Sports Night

Discuss TV shows old and new.
Post Reply
Message
Author
User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

#1 Post by domino harvey » Sun Dec 30, 2007 2:17 pm

Sports Night has just gone OOP, now is the time to pick it up while you still can.

User avatar
Fletch F. Fletch
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 3:54 pm
Location: Provo, Utah

#2 Post by Fletch F. Fletch » Mon Apr 28, 2008 4:30 pm

An SE of Sports Night may be in the works.

User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

#3 Post by domino harvey » Fri May 16, 2008 11:03 pm

Fletch F. Fletch wrote:An SE of Sports Night may be in the works.
Confirmed, with commentaries, deleted scenes and more w/ TWO bonus discs
Unless Ed finally gets released, this is the TV on DVD set of the year

User avatar
souvenir
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 12:20 pm

#4 Post by souvenir » Fri May 16, 2008 11:16 pm

domino harvey wrote:
Fletch F. Fletch wrote:An SE of Sports Night may be in the works.
Confirmed, with commentaries, deleted scenes and more w/ TWO bonus discs
Unless Ed finally gets released, this is the TV on DVD set of the year
Oh man domino, I might start to actually like you with all this talk of Sports Night and Ed love. Shave my poodle.

User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

#5 Post by domino harvey » Mon Sep 15, 2008 11:59 pm

Finalized Sports Night specs:

10th Anniversary Special Features:
*The Show: An in-depth look back at Sports Night with creator/writer Aaron Sorkin, directors Thomas Schlamme and Robert Berlinger, cast members Felicity Huffman, Peter Krause, Josh Charles, Joshua Malina, and Robert Guillaume, Emmy(r) award-winning editor Janet Ashikaga, Emmy(r) award-winning director of photography Peter Smokler, producer John Amodeo, and set designer Thomas Azzari. Includes never-before-seen behind-the-scenes home movies shot by John Amodeo.
*Face Off: ESPN's SportsCenter vs. CSC's Sports Night - Sports Night's real-life ESPN counterparts discuss what the series got right and wrong.
*A Conversation with Aaron Sorkin and Thomas Schlamme
*Inside The Locker Room - A look at the innovations of Sports Night with Aaron Sorkin, Thomas Schlamme, Robert Berlinger, Janet Ashikaga, Peter Smokler, John Amodeo, and Thomas Azzari.
*Season Gag Reels
*8 Episode Commentaries including creator/writer Aaron Sorkin, director/executive producer Thomas Schlamme, director Robert Berlinger, editor Janet Ashikaga, and cast members Peter Krause, Josh Charles, Joshua Malina, Sabrina Lloyd, Greg Baker, Kayla Blake, Timothy Davis-Reed, and Ron Ostrow.
*Original Promos
*36-Page Booklet including an introduction by creator Aaron Sorkin

No deleted scenes but everything else looks like this'll be another Shout labor of love

User avatar
mfunk9786
Under Chris' Protection
Joined: Fri May 16, 2008 4:43 pm
Location: Philadelphia, PA

#6 Post by mfunk9786 » Wed Sep 17, 2008 10:58 am

domino harvey wrote:Finalized Sports Night specs
If the price stays where it is until the November sale on DD, this is a must-buy at $32.21.

Eh, fuck it, I just sucked it up and pre-ordered it. Damn you, Domino. I really love Sports Night, and I was almost successful in conveniently ignoring this release until November. Almost.

User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

#7 Post by domino harvey » Thu Oct 02, 2008 2:19 pm

I just got the new Sports Night discs in the mail. The episode divisions are exactly the same as on the old set (Meaning "Celebrities" appears separate from the rest of that storyline, which still bugs me). Haven't had a chance to check the transfers yet. One neat bonus that I hadn't seen mentioned in inside the booklet, they've reprinted the production's floorplan of the entire studio. Kinda interesting for fans

User avatar
souvenir
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 12:20 pm

#8 Post by souvenir » Thu Oct 02, 2008 2:33 pm

domino harvey wrote:Haven't had a chance to check the transfers yet.
They're about the same as the other set - meaning not much. Lots of artifacting, noise, softness. Interlaced. The extras more than make up for it though. It's amazing that they got every major principal of the show to participate.

User avatar
swo17
Bloodthirsty Butcher
Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2008 10:25 am
Location: SLC, UT

#9 Post by swo17 » Thu Oct 02, 2008 2:38 pm

souvenir wrote:It's amazing that they got every major principal of the show to participate.
Even Filliam H. Muffman???

User avatar
mfunk9786
Under Chris' Protection
Joined: Fri May 16, 2008 4:43 pm
Location: Philadelphia, PA

#10 Post by mfunk9786 » Tue Oct 07, 2008 3:57 pm

This Sports Night set is easily the best DVD I've bought all year.

