- By Peter Vetsch
- Some Episode Similarities (if anyone has others to add to the list, please let me
know at jurgenk@shaw.ca).
- Episode 1-19 of "Sports Night" is called "Eli's Coming"; episode #41 (2-19) of
the West Wing is called "Bad Moon Rising". Both episode titles
are songs, one by Three Dog Night, one by Creedence Clearwater Revival.
- Episodes 1-23 of "Sports Night" and #22 (1-22) of the West Wing are both called "What Kind of Day Has It Been"; both are the season 1 finales of their respective shows.
- "Sports Night" episode 1-7, "Dear Louise", features a first-person
narrative format where Jeremy is writing a letter; the content of the letter is the narration of the show. West Wing episode #39 (2-17) "The Stackhouse
Filibuster", features the staff of the West Wing doing the same thing in the same format.
- Sports Night uses the first-person narrative format again in episode 1-17, "How Are Things in Glocca Morra?", the structure of which bears a striking resemblance to the aforementioned WW episode #39. In both episodes, the premise of the show is that something which should have ended long ago still hasn't: in SN's case, a tennis match between Pete Sampras and unknown Alberto Fedregotti, and in the WW's case, a vote on a bill being delayed by Stackhouse's filibuster. The letters in the first-person narrative format are being written by the shows' characters while waiting for the event to finish.
In both shows, the letter writers mention how the event should have ended quickly: "Problem is, nobody told Stackhouse/Fedregotti". (overlap pointed out by Sarah Spooner and Richard)
- Episode 1-1 of Sports Night and Episode #1 of the
West Wing feature as part of the plot a main
character in danger of being
fired. In "Sports Night", it's Casey, whose
lackadaisical on-air performance
has network execs gunning for his head. In "The
West Wing", it's Josh, whose
inflammatory comments on a TV
show have the Christian right
after him. (overlap pointed out by Marybeth
I.)
- Dan in episode 1-2, of "Sports Night" "The
Apology", gets in trouble
when an interview with him in Esquire
magazine contains a portion
about his support for the legalization of
marijuana. The network brass goes
crazy, and he is forced to make an on-air apology
to his viewers. In
episode #37 of the West Wing, "Ellie", the
Surgeon General makes arguments
for legalizing marijuana during an Internet chat,
which causes all hell to
break loose in the White House. (overlap pointed out by Marybeth
I.)
- Episodes 2-22 of Sports Night and #2 of the West Wing (numerology with the number 2, anyone?) both have Latin titles. The Sports Night show is called "Quo Vadimus", which means "where are we going?"; the West Wing show is called "Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc", which means "after it, therefore because of it". (overlap pointed out by Adam Stinelli)
- Anything for a song! Sports Night and the West Wing both feature an episode
where the other characters anxiously await a female main character's
rendition of a song. In Sports Night it's episode 1-7, "Dear Louise", where
it is revealed that whenever Dana gets a couple of drinks in her she starts
singing "Boogie Shoes" by K.C. and the Sunshine Band. In the West Wing it's
episode #18, "Six Meetings Before Lunch", where everyone flocks around to
see CJ's famous version of "The Jackal" by Ronnie Jordan. (overlap pointed out by Karen Streed)
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