WHITE SHADOW, THE: A CHRISTMAS PRESENT (TV)
Summary
One in this series of dramas about Ken Reeves, a former professional basketball player, who begins a new life as the basketball coach of Carver High, an inner-city high school in Los Angeles. In this episode, the teachers and students discuss their respective Christmas plans and the team members hatch a plan to throw a party, though nerdy Phil balks at the suggestion to hold it at his empty home. Doug and Sybil, having recently reunited, decide that Christmas Eve will serve as their new anniversary, though she evades a dinner date by claiming a "previous engagement." Ken is dismayed to learn that his sister and brother-in-law will be headed to North Dakota for the holiday, and Coolidge resolves to get a last-minute job in order to afford an expensive toy doll for his sister. Sybil breaks the good news to Doug, and Ken tries to find alternate Christmas plans as Sybil joins them and happily announces that she and Doug are not only reuniting, but expecting a baby.
Phil is flustered when the guys attempt to bribe him into hosting the party, swearing that his mother will not know about their antics while she is out of town. When he continues to refuse, they resort to "Plan B" and recruit the attractive Nancy, who assures Phil that she would love to be his date to the theoretical soirée, and he immediately begins to reconsider. At work, Doug tells Steve about his reconciliation with the pregnant Sybil, though his twice-divorced colleague warns him that the hasty reunion is doomed to fail. Coolidge learns that all of the mall jobs are taken – except for one, which he accepts on the spot. Doug tells Sybil about his conversation with Steve, clearly wondering if he is in fact right, and when Coolidge refuses to tell his friends about his new position, they enlist Julio's help to break into their friend's locker and are highly amused at their discovery. Ken cancels basketball practice for a spur-of-the-moment Christmas party, though the guys are unimpressed with the lackluster snacks and the lack of female guests. When he finds Phil working late at the gym and learns that his family is out of town, Ken invites him out for Christmas dinner, but Phil, not wanting to admit the truth about the party, quickly spins an elaborate lie about an ailing neighbor with whom he plans to spend the holiday.
Doug and Sybil begin to argue about their future together, both feeling that the other is being too demanding, and Doug eventually admits that he would be far more reluctant to get back together were it not for the pregnancy. Coolidge reassures a panicked Phil, who is alarmed about his upcoming evening with Nancy, and Ken, having fallen for Phil's outlandish tale, tells Doug about the student's magnanimous holiday plans. Sybil and Doug agree that it would be best for them to divorce after all, though Sybil declares that she still intends to have the child on her own, arguing that she cannot wait around indefinitely for Doug to be ready to commit to her. Doug ponders the matter and, after listening to some carol singers, tells Sybil that he is indeed ready to be a father and a husband to her. Elsewhere, Coolidge is annoyed when his friends show up to tease him as he works hard at his secret job: being a mall Santa Claus. Later, Ken arrives at Phil's home, intending to surprise him and his elderly neighbor with a Christmas meal, only to find the boys' party in full swing. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: CBS
- DATE: 8:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:49:20
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:66146
- GENRE: Drama
- SUBJECT HEADING: African-American Collection - Drama; High school; Basketball
- SERIES RUN: CBS - TV series, 1978-1981
- COMMERCIALS:
- TV - Promos - "The White Shadow" upcoming episode
CREDITS
- Bruce Paltrow … Executive Producer, Created by
- Mark Tinker … Producer
- Scott Brazil … Associate Producer
- Betty Goldberg … Director
- John Falsey … Writer
- Joshua Brand … Writer
- Mike Post … Music by
- Pete Carpenter (See also: Peter Carpenter) … Music by
- Ken Howard … Cast, Ken Reeves
- Joan Pringle … Cast, Sybil Buchanan
- Ed Bernard … Cast, Jim Willis
- Thomas Carter … Cast, James Hayward
- Kevin Hooks … Cast, Morris Thorpe
- Nathan Cook … Cast, Milton Reese
- Eric Kilpatrick … Cast, Curtis Jackson
- Byron Stewart … Cast, Warren Coolidge
- Ken Michelman … Cast, Abnder Goldstein
- Timothy Van Patten … Cast, Mario "Salami" Pettrino
- Ira Angustain … Cast, Ricky Gomez
- Joe Mengatti … Cast, Nick Vitaglia
- Russell Phillip Robinson … Cast, Phil Jeffers
- Theodore Wilson … Cast, Doug Buchanan
- Rod Browning … Cast, Steve Cary
- Deborah Lacy … Cast, Nancy
- Trinidad Silver … Cast, Julio
- Nancy Pearlberg … Cast, Personnel Woman
- Megan Jeffers … Cast, Little Girl
- Christopher James … Cast, Little Boy
- Don Diamond … Cast, Salvation Army Man
- Jessica Salem … Cast, Caroler
- Mary-Gail Hobbs … Cast, Caroler
- Stuart Mabray … Cast, Caroler
- J. Rob Jordan … Cast, Man with Car