longer available. We also Golden, the uptight editor of the law review, whose reminders that the law review can never be late are so frequent, they almost start to sound like "No one has ever escaped from Stalag 13!" (well, except Golden's statement was accurate.)

The quality of the episodes is good, overall, but it moves to excellent by the end of the season. I suspect the decision to write out Hart's girlfriend signified a change in direction on the part of the writers, deciding to focus more on legal and educational issues, rather than personal lives. Many of the later episodes are "issue driven", touching on topics like cheating, senility (which would probably be called "Alzheimer's" if the episode was done today), and academic politics and tenure. Three episodes in particular stand out in my mind: "Hart Goes Home", in which Hart goes home (well, duh...) to Minnesota and finds out how much law school has changed him, and not changed him, from his Minnesota farm boy roots, "My Dinner With Kingsfield", in which Hart and Kingsfield are stranded together in a snowstorm and learn about each other outside the classroom environment, and "Not Prince Hamlet", in which a grieving father tries to determine why his law student son took his own life.

If there's "clunker" in the lot, its "War of the Wonks". Its topic -- the role of computers in the law and society at large -- is a valid one, especially during the mid-Eighties when the episode was set and the computer revolution was just beginning. But the titular "wonks" (the school's engineering grad students) are painful stereotypes of nerds, and computer that drives the plot has capabilities that even today would be impressive, and pretty much impossible when the episode was written.

If you're a fan of "before they were stars" moments, there's a few in here. Besides Jane Kaczmarek, you'll find David Caruso as a extremely hot-headed law student, and Jon Lovitz as an uptight student. And this is more of an "after he was a star" moment, but we get retired football star Lynn Swann as a (surprise surprise) retired football star who decided to go to law school after his first career ended.

This is easily one of the best dramatic series of the Eighties. I can't recommend it enough.

Based on John Jay Osborn Jr's book and the subsequent film, "The Paper Chase" was as entertaining, uplifting and inspirational as any television show ever made.

John Houseman returns as Professor Charles W. Kingsfield, acknowledged as one of the great legal minds in the Universe. (In one episode of this season the Attorney General, a former student, campaigns to have Kingsfield appointed to the Supreme Court.) Kingsfield is one of the great characters of the world - Houseman won an Academy Award for his performance in the film. Kingsfield is brilliant and acerbic. His students vie for his knowledge and approval, and the faintest praise from his lips is won only with great work and difficulty. More likely will come Kingsfield's disapproval, which Houseman delivers with a stony glare and deliberate diction, invariably causing the recipient of the disapproval to wilt like an ice cube on July asphalt.

James Stephens continues in the television role of James Hart, played equally well by Timothy Bottoms in the film. Hart is an earnest and eager student from Minnesota. In the first season his midwestern roots don't quite meld with the Ivy League social scene, but in this second season Hart is renowned among the first year students - last year Hart was the only 1-L to get an A in Kingsfield's Contract Law class.

The supporting players are well-cast. Tom Fitzsimmons plays Hart's roommate, the very Ivy League Franklin Ford III. James Keane plays the not quite as brilliant Willis Bell, and some of the more satisfying moments in the season come with Bell's small hard-won triumphs. Michael Tucci has an excellent but limited role as Golden, the senior Law Student in charge of the Law Review, the pre-eminent Law Journal produced by the handful of elite students selected to the staff (Hart joins this year) and guided by mentor Kingsfield. Jane Kaczmarek is wonderful in the first half of the season as Connie Lehman, a first year student and love interest of Hart. The chemistry between Hart and Connie is palpable, and when they are having difficulties I hoped for them to be able to make things work.

The best moments in the show come between Kingsfield and those who buzz around him. Earning the praise and respect (and a good grade!) from Kingsfield means an almost certain prosperous future. If you are a top graduate from Harvard Law isn't your fortune made? But the show is never about the money. It focuses on the idealism of these brilliant young students - their ups and downs - always under the all-seeing gaze of Kingsfield. A recurrent theme is that Kingsfield isn't just teaching the students the law - he is teaching them to *think* like lawyers, and there is a delicious satisfaction in many shows as you can see the lightbulb go off in their heads - they have learned something important, and they have learned it themselves because Kingsfield has prodded them in the direction where he knows they will learn on their own.

Students live for such moments - not just "I've LEARNED something!" but "I've learned something - and I've learned it in a way that will ensure that I KEEP learning things!"

This show is required viewing for anyone who ever wanted to learn things.