''Sports Night'' is an American

comedy drama Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...

television series about a fictional sports news show also called ''Sports Night''. It focuses on the friendships, pitfalls and ethical issues the creative talent of the program face while trying to produce a good show under constant network pressure. Created by Aaron Sorkin, the half-hour

prime time Prime time, or peak time, is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for television shows. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...

aired on ABC for two seasons, from September 22, 1998, to May 16, 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 Joshua Aaron Charles (born September 15, 1971) is an American film, television, and theater actor. He is best known for the roles of Dan Rydell on '' Sports Night, '' Will Gardner on '' The Good Wife'', which earned him two Primetime Emmy Awar ...

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 William Hall Macy Jr. (born March 13, 1950) is an American actor, director, screenwriter, and producer. He is a two-time Emmy Award and four-time Screen Actors Guild Awards, Screen Actors Guild Award winner, and has been nominated for an Acade ...

as ratings expert Sam Donovan and

Brenda Strong Brenda Lee Strong"Miss Arizona 1980"
''Arizona Republic''. July 13, 1980. ...

as Sally Sasser, the producer of ''West Coast Update'' (a sister show on the same network as ''Sports Night'') and professional and romantic rival of Dana. Other notable guest stars included

Paula Marshall Paula Marshall (born June 12, 1964) is an American actress. Career In 1990, Marshall had a guest role as Iris West, the love interest of Flash (Barry Allen) in the pilot episode on ''The Flash''. In 1991, she guest-starred on ''Superboy'' with ...

and several who later appeared on Sorkin's ''

The West Wing ''The West Wing'' is an American political drama television series created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1999, to May 14, 2006. The series is set primarily in the West Wing of the White House, where t ...

'' including Janel Moloney, Teri Polo, Ted McGinley, Lisa Edelstein, Clark Gregg, Nina Siemaszko, John de Lancie, Timothy Davis-Reed,

Cress Williams Cress Williams (born July 26, 1970) is an American actor, known for his roles in ''Prison Break'' and ''Close to Home (2005 TV series), Close to Home''. His most recent roles include Mayor Lavon Hayes on The CW Television Network, The CW series ' ...

, Nadia Dajani, and Spencer Garrett. ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...

'' ranked it #10 on their 2013 list of 60 shows that were "Cancelled Too Soon".

Overview

The show is said to be a semi-fictional account of the

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

SportsCenter ''SportsCenter'' (SC) is an American television sports news broadcasting show broadcast by ESPN. Originally anchored by Chris Berman, George Grande, Greg Gumbel, Lee Leonard, Bob Ley, Sal Marchiano and Lou Palmer, it premiered on Septem ...

'' team of

Keith Olbermann Keith Theodore Olbermann (born January 27, 1959) is an American sports and political commentator and writer. Olbermann spent the first 20 years of his career in sports journalism. He was a sports correspondent for CNN and for local TV and ra ...

and Dan Patrick, with Rydell representing Olbermann and McCall representing Patrick. Patrick has confirmed this on his syndicated radio program ''

The Dan Patrick Show ''The Dan Patrick Show'' is a syndicated radio and television sports talk show, hosted by former ESPN personality Dan Patrick. It is currently produced by Patrick and is syndicated to radio stations by Premiere Radio Networks, within and inde ...

''. It has also been said that many of the storylines for McCall were inspired by Craig Kilborn, who was an anchor on ''SportsCenter'' during the mid 1990s. The fictional ''Sports Night'' is a sports news program in the style of ''SportsCenter''. The show broadcasts live from 11 pm to midnight and is rebroadcast through the next morning; it may broadcast at other times for special events, such as the

NFL Draft The NFL draft, officially known as the Annual Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the most common source of player recruitment in the National Football League. Each team is given a position in the drafting order in reve ...

. The program debuted in 1996 and airs from the

Rockefeller Center Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commerce, commercial buildings covering between 48th Street (Manhattan), 48th Street and 51st Street (Manhattan), 51st Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. The 14 original Art De ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

on the fictional Continental Sports Channel (CSC), a unit of Continental Corp, owned and run by Luther Sachs. Continental Corp owns cable networks around the United States; when the company is offered for sale, bidders include

Time Warner Warner Media, LLC ( doing business as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate owned by AT&T. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City. It was established as Time Warne ...

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(which, incidentally, owns a majority of ESPN in reality), and

News Corporation The original incarnation of News Corporation (abbreviated News Corp. and also variously known as News Corporation Limited) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational mass media corporation founded and controlled by media mogul Ru ...

. Both the fictional show and the network have competitive and financial difficulties. The network, according to Continental Corp's CFO, has an annual deficit up to $120 million. Although ''Sports Night'' does better than CNN/SI, Dana Whitaker says that ''Sports Night'' is "in third place. We are getting our asses kicked by ESPN and Fox". Natalie Hurley replies, "Every show on this network is in third place. It's a third-place network." When ''Sports Night'' is asked to interview

Michael Jordan Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player, who is currently a minority owner of the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Ass ...

about his new perfume, the retired basketball star's publicity team demands

final cut privilege Final cut privilege (also known as ''final cutting authority'') is the right or entitlement of an individual to determine the final version of a motion picture for distribution and exhibition. The final cut on a film can be held by film studios, ...

—something it would not ask Fox or ESPN—because it believes that ''Sports Night'' is more desperate for ratings. Although the first season of ''Sports Night'' is a sitcom, it often is portrayed as more of a

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 A laugh track (or laughter track) is an audio recording consisting of laughter (and other audience reactions) usually used as a separate soundtrack for comedy productions. The laugh track may contain live audience reactions or artificial laught ...

, 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 intentionally exposes many aspects of communication that go beyond the words that are spoken. The show also frequently employed a technique known as "

Walk and talk Walk and talk is a storytelling technique used in filmmaking and television production in which a number of characters have a conversation while walking somewhere. Walk and talk often involves a walking character who is then joined by another cha ...

", where the characters are walking from one location to the next while in conversation. This is another characteristic of Sorkin's shows as "walk and talks" are used quite frequently in ''

'' and ''

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip ''Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip'' is an American comedy-drama television series created for NBC and primarily written by Aaron Sorkin. The series was about the production of a live comedy series similar to ''Saturday Night Live''. Produced by ...

''. A number of similar themes, elements and actors carried over from ''Sports Night'' to ''The West Wing'' and later ''Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip''. The show's main focus is the relationships between the characters. These include an off-again on-again flirtation and romance between Dana and Casey, the partnership of Natalie and 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. The show is mostly set in the studio and station offices. However, in the second season Anthony's, a local sports bar and restaurant, was introduced as another location for scenes out of the work environment. Guillaume suffered a stroke midway through the first season and this event was worked into his character and the season's

story arc A story arc (also narrative arc) is the chronological construction of a plot in a novel or story. It can also mean an extended or continuing narrative, storyline in episode, episodic storytelling media such as television, comic books, comic strip ...

. ''Sports Night'' struggled to find an audience and ABC cancelled it after two seasons. Although it had the opportunity to move to several different networks, including

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

, Showtime and USA, Sorkin decided to let the show pass so that he could focus on ''The West Wing''.

Cast

– Daniel "Dan" Rydell, Co-Anchor. A graduate of

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...

, he has known Casey for 10 years as of the show's first season and they have worked together for five years. Before ''Sports Night'' they co-hosted a sports show in Dallas. * Peter Krause – Casey McCall, Co-Anchor. He turned down an offer from NBC to replace David Letterman in 1993. Casey divorced Lisa, his college girlfriend, after 10 years of marriage just before the show's first season. * Felicity Huffman – Dana Whitaker, Executive Producer. She has been friends with Casey since college and there is romantic tension between the two of them. * Joshua Malina – Jeremy Goodwin, Associate Producer & Research Analyst who has an on-again off-again relationship with Natalie. * Sabrina Lloyd – Natalie Hurley, Senior Associate Producer who has an on-again off-again relationship with Jeremy. * Robert Guillaume – Isaac Jaffe, Managing Editor. A

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

-winning journalist who began with the '' Atlanta Journal'' and ended his career as London bureau chief for CNN. A lifelong sports fan who attended the Giants-Dodgers game that decided the 1951 National League pennant, he agreed to come out of retirement when Continental Corp began a sports cable channel.

Supporting cast

* Kayla Blake – Kim, Associate Producer * Greg Baker – Elliott, Associate Producer * Jeff Mooring – Dave, Director * Ron Ostrow – Will, Technician * Timothy Davis-Reed – Chris, Technician *

– Sam Donovan, CSC Ratings Advisor (season 2) * Teri Polo – Rebecca Wells, Market Analyst for Continental Corp. *

Brenda Strong Brenda Lee Strong"Miss Arizona 1980"
''Arizona Republic''. July 13, 1980. ...

– Sally Sasser, Executive Producer of ''West Coast Update'' * Robert Mailhouse – J.J., Network Advisor * Ted McGinley – Gordon Gage (season 1) * Jayne Brook – Abby Jacobs (season 2) *

– Jenny (season 2) * Megan Ward – Pixley (season 2) * Clark Gregg – Calvin Trager (season 2)

Episodes

Series overview

On November 5, 2002,

Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Inc. (doing business as Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment) is the home entertainment distribution arm of the Walt Disney Company. The division handles the distribution of Disney's films, television series, a ...

released the entire series on DVD in Region 1 for the first time. A special 10th Anniversary Edition ''Sports Night'' DVD set was released on September 30, 2008, from Shout! Factory with new bonus features including all-new interviews with creator Aaron Sorkin and cast & crew, featurettes and commentaries. Also included is a commemorative 36-page booklet. In March 2010, Shout! Factory released ''Sports Night: Season One'' on DVD with just 16 episodes.

Season 1 (1998–99)

Season 2 (1999–2000)

Additional airings

*After its cancellation, the rerun rights to the show were briefly picked up by

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American Cable television in the United States, cable television channel, channel owned by Paramount Global through its Paramount Media Networks, network division's Paramount Media Networks#MTV Entertainment Group, MTV Ente ...

. *In 2004,

ABC1 ABC TV, formerly known as ABC1, is an Australian national public television network. It is owned and operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and is the flagship (broadcasting), flagship ABC Television (Australian TV network), A ...

, a British offshoot of ABC, began broadcasting Season 1 of ''Sports Night'' in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

for the first time. The second season aired in January 2006. *It was also aired briefly in Latin America on

Sony Entertainment Television Sony Entertainment Television (abbreviated as SET) is an Indian Hindi-language general entertainment pay television channel that was launched in 1995 and is owned by Culver Max Entertainment, a division of Sony Pictures. History This chann ...

. The Spanish version of this channel ran the show in Spain. *Australia's Channel 7 aired the show on late night television from 1999 to 2001 and was later repeated in the mornings in 2002. *Australia's

Foxtel NXE Australia Pty Ltd, trading as the Foxtel Group, is an Australian pay television company that operates cable television, direct-broadcast satellite, direct broadcast satellite television, and IPTV streaming services. It was formed in April ...

cable network aired ''Sports Night'' on The Comedy Channel in 2005. *The show was aired in

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

on DiziMax in 2006. *The show aired in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

on Raidue (from 2006 to 2008) and Rai4 (July 2009). *The show was available on

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

. The

airings did not retain the entire original soundtrack. *Reruns of ''Sports Night'' aired semi-regularly on FXX from the network's inception in 2013 until 2017. *All episodes of the show previously were available on

Hulu Hulu (, ) is an American Subscription business model, subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of the Walt Disney Company. It was launched on October 29, 2007, initially as ...

in the US. *In 2023, the show aired on the FAST channel Maximum Effort.

Awards

American Cinema Editors Founded in 1950, American Cinema Editors (ACE) is an honorary society of film editing, film editors who are voted in based on the qualities of professional achievements, their education of others, and their dedication to editing. Members use the ...

