Sports NightSports Night is an American television series about a fictional sports news show (also called Sports Night) and the people who work there. It focuses on the friendships, pitfalls, and ethical issues they face while trying to produce a good show under constant network pressure. Created by Aaron Sorkin, the half-hour prime time comedy-drama[1] aired on ABC for two seasons, from 1998 to 2000.
The show stars Robert Guillaume as Managing Editor Isaac Jaffe, Felicity Huffman as Executive Producer Dana Whitaker, Peter Krause as anchor Casey McCall, Josh Charles as anchor Dan Rydell, Sabrina Lloyd as Senior Associate Producer Natalie Hurley, and Joshua Malina as Associate Producer Jeremy Goodwin. Regular guest stars included William H. Macy as ratings expert Sam Donovan and Brenda Strong as Sally Sasser, the producer of West Coast Update (another show on the same network as Sports Night) and rival of Dana.
Cast
Josh Charles ... Dan Rydell (45 episodes, 1998-2000)
Peter Krause ... Casey McCall (45 episodes, 1998-2000)
Felicity Huffman ... Dana Whitaker (45 episodes, 1998-2000)
Joshua Malina ... Jeremy Goodwin (45 episodes, 1998-2000)
Sabrina Lloyd ... Natalie Hurley (45 episodes, 1998-2000)
Robert Guillaume ... Isaac Jaffe (45 episodes, 1998-2000)
Kayla Blake ... Kim (45 episodes, 1998-2000)
Greg Baker ... Elliott / ... (45 episodes, 1998-2000)
Timothy Davis-Reed ... Chris (45 episodes, 1998-2000)
Jeff Mooring ... Dave (44 episodes, 1998-2000)
Ron Ostrow ... Will (44 episodes, 1998-2000)
Suzanne Kellogg ... Alyson (22 episodes, 1998-2000)
Sports Night: The Complete Series 10th Anniversary EditionDirected by Thomas Schlamme
Average customer review:
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #211 in DVD
- Released on: 2008-09-30
- Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
- Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
- Formats: Box set, Color, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC
- Original language: English
- Number of discs: 8
- Running time: 1200 minutes
Amazon.com
With breakout and memorable performances by Josh Charles (In Treatment), Robert Guillaume (Benson), Felicity Huffman (Desperate Housewives), Peter Krause (Six Feet Under), Sabrina Lloyd (Sliders) and Joshua Malina (The West Wing), this was writer/producer Aaron Sorkin's (A Few Good Men , The American President) first television series. And it was director Thomas Schlamme's first collaboration with Sorkin. The pair, who would continue to click brilliantly with The West Wing and Studio 60 On the Sunset Strip, may not have known it at the time, but with Sports Night they defined a new style and raised the bar for all television programs to follow.
Critically acclaimed when it debuted on ABC in 1998, Sports Nigh was an innovative half-hour program about a team of funny, smart and likeable people who put on a daily live sports cable newscast, much like ESPN's SportsCenter. They are a group of consummate professionals whose personal lives operate in apparent chaos, communicating every uncensored thought and feeling through a libretto of witty and honest chatter over the hum of the separate-but-integrated live show-within-the-show.
10th Anniversary Special Features:
*The Show: An in-depth look back at Sports Night with creator/writer Aaron Sorkin, directors Thomas Schlamme and Robert Berlinger, cast members Felicity Huffman, Peter Krause, Josh Charles, Joshua Malina, and Robert Guillaume, Emmy(r) award-winning editor Janet Ashikaga, Emmy(r) award-winning director of photography Peter Smokler, producer John Amodeo, and set designer Thomas Azzari. Includes never-before-seen behind-the-scenes home movies shot by John Amodeo.
*Face Off: ESPN's SportsCenter vs. CSC's Sports Night - Sports Night's real-life ESPN counterparts discuss what the series got right and wrong.
*A Conversation with Aaron Sorkin and Thomas Schlamme
*Inside The Locker Room - A look at the innovations of Sports Night with Aaron Sorkin, Thomas Schlamme, Robert Berlinger, Janet Ashikaga, Peter Smokler, John Amodeo, and Thomas Azzari.
