Sports Night

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Sports Night ranks 830 out of the 18,229 shows on TV.com.

The 575 users who count themselves as Sports Night fans have written a total of 40 reviews.

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Ended

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Related Shows

• SportsCenter
• The West Wing
• Murphy Brown

Sports Night ran nearly two full seasons on the ABC network in the US during the '98-99 and '99-00 seasons. Created by Emmy Award winning writer/director, Aaron Sorkin. Sorkin created such movies as, A Few Good Men & The American President before his first venture into television (Sorkin would later... more »

Sports Night ran nearly two full seasons on the ABC network in the US during the '98-99 and '99-00 seasons. Created by Emmy Award winning writer/director, Aaron Sorkin. Sorkin created such movies as, A Few Good Men & The American President before his first venture into television (Sorkin would later create the massively respected & popular The West Wing). Smart, fast-paced, witty and featuring a fine ensemble cast, Sports Night struggled in the ratings from the start, particularly during its second season, when it was routinely pre-empted and moved from night to night. Art imitated life imitating art, as the show took on a consultant (William H. Macy in his first TV role since his stint on ER), was hired to "tweak" the ratings. The show within a show continued to falter, amidst rumors of the imminent sale of its network and the subsequent gutting of its staff, until it, like its parent Sports Night, simply disappeared from the schedule. Upon its cancellation, several networks, most notably HBO came to Sorkin for a possible move to the respected network, but nothing was ever solidified. Sports Night gained additional exposure through a subsequent syndication on Comedy Central.less «

• Sports Night/West Wing Connection

  Aaron Sorkin produced and wrote for both the West Wing and Sports Night.  So there are obvious connections there.  But here...more »

  Aaron Sorkin produced and wrote for both the West Wing and Sports Night.  So there are obvious connections there.  But here is my comment.  A some of the story lines got re-used.  Is it odd to anyone else that despite the short run for Sports Night that whole story lines would be totatly re-used in West Wing. The best example I can give of this is the parallel between Jeremy and Sam.  On Sports Night Jeremy's father is having a 27 year long affair with someone and the same happens to Sam Seaborn in the episode 'Someone is going to Emergency, Someone is going to Jail"   It's just odd that they were both 27 year affairs.  there are a few other examples that I can't think of off the top of my head.  On top of that though Josh Melina eventually replaces Rob Lowe's character on West Wing which i thought was odd.  Anyway... less «

  sokerchick Last online Jun 22, 2009
  9 comments, last one May 13, 2009 + Add Comment

• Jeremy Disprepancy

  While watching Season 1, I've noticed that there seems to be a part missing in episode 16 (How Are Things In Glocca Morra?)...more »

  While watching Season 1, I've noticed that there seems to be a part missing in episode 16 (How Are Things In Glocca Morra?) that shows up in the "last time" part of episode 17 (The Sword Of Orion). It is the part where Jeremy asks for time off. In episode 16 he's writing to Louise and telling her not to get upset about anything and in episode 17 he arrives back from going to his parents'. But I didn't ever see a part where he left or asked to leave or talked about leaving. Did anyone else notice this? Am I simply wrong? less «

  spreeq Last online Nov 23, 2007
  5 comments, last one Mar 31, 2009 + Add Comment

• Best Episode??

  I think the best episode was "Napoleon's Battle Plan" from Season 1.  It brought all the major problems together at once.  (Dana/Gordon, Dana/Casey, Casey/Sally).  And of course it has Casey's best plan "I'm going to show up, and see what happens." Which do you think is best?

  I think the best episode was "Napoleon's Battle Plan" from Season 1.  It brought all the major problems together at once.  (Dana/Gordon, Dana/Casey, Casey/Sally).  And of course it has Casey's best plan "I'm going to show up, and see what happens." Which do you think is best? less «

  ProphetBeal Last online Feb 18, 2009
  15 comments, last one Mar 22, 2009 + Add Comment

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  10 Perfect

  More than a decade later I'm writing reviews, complaining about good shows that are canceled because they're too intelligent for the general public and I compare them each to the mother of all criminal cancelations: Sports Night hide « show »

  I actually saw "Jeremy" on the Series Finale of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles - it was ironic that he'd get a big guest star role in the finale episode. He did an excellent job. Of course Felicity Huffman has done well for herself - and her husband never had a problem. "Dan" has been in a number of things though he hasn't had the success of his desk partner in "6 Feet Under" and other roles. I miss Natalie and of course Robert. If I ever see a copy of the show with the laugh-track - I'll burn it - what a humiliating way to go for a great show.
  
  SN: RIP

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  ap14rcf70 Added Apr 18, 2009 All my reviews
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  10 Perfect

  Quite simply - the best show ever. Excellent writing, acting, direction. hide « show »

  Just choosing the classification for Sports Night is tough. "Personal Favorite" or "Absolutely Fabulous" certainly fit. "Underappreciated" is also a big one. Even TV Guide gave it the title of "Best Show You're Not Watching. So what happened? Was it "Ahead of it's time?" Comedy? Drama? Dramedy, even? I loved that you never knew what you were getting. Some episodes had me laughing out loud the entire way through, others had me in tears. Isn't this the mark of a great show? It doesn't have to be one or the other. The audience really connected with the characters. We cared. How many shows nowadays can we say we truly care about these characters?
  
  A sports show? A show about a television show? A workplace comedy? A relationship comedy? Yes - all of them, and yet none of the above. You didn't have to like sports to enjoy Sports Night. The references were certainly there, but you certainly didn't miss out by not being a jock. The TV references were there, but not so much that it lost the non-techies of us. Maybe we learned a little about ratings! We cared about the relationships, be it Casey and Dana, Natalie and Jeremy, Dan and Rebecca or others - yet those never over rode the premise. The show never became a romantic comedy or tragedy. It kept us on our toes. It kept us smart. Pop culture references were abundant, and Sorkin expected his viewers to be of reasonable intelligence to get half the jokes. Hmmm, maybe this was the problem... Smart shows followed in the same vein and did better; The West Wing, Gilmore Girls, and several others. Perhaps Sports Night helped break ground, if only among critics. They began looking out for more sharply written, well crafted dialogue.
  
  One thing is for sure, this show bolstered many careers. Had anyone really heard of Peter Krause, Felicity Huffman, Joshua Malina, or even Teri Polo, Brenda Strong or the great Aaron Sorkin before Sports Night hit the screen? No offense to the other cast members, there was no one that was any less fantastic. I am persoanlly a big fan of Josh Charles and am happy to know that he is following his heart on stage. Krause and Huffman each went on to star in their own incredibly successful programs (Six Feet Under, Desperate Housewives). Malina entered the realm of The West Wing as well as landed several leading prime time roles. Ms Strong must have one of the cushiest jobs in TV now as our Housewives narrarator, and Teri Polo has been successful on both the big and small screen since. Sorkin is clearly a love him or hate him kind of writer, but no one can deny the influence that The West Wing has had on television. Some may even suggest that he left Sports Night to flounder because he was concentrating on TWW. Maybe, maybe not. Either way, I am sure that SN gave some the springboard they needed to gaining credibility in Hollywood. The Special Edition 10th Anniversary DVDs come out this fall. I'll be getting mine the day they are available.

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  joag95 Added Jul 22, 2008 All my reviews
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  6 Fair

  A fine show, but the writing style was formulaic. hide « show »

  I like this show and have the DVD set. The actors were superb. The plots were superb. The character development was superb. "Then why give it a mediocre 6?" you ask. Here's why: The writing makes me cringe. I have seen reviews that say this was "fast paced" and "well written." It's not hard to be fast paced when you constantly repeat the previous line spoken. Here's an example of the writing style (I do not think it is an actual excerpt):
  
  "Hey, where are you going?"
  "What do you mean 'where am I going'?"
  "I want to know where you're going."
  "Why do you want to know where I'm going?"
  
  etc. etc. I would say at least one-third of the entire script fits this formulaic writing style. This is not exactly witty banter. When I'm listening to it, I generally claw at my head and yell at the TV "ANSWER THE @$#% QUESTION!!"

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  jvma7621 Added Jun 21, 2008 All my reviews
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  7.5 Good

  Not bad. hide « show »

  I never missed an episode of this show during it's original run and even recorded all but a few. I was thrilled to see this was released on DVD. I've turned a few people on to this show via my video tapes and we all love it. The reason to watch this show isn't the guffaws. You smile and snicker more then laugh out loud. But for shear entertainment you just can't beat it. The characters are real and you can relate to all of them and more importantly you care for all of them. The real genius of this show is not just the story and characters, but the dialogue. The way the actors deliver the lines, and the lines themselves are a joy to listen to and what makes this show watchable again and again. You will never get tired of listening to the verbal volleys between the actors. I can't say enough about the writing and acting of this show. Borrow it, rent it, buy it, whatever you have to to see it. Give it just a few episodes (ignore the lame laugh track on the first episode or 2) and I guarantee you'll be happily addicted to possibly the most well written (and acted) television show ever.

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  da_dunker Added May 6, 2007 All my reviews
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  9.9 Superb

  Stupendous show, Sorkin at his best. hide « show »

  This show was ahead of its time. This was the first show that Sorkin wrote for TV, and easily could have had a West Wing type run, and probably should have had one. This show was the very first of the witty sitcoms. It was well written beyond anything else on TV, and I believe it was just too fast and over the head of most people for that time, and on a major network. If it could have been on a CW, WB type channel it would have lasted and been Gilmore Girls before there was one. One of my very favorites, and it's very missed.

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  greatniz Added Apr 7, 2007 All my reviews