In Memory of Bruce Paltrow
 

Shockingly, I didn't hear about his passing until tonight after seeing the reference to him in last night's <I>NYPD Blue</I> (watching on the TiVo). At the time, there appears to have been a thread about it in Otter, but it's mostly a bunch of people who don't know and don't care who he is other than his famous wife and daughter, and frankly I have no desire to contribute to that thread.

Seeing that this is TV Talk, he deserves his own thread in here.

Back when television was more concerned with quality, and the MTM family was breaking new ground in both comedy and drama, Paltrow and Tinker (Mark) created and produced two of the most socially concious and important shows of their time, <I>The White Shadow</I> and <I>St. Elsewhere</I> (frequent readers know I believe the latter to be one of the finest series ever).

Always more concerned with family than work, he wasn't very active after these shows, just poking around now and then to work on something. But like many of those who were a part of the MTM family, his impact on others was huge. You can pretty much blame him for the careers of Howie Mandell, Denzel Washington, Terrence Knox, Patricia Wettig, David Morse, Alfre Woodard, Burce Greenwood, and countless others.

More importantly than that, however, he's best known for creating talent behind the camera, particularly minorities and women. He constantly put his stars in positions of power behind the scenes, and those young actors that learned from him have gone on to become some of the finest television directors working today. TV directors don't seem to get much respect, but he literally created the careers of great TV directors like Kevin Hooks (one of my favorites), Timothy van Patten, Thomas Carter, Eric Laneuville. <I>Babylon 5</I> fans can thank him for discovering Janet Greek.

It was groundbreaking enough to put raw characters like Thorpe and Salami and Hayward on national TV talking so openly about racial and social issues. To then help mold them into accomplished producers and directors is truly his mark on the television landscape. And true to their mentor, these guys are top notch and have worked on the finest shows on television.

He and Tinker and Bochco set the standard for a new era of television, breaking down so many barriers that paved the way for many of the most popular shows on today. The guy was certainly a talented producer/director for his shows, but his impact has been felt throughout all of TV Land, and he's a television giant that deserves to be remembered for more than just his famous daughter.

das

White Shadow is still one of my favourite TV shows of all time. He will be missed.

He will be missed.

I agree, St. Elsewhere is possibly the finest hour-drama ever produced for TV (I'd line up for the DVD sets!), followed closely by China Beach and Once and Again.

Bill Simmons wrote a very nice tribute to Mr Paltrow and the White Shadow on espn.com: http://espn.go.com/page2/s/simmons/021004.html

Simmons is a big fan of Paltrow's and always made references to the Shadow on his old website.

<BLOCKQUOTE> • Quoth AXP 103 •<HR SIZE=1>Bill Simmons wrote a very nice tribute to Mr Paltrow and the White Shadow on espn.com: http://espn.go.com/page2/s/simmons/021004.html

Simmons is a big fan of Paltrow's and always made references to the Shadow on his old website. <HR SIZE=1></BLOCKQUOTE>

Thanks. I hadn't seen that. Very nice and deserved tribute.

das

das - I'm not familiar with White Shadow, can you enlighten me? St. Elsewhere was definitely ground breaking in my book and what we have today is a rehash of it.

And I can say I'm darn thankful for Janet Greek. She's a very good director.

<BLOCKQUOTE> • Quoth elektra •<HR SIZE=1>das - I'm not familiar with White Shadow, can you enlighten me?<HR SIZE=1></BLOCKQUOTE>

OK :)

Having nothing to do with medicine, <I>The White Shadow</I> could very well be considered the show that cracked open some doors so <I>St. Elsewhere</I> and <I>Hill Street Blues</I> could come storming through. It was almost entiredly Paltrow's creation, from start to finish, except for the meddling from CBS execs.

The premise was pretty basic: the principal of Carver High needs a new basketball coach, so he turns to his college buddy and ex Chicago Bull to come out to LA and coach his kids. The school is predominantly black, and Coach Reeves is white ... the White Shadow in fact. Natrually, the players aren't too keen on the new coach, but over time a good relationship develops.

The show was mainly about the students. They were very well-written and well-developed characters. Part of what made it special was the presentation of strong minority characters. The principal, as mentioned, was black, and he was an excellent character. Even stronger was the vice principal, an attractive black woman, who was very good at her job, intelligent, compassionate, and fair and would frequently butt heads with Reeves when it came to getting involved in the student's lives. Reeves was the emotional one who was close to the situation. Cybil was wise and experienced. Between the two of them, they affected positive change in the lives of his basketball players.

But it wasn't a "preachy" show. It was fun. They addressed very serious issues, but no one sat around moping about how "serious" everything was. It wasn't over-the-top and pretentious like a <I>Boston Public</I>. They were in high school, and the kids spent most of their time talking about girls, goofing off, and just trying to make it to the next day. The teammates were wonderfully entertaining when they got together in the locker room or at practice, ragging on each other and having a good time, but they also had real problems to deal with in their lives, and the show always presented it very well.

Like <I>St. Elsewhere</I> it could be light-hearted and fun one minute and then powerfully moving the next ... just like life. While on the show, he put many of the leads behind the camera ... kids ... most were minorities. They learned the craft from him and have gone on to have great careers. Thorpe, Hayward, and Salami were three of the central characters on the show, and they've had great success, particularly Thorpe (Kevin Hooks) who has been doing some major work in the last decade. He was behind last season's <I>Philly</I>, an incredible show that just couldn't get off the ground.

Anyway, there's some ramblings about <I>The White Shadow</I>. It was a great little show that paved the way for the more polished brilliance of some shows we've come to consider the best of all time.

das