This article is about the American television drama series. For the BBC TV program of a similar name, see Sportsnight .
'' was an
American Television series about a fictional
Sport s news show (also named ''Sports Night'') and the people who worked there. It focused 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 aired on
ABC for two seasons, from
1998 to
2000 .
The show starred
Robert Guillaume as managing editor and 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 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, a producer on another show on the fictional network of ''Sports Night'' and rival of Dana Whitaker.
The fictional ''Sports Night'' is a sports news program in the style of ESPN's ''
SportsCenter ''. It broadcasts from the fictional Continental Sports Channel (CSC), a subsidiary of Continental Corp, owned and run by Luther Sachs. (Some believe Continental Corp is loosely based on
Rupert Murdoch 's
News Corporation , which owns
Fox Sports Net .)
''Sports Night'' struggled to find an audience. Its dialogue-based humor did not play very well in
Toad , exclaims, "I finally understand Aaron Sorkin's ''Sports Night''! It's a comedy that's too good to be funny!" Though it had the opportunity to move to the cable network
Showtime , Sorkin decided to let the show pass so that he could focus on his much more popular drama ''
The West Wing ''.
Although the first season of ''Sports Night'' is a sitcom, it oftentimes is portrayed as more of a dramedy representative of some of Sorkin's later work on ''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 volume of the laugh track faded as Season One continued and was abandoned at the beginning of Season Two. The dialogue is often delivered at a rapid-fire pace and uses a technique of exposing many aspects of communication that go beyond the words that are chosen. For example:
Is it about Rebecca?
It's not about Rebecca.
Because I can't get in the way of your relationships anymore--
''(more reassuringly)'' It's not about Rebecca.
''(silent pause)''
''(admittingly)'' It's about Rebecca.
The show's main focus are the relationships that occur between the characters. These including an off-again on-again flirtation and romance between Dana and Casey, the oil-and-water passion between partygirl Natalie and nerdy Jeremy, and Dan's ongoing problems with relationships in general. The character of Isaac Jaffe hovers over his staff 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 .
,
Josh Charles ,
Joshua Malina ,
Sabrina Lloyd ,
Felicity Huffman and
William H. Macy ]]
- After its cancellation, ''Sports Night'' was aired late at night on Comedy Central for several years. Many fans cite this as the venue in which they discovered the show for the first time.
- In 2004, ABC1 , a British offshoot of ABC , began broadcasting Season 1 of ''Sports Night'' in the United Kingdom for the first time, although the second season did not air until January 2006. It was also aired briefly in Latin America on Sony Entertainment Television .
- Australia's Foxtel cable network aired ''Sports Night'' on The Comedy Channel in 2005.
The series has many similarities with ''
The West Wing '', including much of the same cast and crew members. The shows even share many similar storylines in the years when Aaron Sorkin acted as head writer.
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- Most notably, creator and head writer Aaron Sorkin went on to develop ''The West Wing''.
- Both the dialogue style and the Steadicam tracking shots used in ''The West Wing'' are also used in ''Sports Night''.
- Joshua Malina currently stars on ''The West Wing'' as White House staffer Will Bailey .
- Clark Gregg , Teri Polo , Timothy Davis-Reed , Ted McGinley , Nina Siemaszko and Director Timothy Busfield have all appeared on ''The West Wing''.
- Janel Moloney of ''The West Wing'' guest starred as Monica Brazelton in Season 1 episode 11.
- Ross Deane and Stuart Goetz worked in the sound departments of both shows.
- Alex Graves has worked as director on episodes of both shows.
- Paul Redford has worked as writer for ''Sports Night'' and is credited as being part of "miscellaneous crew" on both shows
- W.G. Snuffy Walden acted as composer for the score of both shows.
- Felicity Huffman guest starred in a second season episode of ''The West Wing'' as Ann Stark, the chief of staff for a Republican presidential candidate. During the episode, Ann gifts Toby with a jar of New Hampshire maple syrup (after Bartlet expresses his disgust that the maple syrup being served at the leadership breakfast is from Vermont and not his home state), a reference to a ''Sports Night'' episode in which Dana is going to Vermont for the weekend and offers to bring back maple syrup for her friends.
- Season 1 episode 23: ''What Kind of Day Has It Been'' is also the title of the season 1 finale of ''The West Wing''.
