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Sports Night - The Complete Series Boxed Set [DVD]
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Reviews & Ratings
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Tracy Martin
08-08-2025Fans of "The West Wing" are almost sure to love "Sports Night". Fans of sports are almost sure to love "Sports Night". People in general are almost sure to love "Sports Night".Yes, Aaron Sorkin's first comedy, which was loved by critics but canceled by ABC after only two seasons, has its drawbacks. The laugh track that was forced on the show by ABC executives for half of the first season is jarring, and makes these early episodes much less enjoyable. The dialogue is often repetitive, and Sorkin seems to have a limited number of ideas and themes roaming around in his head - viewers of the West Wing will recognize familiar plots, character names, and even lines of dialogue! But ultimately, the show triumphs because of its wonderful characters.The friendship between the show's two sports anchors, Dan and Casey, is one of the best relationships ever seen on TV. Like all great partnerships, they have their share of problems, but ultimately the two of them truly love each other, as is revealed throughout both seasons. Casey (played by Peter Krause of "Six Feet Under"), who at the start of the series has just been divorced from his wife, Lisa, is the star of Sports Night - a fact that Dan has considerable issues with. Dan (played by Josh Charles of "The Dead Poet's Society") is the emotional heart of the series, and receives some of the most touching and dramatic plotlines during both seasons. Dana (played by Felicity Huffman, now on "Desperate Housewives"), producer of Sports Night, is a woman who is strong in her professional life but emotionally weak when it comes to her personal life. Her fierce love for the show and the people who work on it is inspiring. Her "will they or won't they" relationship with Casey is a running theme throughout the series, much like Josh and Donna on "The West Wing". Natalie (played by Sabrina Lloyd) is Dana's second in command, and her best friend. Her relationship with Jeremy (played by Joshua Malina, now on "The West Wing") provides some of the funniest and most touching moments of the show. Jeremy is the show's moral center, and gets some of the best "Sorkinesque" speeches. Joshua Malina is excellent in this role, able to be both incredibly funny and incredibly touching at the same time. Isaac (played by Robert Guillame) is the executive producer of Sports Night, and serves as a sort of father figure for the Sports Night group (much like Martin Sheen on the West Wing). When Guillame suffered a stroke in real life, it was written into the show, and the result is some amazing television. Even minor characters, who aren't in the credits but appear in every episode, are well rounded. Guest stars don't appear for one episode and then disappear - they appear many times, sometimes in both seasons, are talked about when they aren't there, and effect the show's characters in real ways. Both seasons feature some great guest stars, including William H. Macy (Huffman's husband) as a ratings advisor brought in to help the show, and Teri Polo as Rebecca, Dan's love interest. Many guest stars later show up on the West Wing - including Janel Moloney, who guest stars in the show's touching Christmas episode.The DVD set is visually appealing, but ultimately disappointing. It's presented very nicely: the box set holds 3 separate DVD cases; each DVD case contains two disks. Each disk is decorated with the silhouette face of one of the main cast members, and the menu on that disk features that cast member's scenes from the show. Unfortunately, you can't play individual episodes - the disk allows you to "play all", or to choose an episode, but once the episode is done the disk goes on to the next episode instead of returning to the menu. The DVD set offers no special features, and mine skipped a few times, even when it was brand new.Even with these drawbacks, I highly recommend the Sports Nights DVDs. The characters are easy to fall in love with, and when you reach the end of the second season you will be desperately wishing for more.
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C. Crockett
08-08-2025Aaron Sorkin, best known for his intelligent and witty hit shows such as "The West Wing", and (most recently) "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip", started out with this small and beautiful diamond in the rough. "Sports Night" was Sorkin's first big project, and it shows in the sharp, fast-paced, satirical wit present in every line of dialogue.The show follows a team of newscasters, producers, and writers who work on a late night sports news show called "Sports Night", a mock up of ESPN's SportsCenter. The interpersonal relationships this small group of people have are always fascinating and fun to watch, and one of the best things about this show is that even if you have no real knowledge about sports, you can *still* watch this show and not get lost at all! As a woman with very little knowledge of most sports, I *still* fell in love with this show, and I imagine it's even more awesome for a man who actually *knows* what they're talking about when it comes to all the sports lingo and statistics they ocassionally throw out there.This show even has a little star power, and some very recognizable faces among the cast. The most obvious of which is Felicity Huffman, who is now starring on the hit show "Desperate Housewives" as the strong-willed soccer mom, Lynette Scavo. Felicity's husband, William H. Macy, also guest stars in a few episodes of "Sports Night".This half-hour dramedy only lasted 2 seasons before it's cancellation (which was a very sad day in television), but it lives on through this incredible DVD box set. Since each episode is actually a little less than a half-hour (since there are obviously no commercials on dvd), it's really easy to start watching them and get so drawn in that you don't realize you've gone through half a season in no time at all!Bottom line, I highly recommend this show, and I still cling to the tiny hope that network execs might someday realize their mistake in cancelling it, and bring it back on the air....but alas, that will probably never happen.
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Ripley
08-08-2025Great writing. Always loved Aaron Shorkin’s writing.
Technical Specifications
Product Description Taut, exciting, realistic dramedy about the lives of sports journalists. It's a show about a show about sports, that isn't about sports at all. Amazon.com Before there was Aaron Sorkin's West Wing, there was Aaron Sorkin's Sports Night, which followed the trials and tribulations of a smart, energetic television staff as they scrambled to put on a nightly cable sports show, not unlike ESPN's SportsCenter. Sports Night was every bit as good as its political successor--and in some ways, even better--even though it didn't have the gravitas of, say, running the country on a daily basis. You don't need to know anything about sports to appreciate the dynamics of the Sports Night news room (which bears more than a passing similarity to His Girl Friday), and the issues the cast grappled with every week ran from the serious to the frothy, always peppered with snappy Sorkin dialogue. And sadly, as befalls most quality television (TV Guide dubbed it "The Best Show You're Not Watching"), Sports Night was canceled after two seasons. But the trajectory of 45 episodes on this DVD set allows you to watch one of the best and most groundbreaking half-hour shows ever put on television. Those familiar with Sorkin's writing style will revel in the unabashed comedy and interoffice romance on display here, and the way it's set in motion by a powerhouse cast, including Felicity Huffman's Dana (sexy, neurotic show producer), Peter Krause's Casey (goofball anchor guy), Joshua Malina's know-it-all Jeremy (staff nerd and information repository), Sabrina Lloyd's efficient Natalie (Dana's mostly unflappable assistant), and the show's two secret weapons: Robert Guillaume as executive producer Isaac, who was to Sports Night what Martin Sheen was to The West Wing, and the superb Josh Charles, who as co-anchor Dan, a man as complex as he was funny and heartbreaking, was the heart and soul of Sports Night. Damn, they just don't make TV this good anymore! --Mark Englehart
