After finding success with A Few Good Men (1992) on Broadway and The American President (1995) for Hollywood, Aaron Sorkin wrote this workplace sitcom about making a sports-centred news show for cable television.
Despite critical applause, the show struggled to find an audience and was cancelled after two seasons, freeing Sorkin to work on his next project, The West Wing (1999).
Sports Night featured what would become hallmarks of Sorkin’s TV writing – whip-fast banter, competing conversations, and the so-called “walk and talk”.
Characters focussed on the relationships between the main characters, especially the two anchors, Dan Rydell (Josh Charles) and Casey McCall (Peter Krause), their producer Dana Whitaker (Felicity Huffman), the show’s managing editor Isaac Jaffe (Robert Guillaume) and the network brass who regularly interfered with the show’s production.
Sports Night was infused with its characters’ love of sports reporting and the writers’ clear affection for – and frustration with – the process of producing content for television.
Dan Rydell
Josh Charles Casey McCall
Peter Krause Dana Whitaker
Felicity Huffman Jeremy Goodwin
Joshua Malina Natalie Hurley
Sabrina Lloyd Isaac Jaffe
Robert Guillaume Kim
Kayla Blake Elliott
Greg Baker Chris
Timothy Davis-Reed Dave
Jeff Mooring Will
Ron Ostrow Alyson
Suzanne Kellogg
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Despite critical applause, the show struggled to find an audience and was cancelled after two seasons, freeing Sorkin to work on his next project, The West Wing (1999).
