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<CAPTION>
- ----------------                              U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGED COMMISION                   ----------------------------
|F  O  R  M   5|                                       Washington, D.C. 20549                           |       OMB APPROVAL       |
- ----------------                                                                                        |--------------------------|
    Check this box if                   ANNUAL STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP             |OMB Number       3235-0362|
[ ] no longer Subject                                                                                   |Expires: September 30,1998|
    to Section 16.                                                                                      |Estimated ave. burden     |
                                                                                                        |hours per response.....1.0|
[ ] Form 3 Holdings Rep.     Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchanged Act of 1934,   ----------------------------
                                Section 17(a) of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 or
[ ] Form 4 Trans. Rep.                   Section 30(f) of the Investment Company Act 1940
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|1.Name and Address of Reporting Person* |2.Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol      |6.Relationship of Reporting Person to   |
|                                        |                                                |  Issuer (Check all Applicable)         |
|Popolo               Joseph          V  |Programmer's Paradise, Inc.             (PROG ) |                                        |
|                                        |                                                |    Director             10% Owner      |
|----------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------|---                   ---               |
|      (Last)             (First)    (MI)|3.IRS or Soc. Sec. No. |4.Statement for Month/  | X Officer               Other          |
|                                        |  of Reporting Person  |  Year                  |---(give title below) ---(Specify below)|
|  1163 Shrewsbury Ave.                  |  (Voluntary)          |                        |                                        |
|                                        |                       |     12/31/1996         |                                        |
|                                        |                       |                        |     Executive Vice President           |
|----------------------------------------|                       |------------------------|----------------------------------------|
|      (Street)                          |                       |5.If Amendment, Date of |7. Individual or Joint/Group Filing     |
|                                        |      ###-##-####      |  Original (Month/Year) |   (Check Applicable Line)              |
|                                        |                       |                        |                                        |
|Shrewsbury              NJ    07702-4321|                       |                        | X  Form filed by One Reporting Person  |
|                                        |                       |                        |---                                     |
|                                        |                       |                        |    Form filed by More than One         |
|                                        |                       |                        |--- Reporting Person                    |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|      (City)         (State)     (Zip)                                                                                            |
|                                              TABLE I - Non-Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of or Beneficially Owned     |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|1.Title of Security            |2.Transac-  |3.Trans. |4.Security Acquired (A) or     |5.Amount of      |6.  |7.Nature of Indirect|
|  (Instr. 3)                   |  tion Date |  Code   |  Disposed of (D)              |  Securities     |Own.|  Beneficial        |
|                               |(Mon/Day/Yr)|(Instr.8)|  (Instr. 3, 4 & 5)            |  Beneficially   |Form|  Ownership         |
|                               |            |         |                               |  Owned at End of|(D) |  (Instr. 4)        |
|                               |            |         |-------------------------------|  Issuer's       |or  |                    |
|                               |            |         |                |(A) |         |  Fiscal Year    |(I) |                    |
|                               |            |         |     Amount     |(D) |  Price  |  (Instr. 3 & 4) |    |                    |
|-------------------------------|------------|---------|----------------|----|---------|-----------------|----|--------------------|
 <S>                             <C>          <C>       <C>              <C>  <C>       <C>               <C>  <C>                  
|Common Stock                   | 11/08/1996 |   I     |      3626.64   | A  |  $6.2500|      3626.64    | I  |Through 401K pl     |
|                               |            |         |                |    |     (01)|                 |    |an                  |
|-------------------------------|------------|---------|----------------|----|---------|-----------------|----|--------------------|
|                               |            |         |                |    |         |                 |    |                    |
|                               |            |         |                |    |         |                 |    |                    |
|-------------------------------|------------|---------|----------------|----|---------|-----------------|----|--------------------|
|                               |            |         |                |    |         |                 |    |                    |
|                               |            |         |                |    |         |                 |    |                    |
