Sports Night Blows the Hatch – Dan makes an apology

This is an Ivey West original. Due to the limitations of Internet on airplanes, as well as Ivey’s inclusion on the “watch list”, I’m doing a favor for a friend. But, be sure that this is an Ivey; do I tend to be this positive when I write? Begin, sir.

My love for all things Sorkin is well known around these parts. I think The West Wing is the greatest television show that ever aired, and I’ve said as recently as yesterday that the only people that like Studio 60 were me, Bob Sassone, and Aaron Sorkin’s mother.

A Few Good Men and The American President stand with some of my favorite films of all time. However, I’ve long held that his most under-appreciated work was Sports Night. Based (not so) loosely on ESPN’s SportsCenter, the show follows the behind the scenes antics (and if there was ever an appropriate time to use that word, it would be to describe these guys) of the production of a nightly sports recap show. I’ve written about the characters before; they are wacky and witty, wise and wise-asses, and they work so perfectly well together.

When I began to examine exactly when I thought the show had Blown the Hatch, several moments quickly came to mind. In the Pilot, when the awe of watching a man who was told he would never walk again set a world record in the marathon, brings Casey out of a funk. Or when Isaac stands up to his boss by delivering a stinging editorial on race, and the Confederate Flag, in college athletics (I do have problems with that episode, but one cannot deny the grace and wisdom Isaac imparts).

If the Hatch hadn’t been Blown by the first season finale, ‘What Kind of Day Has it Been’, then Isaac’s surprise reappearance and the delivery of the line, “Hey, lady! Are you planning on getting my show on the air anytime soon?”, would most certainly have done so.

All great scenes. But, me? I realized exactly how good the show would be in the second episode, ‘The Apology’. Dan had, in a recent magazine article, made some comments about the legalization of marijuana. The network, unhappy with the potential public relations fallout, laid down the gauntlet: Dan is to make an on-air apology for his comments.

He’s pissed, making the point that opinions, by their definition, cannot be right or wrong, and thus there is nothing to apologize for. Isaac, in an effort to calm, points out to him that it doesn’t matter what he apologizes for, as long as he apologizes.

Leading up to airtime, the rest of the crew had doubts on what, if anything he would say. When the moment came, he took a long enough pause before speaking, that Dana began to take the camera off of him. When Dan finally started, he began by talking about his younger brother; one who was a smart kid in his own right, but looked up to his older brother, and tried to emulate him. Unfortunately, that meant smoking pot while driving, which lead to his death. The apology was to his brother, for not being a better role model. It was a powerful moment, both to us the audience, and to the other characters who did not know the story, as well.

Few outright comedies have handled drama with the finesse that Sports Night did. In fact, it stands with M*A*S*H as one of the two best. There is drama in comedy, and comedy in drama, but sitcoms rarely can pull it off without coming across as campy. In ‘The Apology’, Sorkin set the standard that he could write for both genres, a fact that he would prove time and time again.

For Sports Night, though, it was the moment I realized that this would be no normal sitcom. That I was watching, as they would say on the show, “Shakespeare the way it’s supposed to be performed.”

Bravo, Mr. West.

Clacked by Ivey West
on Jul 17, 2009 @ 16:00 EST5EDT