Pardon me, but I’m about 30 years late on this one.
I have discovered a great TV drama: “The White Shadow.”
The back story: I was bored watching Game One of the World Series last night so I wanted to see what other sports might be on. I clicked to YES and what I found there wasn’t sports per se, but a rerun of the drama about a white ex-NBA player who now coaches at a predominantly minority L.A. high school.
I never watched it back in 1978 and ‘79. But, bored, I stuck around and found myself riveted for the entire hour.
This episode featured Peter Horton, a decade before “thirtysomething,” as a wealthy kid whose father transfers him from a ritzy high school to the inner-city Carver High because — there are rumors the boy might be gay. (Of course, the word used throughout the show isn’t gay, but “homosexual.”) And of course, the rumors dog the boy at his new school.
Per that time, the issue gets tiptoed around but enough for Ken Howard’s Coach Ken Reeves to smell something akin to McCarthyism (guilty until proven innocent). The teenaged Horton puts on a compelling performance.
It was all so earnest — and Afros, sideburns and bad fashion aside — it made for great viewing.
Much more compelling than the BoSox’ blowout.
I can’t wait for the next episode.