Jeff Mooring Movies

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

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

The Sports Night crew is ecstatic over landing an interview with basketball legend Michael Jordan until the strict terms of the interview laid out by the Jordan camp are revealed. The hoops superstar's intentions are to only discuss his new line of cologne and no sports questions are to be allowed, while total editorial control is to be passed onto Jordan's representatives. Dana (Felicity Huffman), Isaac (Robert Guillaume), and returned ratings expert Sam Donovan (William H. Macy) firmly refuse the terms and the interview. While negotiating the terms of the interview, Sam makes the acquaintance of Dana's longtime rival Sally (Brenda Strong), who casually proceeds to dump her sexual history onto the disinterested ratings guru. Meanwhile, Casey (Peter Krause) is worried about an upcoming visit he is to make to his son Charlie's classroom. As he scrambles to prepare some sort of presentation, Casey also begins to notice that Sam and Dana are working together much more compatibly than they used to. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide

Casey (Peter Krause) has quickly worked his way through a string of dates -- per Dana's (Felicity Huffman) request -- and while out on his eighth, he runs into date number one, Pixley Robinson (Megan Ward). Having been somewhat smitten with her since their sole aborted date, Casey approaches her and asks for her phone number -- which she refuses to give him, instead asking for his. Back in the studio, Jeremy (Joshua Malina) informs Dan (Josh Charles) that Isaac (Robert Guillaume) was present at the legendary 1951 Giants/Dodgers playoff game that started Dan's love affair with sports. Inspired to do a segment about the game featuring an interview with Isaac, Dan approaches the elder newsman only to get the idea shot down. As Dan sets out to figure out why Isaac is so insistent, word gets back to Dana about Casey giving Pixley his phone number, forcing Dana to realize her dating plan for Casey was a major mistake. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide

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

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

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

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

The rumors continue to fly about Isaac's (Robert Guillaume) possible firing, which comes to a head when Isaac announces that tomorrow's Wall Street Journal will be featuring a story about his and CEO Luther Sach's ongoing feud. While the crew speculates what this will mean for Sports Night, Dan (Josh Charles) describes to Casey (Peter Krause) the beautiful woman named Rebecca (Teri Polo) he met on the elevator this morning and how Natalie (Sabrina Lloyd) said Rebecca thought he was nice and that he should call her. After accidentally running into Rebecca some time later, Dan learns Natalie was lying as Rebecca barely even remembers him -- while his ego takes a hit at the realization that he's not as much of a lady's man as he likes to think he is. After the article comes out the following morning, Isaac takes a meeting with network representative J.J. (Robert Mailhouse), who denies Mr. Sachs had any involvement with the story -- which leads Isaac to believe that perhaps J.J. may be complicit in this mess. Meanwhile, Dana (Felicity Huffman) begins to fret over her suspicions that Gordon is on the verge of dumping her, and Natalie suggests she go talk to Casey about her fears. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide

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

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

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