The White Shadow 

A white former NBA professional retires from the pro game and gets a job as a basketball coach in a predominantly black inner-city high school.

Creator:

Bruce Paltrow

Stars:

Ken Howard, Kevin Hooks, Byron Stewart

Won 1 Primetime Emmy. Another 1 win & 7 nominations.

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Ken Howard	...	Ken Reeves 54 episodes, 1978-1981
Kevin Hooks	...	Morris Thorpe 54 episodes, 1978-1981
Byron Stewart	...	Warren Coolidge 54 episodes, 1978-1981
Timothy Van Patten	...	Mario 'Salami' Pettrino 54 episodes, 1978-1981
Joan Pringle	...	Sybil Buchanan 53 episodes, 1978-1981
Thomas Carter	...	James Hayward 42 episodes, 1978-1981
Nathan Cook	...	Milton Reese 40 episodes, 1978-1981
Ken Michelman	...	Abner Goldstein 40 episodes, 1978-1981
Ira Angustain	...	Ricky Gomez 40 episodes, 1978-1981
Erik Kilpatrick	...	Curtis Jackson 39 episodes, 1978-1980
John Mengatti	...	Nick Vitaglia / ... 34 episodes, 1979-1981
Ed Bernard	...	Jim Willis / ... 33 episodes, 1978-1980
Russell Phillip Robinson	...	Manager Phil Jefferson / ... 25 episodes, 1979-1980

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.

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Plot Keywords:

school | basketball | coach | high school | 1980s | 

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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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Genres:

Drama | Sport

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

The Nickname and Mascot for the Carver High Athletics Teams was never shown or mentioned.

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Goofs

At the end of the following episodes, "Wanna Bet?" and "That Old Gang of Mine". The roman numeral of the year 1979 at the end of the credits, was MCMLXXVIX. There was confusion of that because, the "V" should've been removed. The remaining first season episodes were finalized as MCMLXXIX, which was 1979 when the "V" was deleted.

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Quotes

Jim Willis: You had it easy sonny boy. You'll never know what it's like have to sit in the back of the bus and then give up your seat to a white man or pee in your pants because you can't find a bathroom that'll take you... Now I know a racist when I see one. And I'm looking at one right now.

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Connections

Referenced in Sports Jeopardy!: Episode #1.33 (2015)

User Reviews

Great Tv Series

White Shadow series appeared on Turkish tv in the begining of 80's. There were hard days in Turkey in economics and politics areas so this series made the youth happy and provided them different point of view. During this period Turkish basketball life jumped to upper level.This improving in basketball has still carried on in these days. White Shadow had a big influence on basketball and Turkish teen life. Therefore this series has an important place in Turkish social life.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 November 1978 (USA)

Also Known As:

The White Shadow

Filming Locations:

CBS Studio Center - 4024 Radford Avenue, Studio City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Company Four, MTM Enterprises

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1