Jeff Mooring Movies

Art imitates life--sort of--when a TV network decides to fashion a sitcom based on the career of Murphy Brown (Candice Bergen). Hired to portray the fictional "Kelly Green" is glamorous blonde actress Janet St. Martin (Morgan Fairchild), who insists upon hanging around the "FYI" newsroom to soak up inspiration from the far-from-flattered Murphy. Real-life TV journalist Connie Chung appears as herself. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this thriller, a suburban housewife begins playing detective after she overhears a neighborhood conspiracy to kill someone on her baby's intercom. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Having decided to press charges against football superstar Christian Patrick for sexual abuse during preparations for an interview, Natalie (Sabrina Lloyd) now has to endure the wrath of the troglodyte sportsman's fans that are now bombarding her with hate mail and much worse. As a result, her work on Sports Night has been scattershot at best, which prompts Dana (Felicity Huffman) and the rest of the Sports Night crew to try to cover for her during this rough period. Jeremy (Joshua Malina) also lends Natalie a hand in his own inimitably neurotic way by snooping through her e-mail so as to shield her from some of the more egregious correspondences. Dana suggests he focus his attentions elsewhere, like taking her out to dinner since she has an enormous crush on him anyway. Previously unaware of Natalie's interest in him, Jeremy decides to do just that and sets out to find the perfect restaurant. Still smoldering over Dana's romantic relationship with Gordon (Ted McGinley), Casey (Peter Krause) channels his frustration into on-air rants about his alma mater's head football coach -- but he has a change of heart after having an unexpected informal discussion on the matter with Gordon. ~ Ryan Shriver, Rovi

The date is November 23, which holds special significance for a number of reasons. To begin with, the date marks the five-year anniversary of Casey (Peter Krause) and Dan's (Josh Charles) working relationship -- an event that seems to hold more importance to Dan than to Casey. When Casey fails to remember this milestone, Dan becomes passively hostile toward Casey -- which in turn angers Casey. In frustration, Casey asks the Sports Night crew why November 23 is an important date and Jeremy (Joshua Malina) announces that the date marks the anniversary of the first spoken performance by the ancient Greek actor Thespis, who is universally accepted as the first actor. Furthermore, Jeremy elaborates, Thespis is now a ghost who enjoys haunting any type of production that occurs on November 23rd, and that the crew should be prepared for a night filled with unexpected mishaps. Isaac (Robert Guillaume), in the meantime, is fretting over an argument he had with his wife just prior to her departure for California to be with their nearly full-term pregnant daughter -- only to later learn that his daughter has gone into early labor due to some unexpected and potentially serious complications. Dana (Felicity Huffman) is also worked up over her impending duties as host for her family's Thanksgiving Day festivities, since this is her first attempt at hosting and she'd rather not have to deal with what she believes her mother's reaction will be. ~ Ryan Shriver, Rovi

Looking forward to a gambling trip in Atlantic City upon the completion of their work day, Casey (Peter Krause) and Dan's (Josh Charles) plans are squashed when they are forced to substitute for the co-anchors of the early morning wrap-up show who are snowed in at the Pittsburgh airport. With a bit of time to kill before the 2 a.m. show, they decide to start an impromptu poker game to pass the time. Dana (Felicity Huffman) and Isaac (Robert Guillaume) join the game after briefly discussing Isaac's notion that he may be shrinking due to age and osteoporosis. Natalie (Sabrina Lloyd) challenges Jeremy (Joshua Malina) into the game as part of their ongoing feud regarding Jeremy's recent choice of playing tennis with an old friend -- who happens to be a famous and beautiful actress -- rather than spending time with her. Unfortunately for Natalie, she proves to be horrible at poker -- which makes her even more angry with Jeremy, whom she also accuses of being a Mr. Know-It-All. While in the midst of the game, Dana has a brief discussion with the 2 a.m. show's producer Sally (Brenda Strong) and learns that Casey had approved the show's rundown without scrutinizing every last detail -- which miffs Dana and aggravates the jealousy and rivalry she has with Sally. Confronting Casey on the issue, Dana proceeds to inform him of the several problems in store for him with the 2 a.m. show because of his negligence, while Jeremy starts getting angry over Natalie's obsessive need for vindication and revenge that has elevated the argument to another level -- much to the ire of the rest of the staff who are forced to listen to the bickering. ~ Ryan Shriver, Rovi