|-------------------------------|------------|---------|----------------|----|---------|-----------------|----|--------------------|
|                               |            |         |                |    |         |                 |    |                    |
|                               |            |         |                |    |         |                 |    |                    |
|-------------------------------|------------|---------|----------------|----|---------|-----------------|----|--------------------|
|                               |            |         |                |    |         |                 |    |                    |
|                               |            |         |                |    |         |                 |    |                    |
|-------------------------------|------------|---------|----------------|----|---------|-----------------|----|--------------------|
|                               |            |         |                |    |         |                 |    |                    |
|                               |            |         |                |    |         |                 |    |                    |
|-------------------------------|------------|---------|----------------|----|---------|-----------------|----|--------------------|
|                               |            |         |                |    |         |                 |    |                    |
|                               |            |         |                |    |         |                 |    |                    |
|-------------------------------|------------|---------|----------------|----|---------|-----------------|----|--------------------|
|                               |            |         |                |    |         |                 |    |                    |
|                               |            |         |                |    |         |                 |    |                    |
|-------------------------------|------------|---------|----------------|----|---------|-----------------|----|--------------------|
|                               |            |         |                |    |         |                 |    |                    |
|                               |            |         |                |    |         |                 |    |                    |
|-------------------------------|------------|---------|----------------|----|---------|-----------------|----|--------------------|
|                               |            |         |                |    |         |                 |    |                    |
|                               |            |         |                |    |         |                 |    |                    |
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reminder: Report on a separate line for each class securities owned directly or indirectly.                         SEC 2270 (7-96)
*If the form is filed by more than one reporting person, see Instruction 4(b)(v).

                                                                                                                      PAGE:  1 OF  2
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FORM 5 (continued)          TABLE II - Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, Beneficially Owned
                                   (e.g., puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible security)
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|1.Title of|2.Conver-|3.   |4.Tran-  |5.Number of          |6.Date     |7.Title and Amount   |8.Price of|9.Number  |10. |11.Nature |
|Derivative|sion or  |Trans|  saction|  Derivative         |Exercisable|  of Underlying      |Derivative|  of      |Own.|   of     |
|Security  |Exercise |Date |  Code   |  Securities         |and        |  Securities         |Security  |Derivative|Form|Indirect  |
|(Instr. 3)|Price of |(Mon/|(Instr.8)|  Acquired (A) or    |Expiration |  (Instr. 3 & 4)     |(Instr. 5)|Securities|of  |Beneficial|
|          |Deriva-  | Day/|         |  Disposed of (D)    |Date       |                     |          |Benefi-   |Deri|Ownership |
|          |tive     |Year)|         |  (Instr. 3, 4 & 5)  |(Month/Day/|                     |          |cially    |Sec.|(Instr. 4)|
|          |Security |     |         |                     |   Year)   |                     |          |Owned at  |Dir.|          |
|          |         |     |         |                     |-----------|---------------------|          |End of    |(D) |          |
|          |         |     |         |                     |     |     |          |Amount or |          |Year      |or  |          |
|          |         |     |         |---------------------|Date |Exp. |   Title  |Number of |          |(Instr. 4)|Ind.|          |
|          |         |     |         |    (A)   |    (D)   |Exbl.|Date |          |Shares    |          |          |(I) |          |
|----------|---------|-----|---------|----------|----------|-----|-----|----------|----------|----------|----------|----|----------|
 <S>        <C>       <C>   <C>       <C>        <C>        <C>   <C>   <C>        <C>        <C>        <C>        <C>  <C>        
|Employee S|  $1.0000|     |         |          |          |12/15|12/15|Common Sto|     75000|          |     75000| D  |          |
|tock Optio|         |     |         |          |          | 1995| 2004|ck        |          |          |          |    |          |
|n         |         |     |         |          |          |     |     |          |          |          |          |    |          |
|          |         |     |         |          |          |     | (02)|          |          |          |          |    |          |
|----------|---------|-----|---------|----------|----------|-----|-----|----------|----------|----------|----------|----|----------|
|Employee S|   $.6700|     |         |          |          |04/21|04/21|Common Sto|     11250|          |     11250| D  |          |
|tock Optio|         |     |         |          |          | 1996| 2005|ck        |          |          |          |    |          |
|n         |         |     |         |          |          |     |     |          |          |          |          |    |          |
|          |         |     |         |          |          |     | (03)|          |          |          |          |    |          |
|----------|---------|-----|---------|----------|----------|-----|-----|----------|----------|----------|----------|----|----------|
