Product Details

• Actors: Ken Howard, Joan Pringle, Ed Bernard, Thomas Carter, Kevin Hooks
• Directors: Thomas Carter, Betty Goldberg, Bruce Paltrow, Jackie Cooper, LeRoy McDonald
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)
• Subtitles: English, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 4
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: 20th Century Fox
• DVD Release Date: March 21, 2006
• Run Time: 1173 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000CNE0SI
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #72,829 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "The White Shadow: The Complete Second Season" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

When professional basketball player Ken Reeves sustains a career-ending injury, he accepts a job as basketball coach at a Los Angeles inner-city high school. Now, in his second year at Carver High, he realizes he's become more than just a basketball coach. He's the person his players can turn to when things go wrong at home, or when things get tough out on the street. Clashes still arise highlighting the differences between the world Coach Reeves knows and the tough neighborhoods where his players live, but ultimately the bond between coach and player is strengthened—and the daily hardships they face become a true learning experience for all.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More "Fast Times At Carver High", December 10, 2005

By 

Eric Pregosin (New Carrollton, Maryland United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The White Shadow: The Complete Second Season (DVD)

Ken Reeves (Ken Howard) and the basketball team of Carver High School returned for a second season of antics on and off the court. In this season, a lot more personal issues were dealt with, such as Gomez dealing with a father who when he wasn't gambling was physically abusing his family, Thorpe dealing with VD because he and Coolidge were both physically involved with the same girl, and Jackson learning his dropped out ex girlfriend became a prostitute. The series reaches its climax in the end as several team members are about to graduate just after winning the city championship, one will not live to see his cap and gown (I'll be nice and not give any more away). A few changes were made to the cast, Ken's sister and brother in law, the Donahues were slowly moved on. Russell Phillip Robinson joined up as team equipment manager Phil Jeffers, and John Mengatti in the occasional role of Salami's (Tim Van Patten) cousin from New York (and new player) Nick Vitaglia (he will join the opening credits in the final season which will hopefully be out soon after this one). As I said before in my review of season 1, this was a series I grew up with during Junior High (and it helped prepare me for the life of a high school kid). I am looking forward for this set (and when it comes out season 3 as well) to arrive in my DVD library.:-)

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I'll Overlook the Cover. The Shows More Than Make Up For It!, April 4, 2006

By 

K. Palmer (Illinois) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The White Shadow: The Complete Second Season (DVD)

I loved The White Shadow when it had its TV run when I was a teenager in the late 70s. The storylines were pretty interesting and the cast, which contained a mix of decent actors (Thomas Carter as Hayward, Kevin Hooks as Thorpe, Ken Howard as Reeves) and lousy actors (pretty much everybody else) but nonetheless had great chemistry together. That's probably why people are so upset over the use of the 3rd season cast as the cover of the 2nd season discs. The cast from Seasons 1 and 2 are the one that fans remember the most. The Season 3 cast ended up bringing the show down in a huge hurry.

But I'll overlook this huge mistake as I believe these 24 episodes from Season 2 were some riveting television. I watched all the episodes in less than a week (if I didn't have a job, I would have probably done it in about 2 to 3 days). There was hardly a clunker in the bunch. Personal favorites are the episodes where Hayward considers avenging the death of a cousin from a drug overdose, the episode where Salami was seduced by his teacher (which seems ahead of its time considering there are a lot more stories about this happening today than way back when this show came out) and the death of Curtis Jackson during the teams prep for the city championship.

The funny thing about watching these episodes in a short amount of time is how out of sequence things are. For example, in the first episode of Season 2 you see the new character "New York" Vitalgia in game action with Coach Reeves yelling at him. A few episodes later, Salami introduces "New York" Vitalgia to Coach Reeves and asks him if he can try out for the team. A couple of episodes later Reeves asks Vitalgia how he pronounces his name. Plus it seemed like Carver played "South" about 4 or 5 times that season.

Extras on the DVD set are a short documentary on Bruce Paltrow, the creator of the show (yes, he was Gwynneth's dad), another documentary on how 3 of the players (Thomas Carter, Kevin Hooks and Tim Van Patten) have become respected directors. Also, most of the players contribue a fun commentary on the episode with the Globetrotters (they give a nice tribute to Nathan Cook, who played Milton Reese, who passed away almost 20 years ago).

I know a lot of folks are going to say they won't buy Season 3 when it comes out on DVD, but it looks like there is going to be a great documentary on the series in this set (according to a preview of it on the disc). My guess is the DVD producers know it probably won't sell well of its own accord, so they need to add a sweetener. I'll be buying it.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This Season Improves Upon The First ....., June 27, 2007

By 

Edward A. Egins "Amazonian" (Atlanta,Ga) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The White Shadow: The Complete Second Season (DVD)

Another school year at Carver High and while some things have changed much has remained the same. The early episodes of this season still has Coach Reeves attempting to win the complete trust of his players. However, outside forces, such as an embittered and wronged black student,attempt to sabotage the players-coach relationship. Another excellent episode is when a new player suddenly dies during practice shortly after making the team. These are just a couple of examples of how The White Shadow was ahead of its time when it came to television series' about high school. The young generation may think this show is dated but if you grew up watching this show as I did, you'll appreciate and reminisce.