---
product_id: 2330553
title: "The Paper Chase: Season 1"
price: "$126.83"
currency: USD
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 7
url: https://www.desertcart.us/products/2330553-the-paper-chase-season-1
store_origin: US
region: United States of America
---

# The Paper Chase: Season 1

**Price:** $126.83
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** The Paper Chase: Season 1
- **How much does it cost?** $126.83 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.us](https://www.desertcart.us/products/2330553-the-paper-chase-season-1)

## Best For

- Customers looking for quality international products

## Why This Product

- Free international shipping included
- Worldwide delivery with tracking
- 15-day hassle-free returns

## Description

Product Description The Paper Chase was a 1 hour dramatic series premiering on CBS in 1978. Based on the movie and novel, rural Minnesotan James T. Hart (James Stephens) is unprepared for the life of a first-year law student at an Ivy League law school. In his first class, he elicits the ire of revered and feared contracts professor Charles W. Kingsfield (John Houseman). But Hart is committed and smart. In order to keep up with the never-ending workload, Hart joins a study group for support. Each episode explores the trials and tribulations, the successes and failures, the competition and camaraderie that each student faces. This set includes 6 DVDs. Director Georg Stanford Brown, Mark Cullingham Starring John Houseman, Michael Tucci, Clare Kirkconnell, James Keane, James Stephens, Special Features: Full Frame - 1.33 Audio: Mono - English. desertcart.com The chase is finally over for this shining example of a television series that didn't treat its viewers as if they had skulls full of mush. Based on the acclaimed 1973 film that was adapted from John Jay Osborn, Jr.'s novel, this 1978 series is literally old school. It presents education in general and the study of law in particular as noble pursuits. The students for whom we develop a rooting interest are the best and the brightest, and in Professor Charles Kingsfield we have an addition to the pantheon of great movie/TV teachers. James Stephens anchors the series as Hart, an idealistic first-year law student. In the Grade-A pilot episode, as in the film, he gets on the wrong side of the intimidating Kingsfield, his role model and inspiration, on the first day of class. How Hart gets back in his good graces sets the stage for episodes in which classroom drama proves to be just as compelling as the courtroom variety. Hart's study-group classmates include third generation lawyer Ford (Tom Fitzsimmons), genius Anderson (Robert Ginty), activist Logan (Francine Tacker), newly-married Brooks (Jonathan Sagall), and slob Bell (James Keane). The Paper Chase got the prestige treatment. James Brooks, who directed the feature film, developed the series for television, Osborn wrote several of the episodes, and the venerable John Houseman recreated his Oscar-winning role as Kingsfield, a TV first. While Kingsfield was a monolithic character in the film, he is more accessible in the series. There is much more interaction between him and the idolizing Hart. Familiar faces in Season One include Marilu Henner as a sympathetic waitress in the pilot episode, Don Porter (Gidget) as Ford's demanding father in "The Man Who Would Be King," Robert Reed as a professor who sexually harasses Logan in "Once More with Feeling," and Kim Cattrall as a struggling law student's wife in "Da Da." The Paper Chase was a critics' darling, but just as bad grades could sink Kingsfield's students, so did bad ratings result in The Paper Chase's cancellation after one year. Following reruns on PBS, the Showtime network picked up the series for three more CableAce Award-winning seasons. The Paper Chase was no doubt to aspiring lawyers what All the President's Men was to fledgling investigative reporters. Rarely syndicated, the series is just as gripping as when it first aired, its intensity and intelligence are undimmed. --Donald Liebenson