(ACE) :1999: Best Edited Half-Hour Series for Television (Janet Ashikaga for "Small Town", nominated) *; Art Directors Guild (ADG) :1998: Excellent Production Design – Television Series (Thomas Azzari, nominated) *; Casting Society of America (CSA) :1998: Best Casting – Comedy Episodic (nominated) :1998: Best Casting – Comedy Pilot (nominated) :1999: Best Casting – Comedy Episodic (nominated) *;

Directors Guild of America The Directors Guild of America (DGA) is an entertainment guild that represents the interests of Film director, film and Television director, television directors in the United States motion picture industry and abroad. Founded as the Screen Dir ...

(DGA) :

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

: Outstanding Directorial Achievement – Comedy Series ( Thomas Schlamme for "Pilot", won) :

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

: Outstanding Directorial Achievement- Comedy Series (Schlamme for "Small Town", nominated) *;

Emmy Awards The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

:1999: Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series ( Thomas Schlamme for "Pilot", won) :1999: Outstanding Multi-Camera Picture Editing for a Series (for "Small Town", won) :1999: Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series ( Aaron Sorkin for "The Apology", nominated) :2000: Outstanding Cinematography for a Multi-Camera Series (for "Cut Man", won) :2000: Outstanding Casting for a Comedy Series (nominated) :2000: Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series (Schlamme for "Quo Vadimus", nominated) :2000: Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series (

for playing "Sam Donovan", nominated) :2000: Outstanding Multi-Camera Picture Editing for a Series (for "The Cut Man Cometh", nominated) *;

Golden Globe Awards The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual Awards ceremony, award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally ...

: Best Actress – Musical or Comedy Series ( Felicity Huffman for playing "Dana Whitaker", nominated) *;

Humanitas Prize The Humanitas Prize is an American award for film and television writing, presented to writers whose work explores the human condition in a nuanced and meaningful manner. It began in 1974 with Father Ellwood "Bud" Kieser—also the founder of ...

:1999: Television series – 30 minutes. won *;

Image Awards The NAACP Image Awards is an annual awards ceremony presented by the U.S.-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to honor outstanding performances in film, television, theatre, music, and literature. The over 40 ...

:1998: Outstanding Actor – Comedy Series ( Robert Guillaume for playing "Isaac Jaffe", nominated) :1999: Outstanding Actor – Comedy Series (Guillaume, nominated) :2000: Outstanding Actor – Comedy Series (Guillaume, nominated) *;

Producers Guild of America The Producers Guild of America (PGA) is a 501(c)(6) trade association representing the interests Television producer, television producers, Film producer, film producers and emerging media producers in the United States. The PGA's membership inclu ...

(PGA) :1999: Television Producer of the Year Award in Episodic (nominated) *; Satellite Awards :2000: Best Actor – Musical or Comedy Series ( Robert Guillaume for playing "Isaac Jaffe", nominated) *;

Screen Actors Guild The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) was an American labor union which represented over 100,000 film and television principal and background performers worldwide. On March 30, 2012, the union leadership announced that the SAG membership voted to m ...

(SAG) :1999: Outstanding Cast – Comedy Series (nominated) *; Television Critics Association Awards (TCA) :1999: Program of the Year (nominated) :1999: Outstanding Achievement in Comedy (won) :1999: Outstanding New Program (nominated)

References

External links

*
Episode Guide – TKTV

First season interview with Aaron Sorkin
* {{TCA Award for Outstanding Achievement in Comedy 1998 American television series debuts 2000 American television series endings 1990s American comedy-drama television series 2000s American comedy-drama television series 1990s American sports television series 2000s American sports television series American sports comedy television series American sports drama television series American English-language television shows Primetime Emmy Award–winning television series Television series about television Television series by ABC Studios Television series created by Aaron Sorkin Television shows set in Manhattan Television series by Imagine Entertainment American Broadcasting Company comedy-dramas