A consumer’s guide to the best and worst of sports media and merchandise. Ground rules: If it can be read, played, heard, observed, worn, viewed, dialed or downloaded, it’s in play here.

What: “First Time,” part of “Sports

Theater With Shaquille O’Neal” series

Where: Nickelodeon

When: Saturday, 9 p.m. (Repeats

Tuesday, 7 p.m., and Oct. 19, 8 p.m.)

Need a lift? This one-hour dramatic special should do it. It’s a fictional story about a 13-year-old African American youngster, Troy Davis, who lives in Brooklyn near Ebbets Field in 1947 and dreams of playing shortstop for the Dodgers. His dream is shattered when he learns his skin is the wrong color. A friend sets a meeting with Jackie Robinson, who restores the dream.

This episode is the first of three new “Sports Theater” specials to be produced for Nickelodeon by Michael Tollins and Brian Robbins. The series’ premier offering, “4 Points,” the story of a 4-foot-11 teenager who aspires to make his high school basketball team, last year won a Cable Ace Award for best children’s special and an NEA award for advancement of learning through broadcasting. Tollins and Robbins are probably best known for producing the HBO series “Arli$$.”

Shaquille O’Neal is one of three co-producers. His agent, Leonard Armato, and Bruce Binkow, are the other two. Shaq is also the narrator, periodically appearing on screen like a magic genie to remind viewers of such things as “Troy finally let go of his dream but will his dream let go of him” and “having the dream makes you a winner.”

The story was thought up by Tollins and Robbins and put down on paper by scriptwriter Jeff Stetson. The idea came from “Hank Aaron: Chasing the Dream,” a Tollins-Robbins project that was nominated for an Academy Award. In the documentary, Aaron talks about thinking he couldn’t play major league baseball until he was inspired by an appearance by Jackie Robinson on a barnstorming tour in his hometown of Mobile, Ala., in 1947, when young Hank was 13.

In “First Time,” young Troy, played by Robert Ri’chard (“4 Points”), finds outs about segregation in baseball when he announces in school that his dream is to play for the Dodgers. A classmate--and rival--laughs at him and tells him his skin is the wrong color. A fight ensues, and Troy is sent to the vice principal’s office, who tells him he should thank his classmate for explaining reality. “There are no colored players in baseball, never has been, never will be,” the vice principal says. “There’s a whole league just for your people.”

It may be a serious topic, but there are some laughs too. And the cast, which includes John Amos, is a good one. Amos plays the superintendent at the building where Troy lives with his parents and younger sister, who dreams of being a professional basketball player. In a twist, Troy reminds his sister that “girls can’t play basketball.”

The show is tailored toward kids, but the whole family can enjoy it.