Review: Mostly great 1st season of an outstanding series! - Many thanks and cheers to Shout Factory for a long-overdue release of this fantastic series! I've loved "The Paper Chase" since I first saw the series as a teenager in the late `70s and unlike most shows from that era, it holds up remarkably well today. This is due primarily to strong ensemble acting, intelligent writing (for the most part), and of course John Houseman's signature role as tyrannical law professor Charles W. Kingsfield. Even if you're discovering the series for the first time on this DVD set, it's easy to see why it has remained so highly regarded for the last 30 years. It was written and developed by James Bridges (director of the original film) and John Jay Osborn Jr. (author of the original novel), so it retains the tone of the movie. James Stephens as Minnesotan farm boy James Hart is a much more focused and empathetic character than the one played by Timothy Bottoms in the original film. He's initially naïve, but ingenious enough to overcome his first stumbling encounters with his idol Kingsfield in a way that earns the professor's respect and watchful eye for the rest of the year. The other four key members of Hart's study group are well cast as very different personalities that click strongly as a team. The best episodes of the season are those that feature all five working as a team, but any combination of the characters is equally well played: Tom Fitzsimmons as privileged Franklin Ford III, who has to live up to the reputation of generations of lawyers in his family; James Keane as Willis Bell, who looks like the stereotypical "lovable lug/mascot" but who is very sharp and dedicated; Robert Ginty as Tom Anderson, the laid-back California type who's sometimes his own worst enemy; and Francine Tacker as Elizabeth Logan, the passionate and outspoken radical. You can actually get a pretty good snapshot of their characters in the opening credits montage. The five make a strong group that is respected by their class and admired by Kingsfield. For the first half of the season, the last member of the study group is Jonathan Segal as Jonathan Brooks, a married student who has to struggle much harder than the others to keep up with Kingsfield. Brooks is a much weaker character overall, but his final episode where he crashes and burns ("An Act of Desperation") is one of the best of the season. Brooks' wife Asheley, though in the opening credits for the first 13 episodes, only appears in 2 or 3 episodes. Because the main five student characters are so strong, the episodes that center on them are the best. The season stumbles when the focus shifts to the "guest law student of the week," whose conflict usually reflects some hot-button issue or social concern (the student whose studies are affecting his marriage; the mob boss' daughter (!) who falls for Hart; the handicapped student; the minority student who must fight to prove herself, etc.) And of course, we never again see these "guest students" before or after their showcase episodes, when logically we should be seeing them in the background during every classroom scene. Thankfully there are only a handful of these episodes; I guess the writers had to fill 22 episodes somehow. When the show returned for The Second Year and The Third Year on Showtime, there was far more emphasis on law school life and the main characters. For the Showtime episodes, only Stevens, Fitzsimmons and Keane return from the student roster. It's never explained what happened to the characters of Anderson and Logan (though Anderson is name-checked in the series finale, "Graduation"), creating a huge unaddressed question in the series as a whole. Neither character would have just left after one year. In that sense, this First Season is the best of the three because even with a fair share of lesser quality episodes, it still has the chemistry of the entire study group. The writers also deftly manage to humanize Kingsfield without weakening the character - letting us occasionally see the "man behind the curtain" that never takes anything away from the complete authority with which he rules the students and the entire university. This is a testament to Houseman, who was always concerned about maintaining the integrity of the character. This is evident in the season's big clunker episode, "A Case of Détente." Here, Hart falls for a visiting Russian gymnast (Huh?) and nearly causes an international incident. Houseman reportedly hated this script so much he refused to appear in it, so they had to bring in Pernell Roberts (a few months prior to "Trapper John, M.D.") as a visiting professor. Roberts is good, but the episode is terrible! Many obvious changes were made after the pilot episode, all for the better. In the pilot, the students are too button-down; Anderson and Bell are way too intense; and Logan isn't there - the female character, played by a different actress, is the prim O'Connor. Logan is a much stronger character. Hart doesn't work in Ernie's Tavern yet, but in a more stereotypical pizza parlor (with a pre-"Taxi" Marilu Henner as a waitress). The tavern has more character, and is more appropriate for the Harvard-esque setting of the series, so that's a good change too. The season's half-dozen best episodes are: Scavenger Hunt - The class is assigned a make-or-break final exercise that pits all the study groups against each other. The Clay-Footed Idol - While researching an old case, Hart's group finds indications that a young Kingsfield might have been paid off to throw the case. Moot Court - Bell and an overly disciplined "guest student of the week" face Hart and Logan in the annual Moot Court competition. The Seating Chart - Bell and Hart are accidentally locked in Kingsfield's office closet over a long weekend when Bell tries to replace his goofy picture on the seating chart. An Act of Desperation - A desperate Jonathan buys the question for Kingsfield's upcoming midterm, putting the rest of the unwitting study group in the position of having cheated too. The Tables Down at Ernie's - Hart is pitted against Kingsfield when the study group tries to prevent the demolition of Ernie's Tavern. I almost decided to go to law school just because of this series. Back then, and even more so today, it was great to have a TV series that focused on people devoted to the pursuit of excellence in ANYTHING, without cynicism or selfish motivations...and one that showed how amazing it would be to have someone like Kingsfield in your life who epitomizes everything you admire and want to strive for. Please go out and buy this great series, whether for nostalgia's sake or even if you've never seen it. If you like it, e-mail Shout Factory and let them know, so they can see that there's enough support to release the rest of the series.
Review: Finally, the Law Comes to DVD!! - Fans of Classic TV shows should rejoice with the release of The Paper Chase on DVD. Based on an unforgettable 1973 movie, the series focused on the lives of students struggling through law school at a prestigious university. The series lasted only one season on CBS with 22 episodes, from 1978 to 1979, and this boxed set from Shout!Factory collects those episodes, which revolves around the students' first year of 'trial' and tribulatios. PBS reran the series then the cable channel Showtime revived the series in 1983, where it lasted for three more seasons. The series centered around student James T. Hart, a core cast of fellow-students, and one truly dominant force of nature in the form of a legendary law professor, Charles W. Kingsfield Jr., played beyond iconic perfection by the fabulous John Houseman. Houseman had starred as Kingsfield in the movie version, then unbelievably reprised the role on the small screen to the delight of his fans. Sadly, Houseman died a year after the Showtime incarnation of the series ended. Hart, played by James Stephens in the series, and by Timothy Bottoms in the movie, is a hard-working student from Minnesota whose background ill prepares him for the rough and tumble of law school. Hart is utterly terrified and fascinated by Kingsfield, who challenges his students so vigorously that he has become a legend in his own time, and his classes are both loathed and cherished. The professor, the undisputed authority on contract law, becomes an unwilling and unknowing mentor to Hart, who decides he will do anything he can to meet and exceed the expectations of the master legal-eagle. By the time the series ends on Showtime, Hart graduates. While the series explores the relationship between Hart and his co-students who form a study group, it is Houseman's Kingsfield that inhabits every inch of the show, even when he is not on screen - a lasting testimony to the actor's skill. Stephens and Bottoms have devoted fan bases who argue one actor's portrayal is the quintessential Hart. For me, Stephens brings a sensitivity and likeability that Bottoms does not. Of course, Stephens had many episodes to imbue the character with his style. In the series, Hart's best friend, Franklin Ford III, is played by Tom Fitzsimmons, while actors Willis Bell, James Keane, and Betty Harford, (Kingsfield's secretary) round out the core cast in the first season, which aired on CBS. The joy of the show was the great scripts which managed to combine humor, tension and incredible stress caused by constant, rigorous study, with friendship and deeper, philosophical issues brought up by the legal topics they were learning. In short, it was one of the best cancelled TV series EVER! This boxed set includes the 22 episodes from the CBS season: The Paper Chase Pilot; Great Expectations; The Man Who Would Be King; A Day in the Life of...; Voices of Silence; Nancy; Da Da; The Seating Chart; Moot Court; Kingsfield's Daughter; The Sorcerer's Apprentice; Bell and Love; An Act of Desperation; Losing Streak; The Man in the Chair; A Matter of Honor; The Apprentice; Once More With Feeling; The Clay Footed Idol; The Tables Down at Ernie's; A Case of Détente; and Scavenger Hunt.

