Sports Night
|
|
Sports Night was an American television series about a fictional sports news show (also named Sports Night). The series focused on the people who run the show, their friendship, and the ethical issues they face. Created by Aaron Sorkin, the half-hour prime time comedy aired on ABC for two seasons, from 1998 to 2000.
The show starred Robert Guillaume as managing editor & executive producer Isaac Jaffe, Felicity Huffman as producer Dana Whitaker, Peter Krause as anchor Casey McCall, Josh Charles as anchor Dan Rydell, Sabrina Lloyd as Natalie Hurley, and Joshua Malina as Jeremy Goodwin.
Notable guest stars included William H. Macy as Sam Donovan.
| Contents |
Overview
The fictional Sports Night is a sports news program – in the style of ESPN's SportsCenter – shown on the fictional Continental Sports Channel (CSC), a subsidiary of Continental Corp, owned and run by Luther Sachs. (Continental Corp is probably loosely based on Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, which owns Fox Sports Net.)
The show is often somewhat self-referential: in many episodes, the characters are often gossiping or going over everything that's happening in the show - gossiping as viewers would normally do.
The comedic heart of Sports Night is Sorkin's dialogue, often delivered at a rapid-fire pace while at the same time exposing the murkiness that often occurs when people try to put difficult thoughts into words. For example:
Jeremy: Is it about Rebecca?
Dan: It's not about Rebecca.
Jeremy: Because I can't get in the way of your relationships anymore--
Dan: (more reassuringly) It's not about Rebecca.
Jeremy: (silent pause)
Dan: (admittingly) It's about Rebecca.
The show also focuses on the characters' relationships, including an off-again on-again flirtation and romance between Dana and Casey, the oil-and-water passion between Natalie and Jeremy, and Dan's ongoing problems with relationships generally. Isaac hovers over it all as a benevolent but uncompromising father-figure.
Guillaume suffered a stroke mid-way through the first season, and this event was worked into his character and the season's story arc.
Sports Night struggled to find an audience. Its dialogue-based humor did not play very well in situation comedy-oriented America, and ABC axed it after two seasons. Though it had the opportunity to move to another network, Sorkin decided to let the show pass so that he could focus on his much more popular drama The West Wing.
Sorkin intended for the series' humor to be drier and more realistic than typical sitcoms. He initially wanted the show to be recorded without a laugh track, but ABC network executives insisted on including one. The laugh track was abandoned at the end of the first season of the show.
Cast
- Josh Charles - Dan Rydell
- Peter Krause - Casey McCall
- Felicity Huffman - Dana Whitaker
- Joshua Malina - Jeremy Goodwin
- Sabrina Lloyd - Natalie Hurley
- Robert Guillaume - Isaac Jaffe
Guest Cast
- Kayla Blake - Kim
- Greg Baker - Elliot
- Jeff Mooring - Dave
- Ron Ostrow - Will
- Timothy Davis-Reed - Chris
- William H. Macy - Sam Donovan (season 2)
- Teri Polo - Rebecca Wells (season 1)
- Brenda Strong - Sally Sasser (season 1)
- Robert Mailhouse - J.J.
- Ted McGinley - Gordon Gage (season 1)
- Jayne Brook - Abby Jacobs (season 2)
Episode List
Season 1
| No. | Title | Original Airdate | Writer(s) | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Pilot | September 22, 1998 | Aaron Sorkin | Thomas Schlamme |
| 2. | The Apology | September 29, 1998 | Aaron Sorkin | Thomas Schlamme |
| 3. | The Hungry and the Hunted | October 6, 1998 | Aaron Sorkin | Thomas Schlamme |
| 4. | Intellectual Property | October 13, 1998 | Aaron Sorkin | Thomas Schlamme |
| 5. | Mary Pat Shelby | October 20, 1998 | Tracey Stern and Aaron Sorkin | Thomas Schlamme |
