I was recently having a conversation with Julia about the brilliance of the West Wing, and the topic of Sports Night came up. We were talking about how TWW’s CJ was a pretty well crafted female character, one who I always compared to Dana from Sports Night. I was challenged to talk about what such strong female characters Aaron Sorkin has been able to develop over the years (A task I fear I would fail miserably, and I think the Sisterhood deserves a better spokesperson than me). Instead I want to delve into the near perfect family dynamic that the characters of Sports Night became:
The “Not as Cool as he Thinks” Dad, Casey McCall: Well, he’s an actual father, who thinks he’s cool (And with Starlight Vocal Band playing in the car, how could he not?), so he fits the bill here fairly well. You can’t say that Casey is specifically the “leader” of this group, but they definitely take their cues from him (And by take their cues, I mean use him as the starting point for what to make fun of in any given day). But he’s the father with the heart of gold.
The “Large and In-Charge” Mom, Dana Whitaker: Most definitely the floor captain for the kids that can’t shoot straight, at least not most of the time. As the show’s producer, she’s in charge of every aspect of what happens, though she does take direction from the network (which she ignores) and Isaac (which she pretty much ignores too). Sports Night, real or fictional, wouldn’t be the same without Dana.
The “Actually Cool” Uncle, Dan Rydell: The frick to Casey’s frak, Dan and Casey are partners in the purest sense of the word. They feed off of each other to motivate their writing as well as their on air work. No younger sibling would be right without some jealousy issues, which we see rear its head in the second season (though Dan, as we find out, has quite a collection of issues).
The “Little Train that Does” Daughter, Natalie Hurley: Natalie always comes across as the youngest trying to prove her worth to the rest of the family. What she doesn’t always realize, is everyone knows exactly how valuable she really is. She probably has some of the most fun interplays with everyone in the family, from pushing Casey and Dana together, to her “pal-around” respect for Dan.
The “Nerdy but Lovable” Boyfriend, Jeremy Goodwin: How can anyone not love Jeremy. His first scene in the pilot is laugh out loud funny as he tries to answer Dana’s interview question, and the good times never stop. Jeremy is the guy that wants to be accepted by everyone in the group, not just his (“eventual” and “on again, off again” both work so well here) girlfriend Natalie. The guy is brilliant but socially awkward (in the fun way), and perfect for both the family and the show.
The “Wise but Cranky” Grandfather, Isaac Jaffe: If Dana is the head of the family (and lets make no bones about that fact, Casey), then Isaac is the grandfather that used to bounce her on his knee. While Dana may be in charge, nothing happens at Sports Night with out Isaac’s tacit approval. The character (and the actor, in a gutsy move) explore the side affects of a stroke that happened to both near the end of the first season. In a show that is full of incredible moments, the first season finale with his surprise return stand out, “Hey, lady! You planning on getting my show on the air anytime soon?”
In crafting Sports Night, Aaron Sorkin created, intentionally or not, a classic family dynamic. The relationships between the characters were more developed than most anything on TV since. More than all shows “canceled before their time,” I miss Sports Night the most. While the show did run for two seasons, the final arc of the show, where the fate of the fictional show was up in the air until the last minute, left a clean slate for the for the team to proceed in the future. Unfortunately for us, while the arc of the fictional show mirrored that of the actual show, the real story didn’t end with a last minute savior.
Clacked by Ivey West 
on Jun 03, 2009 @ 16:00 EST5EDT
Being a huge sports fan (and ex-broadcast news employee), this show still holds up. Great characters, lots of laughs and a few serious moments too. Very underrated series that ended long before it should have.
Would make a great Virgin Diary or Flashback. Anyone?
Aaron Sorkin talk about setting his next show around a news show. If I were him, I would center that show around Dan Rydell. He was suck a great character.
Aaron Sorkin really needs to make a show about news show, I think it would work great.
However leave the over the top political bullshit to yourself. I don’t know how he did it but Studio 60 was just a horrible show with so much promise.
*POST AUTHOR*
See, and I found that if you just ignored the politics of the show, and just let the narrative flow, it was still a pretty darn good show. But that’s just me.
The best episode of the series … “Six Southern Gentlemen of Tennessee” … One of the top ten episodes of television that I have ever seen.
My favorite monologue from the series…
Isaac: Exaudio, Comperio, Conloquor. That’s a Latin phrase that translates: To Listen, To Learn, To Speak. Those words are carved into the stone arches that form the entrance to the undergraduate library at Tennessee Western University. This afternoon, an extraordinary young man named Roland Shepard made what had to have been an excruciating decision. He said he wasn’t playing football under a Confederate flag. Six of his teammates then chose not to let Shepard stand alone. And I choose to join them at this moment. In the history of the South, there’s much to celebrate. And that flag is a desecration of all of it. It’s a banner of hatred and separatism. It’s a banner of ignorance and violence and a war that pitted brother against brother, and to ask young black men and women, young Jewish men and women, Asians, Native Americans, to ask Americans to walk beneath its shadow is a humiliation of irreducible proportions. And we all know it. Tennessee Western has produced some outstanding alumni in the last hundred years. People of wisdom and vision. Strength and compassion. One of them is Luther Sachs. Luther Sachs owns Continental Corp, which owns the Continental Sports Channel, which you’re watching right now. Luther Sachs is a generous alumni contributor to Tennessee Western with a considerable influence over its Chancellor, Davis Blake, and its Board of Trustees. Luther, you’ve got a phone call to make. You’ve got to call Chancellor Blake and tell him to take down that flag or he can stop looking for your checks in the mail. You’ve got to put these young men back in a classroom, and I mean pronto. These boys are gonna make you proud one day, Luther. I challenge you to do the right thing. Not an unreasonable request to make of a man whose alma mater declares Exaudio, Comperio, Conloquor. To Listen, To Learn, To Speak. In the meantime, God go with you, Roland Shepard and you six Southern Gentlemen of Tennessee. God’s not done with any of you yet.
*POST AUTHOR*
See, I actually had a pretty big problem with that episode. I always wondered why these students would choose to attend that school in the first place if they viewed the flag and the school’s traditions as a “banner of ignorance and violence?” It just never made any sense to me.
I agree with most of what you said, although I see Casey as the older brother and Isaac more as the father figure, Dana does need to match up with Casey, romance-wise. However, great Sports Night spotlight -
*POST AUTHOR*
See, I liked the idea of Casey/Dana in the first season, but they did everything to kill the idea in the second. Sam Donovan had much more chemistry with Dana at that point (Which, you know, duh, as the actors are married).
However, like I said, I liked their interplay during the first season.
YES!
Yes, to everything.
My favourite show of all time. Thank you so much for this!