WEEKEND TV : THE ‘CHASE’ ENDS WITH DIPLOMAS

It was back in 1978 that James T. Hart and his fellow law students started their “Paper Chase” on television in a weekly series on CBS. In what many viewers have regretted ever since, the program was dropped after only one season.

Two years later, 13 of the original 22 episodes were played on PBS, with the intention of making new episodes, but funding never materialized.

Then in 1983, Showtime cable revived the series with the production of seven new episodes, returning with several members from the CBS cast, including John Houseman as Prof. Kingsfield and James Stephens as Hart. It clicked, and Showtime continued with more additional new episodes after that.

Now, finally, eight years after the CBS version (and 17 years since author John Jay Osborne Jr. first wrote the book upon which a movie and the TV series were based), the chase for that final piece of paper--diploma--is ending. A special two-hour segment titled “The Graduation” airs tonight at 9 on Showtime, with additional screenings throughout August.

“The Paper Chase” will not disappear after that, however. Starting in September, Showtime will repeat the series in its entirety, a total of 58 episodes, to be shown on a weekly basis.

Says Osborne: “ ‘The Paper Chase’ says more than that law is interesting. Its wider message is that it’s all right to study and even fun to read. The most interesting people aren’t polishing their cars, they are scrubbing up their minds. It’s a message that is as true for high school students as it is for law students. I think that is the real legacy of ‘The Paper Chase’.”