The White Shadow

Count me among the many others who loved this show. As an 11 year old kid who ate, drank and slept sports, this show was one of the best things going. As a young adult, I viewed it with the same love but with a much different perspective. The White Shadow featured a racially mixed inner city basketball team coached by a caucasian former pro player named Ken Reeves. At first viewed as an outsider unable to relate to a group of city kids, he gradually wins their trust. The show tackled sensitive issues in an honest, believable manner and dealt with the often grim realities facing both kids and teachers in an inner city setting. The basketball action was also very well done- impressive considering many feature films depicting athletics show actors trying unconvincingly to play or compete.

It is hard to believe this show is nearly 30 years old. The subject matter on The White Shadow could easily be depicted today- things change and yet they stay the same. Sadly, this is yet another show that didn't last long that nonetheless was both entertaining and worthwhile on so many levels.

Today, I am a high school teacher and coach partly because of the influence this show had on me personally. I really wish we could turn back the clock and get shows of this quality and long term impact again.

The White Shadow was not just one of the best sports shows ever, but it was one of the best shows overall. When you tuned in to The White Shadow, you didn't just see some high school kids on a basketball team with an ex-pro as their coach, you saw them deal with real-life problems and situations. Addictions (Jackson). Gangs (Gomez). STDs (Coolidge, Thorpe). Death (Jackson). I will admit, it wasn't the same when the players "graduated", but the new cast wasn't as bad as some think they were. They were just never given the same opportunities. When Goldstein, Hayward, Jackson, Reese, and Gomez were replaced, the storylines then mainly revolved around the returning players, namely, Coolidge, Thorpe, Salami, and Vitaglia. Stone wasn't too bad. Neither was Mitchell. I would love to see this series on DVD some day. Also, does anyone remember Phil ever saying anything?

Some might say the greatest television series of all-time is I Love Lucy, or The Honeymooners but for this recliner critic it has to be The White Shadow. The White Shadow focused on urban problems of high school kids while at the same time teaching the viewer ethics and morals and how to shoot a jump shot. It's sad to see that The White Shadow has fallen out of television's limelight, it is almost impossible to find an episode anymore. I believe if The White Shadow was seen by the kids of today it would be more popular than ever before. The NBA has probably taken over football and baseball as the most popular sport in America so why not let The White Shadow in on some of the exposure. It's a really great show and it will live in this viewer's mind all the way to the boneyard. I also want to answer the lifelong question that this show has posed, Tim Van-Patten(Salami) is actually Dick Van-Patten's brother and not son.

This had to be one of the most accurate portrayals of inner city life ever made. This show dealt with it all, drugs, gangs, sex and even death. The second season was to me its peak. You got to see the losers become winners, but not without paying a price. Thorpe infecting Coolige's girlfriend with syphilis (predating the AIDS crisis), a player dying of a brain hemorrhage during practice and the most heartbreaking moment, Jackson getting murdered on the eve of the team winning the city championship. But, the most amazing thing is that this would be the breeding ground for two of the finest directors around, Thomas Carter and Kevin Hooks. Bruce Paltrow not only was a genius director, but he was also a professor and his charges learned well and became great on their own.

This ranks as one of the best tv shows I've ever seen. Timely, even today, and very well-acted. I watched this while it was on TV Land and very much enjoyed it. Not at all cheesy and very honest. The title character was not always nice or good, but believable, and there was always a lesson to be learned.