User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

#11 Post by domino harvey » Tue Oct 07, 2008 4:49 pm

I couldn't believe that Jeremy was a last-minute addition to the show: I can't imagine the series without that character

User avatar
mfunk9786
Under Chris' Protection
Joined: Fri May 16, 2008 4:43 pm
Location: Philadelphia, PA

#12 Post by mfunk9786 » Sat Oct 11, 2008 10:36 pm

If I ever have a daughter, I'm naming her Pixley

User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

#13 Post by domino harvey » Sat Oct 11, 2008 11:14 pm

To bring the last couple pages of discussion full circle, the best part of that episode is Ed himself, Tom Cavanaugh, as Pixley's clueless date

User avatar
mfunk9786
Under Chris' Protection
Joined: Fri May 16, 2008 4:43 pm
Location: Philadelphia, PA

#14 Post by mfunk9786 » Sat Oct 11, 2008 11:23 pm

He's a big fan.

User avatar
arsonfilms
Joined: Wed Nov 02, 2005 12:53 pm
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Contact:

#15 Post by arsonfilms » Sun Oct 12, 2008 12:23 am

The extras have been pretty great so far (The Josh Charles/Josh Molina commentary notwithstanding), and the release came at just the right time. The discs on my old set were starting to wear down.

User avatar
souvenir
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 12:20 pm

#16 Post by souvenir » Sun Oct 12, 2008 12:45 am

Is there a general consensus as to which season is better? My strong preference is with the first, though I still love the second season despite all the visits to the bar for seemingly no other reason than to shift the setting from the studio.

User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

#17 Post by domino harvey » Sun Oct 12, 2008 1:03 am

That's a tough one. The first half of the first season has so many great things like Jeremy's hunting speech, the Mt. Everest climb (maybe my favorite episode), Thespis, and the Mary Pat Shelby episode-- I don't know about you guys, but it still kills me every time when Jeremy goes "son of a bitch" and races out of the room. But while the second half of the season contains one of the best arcs with the Rebecca courtship, it also drags with the Gordon storyline, which while interesting, still probably goes on at least one episode too many.

The second season found Sorkin throwing everything at the wall, setting up countless story arcs for later use that he never picked up again (Dana finding religion anyone?) and the first half of the second season is wildly uneven with ridiculously jarring narrative and tonal shifts from episode to episode. But the episodes focusing on the Casey/Dana dating plan and then later Dana wooing Macy's character-- which let's be honest, are probably on the whole the two worst arcs in the series-- still contain so many wonderful little moments that I'm willing to overlook the flaws. But I do think the mid-to-later part of the second season is where the series hit its stride. I easily would pick the arcs with Dan's personality descent and Jeremy's dating of the porn star over most anything else in the series. And ultimately, the second season has CUT MAN, which really pretty much trumps anything ever

A question to the Sports Night fanatics: Are you all resistant to the West Wing? Because I used to be back in the day out of resentment for Sorkin essentially choosing it over Sports Night, but you all are missing out if you don't give it a shot. All of the first four seasons are worth watching, and it really hits its peak in the third and fourth years and becomes an equal and perhaps even superior of Sports Night. But you have to live with the fact that the series essentially ends at the end of the fourth season, because Christ almighty, under no circumstances should you ever watch past the end of the Sorkin reign ever ever ever

User avatar
arsonfilms
Joined: Wed Nov 02, 2005 12:53 pm
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Contact:

#18 Post by arsonfilms » Sun Oct 12, 2008 2:06 am

The West Wing is actually a lot of fun from the perspective of a Sports Night fan, given how many narrative devices and story arcs are lifted directly from the earlier show. The character of Sam is remarkably similar in personality to that of Jeremy in Sports Night, and shares a handful of story arcs as well.
The working dynamics of Studio 60 in turn seem to pick up awfully close to where Sports Night left off, and those characters again share much with their predecessors. Sports Night remains a perennial favorite and the West Wing is almost intimidating in its level of quality, but Studio 60 is about as underrated a show as ever there was.

User avatar
mfunk9786
Under Chris' Protection
Joined: Fri May 16, 2008 4:43 pm
Location: Philadelphia, PA

Sports Night

#19 Post by mfunk9786 » Sun Sep 11, 2011 10:59 pm


User avatar
Professor Wagstaff
Joined: Tue Aug 24, 2010 11:27 pm

Re: TV on DVD

#20 Post by Professor Wagstaff » Mon Sep 12, 2011 12:02 am

I'm put off by that article, but as someone who only watched Sports Night for the first time about a year ago, the image of the WTC at the beginning always had me thinking, "Wow, most of these characters are theoretically dead."

User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: TV on DVD

#21 Post by domino harvey » Mon Sep 12, 2011 5:42 am

Actually, since they work the late show, these characters wouldn't have shown up to work til elevenish in the morning at the earliest, so worry not (and thanks for yet another inexplicably awful article, whoever's ruined the Onion)

User avatar
mfunk9786
Under Chris' Protection
Joined: Fri May 16, 2008 4:43 pm
Location: Philadelphia, PA

Re: TV on DVD

#22 Post by mfunk9786 » Mon Sep 12, 2011 8:34 am

Eh, I loved it.

Post Reply