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

Browse episodes

TopTop-rated3 seasons4 years

Photos28

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
Jim Willis: You had it easy sonny boy. You'll never know what it's like have to sit in the back of the bus and then give up your seat to a white man or pee in your pants because you can't find a bathroom that'll take you... Now I know a racist when I see one. And I'm looking at one right now.

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

User reviews25

Review

Featured review

The Greatest Series of All-Time

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.