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| ASIN  | B001O4KBMI |
| Actors  | James Keane, James Stephens, John Houseman, Tom Fitzsimmons |
| Best Sellers Rank | #64,984 in Movies & TV ( See Top 100 in Movies & TV ) #43,391 in DVD |
| Customer Reviews | 4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars (290) |
| Director  | Ralph Senensky |
| Is Discontinued By Manufacturer  | No |
| Item model number  | 5071344 |
| Language  | Unqualified (Dolby Digital 2.0) |
| MPAA rating  | G (General Audience) |
| Media Format  | Box set, Color, Full Screen, Multiple Formats, NTSC |
| Number of discs  | 6 |
| Product Dimensions  | 0.7 x 7.5 x 5.4 inches; 4 ounces |
| Release date  | April 7, 2009 |
| Run time  | 18 hours |
| Studio  | SHOUT! FACTORY |

## Product Details

- **Contributor:** James Keane, James Stephens, John Houseman, Ralph Senensky, Tom Fitzsimmons
- **Format:** Box set, Color, Full Screen, Multiple Formats, NTSC
- **Genre:** Drama/Television, Television
- **Language:** English
- **Number Of Discs:** 6

## Images

![The Paper Chase: Season 1 - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81cZnSnY42L.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Mostly great 1st season of an outstanding series!
*by G***S on April 9, 2009*

