- By Peter Vetsch
We found the information on writers and directors gathered on two earlier ""Sports Night"" sites was helpful to us in making the following list and we wish to acknowledge all their work:
- 1-1: Pilot
Written by Aaron Sorkin, Directed by Thomas Schlamme
Casey's recent divorce is affecting his onscreen performance, so much
that network brass is hinting to Dana that they'll fire him; he's
considering quitting until a brilliant athletic performance rekindles his
love for sports. Jeremy is hired as associate producer.
- 1-2: "The Apology"
Written by Aaron Sorkin, Directed by Thomas Schlamme
Network execs force Dan to apologize to his viewers about an Esquire interview with him that reveals his support of the legalization of marijuana. Natalie admits she has feelings for Jeremy, and gets Dana to think romantically about Casey.
- 1-3: "The Hungry and the Hunted"
Written by Aaron Sorkin, Directed by Thomas Schlamme
Jeremy gets "the call" to produce his own segment for the first time, but is
incredibly uncomfortable when a deer is shot on the hunting show to which he
is assigned. Casey is jealous when Dana meets another man, Gordon, at a
formal party thrown by CSC's CEO, Luther Sachs.
- 1-4: "Intellectual Property"
Written by Aaron Sorkin, Directed by Thomas Schlamme
Casey goes through various bizarre behaviours, like swatting an imaginary
fly, because of his discomfort about Dana's burdgeoning relationship with
Gordon.
- 1-5: "Mary Pat Shelby"
Written by Aaron Sorkin and Tracy Stern, Directed by Thomas Schlamme
Natalie goes to do a pre-interview with a football star, Christian Patrick,
who has agreed to talk on "Sports Night" later that evening, but she ends up
being physically assaulted by him in the locker room. After a struggle, she
decides to press charges against him, throwing herself into a media circus.
- 1-6: "The Head Coach, Dinner, and the Morning Mail"
Written by Aaron Sorkin and Matt Tarses, Directed by Thomas Schlamme
Natalie is being targeted with hate mail because of the charges against
Christian Patrick, and Jeremy isn't sleeping because he is trying to
intercept negative e-mails being sent to her. Jeremy confesses to Natalie
that he has feelings for her, and sets up a picnic in the office for her,
but falls asleep before they can eat.
- 1-7: "Dear Louise"
Written by Aaron Sorkin and David Walpert, Directed by Thomas Schlamme
Dan has writer's block that torments him to no end, and Casey finds Gordon a
much stronger foe than he expected. Natalie and Jeremy share their first
kiss.
- 1-8: "Thespis"
Written by Aaron Sorkin, Directed by Thomas Schlamme
The evening's production of "Sports Night" is plagued with technical glitches,
which Jeremy attributes to Thespis, an ancient mischevious ghost. Isaac's
first grandchild is born, but there are complications with the birth.
- 1-9: "The Quality of Mercy at 29K"
Written by Aaron Sorkin and Bill Wrubel, Directed by Thomas Schlamme
The show is closely covering a climbing party's ascent of Mount Everest.
Natalie and Jeremy finally officially start their relationship, though they
have trouble separating work and personal demeanors.
- 1-10: "Shoe Money Tonight"
Written by Aaron Sorkin, Directed by Dennie Gordon
The crew of the show are forced to do the 2 a.m. show as well as their
normal 11 p.m. show, and so they fill the time between by playing poker.
Casey approves the 2 a.m. rundown given to him by its producer, Sally
Sasser, without even looking at it, causing Dana to feel taken for granted.
- 1-11: "The Six Southern Gentlemen of Tennessee"
Written by Aaron Sorkin, Matt Tarses, David Walpert and Bill Wrubel, Directed by Robert Berlinger
Six black students are suspended by their school for refusing to play
football under the Confederate flag; Isaac supports their stance on the air,
much to the displeasure of Luther Sachs, who disagrees. Casey accepts
compliments for his clothes on the air, leading a wardrobe assistant to
teach him the value of recognizing everyone involved in the show's
production.
- 1-12: "Smoky"
Written by Aaron Sorkin, Directed by Robert Berlinger
Rumours circulate that Isaac is leaving the show, causing chaos in the
newsroom. Dan catches Casey flirting with Sally, and later Dana makes Casey
"practice" flirting with her.
- 1-13: "Small Town"
Written by Aaron Sorkin and Paul Redford, Directed by Thomas Schlamme
Dana and Casey both have the night off, and end up together in a double
date: Dana with Gordon, and Casey with a lawyer from Gordon's firm.
Natalie produces "Sports Night" on her own for the first time and handles a last-minute trade rumour perfectly.
- 1-14: "Rebecca"
Written by Aaron Sorkin, Directed by Thomas Schlamme
Dana is worried that Gordon is going to break up with her because her job
keeps her so busy. Dan meets Rebecca, the woman of his dreams, but when he
runs into her the next day she doesn't remember.
- 1-15: "Dana and the Deep Blue Sea"
Written by Aaron Sorkin, Directed by Thomas Schlamme
Dan tries to recruit other staff members of the show to help him pursue
Rebecca, while Dana agrees to go on a snorkelling trip with Gordon, even
though she's deathly afraid of fish.
- 1-16: "Sally"
Written by Aaron Sorkin and Rachel Sweet, Directed by Robert Berlinger
Casey sleeps with Sally and doesn't tell anyone; Dan finds out when Sally
tells Casey that she can't find his missing shirt that he accidentally left
at her place. Later on, Gordon shows up to take Dana out wearing Casey's
shirt, revealing to Casey that Gordon is having an affair with Sally as
well.
- 1-17: "How Are Things in Glocca Morra?"
Written by Aaron Sorkin, Directed by Marc Buckland
A tennis match that won't end delays the start of the show and leaves Dana
trying to choose between waiting for the show to start or handing it off to
Sally and going out with Gordon. She eventually gives the show to Sally,
which hits Casey hard.
- 1-18: "The Sword of Orion"
Written by Aaron Sorkin, David Handelman and Mark McKinney, Directed by Robert Berlinger
Jeremy's parents are getting divorced because of his father's 27-year affair
with another woman. Rebecca and Dan's relationship finally begins in
earnest when she agrees to watch a baseball game with him.
- 1-19: "Eli's Coming"
Written by Aaron Sorkin, Directed by Robert Berlinger
Tensions rise between Casey and Dana due externally to Dana's handing the
show off to Sally and internally to the friction between them due to their
unresolved feelings for each other and Gordon's presence in the middle of
things. Rebecca tells Dan that she and her ex-husband, another sportscaster
named Steve Sisco, are only separated and not yet divorced. The staff finds
out that Isaac has had a stroke.
- 1-20: "Ordnance Tactics"
Written by Aaron Sorkin, Story by Paul Redford, Directed by Alex Graves
There is a bomb scare in the CSC building and everyone is tense: Jeremy
wants to break up with Natalie because of his parents' divorce, Isaac is in
the hospital, Rebecca is considering going back to her husband, and Casey
continues seeing Sally.
- 1-21: "Ten Wickets"
Teleplay by Aaron Sorkin, Story by Matt Tarses, Directed by Robert Berlinger
Natalie refuses to acknowledge Jeremy's breakup with her, while Gordon tells
Dana that he's going to propose to her. Rebecca ends up going back to her
husband in an attempt to salvage her marriage, which devastates Dan.
- 1-22: "Napoleon's Battle Plan"
Written by Aaron Sorkin, Directed by Robert Berlinger
Casey's plan to break up Gordon and Dana is the same as Napoleon's plan:
first you show up, then you see what happens. The entire love rectangle
between Casey, Dana, Gordon and Sally is brought out into the open; Dana is
angrier that Casey slept with Sally than that her fiancee Gordon did.
- 1-23: "What Kind of Day Has It Been"
Written by Aaron Sorkin, Directed by Thomas Schlamme
Gordon breaks off the engagement with Dana because he believes (rightly)
that she's still hung up on Casey. Dana starts totally unravelling, but she
and everyone else have a huge weight lifted off their shoulders when Isaac
returns for the first time since his stroke.
- SEASON TWO
- 2-1: "Special Powers"
Written by Aaron Sorkin, Directed by Thomas Schlamme
Ninety days have passed since Gordon broke off the
engagement with Dana, and
Casey still hasn't asked her out, despite many
attempts to work up the
nerve. When the moment seems to have passed him by,
he finally summons up
the will and kisses her.
- 2-2: "When Something Wicked This Way Comes"
Written by Aaron Sorkin, Directed by Robert Berlinger
A rumor that a ratings expert is coming in to help
the show comes true as
Sam Donovan comes to town and immediately starts
tweaking the broadcast. At
a bachelorette party, Dana has an epiphany that
Casey should date other
women for six months before starting a relationship
with her. He is
understandably unimpressed.
- 2-3: "Cliff Gardner"
Written by Aaron Sorkin, Directed by Robert Berlinger
Stiffness reigns around "Sports Night" as Sam's
presence has everyone on edge.
The poor quality of recent shows worries network
brass, who offer Sam
Isaac's job as managing editor, only to have Sam
not-so-politely show them
that he is entirely uninterested and loyal to Isaac.
- 2-4: "Louise Revisited"
Teleplay by Aaron Sorkin and Miriam Kazdin, Story by Miriam Kazdin, Directed by Marc Buckland
An internet poll asks the question: "who is cooler,
Dan or Casey?" With
the help of Jeremy, Casey rigs the poll so that he
wins by hundreds of
thousands of votes. Dana goes out to dinner with an
old classmate and
spontaneously takes off her panties during the meal.
- 2-5: "Kafelnikov"
Written by Matt Tarses and Bill Wrubel, Directed by Robert Berlinger
Jeremy attempts a Y2K test to prove that he has
prepared the show's
computers for the 21st century, with disastrous
consequences. Dan meets a
woman in a bar, Abby, and arranges to meet her
again, but after Casey
discovers she's a therapist he's not sure whether
the meeting is for a date
or an appointment.
- 2-6: "Shane"
Written by Kevin Falls, Matt Tarses and Bill Wrubel, Directed by Robert Berlinger
Shane McArnold, a famous baseball player who gave
Casey his first big break
in sports, gives an interview on "Sports Night" and
insults New York (after
just signing a huge contract to play for the
Yankees). Dan sees Abby, and
although he insists it's for a date, she ends up
analyzing his feelings of
guilt about his brother's death years ago and his
relationship with his
parents since then. Dan starts having some kind of
nervous breakdown when
he can't pronounce "Yevgeny Kafelnikov".
- 2-7: "Kyle Whitaker's Got Two Sacks"
Written by Aaron Sorkin and Tom Szentgyorgyi, Directed by Dennie Gordon
Dana is ecstatic when her brother, Kyle Whitaker, a
member of the Denver
Broncos, gets two sacks in a game. However, her joy
quickly turns to anger
when "Sports Night" gets the scoop on a possible NFL
drug scandal, and Kyle is
one of the players involved.
- 2-8: "The Reunion"
Written by Aaron Sorkin and Kevin Falls, Directed by Dennie Gordon
Dana's brother is coming to see her after being
busted by the NFL for
steroids and she doesn't know what to say to him.
Natalie gives Dan an
audition tape of her as an anchor and asks for his
opinion; he thinks it's
good but not great, but lies and tells her it's
excellent.
- 2-9: "A Girl Named Pixley"
Written by David Walpert, Directed by Dennie Gordon
Casey finally caves in to Dana's dating plan and
goes out on his first date
with another woman, Pixley. While Dana and the rest
of the staff are
frantically searching for stories to fill a show
that's 42 minutes short,
Casey's date ends badly when he tells Pixley that
the dating plan is the
only reason he's there.
- 2-10: "The Giants Win the Pennant, the Giants Win
the Pennant"
Written by Aaron Sorkin and Matt Tarses, Directed by Pamela Dresser
Dan discovers that Isaac was at the famous pennant
winning game by the
Giants in 1951, but Isaac refuses to go on camera to
talk about the
experience for the game's 49th anniversary. Casey
convinces Pixley to see
him again, and their date ends much differently this
time, much to Dana's
dismay.
- 2-11: "The Cut Man Cometh"
Teleplay by Aaron Sorkin and Bill Wrubel, Story by Bill Wrubel, Directed by Alex Graves
Casey and Dana are at each other's throats because
of the tension created by
Pixley and the dating plan, leading Casey to break
it off, while Dan's
father shows how little he cares about his son. CSC
covers a big title
fight that ends up lasting only seven seconds, and
the ringside reporter,
who only responds to the name "Cut Man", shows why
he's the worst reporter
in the history of television. Probably my favourite
episode; the scenes
with the Cut Man are amongst the funniest things
I've ever seen.
- 2-12: "The Sweet Smell of Air"
Teleplay by Aaron Sorkin, David Handelman, Kevin Falls and Matt
Tarses, Story by David Handelman, Directed by Alex Graves
Michael Jordan makes himself available for Sports
Night to interview him,
and the crew are delighted until they discover that
his goal is only to
promote his new cologne, and that he picked CSC over
ESPN or Fox because he
thought they'd need the ratings desperately enough
to accept. Casey is
concerned with Sam Donovan's increasing effect on
Dana.
- 2-13: "Dana Get Your Gun"
Written by David Walpert, Directed by Alex Graves
Natalie and Jeremy break up after they fight about
whether or not to go to a
club. A substitute anchor on the show can't stop
obsessing about his
girlfriend, and Dana and Sam get close in her
office.
- 2-14: "And the Crowd Goes Wild"
Teleplay by Aaron Sorkin and Tom Szentgyorgyi, Story by Tom Szentgyorgyi, Directed by Alex Graves
Sam's time with the show is up; Dana tries to
convince him to stay a little
longer. Casey's eyes are giving him trouble, while
Natalie breaks down in
Isaac's office about her breakup with Jeremy.
- 2-15: "Celebrities"
Written by Aaron Sorkin, Directed by Robert Berlinger
Natalie hosts a charades game called "Celebrities",
to which Jeremy isn't
invited. He ends up going to a bar, where he gets
hit on by a beautiful
woman named Jenny. He can't bring himself to ask
her out when he discovers
that she's a porn star.
- 2-16: "The Local Weather"
Teleplay by Aaron Sorkin, Story by Peter McCabe and Aaron Sorkin, Directed by Timothy Busfield
Jeremy can't stop thinking about Jenny and tracks
her down again by
e-mailing her website. Casey gathers the crew of
the show to watch a track
meet, and while getting food for everyone, Dana ends
up going to church.
- 2-17: "Draft Day, Part I: It Can't Rain at Indian Wells"
Written by Aaron Sorkin and Matt Tarses, Directed by Bryan Gordon
It's NFL Draft day, and everyone at "Sports Night" is
excited except for Dan,
who wants to get his shift over with and have a
round of golf with David
Duval. Jeremy tells Natalie about Jenny, but lies
about what she does for a
living. Dan and Casey fight about his recent
attitude towards his job.
- 2-18: "Draft Day, Part II: The Fall of Ryan O'Brien"
Teleplay by Aaron Sorkin, Story by Kevin Falls, Directed by Danny Leiner
Dan and Casey's friendship takes another downward
turn as their bad feelings
make it to the air when Dan sets Casey up for
embarrassment on national
television. Jeremy invites Jenny to the set to show
he isn't ashamed of
her, then is paranoid for the entire day because he
is. When Jenny sees
that he can't accept who she is, even though he's
trying, she leaves.
- 2-19: "April is the Cruelest Month"
Written by Matt Tarses and Bill Wrubel, Directed by Don Scardino
There are warning rumblings at the network level, as
"Sports Night"'s Olympic
budget is drastically slashed and there are rumours
about layoffs. Jeremy
and Natalie start to put their relationship back
together, and Dan and Casey
also begin to heal the rift in their friendship as
Dan hosts a Passover
ceremony.
- 2-20: "Bells and a Siren"
Written by Aaron Sorkin, Chris Lusvardi and David Walpert, Directed by Don Scardino
Due to a warning from Dana that her job might be in
danger, Natalie goes to
a job interview with Saturday Night Live. They
offer her the job, but she
can't bring herself to leave "Sports Night".
Meanwhile, Casey and Jeremy
discover that Continental Corp., the parent company
of CSC, is for sale.
- 2-21: "La Forza del Destino"
Written by Aaron Sorkin, Directed by Timothy Busfield
Dan and Casey are offered a job in Los Angeles in
the ever-increasing
likelihood that "Sports Night" will soon be scrapped,
and Dan tries to
convince Casey to consider it. Dana meets a
mysterious stranger in the
restaurant across the street from the CSC building
who seems to have inside
information on the bidding for Continental Corp.
- 2-22: "Quo Vadimus"
Written by Aaron Sorkin, Directed by Thomas Schlamme
Jeremy officially gets back together with Natalie,
and Rebecca suddenly
reappears in Dan's life, having divorced her husband
(for sure this time).
The mysterious stranger Dana met turns out to be
Calvin Trager, the
incredibly rich owner of Quo Vadimus, a holding
company that buys
Continental Corp. and keeps "Sports Night" on the air.
Unfortunately, the
fortunes of "Sports Night" in real life were less
good, as this was the last
episode ever made.
|
Episode Guide to "Sports Night"
