Rypro 525

i have never watched the show before, nor have not even seen any clips of it, so i have no idea what i am getting into. I hear its like a behind the scenes version of sports center. das, your help would be gratefull

Walter Mitty

awesome show. sorkin pre-West Wing. get it.

Achtung

Excellent show. I really like the dialogue and the plot points. I guess you could say its like a behind-the-scenes of Sportscenter, but you don't really even have to care about sports to enjoy it. I just really enjoy the performances from all the actors on the show.

Michael Corvin

das? You don't want anyone else's advice?

This is a great blind buy. Solid writing, solid performances, great chemistry. This show should still be on tv. It is a shame really.

adamblast

If you've watched and enjoyed The West Wing it's a good blind buy.

But it's not your typical sitcom--there are very few outright jokes or comedy situations. In spite of Season 1's misguided laughtrack, I see the series as a light drama, filled with people who are warm and witty, very smart and very loveable.

As far as writing and acting go, it's certainly among the best mainstream network shows ever.

You know, of course, that simply by starting this thread you've stolen another 20+ hours of das's life? Every time someone even mentions the series, he has to watch the whole thing all over again...

Chew

I know I'll be the lone voice on this opinion.....

I picked up the boxset based on all the great reviews here. I finished the second disc just so I could have enough of a basis to judge it. And......I didn't care for it. I just couldn't get into the dialogue and it's delivery. I haven't finished watching.

I also picked up West Wing based on the great reviews. Although it's still Sorkin, something changed (I can't say what--I don't think it's me because I started watching both at the same time) and what I didn't care for in Sports Night just isn't registering with me on WW.

das Monkey

This sentence makes my head hurt.

I'm biased. It's one of my favorite shows. I'm not sure how familiar you are with The West Wing (Sorkin era), but it's very similar in the approach. It mixes comedy with drama and is a very intelligent show. The setting happens to be a 3rd rate sports show, and many of the plots are tangential to the sports stories, but you don't need to know or even care about sports to enjoy the series. Also like The West Wing it has some absolutely brilliant performances. And while it's labeled a comedy, the drama is very powerful. Even when I don't agree with the stance of the characters, I'm swept up in the drama.

If you ever watched Ed, I often felt that the writers were heavily inspired by (or just plain stealing from ) SportsNight. Anyway, if you watched the show, that might give you an idea of the style of quirky and quick-witted banter you'll be getting.

The only drawback is the pointless laugh track in the early episodes. It will make those first few episodes feel a little awkward, because this is not a laugh track show. Consequently, you feel like it's not funny, but if you can supress the track in your head, you find it's wickedly funny. In latter episodes, this isn't a problem, and once you find their rhythm, you're hooked.

It seems that the pricepoint isn't as low as when it came out (I think I paid $39.99 at Target), but it's still a pretty good bargain IMO. You get the whole show, which is two full seasons, at a reasonable price. There aren't any special features, which is disappointing, but expected I guess. Personally, I think the rewatchability is as high as anything else I own. I've gone through my entire set many times and find it has excellent repeat value.

IMO, it's one of those special shows where the cast and writing mesh together to create something really unique that probably won't ever be duplicated. I can make loose comparisons to some other shows (see above), but it really stands alone as a brief but brilliant light that most viewers completely missed. So many people fought for this show, from TV Guide ("The Best Show You're Not Watching") to the New York Times ("Best New Show") to Viewers for Quality Television ("Best New Comedy"), but it just couldn't fight the Who Wants to be a Millionaire juggernaut, and ABC's been playing catchup ever since.

Anyway, yeah ... I think it's a good blind buy.

To quote Dana, "I don't think you have lived until you have seen this show."

das

Edit: All that being said, some people still don't like it. You could be one of them

das Monkey

Rules are rules. Looks like I have something to do this weekend.

das

PeMo

I never saw a minute of the show when it originally aired either. Then I bought the boxset based on the opinions on this board (particularly das) and I absolutely loved the show. Watched the entire series in 2 weekends. Very funny and very dramatic at the same time.

I highly recommend a blind buy.

Red Dog

You're not the lone voice on this. I feel the same exact way. I watched most of S1 of SN and I just didn't care for it. I'm not saying it was bad - it just didn't do much for me. Maybe I just don't care for the Sorkin style in this context.

Meanwhile, the first 3 seasons of WW is as good as television can get IMO.

Kal-El

Add one more to the go for it it crowd. Most watched DVD in my collection. Sometimes I have it running in the background when I'm doing something just for the dialogue--which I pretty much have memorized anyway already...hehe. Check the sig, it's but a small taste of the roundabout style of Sorkin.

Also, if you've watched most of West Wing, a lot of Sports Night's little plots are dropped in there, along with characters as well.

das Monkey

You guys aren't alone. I've run across many who love The West Wing but never liked SportsNight. What I find interesting about this is that many of the first and second season plot points from The West Wing are lifted straight from SportsNight, including sections of dialogue.

das

Patman

I watched the reruns on Comedy Central this past year, good times (I also watched the show when it originally airedon ABC). But I never could get into TWW.

marty888

Another big for this one - great talent all around, and a joy to watch.

bboisvert

Everyone I've show this to has fallen in love with it. Literally, everyone. I'm personally responsible for selling about 4 or 5 of these sets.