Many thanks and cheers to Shout Factory for a long-overdue release of this fantastic series! I've loved "The Paper Chase" since I first saw the series as a teenager in the late `70s and unlike most shows from that era, it holds up remarkably well today. This is due primarily to strong ensemble acting, intelligent writing (for the most part), and of course John Houseman's signature role as tyrannical law professor Charles W. Kingsfield. Even if you're discovering the series for the first time on this DVD set, it's easy to see why it has remained so highly regarded for the last 30 years. It was written and developed by James Bridges (director of the original film) and John Jay Osborn Jr. (author of the original novel), so it retains the tone of the movie. James Stephens as Minnesotan farm boy James Hart is a much more focused and empathetic character than the one played by Timothy Bottoms in the original film. He's initially naïve, but ingenious enough to overcome his first stumbling encounters with his idol Kingsfield in a way that earns the professor's respect and watchful eye for the rest of the year. The other four key members of Hart's study group are well cast as very different personalities that click strongly as a team. The best episodes of the season are those that feature all five working as a team, but any combination of the characters is equally well played: Tom Fitzsimmons as privileged Franklin Ford III, who has to live up to the reputation of generations of lawyers in his family; James Keane as Willis Bell, who looks like the stereotypical "lovable lug/mascot" but who is very sharp and dedicated; Robert Ginty as Tom Anderson, the laid-back California type who's sometimes his own worst enemy; and Francine Tacker as Elizabeth Logan, the passionate and outspoken radical. You can actually get a pretty good snapshot of their characters in the opening credits montage. The five make a strong group that is respected by their class and admired by Kingsfield. For the first half of the season, the last member of the study group is Jonathan Segal as Jonathan Brooks, a married student who has to struggle much harder than the others to keep up with Kingsfield. Brooks is a much weaker character overall, but his final episode where he crashes and burns ("An Act of Desperation") is one of the best of the season. Brooks' wife Asheley, though in the opening credits for the first 13 episodes, only appears in 2 or 3 episodes. Because the main five student characters are so strong, the episodes that center on them are the best. The season stumbles when the focus shifts to the "guest law student of the week," whose conflict usually reflects some hot-button issue or social concern (the student whose studies are affecting his marriage; the mob boss' daughter (!) who falls for Hart; the handicapped student; the minority student who must fight to prove herself, etc.) And of course, we never again see these "guest students" before or after their showcase episodes, when logically we should be seeing them in the background during every classroom scene. Thankfully there are only a handful of these episodes; I guess the writers had to fill 22 episodes somehow. When the show returned for The Second Year and The Third Year on Showtime, there was far more emphasis on law school life and the main characters. For the Showtime episodes, only Stevens, Fitzsimmons and Keane return from the student roster. It's never explained what happened to the characters of Anderson and Logan (though Anderson is name-checked in the series finale, "Graduation"), creating a huge unaddressed question in the series as a whole. Neither character would have just left after one year. In that sense, this First Season is the best of the three because even with a fair share of lesser quality episodes, it still has the chemistry of the entire study group. The writers also deftly manage to humanize Kingsfield without weakening the character - letting us occasionally see the "man behind the curtain" that never takes anything away from the complete authority with which he rules the students and the entire university. This is a testament to Houseman, who was always concerned about maintaining the integrity of the character. This is evident in the season's big clunker episode, "A Case of Détente." Here, Hart falls for a visiting Russian gymnast (Huh?) and nearly causes an international incident. Houseman reportedly hated this script so much he refused to appear in it, so they had to bring in Pernell Roberts (a few months prior to "Trapper John, M.D.") as a visiting professor. Roberts is good, but the episode is terrible! Many obvious changes were made after the pilot episode, all for the better. In the pilot, the students are too button-down; Anderson and Bell are way too intense; and Logan isn't there - the female character, played by a different actress, is the prim O'Connor. Logan is a much stronger character. Hart doesn't work in Ernie's Tavern yet, but in a more stereotypical pizza parlor (with a pre-"Taxi" Marilu Henner as a waitress). The tavern has more character, and is more appropriate for the Harvard-esque setting of the series, so that's a good change too. The season's half-dozen best episodes are: Scavenger Hunt - The class is assigned a make-or-break final exercise that pits all the study groups against each other. The Clay-Footed Idol - While researching an old case, Hart's group finds indications that a young Kingsfield might have been paid off to throw the case. Moot Court - Bell and an overly disciplined "guest student of the week" face Hart and Logan in the annual Moot Court competition. The Seating Chart - Bell and Hart are accidentally locked in Kingsfield's office closet over a long weekend when Bell tries to replace his goofy picture on the seating chart. An Act of Desperation - A desperate Jonathan buys the question for Kingsfield's upcoming midterm, putting the rest of the unwitting study group in the position of having cheated too. The Tables Down at Ernie's - Hart is pitted against Kingsfield when the study group tries to prevent the demolition of Ernie's Tavern. I almost decided to go to law school just because of this series. Back then, and even more so today, it was great to have a TV series that focused on people devoted to the pursuit of excellence in ANYTHING, without cynicism or selfish motivations...and one that showed how amazing it would be to have someone like Kingsfield in your life who epitomizes everything you admire and want to strive for. Please go out and buy this great series, whether for nostalgia's sake or even if you've never seen it. If you like it, e-mail Shout Factory and let them know, so they can see that there's enough support to release the rest of the series.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Finally, the Law Comes to DVD!!
*by E***Y on January 10, 2009*

