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

Byron Stewart was hired for the part of Warren Coolidge after Ken Howard saw him on TV in the movie Fire Sale (1977). Howard immediately phoned Bruce Paltrow to hire Stewart, who is 6'8" tall, because Howard wanted at least one "player" taller than himself on the Carver team (Howard is 6'6").

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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

Harold: [after Ken Reeves has done a student reporter a favor] Did you do that as a reward for me writing a positive article?
Ken Reeves: No, I expect to get raked over the coals the next time we lose.

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Connections

Featured in TV's Illest Minority Moments Presented by Ego Trip (2004)

User Reviews

Only three years?!!?

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.