The White Shadow: Season One

This earnest, well-scripted TV drama, which first hit the airwaves in 1978, presaged a slew of sports movies set in high schools bristling with racial tension. Ken Howard played Ken Reeves, a former NBA pro reduced to coaching an inner-city basketball team after being sidelined by a serious knee injury. The first-season episodes found him struggling to hold together a team initially demoralized not only by their apparent lack of skill but also by various problems off the court. The White Shadow's youthful characters didn't confront the banal problems of white, middle-class suburbia—these are not The Brady Bunch kids—but rather substance abuse, petty crime, teenage pregnancy, street gangs, and sexual-identity questions, among other issues. Coach Reeves himself wasn't the shining knight of TV tradition; in the memorable episode “Spare the Rod,” the Coach loses his temper and punches an unruly student. Howard was the perfect choice for the role: physically imposing, he was convincing as a former hoop star, but also exhibited the combination of strength and sensitivity that earned him the respect and affection of his players. More than a generation has passed since these shows first aired, but The White Shadow remains relevant, and while the 15 individual episodes may not have as much bite as today's dramatic shows—which have considerably more latitude with regard to what can be said and shown—the situations and character types are universal. DVD extras include two episode commentaries and a new retrospective featurette. Recommended for larger TV on DVD collections. (E. Hulse)