Earlier in the 1970s, the excellent actor Glynn Turman starred in an utterly horrible little film called "J.D.'s Revenge". It's embarrassingly bad--so bad that you can't help but laugh at its ineptitude. Fortunately, however, in this episode of "The Paper Chase", Turman is able to prove he COULD act and it made for one of the best episodes of the series.
This show is about 'Moot Court'--a competition where first-year contract law students get to argue cases in a competition. Not surprisingly, when Logan and Hart are paired, they are great--which leads to some embarrassing behavior by Hart. But the main focus is on Bell (James Keane) and his partner, Livingston (Turman). Bell has zero interest in the competition and just wants to get it over with as soon as possible. But Livingston is a West Point graduate who is used to winning and insists that Bell MUST do his very best as they WILL win. While Bell does prove that he is indeed very capable, in the process he comes to hate Livingston and Moot Court.
The show is full of great character studies. Livingston is very interesting and the previously slouchy and unimpressive Bell (who was almost a caricature) comes into his own. The only complaint I have about this and most other shows in the series is that you never see the guest star again in other episodes--which, if you think about it, makes no sense. Still, exquisitely written and very memorable.
This show is about 'Moot Court'--a competition where first-year contract law students get to argue cases in a competition. Not surprisingly, when Logan and Hart are paired, they are great--which leads to some embarrassing behavior by Hart. But the main focus is on Bell (James Keane) and his partner, Livingston (Turman). Bell has zero interest in the competition and just wants to get it over with as soon as possible. But Livingston is a West Point graduate who is used to winning and insists that Bell MUST do his very best as they WILL win. While Bell does prove that he is indeed very capable, in the process he comes to hate Livingston and Moot Court.
The show is full of great character studies. Livingston is very interesting and the previously slouchy and unimpressive Bell (who was almost a caricature) comes into his own. The only complaint I have about this and most other shows in the series is that you never see the guest star again in other episodes--which, if you think about it, makes no sense. Still, exquisitely written and very memorable.