Customer Reviews

The White Shadow - Season 1

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Ironically this series takes place in a high school, and I was in Junior High (1978-1981) when CBS aired it. But still a lot a young kid like me was able to learn and grow with. Ken Howard plays Ken Reeves (a native of my home town of all places: Bayside, New York, in reality Howard was born in Manhasset just over the Nassau County line) a not so lucky forward (I think) for the Chicago Bulls who constantly injures his knee. After the last injury at which he injured his pride a little as well, Ken hangs it up and suddenly gets reunited with his old high school team mate and friend Jim Willis (Jason Bernard in the pilot, Ed Bernard thereafter) who is the principal of George Washington Carver High School in a majority black neighborhood. To make long story short, Willis asks Reeves would he be interested in being Carver's new basketball coach. After thinking about it, he accepts despite learning from Willis' vice principal Sybil Buchanan (Joan Pringle) that the majority of the team are studying to be hoodlums and dropouts (a number of them have juvenile records already). With the support of his sister and brother in law (as well as Willis), Ken keeps the team in check, and helps the "losers" at heart become winners (on and sometimes off the court). The name of the series comes when Ken says to the team at the end of the pilot that he will always be behind them, to which player Morris Thorpe (Kevin Hooks) replies "yeah like a white shadow". The name sticks, and thus a very nice series develops. The stories focus on 1 or more of the team members getting in trouble with the law or other sources, Ken's love life (which is worse than his pro career was) and his being accepted by other students and faculty members. Very good series, I hope all 3 sets come out quickly.

I remember when THE WHITE SHADOW aired initially in the late 1970's. It was a favorite show, not a ratings winner unfortunately, but a smartly written, naturalistically performed, and very entertaining program anchored by Ken Howard's perfect lead in the title role. The cast entire was wonderful. They could banter with each other without leaving a doubt they cared about each other as teammates and as friends. Standouts include future directors Thomas Carter and Kevin Hooks and the wittily laconic Byron Stewart as "Coo." Joan Pringle and Ed Bernhard also lent solid support as the constantly harried school administrators. And look fast for cameos by folks such as Forest Whitaker and Lupe Ontiveros.

Aside from the sports angle, the show also took on the hot button social issues of the day (ones that still resonated, some that have yet to be resolved), including racism, unwed teen pregnancy, teen gang violence, alcholism, homosexuality, etc., and handled them with nary a trace of political correctness, pat moralizing, or easy answers. In fact, it is hard to imagine many of the realistic scripts getting past today's TV censors, who are more concerned with boosting "self-esteem" than with portraying human beings as they really are.

The DVD preserves the vibrant look of Southern California in the late 70's/early 80's, and the voice-over commentary by Howard and Timothy Van Patten (aka Salami)on disc 2 is a pleasurable bonus.

I was in early Junior High when this show first aired, and played on the basketball team. Given that similarity, this show quickly became one of the few I would never miss. The basic premise is that a former NBA basketball player hurts his knee and takes a job coaching an inner city high school basketball team. The fact that the coach is a former NBA star, white and is now in an inner city school teaching to mostly non-white students is part of a recurring storyline.

The show is of course dated, and has the feel of a typical 1970's drama. The basketball scenes are always a bit too short and often look quite staged. The actors of course look nothing like high school age people. All of this is typical for the era.

However, what is not typical is that this show is actually very well done! The acting is good, and the storylines cover a variety of social issues, including race and religion, as well as other social and moral issues that are perhaps even more worth discussing today. I bought a copy for my father, and we will be watching the episodes together, just as we did over 25 years ago.

The quality seems great, from what I have watched so far. I would have liked better inserts, maybe a booklet or two on the show, but overall the packaging and presentation is solid. I recommend this for anyone who watched the show the first time, as for some reason I never seem to find it in syndication.

Overall, this is a quality TV show from an era that produced few of them. Recommended, especially as a family show and for those currently on a basketball team in high school, as I was when it first aired.

In the late 70's, Ken Howard was a broadway and film actor. He had a few season long TV series like Adam's Rib. in 1978, he put himself on the map with a three season TV series, the White Shadow.

Shadow was a series drama of High School and the things that imfluenced the students(why don't someone remake this series!). Howard never sound pious or preachy as the Coach Reeves which is one reason why this show worked

Many films copied this system (like Stand and Deliver, Coach Carter with Samuel L Jackson, Remember the Titans), but without the Shadow..these movies wouldn't have come by. Shadow dates itself, but its message is there.

Shadow was family fare with a message, it came out when I was in College and it mean something then and still does today-since i felt what these players were going thru in their lives. It dealt with issues we still face in schools today. Yes it is a little dated.... There are no laptop computers, retro 70's clothes and hairstyles, cars, etc--but it still works as good classic television does and should be aired today instead of the 175th rerun of the Brady Bunch

This set brings back memories! is it good-i think so!is it worth it, I think so! Its like a classic, you can always return to it and it never grows old

Bennet Pomerantz, AUDIOWORLD

This show means a lot to me. The White Shadow was on from 1978-1981, the years when I was in high school. Although I didn't go to a school like Carver, I knew people like who were portrayed in the show and I recognized a lot of the subjects talked about in the show. Now I am a teacher in an inner-city school with students who have the same difficulties in and out of the classroom. The White Shadow was a show way ahead of its time and I'm glad it is on DVD.

Can't wait for the gang of Carver High to arrive on DVD.

Ken Howard was very believable as an Ex-Basketball Player relegated to coaching a high school team.

Strangely enough, 3 of the players on the team turned into highly sought after movie and tv directors:

Timothy Van Patten (Salami)

Thomas Carter (Hayward)

& Kevin Hooks (Thorpe).

