While I love "The Paper Chase", I must admit that episodes 1.7 and 1.8 were big disappointments. While 1.7 is barely watchable, at least the stupid writing in 1.8 is enjoyable--provided you turn off your brain!!
This episode once again finds Hart (James Stephens) running around like a chicken with its head cut off--but even more so this time. He's been asked to index a book written by Kingsfield (quite the honor) but he's also been asked by Ernie to run the business for a few days--and NOTHING seems to go right at the restaurant. To top it off, Bell (James Keane) suffers a crisis which seems important only to him and it's supposed to be funny. It is very much played for laughs and is dumb...but occasionally funny. Throughout all these crises, however, Hart is NEVER willing to say no to anyone--hence he agrees to do the job for Kingsfield, his boss AND hold Bell's hand as he whines and acts like an idiot. You REALLY want to slap Hart and tell him to 'man up' and say no to someone--which he never really does. Making your leading man a yutz is NOT a way to build audience for a drama series and despite a few uncomfortable laughs, it's an inferior show by any standard. Fortunately, 1.9 ("Moot Court") would be one of Season One's best--showing that 1.7 and 1.8 were just hiccups in the series.
This episode once again finds Hart (James Stephens) running around like a chicken with its head cut off--but even more so this time. He's been asked to index a book written by Kingsfield (quite the honor) but he's also been asked by Ernie to run the business for a few days--and NOTHING seems to go right at the restaurant. To top it off, Bell (James Keane) suffers a crisis which seems important only to him and it's supposed to be funny. It is very much played for laughs and is dumb...but occasionally funny. Throughout all these crises, however, Hart is NEVER willing to say no to anyone--hence he agrees to do the job for Kingsfield, his boss AND hold Bell's hand as he whines and acts like an idiot. You REALLY want to slap Hart and tell him to 'man up' and say no to someone--which he never really does. Making your leading man a yutz is NOT a way to build audience for a drama series and despite a few uncomfortable laughs, it's an inferior show by any standard. Fortunately, 1.9 ("Moot Court") would be one of Season One's best--showing that 1.7 and 1.8 were just hiccups in the series.