The Contender (1980)

Debuting April 3, 1980. CBS, 10/9pm Central.

A pre-𝘉𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 Marc Singer stars in his first series as Johnny Captor, a college student who drops out to pursue a boxing career in the wake of his father’s suicide to support his mother and younger brother. Washed-up fighter turned manager George Beifus (Moses Gunn) begins training him to the dismay of older girlfriend Jill (Katherine Cannon), who also was his English professor. Yikes. Along for the ride is junior trainer Missy (Tina Andrews). Further complications come when the Fresno mob gets involved, and when Johnny throws a fight out of sympathy for his opponent. Ultimately, Johnny begins training for the Olympics.

Yes, the ‘great white hope’ trope reached TV after being told numerous times in theatrical films. The phrase seems at minimum racially insensitive today; it originated in the early 20th century to refer to white boxer James Jeffries expected to defeat Black heavyweight boxing champ Jack Johnson. Spoiler alert: he did not succeed. The results of the match sparked widespread racially charged violence, leaving likely two dozen dead and hundreds more injured – most of them Black. Many cities banned showing film of the match and the Los Angeles Times ran an incredibly racist editorial telling Blacks:

“Do not point your nose too high. Do not swell your chest too much. Do not boast too loudly. Do not get puffed up. … Your place in the world is just what it was. You are on no higher place, deserve no new consideration, and will get none.” 

95 years later, the newspaper finally apologized for printing the article. The incredible life of Jack Johnson was turned into a stage play by Howard Sackler in 1967 starring none other than James Earl Jones. It became the 1970 film The Great White Hope, also starring Jones, which revived public awareness of the historical account and also turning into something of a movie trope. In case anyone missed it, Moses Gunn explicitly calls it out in dialogue.

“He’s got one thing nobody in your whole stable’s got. And that one thing is why this whole turkey town will turn out for him – white skin…Yessir, I’ve got what the white folks is crying for – I’ve got the Great White Hope.”

Groan. Tom Shales called it “corny beyond belief” and extremely predictable, if somewhat entertaining, fare; and plenty of reviews called out the tired ‘white hope’ trope. Subsequent episodes dealt with Johnny’s girlfriend cheating on him, Johnny becoming the target of a female sportswriter (in more ways than one), Johnny’s mother needing a heart operation, and Johnny finally making it to the Moscow Olympics, but having to fight with bruised ribs following an altercation with Soviet security.

The premiere episode ran 90 minutes, and in a rare instance of this, delayed local news on a weeknight to 11:30/10:30pm Central on CBS affiliate stations. The series ran on Thursday nights against ABC newsmagazine 20/20 and reruns of 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘍𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘴 on NBC. The final airing of the five-episode order aired May 1. Based on the success of the initial airing, CBS reportedly had ordered six additional scripts be written. However, when the fall schedule was announced, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 was nowhere to be seen.

This was a season where CBS introduced a dozen new shows to replace seven fall failures. Several of these series had very short 5-to-6-episode test runs with the show given the boot if not an immediate success. These included 𝘏𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘯-a legal drama with Chad Everett in the title role (this preceded The Contender on Thursday nights); 𝘗𝘩𝘺𝘭 & 𝘔𝘪𝘬𝘩𝘺, a cold war sitcom; 𝘍𝘭𝘰 with Polly Holliday which was renewed for a second season; absurdly brief flash in the pan Beyond Westworld, and The Contender. The series is hardly remembered today; only attested to by a couple of print ads and network promos buried in TV movie broadcasts on YouTube, clips linked below. A bootleg DVD seems to be out there for those that search for it.

CBS Special Presentation – “Nurse” – WJBK Channel 2 [Detroit, MI] (Complete Broadcast, 4/9/1980) 📺

CBS Network – “Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones” (Complete Broadcast – 2 Parts, 4/1980) 📺