Still reeling from learning that Dana (Felicity Huffman) is in the midst of a relationship, Casey (Peter Krause) begins to exhibit bizarre behavior not dissimilar from that of a lovesick schoolboy -- which includes kicking fire hydrants, hiding from Dana, and dodging large flies only he seems able to see. Dan (Josh Charles) -- who is forced to endure Casey's Dana obsession with no small amount of disdain -- gets a summons to the Business Affairs department and learns his recent on-air serenading of Casey with the "Happy Birthday" song will cost the network 1,000 dollars in royalty fees to whomever holds the copyright to the song. Now totally obsessed with the notion of a fly attacking him, Casey examines a tape of the show he claims he was attacked on to prove he's not imagining the insect -- but comes away without finding it and begins to suspect he may be cracking up. Dana, in the meantime, has become aware of Casey's obsession via Natalie (Sabrina Lloyd) and Dan, while her plans for a skiing getaway with her boyfriend Gordon (Ted McGinley) seem to have pushed Casey over the edge, prompting him to confront her. ~ Ryan Shriver, Rovi

Dan (Josh Charles) finds himself in hot water as an interview he did for Esquire three months ago is just now hitting the stands and implies he supports the legalization of marijuana. When network representatives swoop down and insist on an on-air apology, Dan balks at the thought -- primarily since he fails to see whom the apology should be directed toward. While the show's executive producer Isaac Jaffee (Robert Guillaume) doesn't disagree with Dan's arguments, he also insists on the apology in order to efficiently end the matter. Meanwhile, the same article that got Dan into trouble has also gotten Casey (Peter Krause) worked up with the article's suggestion that Casey is the "uncool" member of the duo. As all of this unfolds, Natalie (Sabrina Lloyd) asks Casey to help Jeremy (Joshua Malina) with his first news story, since her impartiality is at risk due to her having a crush on the new analyst, while Dan suspects that he may have an on-staff stalker. ~ Ryan Shriver, Rovi

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, Rovi

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, Rovi

A popularity poll has been posted on the Sports Night website asking viewers who they think is more cool, Casey (Peter Krause) or Dan (Josh Charles). After checking in on the current figures, Dan accuses Casey of somehow cheating and lying about not caring about the vote's outcome. Denying the accusations, Casey then leaves their office and recruits Jeremy (Joshua Malina) into assisting him with cheating on the poll -- which he was guilty of doing all along -- by writing a program that will enter votes by the thousands. While working on the program for Casey, Jeremy discovers Natalie's (Sabrina Lloyd) half-finished letter to Jeremy's sister Louise and gets a little freaked out. Meanwhile, Dana (Felicity Huffman) reschedules the 8:00 rundown meeting to 7:30 because of a dinner engagement with an old friend, which irritates Casey since he's still in the middle of the six-month delay of his first date with Dana -- which she herself instituted. While at dinner, Dana removes her underwear from under her dress in a moment of boredom and tells Natalie about it when she returns to the studio. Natalie tells Casey the bizarre tale and Casey becomes a little jealous and quite obsessed with the thought -- so much so that he messes up his next few segments on air, prompting yet another confrontation between Casey and Dana. ~ Ryan Shriver, Rovi

With the same night off, Dana (Felicity Huffman) and Casey (Peter Krause) find themselves locked into a double date arrangement that both would rather not happen -- as Casey is just afraid to go on any dates at all while Dana thinks a double date with Casey is a recipe for disaster. Dana's boyfriend Gordon (Ted McGinley) hooks Casey up on a blind date with one of the lawyers he works with and the quartet heads to the restaurant, where Dana begins to obsess about the show she's missing while drinking herself silly as Casey begins babbling incoherently with his date. Back in the studio, Natalie (Sabrina Lloyd) is in the midst of her first solo run of the show, which proceeds routinely until she scoops an unconfirmed report of a last-minute trade. While still corroborating the story, she has Dan (Josh Charles) announce the still-unconfirmed rumor on-air, which raises red flags with Isaac (Robert Guillaume) and Jeremy (Joshua Malina) who seriously question the decision. Dan has different problems on his hands as he is forced to deal with Casey's substitute, Bobbi Bernstein (Lisa Edelstein), and her claims of having slept with Dan years before while both were in Spain. ~ Ryan Shriver, Rovi

Still smarting over being rejected by Rebecca (Teri Polo) -- the beautiful woman who works in the same building as the Sports Night crew -- Dan (Josh Charles) continues his relentless quest to get the mysteriously distant woman to go on a date with him. Since Casey (Peter Krause) has refused numerous times to speak to Rebecca on his behalf, Dan talks Jeremy (Joshua Malina) into doing it -- and Jeremy learns that Rebecca is the former wife of another popular TV sportscaster. After distinguishing the differences between her ex and him, Dan finally convinces Rebecca to go on a date. As Dana (Felicity Huffman) still fears that Gordon wants to break up with her, she very reluctantly agrees to go on a snorkeling trip with him -- despite her fear of being in close proximity to fish and any other type of marine life. While struggling to come to terms with her fear, Gordon calls and cancels the trip -- prompting Natalie (Sabrina Lloyd) to push Casey into reaching out to Dana. ~ Ryan Shriver, Rovi