Yes, I think this is a fantastic blind buy. Although it is interesting to here from people who didn't get into it. Again, I've yet to meet any of these people 'live'. Everyone I know loves it.

JasonF

If you're looking for quotes from Sports Night that describe Sports Night, I prefer "Anybody who can't make money off of Sports Night should get out of the moneymaking business." To be fair, ABC no longer seems to be in the moneymaking business.

milo bloom

I don't care one iota for sports, I've been known to call them the scourge of civilization. But I love this show. I caught a few eps on ABC, then a few more on Comedy Central, but it seems I could never catch more than a few in a row. I had no problem buying this DVD.

dstrauss

"My show is on! My show is on!"

It may not be a comedy, but it has some of the funniest lines in the history of television.

I'm partial to two:

"I'm dating a porn star who likes sports. I know any minute now my mom is going to wake me up and tell me I'm late for school."

"I told many, *many* people." (Yeah, I know, it's gotta be in context.)

My second favorite show ever, after B5.

Kal-El

Good choices. I myself am partial to:

"Are you nuts? Are you just some nutty nut girl who's nuts?"

And pretty much anything coming from Dan.

das Monkey

I love that line.

I think my favorite moment is Dan's writer's block. "That was step one. There's not going to be anymore water."

Also from that episode, "and in that moment, Dan was reminded once again why he wanted to write in the first place ..."

das

JasonF

Some more great lines:

Casey: I say she's a very nice person.
Dan: I say she has no reflection.

Jeremy: I'm serious, this country is being ruined by the blacks and the Jews.
Isaac: You're Jewish.
Jeremy: And I have to be stopped.

Casey: If you had half as much fun watching this show as we did making it, well, then we had twice as much fun making the show as you did watching it.

Sam's whole speech to the network about Philo Farnsworth and the invention of the TV, and why the network should just stand back and let Isaac run his show.

Casey, reading an invitation: "October the Eighth, Nineteen Hundred and Ninety Eight, A.D." A.D... They're worried I might accidentally show up 2,000 years before the birth of Christ.

Natalie: On page 66, halfway down in the NFL injury report, it says "Collins is expected to miss practice this week, the result of a bulging disk."
Dan: Yeah?
Natalie: There's a typo on the TelePrompter. They left out the 's.'
Casey: Collins is expected to be sidelined a week to 10 days with a bulging di-Uh Oh.
Dan: Whoa. That's a big 10-4.
Casey: My next line in the script was "Let's go the videotape."
Natalie: We might have gotten some phone calls.

Jeremy: It's 29,000 feet. How can I best describe this? How many of what kind of thing would we have to lay end to end?
Elliot: Twenty-nine thousand rulers.

Isaac: Someone holds the copyright to Happy Birthday?
Dan: The representatives of Mildred and Patty Hill.
Isaac: It took two people to write that song?

Dan: Would you care to join us in the sport of kings?
Dana: We're gonna race horses?
Dan: We're gonna play poker.
Dana: That's not the sport of kings.
Dan: What's poker the sport of?
Dana: People who play poker.

Dan: The Olympic gold-medal-winning gymnast and high school sophomore said that after all those years of hard work, it was a relief to finally realize her life-long dream. Good to get that out of the way at fifteen.

Dan: The Sophomore sensation accredits her agility and quick first step to her father who used to take her to a neighborhood park all covered in cheese.

Dan:Nobody move. Name five teams that play in the MLS. And Casey says it's an American soccer league so you can't choose Luxembourg. Go.
Natalie: Columbus Crew
Elliot: Miami Fusion
Natalie: New England Revolution
Kim: Tampa Bay Mutiny.
Natalie: D.C. United.
Dave: Chicago Fire.
Natalie: Colorado Rapid.
Chris: Dallas Burn.
Natalie: Kansas City Wizards.
Will: Los Angeles Galaxy.
Natalie: And the New York/New Jersey Metro-Stars.
Dan: You all just made that up, didn't you.

Kal-El

Dana: Who do you think was the source on the quote?
Casey: Danny thinks its Luther
Danny: It's Luther
Dana(to Casey): Who do you think it is?
Casey: I think it's Luther too
Dana: You're both idiots.
Casey: Who do you think it is?
Dana: Oh, I think it's Luther. I'm just saying you're both idiots.

-Sports Night Season 1
"Rebecca"

Achtung

LOL

Some great lines on that show. And for my money, the guest appearances by William H. Macy may have been some of the finest guest appearance I've ever seen on television. The part where he is talking with the network execs about Philo Farnsworth has to be one of the best little speeches I've seen.

MrBob

Watch Comedy Central after midnight, and you'll catch a marathon sooner than later.

kenage

I say buy the DVD's. You might not like it, but it is more than worth it to buy the set and watch it in order and than decide if you like it. You can always sell it on ebay if you dont like it.