The White Shadow

TV Series
1978–1981
TV-PG
1h

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

A white former NBA professional retires from the pro game and gets a job as a basketball coach in a predominantly Black inner-city high school.A white former NBA professional retires from the pro game and gets a job as a basketball coach in a predominantly Black inner-city high school.A white former NBA professional retires from the pro game and gets a job as a basketball coach in a predominantly Black inner-city high school.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

8.0/10

1.6K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Won 1 Primetime Emmy
- 2 wins & 7 nominations total

Episodes54

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TopTop-rated3 seasons4 years

Photos28

+ 21

Top cast99+

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Ken Howard

Ken Reeves

Kevin Hooks

Morris Thorpe

Byron Stewart

Warren Coolidge

Timothy Van Patten

Mario 'Salami' Pettrino

Joan Pringle

Sybil Buchanan

Thomas Carter

James Hayward

Nathan Cook

Milton Reese

Ken Michelman

Abner Goldstein

Ira Angustain

Ricky Gomez

Erik Kilpatrick

Curtis Jackson

John Mengatti

Nick Vitaglia…

Ed Bernard

Jim Willis…

Russell Phillip Robinson

Manager Phil Jefferson…

Larry Flash Jenkins

Wardell Stone…

Wolfe Perry

Teddy Rutherford

Stoney Jackson

Jesse B. Mitchell

John Laughlin

Paddy Falahey

Art Holliday

Eddie Franklin

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
Ken Howard was nicknamed "The White Shadow" while he played for Manhasset High School 's basketball team. He was the only white starter on his team. Howard based his performance on his high school basketball coach, Fritz Mueller. Carver's team colors, orange and blue, were based on the the colors of Howard's school, .

Goofs
Ken Reeves' NBA career is referred to several times in the series, but the number of years and the teams he played on seem to change each time. For instance, he tells reporter Sally Adams in "The Offer" that he was in the Chicago Bulls' starting lineup for 10 seasons. In "Wanna Bet", street hustler Bobby Magum remembers Reeves playing for Chicago, Denver, and Milwaukee. Finally, in "Little Orphan Abner", he tells Abner Goldstein's grandparents he spent the last six years of his career with the Bulls.

Quotes
Harold: [after Ken Reeves has done a student reporter a favor] Did you do that as a reward for me writing a positive article?
Ken Reeves: No, I expect to get raked over the coals the next time we lose.

Connections
Edited into The White Shadow: A Series of Memories Preview (2006)

User reviews25

Featured review

Great show

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.