|Employee S|  $5.8750|01/22|    A    |     19100|          |01/22|01/22|Common Sto|     19100|  $5.8750 |     19100| D  |          |
|tock Optio|         | 1996|         |          |          | 1996| 2006|ck        |          |          |          |    |          |
|n         |         |     |         |          |          |     |     |          |          |          |          |    |          |
|          |         |     |         |          |          |     | (04)|          |          |          |          |    |          |
|----------|---------|-----|---------|----------|----------|-----|-----|----------|----------|----------|----------|----|----------|
|          |         |     |         |          |          |     |     |          |          |          |          |    |          |
|          |         |     |         |          |          |     |     |          |          |          |          |    |          |
|          |         |     |         |          |          |     |     |          |          |          |          |    |          |
|          |         |     |         |          |          |     |     |          |          |          |          |    |          |
|----------|---------|-----|---------|----------|----------|-----|-----|----------|----------|----------|----------|----|----------|
|          |         |     |         |          |          |     |     |          |          |          |          |    |          |
|          |         |     |         |          |          |     |     |          |          |          |          |    |          |
|          |         |     |         |          |          |     |     |          |          |          |          |    |          |
|          |         |     |         |          |          |     |     |          |          |          |          |    |          |
|----------|---------|-----|---------|----------|----------|-----|-----|----------|----------|----------|----------|----|----------|
|          |         |     |         |          |          |     |     |          |          |          |          |    |          |
|          |         |     |         |          |          |     |     |          |          |          |          |    |          |
|          |         |     |         |          |          |     |     |          |          |          |          |    |          |
|          |         |     |         |          |          |     |     |          |          |          |          |    |          |
|----------|---------|-----|---------|----------|----------|-----|-----|----------|----------|----------|----------|----|----------|
|          |         |     |         |          |          |     |     |          |          |          |          |    |          |
|          |         |     |         |          |          |     |     |          |          |          |          |    |          |
|          |         |     |         |          |          |     |     |          |          |          |          |    |          |
|          |         |     |         |          |          |     |     |          |          |          |          |    |          |
|----------|---------|-----|---------|----------|----------|-----|-----|----------|----------|----------|----------|----|----------|
|          |         |     |         |          |          |     |     |          |          |          |          |    |          |
|          |         |     |         |          |          |     |     |          |          |          |          |    |          |
|          |         |     |         |          |          |     |     |          |          |          |          |    |          |
|          |         |     |         |          |          |     |     |          |          |          |          |    |          |
|----------|---------|-----|---------|----------|----------|-----|-----|----------|----------|----------|----------|----|----------|
|          |         |     |         |          |          |     |     |          |          |          |          |    |          |
|          |         |     |         |          |          |     |     |          |          |          |          |    |          |
|          |         |     |         |          |          |     |     |          |          |          |          |    |          |
|          |         |     |         |          |          |     |     |          |          |          |          |    |          |
|----------|---------|-----|---------|----------|----------|-----|-----|----------|----------|----------|----------|----|----------|
|          |         |     |         |          |          |     |     |          |          |          |          |    |          |
|          |         |     |         |          |          |     |     |          |          |          |          |    |          |
|          |         |     |         |          |          |     |     |          |          |          |          |    |          |
|          |         |     |         |          |          |     |     |          |          |          |          |    |          |
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Explanation of Responses:
      (01)  Ownership through 401(K) plan
      (02)  Grant of Stock Options vests in equal annual installments over three years
      (03)  Options vest in equal installments annually over five years
      (04)  Options vest immediately


**Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal                    /s/Joseph V. Popolo              04/16/1997
  Criminal Violations.  See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a).            ------------------------------------------  ----------
                                                                                  **Signature of Reporting Person           Date
Note: File three copies of this form, one of which must be manually signed.
      If space provided is insufficient, see Instruction 6 for procedure.                                           SEC 2270 (7-96)

Potential persons who are to respond to the collections of information contained in this form are not
required to respond unless the form displays a currently valid OMD Number

                          Popolo, Joseph   field                    Programmer's Paradise, Inc.            12/31/1996 PAGE:  2 OF  2
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