Those who work with Miller on television agree. "He's as important to "Good Morning. America" as is any other single person," insists David Hartman, the show's host. "What he does is a real consumer service and allows so many to use the law in ways they never imagined possible."

"He probably helps more people on TV--he reaches hundreds of thousands here in Boston--than anywhere else," says Linda Pollack, executive producer of Boston's Channel 5 News at six, on which Miller's segments appear. According to Pollack, the newscast remains roughly tied for first with Channel 4 in the ratings. "Miller's a real asset in the race," she says.

Friendly echoes those views as well, and unlike Hartman and Pollack, he alone shares Nesson and Miller's ties to both the academic and television worlds. Now the Edward R. Murrow Professor of Journalism Emeritus at Columbia University's School of Journalism, 30 years ago Friendly teamed with Murrow to create "See It Now." Their series sought to educate the public by often devoting a single program to a complicated and important issue or personality. The show perhaps remains most famous for its revealing programs on then-Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy (R-Wisc.).

Yet Friendly deems his work with Nesson and Miller "the most important I've ever done" adding "We're trying to do what Murrow did, to get people involved in complex issues. "Friendly continues. "There's something so egocentric about people thinking. 'I'm only going to teach young lawyers about constitutional law. By the end of the year, I hope to have tapes of "That Delicate Balance" in over 1000 colleges--it'll be a theater of learning." Through that show and the special seminars. Friendly says, "Miller and Nesson have become great journalists in the best sense of the word--they have great instinct."

Where Friendly perceives Miller's "great instinct." Pollack recognizes his great "TV savvy." Don Hewitt, the Executive Producer of "60 Minutes," participated in a Miller moderated seminar. "He's a great performer," Hewitt says.

And Miller and Nesson help create interesting and exciting television. Through keen and probing questions, they quickly advance arguments and perhaps unintentionally, often make some reporters appear nervous and uncertain. "I think it's healthy for reporters to get their feet in the fire." Hewitt says Nesson remembers that just moments before "Viewpoint'"s airtime, in "Nightline'"s usual timeslot, moderator Ted Koppel told the assembled reporters. "You're about to confront the snarling tiger."

"That put everyone a bit on the defensive." Nesson recalls "People who've risen to the top aren't used to being questioned. Typically, though they do wonderfully, they didn't get to the top for nothing."

Indeed as Barbara Walters remembers, Nesson himself at one point seemed at a loss for words during the broadcast. "We had just had an exchange, and then he stood there as if he were stumped," she says, adding "So I said, 'thinking of your next question?' And he laughed, I laughed and the audience laughed." Walters continues, "Then he walked over and gave me a kiss. After the show, people asked me whether I resented that, or if I thought it was macho or if I thought he would have done that to a man. Well, I hope he wouldn't have. I thought it was charming." Walters also believes Nesson's agility and skill are far better than those of many reporters.

But Nesson decided that he was more interested in working towards a new Evidence casebook than towards good television. For his part, Miller plans to continue his television work, which always has been more extensive than Nesson's. "Miller's Court" is syndicated by Metromedia, which, Miller says, recognized that the show is "commercially viable."

He admits that occasionally the realities of television bother him. He wore contact lenses for a month to case lighting problems. "I didn't like them, and people think of academics as having glasses anyway," he says. Another time, he recalls that after the Pope was shot, the producers of "Good Morning, America" said, "'Arthur, three minutes on the legal status of the Vatican.' You know you're not going to get six minutes," he says, "so either you reconcile yourself to the fact and do three, or you don't and quit."

Several law students express admiration for both professors' work on television. First-year law student Michael Waldman watched Nesson on "That Delicate Balance." "He gathered a very distinguished panel, with people like Potter Stewart," Waldman recalls. "By doing that, Nesson's fulfilling an obligation not only to Harvard students but also to the general public."

"Nesson didn't let anyone get away with fluff," adds second-year student Stuart Rabner. "He did a very good job of explaining the law to laymen." Rabner also enjoys "Miller's Court," though he adds, "I saw it with some of Miller's students, and they were amazed at how easily he handled several people." Another second year student thinks Miller's program "lets people know what to expect in a trial situation, and that's a valuable service."

But at least one student thinks Miller's work on TV misrepresents the law. "I think it's close to disgraceful," says second-year student Ken Harmon, who nevertheless considers Miller one of the school's best professors. "It also degrades what other professors are doing." Harmon continues. "Yes, law should be popularized, but it's a matter of taste. The television medium lends itself to such great generalizations. "Miller's Court" makes law look like a Roman circus," he explains. A journalist with a legal training could do the same job as Miller, Harmon says, adding. "You don't need a law professor--he doesn't have time to show his expertise anyway."

On a more direct, personal level, Harmon believes Miller's work distances the professor from his students. "We're talking about a media superstar," he says. "He may be away no more than other professors, but it's question of impressions, and that's what's most important when you're talking about student access."

Miller responds to such criticism quickly. "It's no secret that I've always been a tough teacher for legitimate, pedagogical reasons, so there's always been apprehension about me, long before my work on TV." And he adds with a smile. "But I think I'm lightening up. Anyone who sees me in class knows I'm schizoid. Beneath the surface there's a sort of gnome--someone fairly human."