| 6. | The Head Coach, Dinner and the Morning Mail | October 27, 1998 | Matt Tarses and Aaron Sorkin | Thomas Schlamme |
| 7. | Dear Louise | November 10, 1998 | Aaron Sorkin | Thomas Schlamme |
| 8. | Thespis | November 17, 1998 | Aaron Sorkin | Thomas Schlamme |
| 9. | The Quality of Mercy at 29K | December 1, 1998 | Bill Wrubel and Aaron Sorkin | Thomas Schlamme |
| 10. | Shoe Money Tonight | December 8, 1998 | Aaron Sorkin | Dennie Gordon |
| 11. | The Six Southern Gentlemen of Tennessee | December 15, 1998 | Aaron Sorkin and Matt Tarses & David Walpert & Bill Wrubel | Robert Berlinger |
| 12. | Smoky | January 5, 1999 | Aaron Sorkin | Robert Berlinger |
| 13. | Small Town | January 12, 1999 | Paul Redford & Aaron Sorkin | Thomas Schlamme |
| 14. | Rebecca | January 26, 1999 | Aaron Sorkin | Thomas Schlamme |
| 15. | Dana and the Deep Blue Sea | February 9, 1999 | Aaron Sorkin | Thomas Schlamme |
| 16. | Sally | February 23, 1999 | Rachel Sweet and Aaron Sorkin | Robert Berlinger |
| 17. | How Are Things in Glocca Morra? | March 9, 1999 | Rachel Sweet and Aaron Sorkin | Marc Buckland |
| 18. | The Sword of Orion | March 23, 1999 | David Handelman & Mark McKinney and Aaron Sorkin | Robert Berlinger |
| 19. | Eli's Coming | March 30, 1999 | Aaron Sorkin | Robert Berlinger |
| 20. | Ordinance Tactics | April 6, 1999 | Aaron Sorkin and Paul Redford (story) | Alex Graves |
| 21. | Ten Wickets | April 13, 1999 | Aaron Sorkin and Matt Tarses (story) | Robert Berlinger |
| 22. | Napoleon's Battle Plan | April 27, 1999 | Aaron Sorkin | Robert Berlinger |
| 23. | What Kind of Day Has It Been | May 4, 1999 | Aaron Sorkin | Thomas Schlamme |
Season 2
| No. | Title | Original Airdate | Writer(s) | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24. | Special Powers | October 5, 1999 | Aaron Sorkin | Thomas Schlamme |
| 25. | When Something Wicked This Way Comes | October 12, 1999 | Aaron Sorkin | Robert Berlinger |
| 26. | Cliff Gardner | October 19, 1999 | Aaron Sorkin | Robert Berlinger |
| 27. | Louise Revisited | October 26, 1999 | Miriam Kazdan (also story) and Aaron Sorkin | Marc Buckland |
| 28. | Kafelnikov | November 2, 1999 | Matt Tarses & Bill Wrubel | Robert Berlinger |
| 29. | Shane | December 7, 1999 | Kevin Falls & Matt Tarses & Bill Wrubel | Robert Berlinger |
| 30. | Kyle Whitaker's Got Two Sacks | December 14, 1999 | Tom Szentgyorgyi and Aaron Sorkin | Dennie Gordon |
| 31. | The Reunion | December 21, 1999 | Kevin Falls and Aaron Sorkin | Dennie Gordon |
| 32. | A Girl Named Pixley | December 28, 1999 | David Walpert | Dennie Gordon |
| 33. | The Giants Win the Pennant, the Giants Win the Pennant | January 11, 2000 | Matt Tarses and Aaron Sorkin | Pamela Dresser |
| 34. | The Cut Man Cometh | January 18, 2000 | Bill Wrubel and Aaron Sorkin | Alex Graves |
| 35. | The Sweet Smell of Air | January 25, 2000 | David Handelman and Kevin Falls & Matt Tarses and Aaron Sorkin | Alex Graves |
| 36. | Dana Get Your Gun | February 1, 2000 | David Walpert | Alex Graves |
| 37. | And the Crowd Goes Wild | February 8, 2000 | Tom Szentgyorgyi and Aaron Sorkin | Alex Graves |
| 38. | Celebrities | February 29, 2000 | Aaron Sorkin | Robert Berlinger |
| 39. | The Local Weather | March 7, 2000 | Aaron Sorkin (also story) and Pete McCabe (story) | Timothy Busfield |
| 40. | Draft Day: Part I - It Can't Rain at Indian Wells | March 14, 2000 | Matt Tarses and Aaron Sorkin | Bryan Gordon |
| 41. | Draft Day: Part II - The Fall of Ryan O'Brian | March 21, 2000 | Aaron Sorkin and Kevin Falls (story) | Danny Leiner |
| 42. | April is the Cruelest Month | March 28, 2000 | Bill Wrubel & Matt Tarses | Don Scardino |
| 43. | Bells And A Siren | April 4, 2000 | Chris Lusvardi and David Walpert and Aaron Sorkin | Don Scardino |
| 44. | La Forza Del Destino | May 9, 2000 | Aaron Sorkin | Timothy Busfield |
| 45. | Quo Vadimus | May 16, 2000 | Aaron Sorkin | Thomas Schlamme |