There are few television shows that hold my interest past the pilot episode. When they do, they usually get cancelled because most networks can’t seem to identify quality programs without the help of their woefully misguided Neilsen system. In rare instances, such as the Family Guy and Futurama resurrections, a fantastic show gets canceled, then does so well on DVD, the network is forced to place it’s tail squarely between its legs and bring the show back to life. Sports Night was not one of these shows.
The year is 1998. ABC has Home Improvement, NYPD Blue, Ellen, Dharma and Drew. On Tuesday September 22, they premiere a little show-within-a-show called Sports Night. The ensemble cast includes a few heavyweights, and several actors who earned their street cred long after Sports Night was running on Comedy Central at 3am.
The show centers around the cast and crew of a sports broadcasting program on a cable sports network. The anchors, Casey McCall (Peter Krause, Six Feet Under) and Dan Rydell (Josh Charles, S.W.A.T.) are lovable, damaged sports fans, who, with humility and humor, suffer the outrageous fortune of being immersed in all things sports on a daily basis.
Executive Producer Dana Whittaker (Felicity Huffman, Desperate Housewives) is the feisty, woman-in-a-man’s-world leader with a heart of gold that keeps the show on track, and with the help of Jeremy Goodwin (Joshua Malina, The West Wing) and Natalie Hurley (Sabrina Lloyd, Num3ers) keep the big boss Isaac Jaffe (Robert Guillaume, Benson) happy and the antagonistic network executives at bay.
