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| Ken Howard in a classic pose as basketball coach Ken Reeves in "The White Shadow". |
For three years, I tuned in every Monday night to see what a white
high school basketball coach was doing to help his predominantly black players
at Carver High in Los Angeles.
His name was Ken Reeves and he literally acted like a “white shadow”.
One of his players even gave him that nickname in the show’s first episode.
Ken Howard played the white shadow, and I was reminded of so many
great memories when I heard he passed away.
In the beginning
Although “The White Shadow” debuted in 1978, it was still going strong
when the 1980s began. I just happened to see the pilot on CBC, and was hooked
immediately. It became my favourite show.
Ken Reeves had played professionally for the Chicago Bulls but, as is
illustrated in the opening credits, he suffers a knee injury that ends his
playing career.
Enter his old friend Jim Willis, principal at Carver High, who offers
him a job coaching basketball. However, not everyone is a Reeves fan.
Vice-principal Sybil Buchanan was against Reeves’ hiring and frequently clashed
with him.
Initially, Howard wants to win, but he discovers quickly that standing
in the way of his players accomplishing anything is often the lives they live
away from school and the basketball court.
In the pilot, he discovers Thomas Hayward, who is the smartest player
on the team but is often in trouble with the law, has a complicated home life.
He is essentially trying to provide for and raise a littler brother. Reeves
quickly sees if Hayward can stay in school, he will likely get a scholarship
and get out of the ghetto he lives in. Reeves convinces his sister and her
husband, who he is living with at first, to babysit. They quickly fall in love
with Hayward’s brother, and Thomas begins to achieve in school and on the
basketball court.
That was just the first player whose life Reeves influenced.
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| The original Carver High basketball team coached by Ken Reeves, played by Ken Howard, in "The White Shadow". In back from left are Thomas Hayward; Warren Coolidge; Abner Goldstein; Milton Reese; and Reeves; while in front from left are Ricky Gomez; Morris Thorpe; Thomas Hayward; and Mario "Salami" Pettrino. |
The team
Hayward was always my favourite, because he was so smart and the
natural leader of the group. I always thought he should be the captain of the
team, but for whatever reason Reeves gave that title to Salami. He was one of
the only white players on the team, which turned some heads initially,
especially because he really was not a leader like Hayward.
Coolidge was the star of the team, a big force in the middle, seven
feet if memory serves, who was gifted athletically but could barely read, if at
all. Still, Reeves had a soft spot for him, partly because he was so talented.
Thorpe was another player who had some leadership skills, but was just
as much a con man. He was not the most talented player, but for whatever reason
he thought he could play college and maybe even pro ball. He thought so, his
parents did, and at one point Reeves tried to help him by giving him extra
weights to wear on his arms while he practised.
Jackson was the epitome of cool, wearing mirror shades whether inside
or outside, and a kind of tam hat. He walked like he was dancing, and always
acted cool. He would battle a drinking problem in the first season, then get
killed in a liquor store hold-up in the second season. He probably had the most
eventful time on the show.
Reese was another player who I liked, always sporting a head band
during games, and one of the leaders in the shower when they sang. I always
remember the episode where he was recruited by a rival high school, although
that was illegal. That was actually the theme of the show, a commentary on
recruiting. He would go on to play college ball, which we discovered when he
returned for an alumni game.
There were two other white players, Goldstein who was Jewish, and
Gomez, who was Hispanic, to round out the diversity on the team. One episode I
recall had Gomez being recruited by a gang, while in another Goldstein
contemplated joining the armed forces and being deployed to Greece.
Tackling the tough stuff
The first season of “The White Shadow” was only 15 episodes, but it
already showed signs of tackling tough issues. In one show, they tackled the
theme of teenage drinking as Thomas Jackson had a drinking problem. He
eventually would be killed in a liquor store robbery in the second season. In
another episode, there was a gay player, and a hearing-impaired player in
another episode.
“The White Shadow” would go on to tackle a lot of other issues – race
relations, death, drug use.
The lighter side
It also tackled the lighter side of sports. The team was on a winning
streak, and the players were getting more and more cocky. So Reeves set up an
exhibition game with a group of players. These guys show up in mismatched
uniforms and shorts. They don’t look like much of a team. Seven-foot centre
Warren Coolidge even makes fun of the other centre who is bent down on one knee
tying his shoe. Then he stands up and is taller than Coolidge. This is the
first indication the fix is in – courtesy of Coach Reeves. That centre wins the
tip and Carver High has no idea what hits them as
they get schooled by this group of mismatched ball players in the first half. They lick their wounds in the dressing
room, and Reeves talks to them about humility. When they emerge, the ragtag
team they were playing are in uniform now – they are the Harlem Globe Trotters.
It was inspired.
Pre-history
We used to get the TV Guide every week. There were a few covers, for
whatever reason, that I always remember. One was a picture of Ken Howard and
Blythe Danner posing for their new show back in the 1970s called “Adam’s Rib”.
It turns out that was where Howard met Bruce Paltrow, who was married
to Blythe Danner. It was Paltrow who cast Howard in “The White Shadow”. It can
be such a small world.
Post-history
A few years after “The White Shadow” went off the air, I noticed the guy
who played Coolidge was in the show “St. Elsewhere”. I paid a little closer
attention, and it was not only the same actor but he was actually playing the
same character. Warren Coolidge had re-located to Boston and was working at St.
Eligius. That was confirmed by a little blurb in TV Guide.
Not much of a surprise really. Bruce Paltrow was behind “St.
Elsewhere” too.
The bouncing ball
One of the odd things I recall was the closing credits. The show was
made by MTM Productions who had a cat meowing to end their shows. For “Newhart”,
the cat meowed in Bob Newhart’s voice. In “Remington Steele”, a pipe Sherlock
Holmes would use fell out of the cat’s mouth.
And for “The White Shadow”, the cat dribbled a basketball.
Parting thoughts
I could honestly say “The White Shadow” was my favourite show. I lived
to see it Monday nights, and saw all but a handful of episodes. One year I
played floor hockey, so I missed a few episodes during the season, but saw all
of them in summer re-runs. The only episode I never saw, was when I fell asleep
and was so tired my mom could not wake me, then just let me sleep and sleep.
They talked about it on the bus then at school the next day, but I never did
see it, not even in re-runs. Maybe on DVD.
The show was so well-written, I recall so many episodes, which
explored issues and ideas.
The fact it was about basketball, my favourite sport to play, was
almost secondary. Besides, I did not get into the sport until “The White
Shadow” went off the air.
Ken Reeves was the first character I encountered who tried to change
the lives of the people around him for the better.
I always remember feeling good at the end of each episode. They did
not always end happily, and the conflict wasn’t always resolved, but it was
such a good show. The only thing that made me sad was seeing the cat dribbling
the basketball, because that meant the show was over.
And what a great show it was.
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