Suzanne Kellogg
- 2000
Still grappling with his recent psychiatric visits, Dan (Josh Charles) decides he'll skip his next visit with Dr. Abby Jacobs (Jayne Brook), but instead goes to her office and rattles off his day's highlights for the full length of his appointment. Later, back in the studio, he and the rest of the Sports Night crew are bribed by Casey (Peter Krause) -- who uses ethnic food as a bargaining chip -- into staying up to watch a track and field competition in New Zealand. As they watch the event, a nearly washed-up athlete breaks the long-standing long jump record -- only to watch his record fall minutes later by another, previously unknown athlete. Since the championship will be seen during the regular broadcast day tomorrow on tape delay, a decision must be made about whether to pre-empt tomorrow's broadcast with the historic news. Jeremy (Joshua Malina) begins to feel badly about giving porn actress Jenny (Paula Marshall) the cold shoulder, especially now that he thinks he likes her. Caught in a thunderstorm while out and about, Dana (Felicity Huffman) takes refuge in a church -- which eerily coincides with a conversation about attending church that she had with Isaac (Robert Guillaume). ~ Ryan Shriver, 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
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
Due to a tennis match running very late, the Sports Night show has been put on hold pending the match's conclusion. For Dana (Felicity Huffman), this holds greater significance as she is supposed to meet Gordon (Ted McGinley) later in the evening -- after the show was supposed to air. Dan (Josh Charles), in the meantime, begins to sense that Casey (Peter Krause) is aggravated over something, but Casey refuses to come clean. Soon Dan is working on his own problems when Rebecca (Teri Polo) -- while waiting in Dan's office -- takes a call from a woman that Dan had supposedly broken up with some time ago. When Gordon shows up, he learns the show hasn't even started yet and promptly issues Dana an ultimatum: Hand the show off to someone else or the relationship is over. As Casey sees Gordon being introduced to Sally by Dana, he shuts the office door and reveals his knowledge of Gordon's affair with Sally to Dan -- and that he is powerless to do anything about it, since Dana would also learn of Casey's dalliance with Sally in the process. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide
- 1999
Sports Night's second season begins with Dana (Felicity Huffman) fending off multiple suggestions for the show's lead story: one from Jeremy (Joshua Malina) about a Chinese swimmer attempting to cross the Taiwan Strait, one from Casey (Peter Krause) about the Jets game, and one from Natalie (Sabrina Lloyd) regarding a pitcher's attempt at the league's strikeout record. As they lobby for their respective stories, Jeremy and Natalie are engaged in another argument regarding Natalie's job offer for an on-air position at a Texas station and her perception of Jeremy's jealousy about her getting the offer. As Dana holds to her plan for the lead story, the show begins with a disastrous lead-in due to all the confusion. While in commercial break, Dana heads to Isaac's (Robert Guillaume) office to apologize, only to learn that the show hasn't actually begun due to a delay in another program. Concerned that Isaac forgot to tell her this important fact, she returns to the set and informs the crew of the development via a little prank at Casey's expense. Dan (Josh Charles), in the meantime, has been trying to convince Casey to ask Dana out, now that she is newly single. Casey very much wants to do just that, but is concerned about the timing being right. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide
- 1999
When Jeremy's (Joshua Malina) assistant Corbin (Charlie Finn) neglects to prepare a play sheet for an important story in the broadcast, Natalie (Sabrina Lloyd) demands Jeremy fire him or else she'll be forced to do it herself. Jeremy reluctantly agrees but has second thoughts while reconsidering the fact that Corbin is a relative to network bigwig J.J. Elsewhere. Dana (Felicity Huffman) picks up on a breaking story about some drug scandal in Ohio and she begins investigating with Casey (Peter Krause), whom she later sends out to Ohio to personally prepare a report. As Casey heads for the Midwest, Dan (Josh Charles) has another session with psychiatrist Abby Jacobs (Jayne Brook), who points out that his flirtatiousness is merely a means of gaining approval. Taking no strength in this revelation, Dan proceeds to call into question every interaction he has with every female staffer on the Sports Night set. When Casey returns to New York with names and sources about some impending suspensions, the story proves to be much more personal to Dana than she had ever imagined when her younger brother is among the implicated. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide
- 1999
While out for a drink, Dan (Josh Charles) strikes up a lively conversation with a woman named Abby Jacobs (Jayne Brook) who gives him her card before they part. Dan tells Casey (Peter Krause) about her the following day and shows him her card. Pointing out to Dan that Abby is a psychiatrist, Casey asks if he's called her to set up a date or an appointment, leaving Dan in a bit of confusion as he rethinks the scenario. Jeremy (Joshua Malina) announces that he has fixed the Y2K bug and suggests that a test be run to prove it. Skeptical of Jeremy's "fix," Dana (Felicity Huffman) concedes to the test, which goes horribly wrong and leaves the studio without power. Dana starts moving the show upstairs to an inferior studio as Jeremy scrambles to bring the studio back online. Later, Dan meets Abby at her office and proceeds to inadvertently have a session with her. Back in the studio, Jeremy learns that some of the control boards had been rewired earlier and were left unlabeled, thereby absolving him of guilt and responsibility for the blackout. Power is restored with minutes to spare before the show goes live. ~ 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
After obsessing about a particularly expensive camera -- instead of obsessing over the infidelity of her boyfriend Gordon (Ted McGinley) -- Dana (Felicity Huffman) finally buys it and brings in her new equipment to take a picture of the Sports Night crew. Casey (Peter Krause) eagerly awaits a visit from his son Charlie (Cory Buck), who told his dad of some amazing feats while playing baseball. When Charlie shows up, Casey is out of the studio on assignment but Dan (Josh Charles) wastes no time in greeting the youngster -- and promptly calls him on his clearly embellished baseball accomplishments. Meanwhile, Gordon shows up and calls off his wedding engagement with Dana, who insists on knowing why. Gordon declares that Dana was more upset to learn that Casey had slept with Sally than learning that he had and therefore Dana must have some unresolved feelings for Casey. While disagreeing with him, Dana resignedly agrees to call off the engagement and then -- still obsessing with her new camera -- tries to take a second picture of the crew with the same horrible results as the first time she tried earlier that day. Just as she makes a very loud plea for something good to happen today, Isaac (Robert Guillaume) makes his first appearance in the studio since having his stroke. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide
- 1999
As Christmas nears, the Sports Night staffers participate in the hallowed Secret Santa holiday gift exchange -- though for most, there is very little secret involved. Natalie (Sabrina Lloyd) corners Casey (Peter Krause) and asks him what he wants for his gift, which in turn inspires Casey to ask Isaac (Robert Guillaume) what he'd like. As the holiday preparations continue, Dana (Felicity Huffman) anxiously awaits the arrival of her younger brother Kyle (Eric Bruskotter), a professional football player who has been recently revealed as a participant in a doping scandal and faces league suspension. Meanwhile, Natalie asks Dan and Casey for advice in regards to her audition tape, as she has had ongoing aspirations for an on-air position. Dan gives her an overly enthusiastic response that he nearly immediately regrets, forcing him to come clean later in the day. As the entire crew sets about to come to a consensus about whom they'd name the greatest athlete of the last century, Dana's brother finally arrives in the studio and gets a somewhat different reception than he'd been expecting. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide
- 1999
The Sports Night crew returns to the studio from a bomb scare 15 minutes before the show goes on-air and naturally everyone is a little worked up. Casey (Peter Krause) and Dan (Josh Charles), however, can't seem to get over the fact that someone would try to blow up their building and they proceed to obsess about their near-death experience for some time to come. Dana (Felicity Huffman) has bigger issues to deal with, since Isaac's (Robert Guillaume) stroke has left her in charge of running the operations of the show in addition to her production responsibilities. The network sends J.J. (Robert Mailhouse) to talk with Dana about how to run the show and convinces her that Sally (Brenda Strong) is CEO Luther Sach's choice in assisting Dana, and not Natalie (Sabrina Lloyd). Still freaked out about his parents' divorce, Jeremy (Joshua Malina) makes the bizarre decision to break up with Natalie -- only Natalie calmly refuses to let him. Meanwhile, Rebecca (Teri Polo) tracks Dan down and accuses him of hiding from her and demands to know why. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide
