emptystomach24 I can't believe how underwhelmed I am with it. For the longest time, all I heard was how great this show was and how it was one of the best written shows of all time. Give me a break.Basically every single character is incredibly annoying & at many times completely insufferable. For the most part I find Dan alright, but besides him, Isaac & Rebecca are the only two characters I don't want to slap every other time they come on screen.I have never been or heard abut a work environment that was so into each other's personal lives. Every one is so involved with everyone else's sh!t and they are all so open about it. It's extremely unprofessional and I've never experienced intrusiveness of that manner at any job or social/work environment I've ever been apart of, and I was in a fraternity.Another thing that bothers me is how they are so mean to Sally. Because she is not apart of the super best friends? Oh, she is gunning to be Dana's replacement. What a b!tch!! You know, because we want Natalie to be the next in line cause she's a good buddy so let's be super rude to this other worker who we aren't great friends with. It doesn't make sense & it makes me hate the characters even more.99.9% of the show takes place in that office/studio. Not showing your characters in any other setting besides the workplace make it limiting. I feel like I'm just watching the same episode over again half the time. And don't say stuff like 'Lost' only took place in one setting. It was a large island outside. Not a confined floor in a building.And one example of something that really bothered me was when Casey went on the View and the clothing assistant approached him afterward and basically called him out for not mentioning the woman who picks out his outfits when Star Jones complimented him on this suit. And then he just took it. What kind of assistant would have the balls to say something like that to the on air talent? Do your job & shut up. Just another dumb thing that was put in to, I don't know, add drama to the show? It would most likely not happen in real life, and if it did they would fired for talking to a superior like that.

dan-800 I'm glad I didn't watch this series until first catching "Studio 60 On the Sunset Strip", which is basically just a re-tread and re-imagining of "SN". The comparisons don't end with script structure and "witty" dialogue - they both have similar actors, characters, and well... everything. Since "SN" was canceled, I suppose "Studio 60" is now as close as you can get. For some, that's a good thing. Not for me.It is undeniable that this is an entertaining series. The characters are all fun (if way too nice to be believed), each beautifully performed by a very talented cast. The stories are engagingly manipulative. And it's just a cool idea - a series about a Sports show that isn't about Sports.Unfortunately, Sorkin is absolutely enamored with his own voice, and as such all of his characters adopt this voice. It is not them. It is not what Danny or Dana or Casey would do or say - it's what Sorkin would say if he *were* any of these characters, complete with very self-conscious, clipped, repetitious quips. He writes like a playwright writing as a playwright is supposed to write. Not only does his style not work, it's grating, obnoxious, fairly unoriginal, and - worst of all - totally takes us out of the moments he struggles so hard to create.Would that were my only complaint.In addition to some seriously poor production values and editing (probably the result of being forced in front of a studio audience - not Sorkin's choice), not to mention a dopey theme song that continues to rear it's ugly notes, this series (and "Studio 60" to an even greater degree) suffers further from being produced by someone way too close to the subject material. Both shows practically scream "I'm a TV producer! I should make a TV show about making a TV show! That way I can show off all my knowledge of the subject, as well as inject the show with as much obscure information as possible to make me seem even smarter than I already am! Did I mention I'm a hard-working TV writer who won a Writer's Guild award? I'll have my main character be a hard-working TV writer who won a Writer's Guild award! Did I mention that my favorite writers are Paddy Chayefsky and Gilbert & Sullivan? I'll have my Pilot teaser be a rip-off of "Network", and then have my characters espouse their love for Paddy Chayefsky and do a send-up of "Pirates of Penzance"! Did I mention that I have a coke problem? I'll have my main character..." and on and on.The show's plots also leave a lot to be desired. They are rife with obvious set-ups for lame jokes, and practically shameless "After School Special" or "Christmas at Sports Night" moralizing (the "This is sexual harassment, and I don't have to take it!" episode really stands out, particularly since Natalie is a cloyingly quirky character that no real person would stand working with). While entertaining and inherently watchable, the stories are neither quite as smart as Mr. Sorkin believes they are, nor as intelligent as he himself is. He should - nay, does - know better.It amazes me how much Sorkin has in common with M. Night Shyamalan - they both have enviable raw talent, are in love with their own works, and yet try so hard you just know that they're incredibly insecure about their own abilities. If they would stop with such egotistical nonsense as forcing their own personal stamp on their projects, and instead just worked to make a great movie or TV show, the entertainment world would be a much better place.It's true, "SN" is weak. But I suppose bland coffee is better than none at all.

