White Shadow: Season 1 -4DVDs

Before St. Elsewhere and Northern Exposure. co-creator Bruce Paltrow and writer Joshua Brand scored with this 1978 series thats a little To Sir. with Love and a little The Dirty Dozen. Ken Howard stars as Ken Reeves. a professional basketball player whose career is cut short by injuries. In the pilot episode. which earned the series its sole Emmy Award (for director Jackie Cooper). a former teammate of Reeves. who is now the principal at Carver High in Los Angeles. recruits him to be the schools new basketball coach. The White Shadow takes Northern Exposures fish-out-of-water premise in a different direction: Reeves is as cocky and sarcastic as Dr. Joel Fleischman. but Carver is a gritty world apart from mystical. magical Cicely. Alaska. The multi-ethnic team is comprised of underachievers and budding delinquents with police records. But Reeves is 'the right man for the job.' and as this first season unfolds. he slowly gains the trust of the vice principal. Sybil Buchanan (Joan Pringle). and his players. who begin evolving into winners on and off the court. The White Shadow was more than just a show about basketball. The series tackled provocative topics such as teen drinking. sex. gangs. and homosexuality while also dealing with such universal coming-of-age issues as self-esteem. In 'Little Orphan Abner.' for instance. team doormat Goldstein (Ken Michelman) is finally roused to stand up for himself. Several of the most memorable episodes afford lessons yet underscore the fact that some problems cannot be fixed in 60 TV minutes. In 'Spare the Rod.' for example. Reeves learns the hard lesson that some students cannot be helped. and he struggles in 'Mainstream' to reach an autistic youth who has been placed on the team. The funky soundtrack and 70s fashions may be dated. but The White Shadow still resonates. For those who fondly remember the series. and especially for those with their own hoop dreams. this DVD release is a slam-dunk.

Time: 11 Hours 59 Minutes