November 27, 1978 - March 16, 1981
CBS Drama - 54 Episodes
Cast:
| Ken Reeves: | Ken Howard |
| Sybil Buchanan: | Joan Pringle |
| Morris Thorpe: | Kevin Hooks |
| Mario 'Salami' Pettrino: | Timothy Van Patten |
| Warren 'Cool' Coolidge: | Byron Stewart |
| Ricky 'Go Go' Gomez: | Ira Angustain |
| Jim Willis: | Ed Bernard |
| James Hayward: | Thomas Carter |
| Milton Reese: | Nathan Cook |
| Bill Donahue: | Jerry Fogel |
| Ezra Davis: | Roosevelt Grier |
| Eddie Franklin: | Art Holliday |
| Jesse Mitchell: | Stoney Jackson |
| Wardell Stone: | Larry Flash Jenkins |
| Curtis Jackson: | Erik Kilpatrick |
| Paddy Falahey: | John Laughlin |
| Nick Vatalgia: | John Mengatti |
| Abner Goldstein: | Ken Michelman |
| Teddy Rutherford: | Wolfe Perry |
| Manager Phil Jefferson: | Russell Phillip Robinson |
| Katie Donahue: | Robin Pearson Rose |
After a succession of knee problems forced Ken
Reeves to retire from his job as a forward on the
Chicago Bulls, his college friend Jim Willis convinced
him to take a shot at being the basketball coach of
Carver High School in Los Angeles. Carver was in a
tough inner-city, lower-middle-class neighborhood,
with a racially mixed student body and team. It was
a hard job, especially for someone unfamiliar with
street-wise kids and coaching them in a game he knew
best as a player. Ken could have earned more doing
something else, as his sister Katie kept reminding
him, but he found greater satisfaction working with
these teenagers. Ken's old friend Jim was Carver's
principal, and Sybil Buchanan was the vice
principal (who became principal in 1980).
The White Shadow was more than just a basketball
show, it was also the story of young people and
their adjustments to life in an often hostile world.
Within the framework of a high school basketball
team were stories of personal conflict, drug
problems, teenage crime, and the dangers in a
tough area. In fact, in the spring of 1980 one of
Ken's players, Curtis Jackson, was shot to death
while witnessing a liquor-store holdup. Students
moved on, as in real life. In the spring of 1980,
after the team had won the Los Angeles City
Basketball Championship, several players graduated
from Carver and were replaced by new players in
the fall. The series treated its subjects realistically
and sympathetically, and was lauded by numerous
educational organizations, although its audience
size remained marginal throughout its run.
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By George Fergus
The White Shadow
By TV Tome
These links were last tested July 2004.
Check out this classic TV Guide cover...
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