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Storyline
Ken Reeves was a professional basketball player who had to retire because of injuries. Against his sister Katie's advice, Ken takes a job as the basketball coach at Carver High School in Los Angeles, a tough, mixed-race school. Jim Willis, Ken's friend, was the principal for the first two seasons and was replaced by Sybil Buchanan, the former vice-principal, in the third year.
Written by
J.E. McKillop <jack-mckillop@worldnet.att.net>
Plot Summary
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Taglines:
Can a straight shooter cut it with this bunch of rough, razor-sharp kids from the street? (season 1)
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Certificate:
TV-PG
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Did You Know?
Trivia
Ken Howard was nicknamed "The White Shadow" while he played for Manhasset High School 's basketball team. He was the only white starter on his team. Howard based his performance on his high school basketball coach, Fritz Mueller. Carver's team colors, orange and blue, were based on the the colors of Howard's school, .
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Goofs
Ken Reeves' NBA career is referred to several times in the series, but the number of years and the teams he played on seem to change each time. For instance, he tells reporter Sally Adams in "The Offer" that he was in the Chicago Bulls' starting lineup for 10 seasons. In "Wanna Bet", street hustler Bobby Magum remembers Reeves playing for Chicago, Denver, and Milwaukee. Finally, in "Little Orphan Abner", he tells Abner Goldstein's grandparents he spent the last six years of his career with the Bulls.
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Quotes
Ken Reeves:
A foul shot is a free shot. A missed free shot is a missed free opportunity. There are very few free opportunities in basketball. You cannot take that which is free for granted. It is a stationary target, nobody's playing defense, there is no reason to miss. Unless you do not concentrate. And you must concentrate because concentration is the key to every game. It is a form of discipline, and discipline is the key to life.
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Good television does not just entertain but make you wonder. This show makes me wonder several things...
* Why did it take another 20 years for executives to find another good series for Ken Howard?
* Why did this show survive only three years while CBS allowed "Alice", "One Day At A Time", "The Jeffersons" and "All In The Family" to die pathetically three years after they stopped being entertaining?
* Who makes these decisions, anyhow?
This was by far one of the best shows ever. Set in an inner city, the directors worked hard to make it realistic. And they did. Jackson got killed. Thorpe and Coolidge got herpes from the same woman. Reese fell victim to an unscrupulous high school coach. Salami had an affair with a teacher. Hayward's cousin died of a drug overdose. Goldstein struggled with his faith. Coach Reeves struggled with the death of a player during practice. Gomez joined a gang. The show's honesty and wonderful direction and script was so good it was even played on public television in some areas.
Coach Reeves mentored the kids, but never patronized them or tried to be "down" with them. His attitude was "Believe it or not, I've been where you are. So I'll offer you my advice. You can take it or not, but you will have to live with the results either way, so choose carefully." And Reeves also learned from the kids and they learned from each other.
It was a show with limitless potential, but was on a network with limited vision. Pity.