Rating: 
Summary: Maybe the funniest show you never watched
Review: [I rate it 4.5 stars.]"Sports Night" is about an eponymous fictitious hour sports news show on the fictitious Continental Sports Channel. It's a sit-com targeted at an audience who knows what "eponymous" means without consulting a dictionary. But this comedy isn't really about sports at all. It's about intelligent, articulate people who use humor to relieve the pressures that their demanding jobs entail. Aaron Sorkin is the creator of "Sports Night". He also created "The West Wing" a year later, and when he realized that it was a lot easier selling viewers a fictitious White House administration than a fictitious sports news crew, he dropped "Sports Night" like a hot potato. Most everyone knows that "The West Wing" isn't really about Washington politics; instead it's about intelligent, articulate people who use humor to relieve the pressures that their demanding jobs entail. But few people have even heard of "Sports Night". It's a shame, though, because "Sports Night" may be the funniest show you never watched. There are plenty of valid criticisms of "Sports Night". For supposedly intelligent people the characters adopt a large number of unreasonable prejudices. These are all politically correct prejudices, of course. In the world of "Sports Night" when a homeless man flicks open a switchblade he's only cutting a sandwich to share. Aaron Sorkin certainly has trouble writing multiple character voices. Without seeing which characters recite which lines you'd be hard pressed to match characters with dialog from a script; the phrasing and delivery are largely interchangeable. And fully half of the humor of "Sports Night" comes from a predictable formula of repetition. Here's my pastiche of a "Sports Night" dialog: A: "We need to talk."
B: "Is it about X? Because I'm tired of talking about X. We can talk about anything you want, as long as it's not about X."
A: "OK, then." B: "It's not about X?"
A: "It's not about X."
B: "OK, then."
A: "It's about X."
B: "I've got to tell you, if I could make your head explode using only the power of my mind, they'd never get the stain out of the carpet." "Sports Night" in its 2-year run won quite a lot of awards, but none of them were from the writing. It's good that there's still a lot of comic meat left after you strip away the repetition schtick, and much of that comes from the talented cast: Josh Charles (who got his start in John Waters's "Hairspray), Peter Krause (now in "Six Feet Under"), Felicity Huffman ("Out of Order"), Joshua Malina (who followed Sorkin to "The West Wing"), Sabrina Lloyd ("Sliders"), and Robert Guillaume ("Benson"). But the most significant people on "Sports Night" weren't the writers or actors, but rather the impressive crew behind the cameras. Here are just the award "Sports Night" won (skipping the 22 other nominations): 1999 DGA Award, Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy Series: Thomas Schlamme
1999 Emmy Award, Outstanding Multi-Camera Picture Editing for a Series: Janet Ashikaga
1999 Emmy Award, Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series: Thomas Schlamme
1999 Humanitas Prize, 30 Minute Category
1999 Television Critics Association Awards, Outstanding Achievement in Comedy
2000 DGA Award, Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy Series: Thomas Schlamme
2000 Emmy Award, Outstanding Cinematography for a Multi-Camera Series: Peter Smokler
2000 Genesis Award, Television - New Series
2000 PGA Golden Laurel Nova Award, Most Promising Producer in Television: Aaron Sorkin
2000 TV Guide Award, Best Show You're Not Watching Do you remember the first episode of "ER"? This was ground-breaking television; it pulled you into the story by its technique of using moving cameras to record an action-packed scene in a single continuous piece rather than assemble lots of short cuts together. It's not surprising that Thomas Schlamme directed several episodes of "ER" before bringing this technique to "Sports Night". Continuous action is very expensive to shoot as it requires the sets to be contiguous, the lighting to be in place for all the places the camera will move to, and most importantly all the actors and camera and sound people have to avoid mistakes for the duration of the scene. But the payoff is a superior viewing experience. This show really delivered. I could go on about the great recurring guest cast, with people like Teri Polo, Brenda Strong, William H. Macy, and Jayne Brook. Or the great music that ends most every episode. I could tell you that you'll be disappointed by the extras on the DVD collection (none at all). Or that Sorkin bowed to network pressure and added a laugh track for about half the first season before it became clear that the viewers were people who didn't need a laugh track to get the jokes. But the most important thing I can tell you is that you really should check out "Sports Night". Despite its several flaws it got many things right. "Sports Night" is good entertainment.
Rating:
Summary: Just enought to get me interested...
Review: Like many of the other reviewers, I did not see this show when it first aired. Mostly because I could never find it, because it never seemed to air when it was supposed to. This should have aired on ESPN! I really enjoyed watching the box set and only wish there were more episodes to look forward to, as the series only came to a "semi-end" when the (imaginary) network was bought out. Why does it always seem that the really good series, those that develop characters you want to follow, get cancelled?
Rating:
Summary: too smart for the American public obviously ...
Review: .. this show was brilliantly written - suffered the same fate as a number of shows that were just too much for the american public that seems to want to be dumbed-down at every opportunity - Al Franken's political dramedy and Bostom Common are a couple more shows to suffer unjust fates like Sports Night
Rating:
Summary: One of the best shows ever
Review: It broke my heart when ABC cancelled this show - and I was happy when Comedy Central picked it up for syndication.
Buy this DVD Set and you won't be dissapointed. It's everything smart and funny TV should be.