*Season Gag Reels
*8 Episode Commentaries including creator/writer Aaron Sorkin, director/executive producer Thomas Schlamme, director Robert Berlinger, editor Janet Ashikaga, and cast members Peter Krause, Josh Charles, Joshua Malina, Sabrina Lloyd, Greg Baker, Kayla Blake, Timothy Davis-Reed, and Ron Ostrow.
*Original Promos
*36-Page Booklet including an introduction by creator Aaron Sorkin
Review
TV wunderkind Aaron Sorkin s first series finally knocks it out of the ballpark on DVD --Video Business
Review
At the-top-of-their game actors and bouncy dialogue make Sports Night the most pulse-quickening show since ER... --Ken Tucker, Entertainment Weekly
Customer Reviews
Sports Night is not about sports
If you liked "West Wing," you'll like Sports Night (even if you don't like sports). The fatal mistake in the development of Sports Night was probably the title of the series. The best thing about it was also, for some people, probably a weakness: it's not a drama, not a comedy. It doesn't fit any customary category. A typical half-hour espisode is a drama that makes you laugh for 20 minutes because the people in the drama love to make one another laugh (and you laugh with them). And then, in the last 5-10 minutes, it will nail some truth about human beings in a way that will probably bring tears to your eyes. Quite a lot to draw from an insider look at the production of a television program (a program that happens to be about sports). If you never saw Sports Night, you're in for a very special experience.
Sports Night
What has been said thusfar about Sport Night, its intelligence, its innovations and effects on the future of the sitcom are all true. It was an amazing show, one that stood so far out in the pack of shows in that season that you just knew that it was going to be cancelled. The story arc where Josh Charles' character was forced to apologize for remarks he made regarding drug use - brilliant. Just one of many examples that could be sited. Though I was sad to see this show go, in retrospect where would we be without Peter Krausse in Six Feet Under or the promising Dirty Sexy Money or Felicity Huffman's amazing Career. And I wonder if Sabrina Lloyd would have found the time for her work with Hal Hartley. What we are left with is an incredibly tight 2 season set with a beautiful singular vision and execution comparable in quality if not subject matter with Lynch's Twin Peaks. Just like that show, its end was inevitable and beautiful.
Aaron Sorkin's manifesto--a brilliant television series
Sports Night was a frequently brilliant show that aired for two seasons in the late 1990s and had a hard time finding an audience because it was a "smart" show. I'm still curious as to when that term became pejorative. I didn't watch it at the time, though I caught it on Comedy Central and on DVD when it first came out. Lost the DVDs some time ago and I was daunted by the $100+ prices for a used copy. So, I'm glad that the series is getting reissued, and with special features to boot!
Sports Night doesn't really require any knowledge of or interest in sports to enjoy. It's like other Sorkin projects in that an appreciation of witty dialogue, compelling characters and strong plots (especially in Season Two) are all that is really needed. And the show goes above and beyond just these elements as well: has there ever been so cutting an exploration of male friendships and the competitiveness and jockeying for position that occurs within them? Has there ever been so thorough a deconstruction of a broadcasting professional (outside perhaps of Larry Sanders) as that of Josh Charles's Dan? And how hilarious is Peter Krause? That one has an answer: pretty darned hilarious. One sees within these two seasons the potential for a great show--the second season, in particular, is absolutely brilliant. So many intense emotions coming in waves--it cut far deeper than most television shows, perhaps because it asked more of us.
This is not to say that the show is perfect--it isn't. For one thing, Sorkin really doesn't write well for women. While Felicity Huffman and Sabrina Lloyd are both quite good in their roles, the roles lack much in the way of femininity. Sorkin has women characters that basically act like men, for all intents and purposes. Not that it's a deal-breaker for the show--one would imagine that women who work in the domain of sports would be just a bit tomboyish--but one can't help but wonder whether or not Sorkin really gets women. The usual Sorkin caveats apply: plot threads are picked up and dropped haphazardly, characters drop off the face of the earth. And someone ought to tell Aaron Sorkin that having one character come in and repeat what another person said is technically not comedy. Regardless of all this, the show is a work of genius, and both it's flaws and virtues are unmistakeably Sorkin's own. It might as well be his own personal manifesto.
Hot New Releases in Movies & TV @ Amazon.com
Cheap new DVD releases
Just Arrived - Hottest DVD releases