Fans of Classic TV shows should rejoice with the release of The Paper Chase on DVD. Based on an unforgettable 1973 movie, the series focused on the lives of students struggling through law school at a prestigious university. The series lasted only one season on CBS with 22 episodes, from 1978 to 1979, and this boxed set from Shout!Factory collects those episodes, which revolves around the students' first year of 'trial' and tribulatios. PBS reran the series then the cable channel Showtime revived the series in 1983, where it lasted for three more seasons. The series centered around student James T. Hart, a core cast of fellow-students, and one truly dominant force of nature in the form of a legendary law professor, Charles W. Kingsfield Jr., played beyond iconic perfection by the fabulous John Houseman. Houseman had starred as Kingsfield in the movie version, then unbelievably reprised the role on the small screen to the delight of his fans. Sadly, Houseman died a year after the Showtime incarnation of the series ended. Hart, played by James Stephens in the series, and by Timothy Bottoms in the movie, is a hard-working student from Minnesota whose background ill prepares him for the rough and tumble of law school. Hart is utterly terrified and fascinated by Kingsfield, who challenges his students so vigorously that he has become a legend in his own time, and his classes are both loathed and cherished. The professor, the undisputed authority on contract law, becomes an unwilling and unknowing mentor to Hart, who decides he will do anything he can to meet and exceed the expectations of the master legal-eagle. By the time the series ends on Showtime, Hart graduates. While the series explores the relationship between Hart and his co-students who form a study group, it is Houseman's Kingsfield that inhabits every inch of the show, even when he is not on screen - a lasting testimony to the actor's skill. Stephens and Bottoms have devoted fan bases who argue one actor's portrayal is the quintessential Hart. For me, Stephens brings a sensitivity and likeability that Bottoms does not. Of course, Stephens had many episodes to imbue the character with his style. In the series, Hart's best friend, Franklin Ford III, is played by Tom Fitzsimmons, while actors Willis Bell, James Keane, and Betty Harford, (Kingsfield's secretary) round out the core cast in the first season, which aired on CBS. The joy of the show was the great scripts which managed to combine humor, tension and incredible stress caused by constant, rigorous study, with friendship and deeper, philosophical issues brought up by the legal topics they were learning. In short, it was one of the best cancelled TV series EVER! This boxed set includes the 22 episodes from the CBS season: The Paper Chase Pilot; Great Expectations; The Man Who Would Be King; A Day in the Life of...; Voices of Silence; Nancy; Da Da; The Seating Chart; Moot Court; Kingsfield's Daughter; The Sorcerer's Apprentice; Bell and Love; An Act of Desperation; Losing Streak; The Man in the Chair; A Matter of Honor; The Apprentice; Once More With Feeling; The Clay Footed Idol; The Tables Down at Ernie's; A Case of Détente; and Scavenger Hunt.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review
*by C***2 on January 24, 2020*

I was so grateful I could still obtain this rare boxset. I was amazed you still had it available and it was in excellent condition.

---

## Why Shop on Desertcart?

- 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016
- 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories
- 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price
- 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members)
- 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection
- ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews

**Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.us/products/2330553-the-paper-chase-season-1](https://www.desertcart.us/products/2330553-the-paper-chase-season-1)

---

*Product available on Desertcart United States of America*
*Store origin: US*
*Last updated: 2026-03-07*