Sunday, May 07, 2006

Sports Night

No, I'm not playing . . . I'm watching.

Back in the late 90s the best thing on television was Sports Night, Aaron Sorkin's version of what a fictional ESPN could be like. The banter was quick and witty, the acting was wonderful, and the stories leapt from laugh-out-loud funny to heart-wrenching in the space of a moment. They were microcosms of life in all its joy and pathos and silliness and angst. They were thought-provoking at the same time they were cause for smiling for the rest of the night.

Thanks to DVDs, they still are.

I bought a set of the DVDs of Sports Night when it first appeared -- and I watched all the first season, then got distracted by life. But a friend had never seen it at all, and so I offered to watch with her (big-hearted of me, I know) and so we have now seen all but the last seven episodes. They wear well. And even if the sight of the World Trade Center which occurs at least once per episode recalls to mind an innocence I no longer possess, I watch them with joy because I love the people.

I was really sad when Sports Night got axed. I thought it deserved a few more seasons. I wanted to know what happened to Dan and Casey and Dana and Natalie and Jeremy and Isaac. In fact, I still do. I think it would be really neat to have a Sports Night reunion. Of course all those actors have gone on to do other wonderful things. I watched Felicity Huffman at the Oscars and thought, I knew her when...

Of course, I didn't. But I knew Dana -- and she was brilliant as Dana, just as Josh Charles was a great Dan Rydell and Peter Krause was terrific as Casey McCall. Robert Guillaume was absolutely memorable as Isaac Jaffe. And I will never forget Joshua Malina and Sabrina Lloyd as Jeremy and Natalie.

So, how about it, guys? How about it, Aaron Sorkin? You've had six or seven years away from Sports Night on CSC. How about catching us up on what everyone's been doing and where they've been?

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