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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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 November 1978 (USA)

Also Known As:

Herencia de gloria

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

Did You Know?

Trivia

Of the actors playing the Carver players, Nathan Cook was the oldest (28) when the show debuted, only seven years younger than Ken Howard. Timothy Van Patten was the youngest at 19.

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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: [Coach Reeves has just pulled all of his starting players from a game except his center] I'd pull you too Coolidge but you're so fat, you need to run.

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Connections

Referenced in Psych: Shawn 2.0 (2010)

User Reviews

The White Shadow Should Have Lasted 10+ Years.

I wish The White Shadow would have lasted as long as Saturday Night Live, with a revolving cast of new students every three years. The world needed this show then and needs it even more now.

It boggles my mind why shows like The White Shadow, which addressed the real-life concerns of inner city kids in an intelligent, sensitive, poignant way get canceled while idiotic shows like Married With Children last forever. Kids may pretend they don't need help and guidance, act tough and independent, etc., but they do. This show provided it. It was full of wisdom and insight but was fun and entertaining at the same time. All of the actors were brilliant. It was one of the best ensembles ever put together. I watched a lot of the episodes on TV Land a few years ago and was just as moved and entertained then as I was when I was in high school 20 years ago.

I suppose the reason intelligent shows like this get canceled is because TV is a flawed medium. People surf the channels with their eyes, not their minds, and since the eyes are the most shallow of our receptors, they stop when they see a pair of boobs or graphic violence. This is why the Jerry Springer show keeps on going while intelligent documentaries that redeem and educate us all struggle in obscurity. It's a sad statement about humanity in general. In the final analysis, we get the TV shows we deserve.

If any of the cast or crew of The White Shadow ever read this, THANK YOU for helping me through high school at a time when I had very few sensible role models (like Coach Reeves) or instruction on how to make the tough decisions. Your show provided both without being condescending or preachy. I wish there were more shows like it today.