The White Shadow S01E01 Pilot DVDRip DivX

The White Shadow
Season 1
Premiered: November 27, 1978 Last Aired: March 16, 1981
The White Shadow is a U.S. drama television series that ran on the CBS network from November 27, 1978 to March 16, 1981. It stars Ken Howard as Ken Reeves, a white professional basketball player who chooses to retire from the NBA because of a severe knee injury and take a job as head basketball coach at Carver High School, a mostly Black and Hispanic urban high school in South Central Los Angeles.

The White Shadow was about basketball, of course, but it was also the story of young people and their adjustments to life in an often hostile world. The White Shadow was the first ensemble drama on prime-time television with a predominantly African-American cast. Having aired 54 episodes, it is the third-longest running drama with a predominantly African-American cast in the history of American prime-time television. The series treated its subjects realistically and sympathetically, and was lauded by numerous educational organizations, although its audience size remained marginal throughout its run. The show was nominated for and won several awards over it's three year run, including an Emmy for Jackie Cooper for direction on the pilot episode.

The pilot was written by Bruce Paltrow and directed by Jackie Cooper.
Produced by Paltrow for MTM Enterprises, the show stood alongside Hill Street Blues and St. Elsewhere (which Paltrow also produced) for their humorous and full treatment of characters. It was a sophisticated forerunner to shows such as Homicide: Life on the Street, The Sopranos, Boomtown and Six Feet Under.
Responding to lukewarm ratings instead of the critical groundswell, CBS quietly started softening the show for Middle America (against Paltrow's objections). First, the players started singing in the shower. Another white guy (Salami's cousin, a New Yorker) joined the cast. Every show started to feature an "After-School Special"-type theme (somebody does PCP, somebody does speed, somebody's getting beaten up by their Dad, somebody has an affair with a teacher). You could feel the wheels coming off, and the show was cancelled after it's third season. "It was a show with limitless potential, but was on a network with limited vision. Pity."
Wikipedia, ESPN, Ttmstvshowcase.com,IMDB, and other sources.

S01E01 Pilot
First aired: 11/27/1978
Ken Reeves, a forward with the Chicago Bulls, is forced to retire after suffering a serious knee injury. His old friend and high school teammate, Jim Willis, who is principal of Carver High near L.A., drops by to offer him a job as basketball coach. Reeves is reluctant, but agrees. Among the challenges he faces with the school and the team include a female vice principal who doesn't like him and a player, James Hayward, who has a lot of potential, but also is fatherless and may have to drop out of school to go to work and take care of his mom and little brother.
Cast: Ken Howard(Ken Reeves), Nathan Cook(Milton Reese), Thomas Carter(James Hayward), Eric Kilpatrick(Curtis Jackson), Timothy Van Patten(Mario Pettrino(Salami)), Ken Michelman(Abner Goldstein), Robin Pearson Rose(Katie Donahue), Ed Bernard(Jim Willis), Joan Pringle(Sybil Buchanan), Jason Bernard(Jim Willis), Jerry Fogel(Bill Donahue), Kevin Hooks(Morris Thorpe), Byron Stewart(Warren Coolidge), Ira Angustain(Ricky Gomez)
Guest Cast: Jonathan Ian (Jackie Hayward), Gerry Black (Store Manager), Marilyn Coleman (Mrs. Hayward), Artis Gilmore (himself), Bethel Leslie (Mrs. Lawrence)
DVD>DivX/640x480/1040kbps/23.976fps/mp3/48KHz/stereo/107Kbps/48min/400Mb