8.0/1054 votes#1 - (pilot)
Season 1 Episode 1 - 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.
Director: Jackie Cooper
Writer: Bruce Paltrow
- 8.0/1045 votes
#2 - Here's Mud in Your Eye
Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 12/4/1978
Coach Reeves and the team discover liquor in Jackson's locker, and fear he may have a drinking problem.
Director: Jackie Cooper
Writer: Bruce Paltrow
- 8.2/1039 votes
#3 - The Offer
Season 1 Episode 3 - Aired 12/11/1978
No description available
Director: Bruce Paltrow
Writer: N/A
- 8.1/1042 votes
#4 - Bonus Baby
Season 1 Episode 4 - Aired 12/25/1978
No description available
Director: Jackie Cooper
Writer: Bob DeLaurentis
- 7.7/1034 votes
#5 - Pregnant Pause
Season 1 Episode 5 - Aired 1/1/1979
College scouts are impressed with Reese and believe he has a good shot at a scholarship. However, Reese's plans are put on hold when his girlfriend, a Carver cheerleader, tells him she's pregnant. Coach Reeves and the team discover her attending cheerleader practices and believe she may be lying about the pregnancy to trap Reese into marrying her.
Director: Jackie Cooper
Writer: N/A
- 8.3/1046 votes
#6 - Wanna Bet?
Season 1 Episode 6 - Aired 1/8/1979
No description available
Director: Jackie Cooper
Writer: N/A
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- 7.2/1041 votes
#7 - That Old Gang of Mine
Season 1 Episode 7 - Aired 1/15/1979
after gomez gets knocked off the carver high basketball team he joins a street gang he onced belonged to
Director: Bruce Paltrow
Writer: N/A
- 7.8/1046 votes
#8 - Just One of the Boys
Season 1 Episode 8 - Aired 1/27/1979
Reeves deals with a new player, Raymond Collins, who was forced to transfer from his old school because of rumors about his being gay.
Director: Bruce Paltrow
Writer: N/A
- 7.3/1033 votes
#9 - Airball
Season 1 Episode 9 - Aired 2/3/1979
The team's excitement over being invited to compete in a basketball tournament is overshadowed when the plane they're on develops mechanical trouble.
Director: Jackie Cooper
Writer: N/A
- 7.4/1031 votes
#10 - We're in the Money
Season 1 Episode 10 - Aired 2/10/1979
When the team goes to Las Vegas to play in a tournament, they secretly take a pool of money collected from the students so they can gamble and return home with a fortune.
Director: Mark Tinker
Writer: N/A
- 8.7/1040 votes
#11 - Spare the Rod
Season 1 Episode 11 - Aired 2/17/1979
Coach Reeves substitute-teaches a P.E. class, loses his temper, and hits a student, Lucius Robinson, who refuses to participate. Reeves feels guilty about the incident, learns of Lucius' troubles, and offers to help him in any way. Reeves then quickly learns that some students can't be helped when Lucius tries to rape Mrs. Buchanan.
Director: Victor Lobl
Writer: N/A
- 7.8/1032 votes
#12 - The Great White Dope
Season 1 Episode 12 - Aired 2/24/1979
Mac Wade, a tall, white, ""can't miss"" college basketball prospect, transfers to Carver for his senior year due to re-zoning, which excites Reeves. However, Reeves discovers that Mac can't read and has been allowed a free ride through school because of his basketball skills. The problem is further compounded when Mac, who has never had to take a test in school, is caught cheating on a test and has to be suspended.
Director: Michael Zinberg
Writer: N/A
- 7.2/1044 votes
#13 - Mainstream
Season 1 Episode 13 - Aired 3/5/1979
No description available
Director: Victor Lobl
Writer: N/A
8.2/1028 votes#14 - Little Orphan Abner
Season 1 Episode 14 - Aired 3/26/1979
Goldstein's grandmother is hospitalized and his grandfather stays at the hospital with her, so Coach Reeves asks the team to check in on him at home every so often. The other guys aren't too keen on this because Goldstein really doesn't fit in with them, but they agree to check on him and, in the process, take advantage of him and his hospitality. Goldstein threatens to quit the team, and Coach Reeves gives him a lecture on standing up for himself.
Director: Ernest Pintoff
Writer: N/A
- 8.2/1027 votes
#15 - LeGrand Finale
Season 1 Episode 15 - Aired 4/9/1979
The team wants to form a singing group, but elect not to include Thorpe, who begins a dating interest with Karen LeGrand, a white girl with an unsavory reputation around school.
Director: Mark Tinker
Writer: N/A
The Best Episodes of The White Shadow Season 1
Every episode of The White Shadow Season 1 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of The White Shadow Season 1!
The White Shadow is an American drama television series that ran on the CBS network from November 27 1978, to March 16 1981.
Genres:DramaFamily
Network:CBS
Episodes
15
Avg. Rating
7.9
S1
S2
S3
S4
E1
E2
E3
8.0
8.0
8.2
Season 1 Ratings Summary
"(pilot)" is the best rated episode of "The White Shadow" season 1. It scored 8/10 based on 54 votes. Directed by Jackie Cooper and written by Bruce Paltrow, it aired on 11/27/1978. This episode is rated 0.0 points higher than the second-best, "Here's Mud in Your Eye".
