Plot - When this episode opens we see Coach Reeves wearing a bad-fitting floral apron and teaching a cooking class to a well-behaved Carver class. The apron was not coincidental, for the wrenching topic du jour for this installment was homosexuality. Carver recently received a transfer student/basketball player from Palisades High named Collins, played by Peter Horton. At first only the administration and Reeves were aware of Collins' alleged homosexuality, but later the team and the school found out as well. Reeves and Miss Buchanan worked through the delicate issue throughout the episode with the confident yet confused Collins. Ultimately, Reeves used the topic to teach his team a lesson in tolerance, and Buchanan took a star turn in her closing heartfelt conversation with Collins that convinced him to return to Palisades High.
Observations - I was impressed with this episode as it clearly was not a typical topic for a drama series in 1979. Reeves captured his generation's ambivalence and inarticulateness towards homosexuality early in the episode but ended up taking the high road and teaching us all a lesson.
The well-behaved class was refreshing to see. It seems all classroom tv shows since this time have had disruptive and disrespectful students trying to one-up each other.
Reeves paid a visit to Collins' parents. His father was the kind of old-school So Cal power player that was common on tv in this age. He dismissed his wife from the room and was disrespectful to Reeves. He also wanted nothing to do with what was going on with his son.
While this was not the most entertaining episode it was certainly well-acted, thanks to Peter Horton and Reeves and Buchanan upping their game.
Horton was 25 years old at the time of the episode so he fit in with the other members of the team.