Rating:
Summary: Spectacular television
Review: The show is an emotional rollercoaster, because in every single episode you will laugh aloud and come this close to crying. I could go on and on about how great the script is, how great the cast is, how it's underappreciated and ended in such a way that never really fully resolved a lot of loose ends... ...but I think it's safe to say that if you watch this show, you will care about it. You'll care so deeply you'll feel a pang of pain in your heart when you think how there never will be another episode, how this specific ensemble will never be back together, and how a show that could've been one of the greats never got out of the sophomore slump (even Cheers got 3 seasons to establish itself before getting decent ratings!). You don't need extras on this DVD, you'll be fine with the "play all" feature, because watching this show from end to end is the most we could ask from television.
Rating:
Summary: Quite possibly the best sitcom since The Dick Van Dyke Show
Review: First, a disclaimer. I happen to work in the television industry,
so I probably see more in this show than the average viewer. That having been said, I would recommend this box set to anyone who wanted to see truly incredible comedy, witty dialog, characters you WILL care about, and writing that should have its own category in the Emmy Awards. From the rapid-fire joke delivery, to the character development that begins in the pilot and never stops, to the drama intertwined with all, this has to be one of the best shows ever to grace ABC's lineup. (It is truly unfortunate that ABC chose to move it around; that this show was killed by such treatment should be ample evidence to ABC that such show-shuffling is A Bad Idea If You Want To Build Audience Loyalty.) An aside to one of the other reviewers who wanted the cast members to come back to do a proper ending to the series; I have to say that, having lived through a situation very similar to the anguish that was central to the last two episodes, I can think of no better ending. The last five minutes of Episode 45 brought tears of joy to my eyes, just to know that their pain ended on such a happy note. It should stand as it is. We've seen some of the other actors in other roles recently (notably Sabrina Lloyd, Joshua Malina, Peter Krause, and Felicity Huffman), and have heard Robert Guillaume (for whom I have nothing but admiration) as voice talent in the new Lion King movie, but I will always treasure sharing Continental Sports Channel and "Sports Night" with them. Thanks for the ride, guys!
Rating:
Summary: Sorkin's older child
Review: Aaron Sorkin started this show a year before his crowning achievement on The West Wing, and it was a pity that it wasn't picked up on when it came out. I must admit, I didn't see the show until years after its run on TV was over, and I was very impressed at the time. This is a show that runs on Sorkin's strengths: to go behind the scenes and provide a glimpse of something that most people wouldn't know about (namely, what goes into producing a television show), to write great dialogue and have terriffic actors deliver it, and above all, to create his unique synthesis of comedy and drama that has the effect of being absolutely riveting. Sorkin can bring viewers to laughter one moment and tears the next, his juxtaposition of humor and gravity is stunning, it doesn't feel the least but unnatural or staged. The show is a behind the scenes look at producing a nightly sports highlights show. Like other Sorkin progeny, most of the material of the show is derived from the interplay of the personalities on the show: Dana Whittaker (Felicity Huffman), the show's producer; Casey McCall (Peter Krause), the divorced show anchor and his hapless co-anchor, the excellent Josh Charles as Dan Rydell; Joshua Malina steals a number of scenes as resident geek Jeremy Goodwin; Sabrina Lloyd is likeably quirky as Natalie Hurley, but perhaps the most affecting character is executive producer Isaac Jaffe (Robert Guilliame), a strict father-like benevolent overseer. The ensemble is always excellent, whether debating the athlete of the century or delving into each other's personal lives, they always come off as real people rather than comedians or performers. This show has a lot of heart, and some of the poignant speeches here can truly leave one's eyes teared up. Many times, this show feels like The West Wing on speed. The drama and humor fly by so quickly that it feels like a high-speed chase on the freeway. This might have been a prototypical high-concept sitcom that was just too risky for the general public, but it is one of the finest shows of the 1990s and is certainly worth your time if you liked Sorkin's other work.
Rating:
Summary: Sports Night
Review: I watched every single episode that aired since the pilot and was quite angry when ABC cancelled this show. Then they cancelled Once and Again and I pretty much stopped watching ABC. Enough about ABC bashing, that is another forum. This is such a great series, probably one of the best I had the fortune of watching (first DVD boxset too). The acting and the witty dialogue is just a beginning to the brillence that is Sports Night. It can pull emotions out of you that you never knew you had and cover topics that shouldn't even be funny or dramatic. It is a sad shame what ABC did to this show, but at least people are watching it now.
Rating:
Summary: One of the smartest Tv shows ever
Review: Its too bad that sports night didnt last, this is one tv's smartest shows. Every actor in this show is excelent. The writing is amazing. I hope that more people find this show on DVD.
Rating:
Summary: Tragic
Review: Since when does a sitcom appeal equally (and enormously) to teens and adults (male and female), critics, sports junkies, comedy-lovers and sensitive souls? Sports Night should have been a ratings bonanza. What a shame ABC tossed it around the TV schedule like a rag doll- which everyone knows loses viewers. There are few things about the show you should know before you decide to buy the boxed set:
-You will laugh (and cry) hard
-You will (and I mean this) care about the characters
-You will go into withdrawal after you finish the 45th episode
-You will agonize that it was cancelled
-Your cry for help will be something along the lines of writing an Amazon review
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