Bob Berlinger Movies
- 2005
Rory (Alexis Bledel) faces her upcoming 21st birthday with sadness, resigned to the fact that mother Lorelei (Lauren Graham) will not attend. Meanwhile, her grandfather Richard (Edward Herrmann) wants Rory and to make up with Lorelai -- but only so that Rory will be persuaded to return to Yale. Meanwhile, the depth of the relationship between Rory and Logan (Matt Czuchry) continues to be a source of anxiety for both Richard and his wife Emily (Kelly Bishop). Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright appears as herself (in a nightmare sequence!). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2000
After finishing up the night's program, Natalie (Sabrina Lloyd) rounds up the crew for a game of Celebrities -- but her ex-boyfriend Jeremy (Joshua Malina) is left out of the mix. Jeremy wanders out to a nearby bar and begins a conversation with a very beautiful woman named Jenny (Paula Marshall). As Jeremy begins to muster up the courage to ask her out, he makes the startling realization that Jenny is a porn star. Meanwhile, Dan (Josh Charles) learns that the 100 Most Influential People in Sports list has come out and he isn't in it. Casey (Peter Krause), however, is listed at number 92, leaving Dan extremely envious. Isaac (Robert Guillaume) becomes aggravated when he begins forgetting things -- especially things that he holds dear, such as his grandson's name or lyrics to a song from a musical. Back in the bar, Jeremy and Jenny have an awkward discussion about Jenny's line of work until the adult film star asks Jeremy to join her and her friends for the evening. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide
- 1999
Sam Donovan (William H. Macy) -- the ratings consultant Isaac (Robert Guillaume) hired to help the show -- has everyone feeling on edge. After Dana (Felicity Huffman) and Sam both agree that the last couple of shows have been stilted, Sam suggests Dana do something provocative such as sexily whispering cues into Dan (Josh Charles) and Casey's (Peter Krause) earpieces. Insulted, Dana instead takes out her anger on Dan and Casey during the next commercial break. Sam decides that his presence is throwing everyone off and decides to leave the set -- but not before taking the script and turning off the teleprompter, forcing Dana to cue Dan and Casey via their earpieces. Also concerned about the show -- but not necessarily for the people who work on it -- is CSC network bigwig J.J. (Robert Mailhouse), who descends upon the studio with his own ideas for boosting the ratings. Insisting on meeting with the senior staff to go through his notes point by point, he proceeds to totally alienate everyone and quite nearly fires Dana -- who has been contemplating other job offers since Sam's arrival. Sam confronts J.J. during a break in the meeting and demands that the network let him do his job as he kicks J.J. and his lackeys out of the studio. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide
- 1999
The Sports Night crew is abuzz after hearing a rumor that the network hired a ratings consultant to help boost the show from being a consistently lackluster third-place finisher. As Dana (Felicity Huffman) does her best to refute the rumors, Isaac (Robert Guillaume) informs her that not only is the rumor true but he's the one that hired the consultant. Meanwhile, Casey (Peter Krause) is trying to figure out what to do on his first date with Dana as Dan (Josh Charles) announces his impending breakfast engagement with First Lady and Senatorial candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton. Dana stops Casey's date plans dead with her decision to postpone their evening out for six months while Casey gets more dating experience, while prepping the staff for the ratings consultant's arrival. The consultant, Sam Donovan (William H. Macy), shows up unexpectedly and shocks everyone by instantly taking charge of the show's line-up, leaving everyone with no alternative but to follow along. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide
- 1999
Dan (Josh Charles) is starting to sense that something bad is about to happen. First of all, Bobbi Bernstein (Lisa Edelstein) is back on the set for expanded coverage of the college basketball tournament and still maintains her story about having slept with Dan several years ago. Additionally, Dan ran downstairs to talk to Rebecca (Teri Polo), only to find her ex-husband Steve Sisko in the office with her. The rest of the crew has been half-heartedly working on a little welcome back party for Isaac's (Robert Guillaume) return from his extended vacation. While deciding on cakes, decorations, and whatnot, Casey (Peter Krause) and Dana (Felicity Huffman) continuously nitpick each other until they are forced to step outside and have the long overdue blow-up everyone has been waiting for. As Rebecca finally comes up to talk with Dan and reveal the true status of her marriage with Steve, the Sports Night crew begins to wonder why Isaac hasn't shown up on time. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide
- 1999
Still yammering about the recent bomb threat, Casey (Peter Krause) has now gotten to the point that every time he opens his mouth, the rest of the Sports Night crew feels like punching him. Since it has come out that Christian extremists were responsible for the hoax, Casey has started taking pot shots at the Rev. Jerry Falwell on air in his misguided effort to blame someone. Jeremy (Joshua Malina) has just learned that something extraordinary has happened in a cricket match, but since he has no idea what it means he can't prepare a report on it. While steadfastly holding to his story of having broken up with Natalie (Sabrina Lloyd) -- who just as steadfastly replies that he has not -- Jeremy and Natalie begin trying to figure out why ten wickets in one inning of cricket is monumental, which then leads Jeremy to rethink his desire to be single. On the other side of the studio, Dana (Felicity Huffman) orders Casey to cut the Falwell sniping, leading to the two having another showdown that ends with Dana's revelation that Gordon plans to propose to her and she intends to accept the proposal. And just before the show goes on, Rebecca (Teri Polo) shows up and finally tells Dan (Josh Charles) that she is going to try to patch things up with her husband -- a development Dan had hoped might not come about but expected nonetheless. Crushed, Dan and Casey each reflect on the last couple of days as they plot their next moves. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide
- 1999
After word spreads of Dana's (Felicity Huffman) engagement to Gordon (Ted McGinley), Dan (Josh Charles) insists Casey (Peter Krause) must tell Dana about his knowledge regarding Gordon's one-night stand with Dana's rival, Sally (Brenda Strong). Not only does Casey refuse to do so, but he also insists the whole affair is none of his business -- and that, contrary to Dan's assertion that he has no plan, Casey has the Napoleonic "show up and see what happens" plan in effect. Dan disagrees with the plan and the attitude and at the first available moment, he tells Natalie (Sabrina Lloyd) who in turn immediately tells Dana. Dana calmly refuses to believe the story, but cannot help but ask Gordon while the two are at lunch. Gordon angrily admits to it and also informs Dana about Casey's own sexual experiences with Sally -- which results in Dana cornering Sally and blaming her for this entire mess. Sally points out that her personal life is her own business and is in no way an attack on Dana, which Dana realizes to be true as she breaks down sobbing. Dana goes on to confront Casey about her findings while Dan begins to wonder if he did the right thing revealing the truth. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide
- 1999
A low-key news day makes Isaac's (Robert Guillaume) life hell when everyone comes to him with their myriad life troubles that he'd rather know nothing about. Dan (Josh Charles) discovers Casey (Peter Krause) had a one-night stand recently after Casey recalls how he left his favorite shirt at the woman's place. Since Casey won't reveal who the mystery woman was, Dan makes it his mission to find out and pulls the rest of the Sports Night crew into identifying Casey's conquest. With Gordon canceling another date the previous night, Dana (Felicity Huffman) once again suspects her relationship with the studly lawyer is drawing to a close. Meanwhile, Jeremy (Joshua Malina) is agonizing over the fact that he will be spending the Easter holiday with Natalie's (Sabrina Lloyd) family, partially because it is his first visit to Natalie's parents house and mostly because he is a Jew and isn't very familiar with the holiday. Eventually, Dan finds out that Casey slept with Dana's rival Sally (Brenda Strong), while Gordon (Ted McGinley) stops by the studio to pick up Dana -- and inadvertently tips off Casey as to the true reason Gordon stood up Dana the night before. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide
- 1999
Feeling a tad insecure about the status of his job due to his editorial about the suspension of student athletes who protested the Confederate flag in Tennessee, Isaac (Robert Guillaume) pulls Dana (Felicity Huffman) aside and in confidence tells her his plans to groom her for his job. After providing some token protests, Dana leaves and mentions her conversation with Isaac to Natalie (Sabrina Lloyd), who in turn begins to covet Dana's job -- as does Dana's sickeningly gorgeous and manipulative rival Sally (Brenda Strong) upon hearing the rumors later in the day. Natalie tells her boyfriend Jeremy (Joshua Malina), who then tells everyone on the crew -- prompting a somewhat annoyed Isaac to call a staff meeting to clear up all the rumors. As the rumors continue to spread, Dan (Josh Charles) decides that Casey (Peter Krause) ought to return to the dating scene -- though Dan is forced to intervene after catching Casey flirting with Sally. Dana, learning of Casey's lack of dating skills, tells him to practice flirting with her, which results in a somewhat steamy -- and awkward -- interchange. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide
- 1999
Dan's (Peter Krause) nonstop wooing of Rebecca (Teri Polo) appears to be going nowhere, in spite of the fact that he is getting to know everyone she works with as he continues his quest to get her to go out with him. His most recent proposal is watching a tape of a baseball game with him -- which Rebecca finds to be pretty unappealing, considering her total lack of interest. Returning from a vacation spent with his parents, Jeremy (Joshua Malina) makes a segment proposal about a sailing yacht that was lost at sea during a race it was favored to win. After winning approval, Jeremy sinks himself totally into the story -- much to the chagrin of his girlfriend Natalie (Sabrina Lloyd), who senses that something happened on his vacation. As Natalie traps Jeremy in his office and forces him to come clean, Rebecca traps Dan in his office -- but she is the one making the revelations about herself and her persistent denials of Dan's affections. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide
- 1999
Dan (Josh Charles) continues to see psychiatrist Abby Jacobs (Jayne Brook), who continues to analyze Dan's neuroses -- a development that begins a very introspective time for the confused sportscaster. Meanwhile, Casey (Peter Krause) enthuses about his upcoming interview with old friend and new Yankees star player Shane McArthur (Richard Steinmetz), prompting Jeremy (Joshua Malina) to assert his belief that McArthur is an idiot. As the interview is underway, the baseball player casually and ignorantly announces his disdain for everything about New York City -- which Casey finds unnerving and makes assurances to edit the disparaging comments out of the interview. Unfortunately for Casey, Dana (Felicity Huffman) is overjoyed with the resultant interview and refuses to cut anything from it, leaving Casey in a very uncomfortable position with his old friend. Both Dan and Casey are thus forced to partake in some serious soul searching as Dan begins to come to terms with his past while Casey must choose between his loyalty to his friend or maintaining his journalistic integrity. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide
- 1998
This TV comedy series on the challenges of single motherhood recounts semi-autobiographical events in the life of the series' executive producer-creator Susan Beavers, who scripted the premiere episode. Software company exec (Cynthia Stevenson) can't get a commitment from her longtime boyfriend Grant (Daniel Hugh Kelly). Minus a mate, she chose to be artificially inseminated. The sitcom set-up here features Tracy employing a remote and a video monitor while she narrates past events leading up to her decision, telling the viewer, "I convinced the network to give me 22 minutes to prove to them that you could care about me and my story." Thus, videotapes recap the advance suggestion of menopause by her gynecologist, the turquoise three-year anniversary ring from Grant, and scenes of her best friend, twice-divorced company shrink Charlotte (Joanna Gleason), also a single mother. Tracy can't fit it all into the necessary 22 minutes, so she tells viewers, "We only have about nine minutes left, so I'm going to just fast-forward right to my nervous breakdown." Filmed in LA, the series premiered August 18, 1998 on Lifetime. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cynthia Stevenson, Joanna Gleason, (more)
- 1998
Sports Night co-anchors Dan (Josh Charles) and Casey (Peter Krause) have been following a developing story out of Tennessee involving the suspension of student athletes who have protested the flying of the Confederate flag. The network's CEO Luther Sachs is an alumnus and benefactor of the same school in the report and orders Isaac (Robert Guillaume) to prepare a segment explaining the importance of the flag in Southern history. As Isaac gives him the assignment, an incredulous Dan argues that Isaac should instead prepare an op-ed piece to support the students and demand their reinstatement back into school. After some thought, Isaac does just that -- prompting both the unanimous support and admiration from his staff and a call from his angry boss. Meanwhile, Casey makes an appearance on the popular daytime talk show The View and undeservedly takes credit for his snappy wardrobe, when in fact all his clothes are chosen by Sports Night's wardrobe department. Back in the studio, Dan points out Casey's apparent lack of regard for the rest of the crew while one of the wardrobe assistants comes down on him for taking the credit for her department's work. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide
