| Before
there was Aaron Sorkin's West Wing, there was Aaron Sorkin's Sports
Night, which followed the trials and tribulations of a smart, energetic
television staff as they scrambled to put on a nightly cable sports
show, not unlike ESPN's SportsCenter. Sports Night was every bit as
good as its political successor--and in some ways, even better--even
though it didn't have the gravitas of, say, running the country on a
daily basis. You don't need to know anything about sports to appreciate
the dynamics of the Sports Night news room (which bears more than a
passing similarity to His Girl Friday), and the issues the cast grappled
with every week ran from the serious to the frothy, always peppered
with snappy Sorkin dialogue. And sadly, as befalls most quality television
(TV Guide dubbed it "The Best Show You're Not Watching"),
Sports Night was canceled after two seasons. But the trajectory of 45
episodes on this DVD set allows you to watch one of the best and most
groundbreaking half-hour shows ever put on television.
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