You don't need to be a sports fan to enjoy the show. While the show is slightly dated (it is 25 years old), it deals with issues that are still prevelant today.

I'm stoked for its release. One of my favorite all-time shows.

As with you other guys, I wasn't in high school when 'The White Shadow' was on TV. I wasn't even in junior high. I was in 4th grade!! Due to the fact that the show was so exceptional on many different emotional and social levels, it stuck with me all these years. Once in a while, you get to hear and see the guys on The Jim Rome Show and to hear them talk shop is priceless. NOW, we all have a piece of our high school, junior high, and for me, grade school years one episode at a time. The episodes that I remember vividly were Gomez's involvment with a street gang, the plane trip to San Jose for the basketball tournament that was almost disastrous, Reese transfering to a different high school and regretting it, and I think Hayward befriending a Russian basktball player wanting to defect to the United States. Now, to see them again as an adult will be as enjoyable as when I was a 9 year old kid. I'm sure I speak for all of us when I say this series will never get old for any of us who appreciated what the show stood for. Looking forward, with you guys as well, to slam dunking, alley-ooping, and 3-point shooting 'The White Shadow: Season 1' soon!!!!!

The White Shadow being re-released on DVD is such a long awaited happening for true fans of this series. This is a show that stands the test of time and only becomes better as the years go bye.
It is hard to find a show that deals with so many serious topics and is still warm, heartfelt, and funny all in a one hour time frame.
The release of season 1 is a splended thing, but, must be followed with the other two seasons as quick as possible.
Why this show didn't run for more years than it did has always been a mystery to me, but, i am greatful for what was produced.
November 8th couldn't get here any faster.

Like many others I have fond memories of "The White Shadow." I was in graduate school when the show first aired in 1978, but back then when there were only three major television networks (and BBC imports on PBS), there were not a whole lot of television shows that had characters in school. "Welcome Back, Kotter" was entering its final season, but my ability to identify with the Sweat Hogs never got to the point where I was a regular viewer. But this was a show that was about basketball, and that made a difference. However, it turned out that basketball was just a hook to get you to check out "The White Shadow," and that the show ended up actually being about kids in high school, which explains both the critical acclaim the series received from educational organizations and the low ratings it had during its three-year run.

The premise was interesting. Ken Reeves (Ken Howard), a forward with the Chicago Bulls, wrecks his knee and is forced to retire. A high school teammate who is now the principal of Carver High Sch ol offers him a job coaching the basketball team. He has no experience, the job pays pretty much nothing, and his team will be a racially mixed team in a tough inner-city, lower-middle-class neighborhood, so of course Reeves takes the gig. It soon becomes clear that the show is really about teenagers and their problems a lot more than it is about winning basketball games. They jump into the deep end of the pool real quick on this series. In the pilot Hayward wants to drop out of school to take care of his single mom and little brother, then Reeves has to deal with Jackson being an alcoholic ("Here's Mud in Your Eye"), an agent trying to get Coolidge to jump to the pros ("Bonus Baby"), Reese's girl friend tell him she is pregnant ("Pregnant Pause"), Gomez being in a street gang ("That Old Gang of Mine"), and a new player who might be gay ("Just One of the Boys").

I do not think that "The White Shadow" has aged particularly well, primarily because this time around it strikes me as being very much a formula show. Instead of thinking about "Hill Street Blues," "St. Elsewhere," and other MTM series, "The White Shadow" was reminding me of "Quincy, M.E.", where Jack Klugman butted heads each week with a system trying to solve a problem. It seemed like every week Reeves would be trying to solve a problem and butting heads with Sybil Buchanan (Joan Pringle), with the coach representing an idealistic notion and the vice principle trying to point out the grim realities of the situation. Of course, television was very much about formula that point from situation comedies to westerns and everything in between, but when you watch a bunch of these episodes in a row you become aware how often these stories play out in the same way time and time again. The other complaint is that there is sure a lot of illegal activity going on with these kids, especially when the entire team goes gambling in Las Vegas ("We're in the Money"), but the roster is always back to full strength by the next episode.

Still, Season 1 of "The White Shadow" is well worth watching again for those of us who caught it the first time around. Spotting familiar faces is part of the fun watching these again, especially when Michael Warren and Bruce Weitz show up in the same episode ("Wanna Bet?") and Jonathan Frakes outs Peter Horton ("Just One of the Boys"). Plus, when Jason McElwain, the autistic manager of his high school basketball team, got into his first game and scored 20 points I have to think that every body who ever watched "The White Shadow" was thinking of the first season episode "Mainstream," which has probably the most unforgettable final freeze frame in the entire series.

Knowing what happens down the road in the show's other two seasons ("The White Shadow" ran on CBS from 1978-81), I know that none of the kids are seniors and that it will be another year until some of them graduate. Yes, that means the idea of Coolidge jumping to the NBA as a high school sophomore makes no sense, but there is no way to be a slave to continuity with this series. However, the most dated episode has to be "Airball," where it took me a while to figure out why removing your shoes (and jewelry) would be a good thing to do when preparing for a crash landing. The DVD extras are pretty sparse, with a short featurette on the series and commentary by Howard and Van Patten on "The Great White Dope." The latter was particularly enjoyable, which only makes you wish that more of the cast had shown up to talk about the old days.

It's been years since I've seen White Shadow and I hesitated in buying the DVD. I'm so sorry I waited. Unlike many other shows from that time the issues being dealt with are still relevant, some even more so at the present time. The acting was more than adequate and the on screen chemistry between most of the characters seems genuine. It doesn't surprise me that several of the actors went on to directing. They were (and some still are) very gifted actors. I enjoyed going through high school with them. A few more extras (like a gag reel) would have been awesome, but overall I am very pleased with the DVD set.