Clive-Silas Finally, FINALLY, we, that is to say me and the other two people in the United Kingdom who are even aware of the newly launched abc1 satellite/cable channel, get to see Sports Night, the half hour comedy-drama that was too good to stay on the air on which the estimable Aaron Sorkin cut his writer-creator teeth before giving us the West Wing. The first time I saw The West Wing, I sat there afterwards with my mouth agape, and I said to myself, "My God, the sky is falling. The Americans now make better television than we do." I'm taping each episode of Sports Night so that I can wallow anew in wonderful, new (to me) outpourings of brilliance from the Sorkin typewriter. But if I pause or rewind the tape, because I have one of those antiquated video machines where the sound does not come straight back when you press Play, I'm always having to rewind just a little bit more. Because invariably I can see that in that brief silent period - not more than a second or two at most - the actor's lips are going like an express train, and, what is more to the point, I know that unlike just about any other programme I can think of, every syllable will be worth hearing.I'm so glad to finally be able to see this virtually unknown gem. Sorkin has left The West Wing and no doubt has followed the siren's call to the silver screen, but that is a waste. Aaron Sorkin is a man who has developed the art of Television to far greater heights than anyone could have imagined; it is his natural home and I hope we will see a great deal more of his work on the medium he made his own.

say_andy Had this whip-smart, 22 minute, "dramedy" set at a fictional sports network, depicting the lives of those who work at that network's flagship news anchor show (titled "Sports Night") aired on a network like HBO or Comedy Central, it might have had a chance. But, a network like ABC had no idea what to do with something mature and innovative like this. It doesn't have an immediate audience. On paper, it seems like a comedy for sports fans. But sports is only the window dressing for a work-place comedy that dishes observational humour on subjects ranging from relationships to politics.Further troubling to vapid network executives is the fact that while Sports Night is a comedic show that is 22 minutes in length, it is hardly a sitcom by the traditional definition of the term. Sitcoms are usually formulaic offerings that puts familiar archetypes in wacky situations to allow the hilarity to ensue. Rarely do characters grow or evolve, besides the pesky children who grow necessarily, usually alienating the core audience by doing so. Sports Night is paced more like a TV drama, a drama that happens to be 22 minutes and funny. The humour is generally of the high-brow variety, derived from the rapid-fire dialogue that is the trademark of writer and series creator Aaron Sorkin. This isn't typical sitcom humour, but ABC really wanted it to be, evidenced by the horribly distracting laugh track used in the first few episodes and later (thankfully) abandoned.Sorkin and his writing are the true stars of the series, but his words would be lifeless were it not for the outstanding performances turned in by the stellar cast. Peter Krause (who would later go on to shine in HBO's Six Feet Under) stars as anchor Casey McCall, a character loosely-based on former ESPN anchor, and former late night talk show host, Craig Kilborn. His co-anchor is Dan Rydell, played ably by Josh Charles (of Dead Poets Society fame). He's so good that you wonder where he's been all these years. Dan is my favourite character on the show. Sorkin favourite Joshua Malina (who also appeared in Sorkin's The American President, A Few Good Men and The West Wing) plays tech-geek Jeremy Goodwin, stealing many scenes and making me wish he did more on The West Wing. Desperate Housewives star Felcity Huffman plays show producer Dana Whitaker, Sabrina Lloyd (who I guess was on Sliders) is her assistant Natalie Hurley, and Benson himself, Robert Guillaume added the star power to the series as the boss, Isaac Jaffe (Guillaume had a stroke during the series, which in turn gave a stroke to his character).It's sad that such a funny, intelligent and entertaining show couldn't last more than two seasons, but it's ultimately for the best. Sorkin and Thomas Schlamme (who was executive producer and directed many episodes) would go on to create The West Wing, which was a better showcase of his talent and quite possibly the finest drama the medium has ever produced. Plus, had there been a third season, Buena Vista probably wouldn't have released the whole series in one set, choosing instead to release season one, then never release another season again! I'm just happy to finally own these two seasons so I can re-live them to my heart's content.