Sports Night

A friend of mine lent me all 2 seasons of this series, bless her heart. After a slow start, I'm hooked. (I like one amateur reviewer's descriptions of series like this: "Like a crack addict, I watch, and waste.") This was Aaron Sorkin's first TV series, before he wrote the unmatchable The West Wing. Ostensibly a comedy about a fictional sports show, it's mostly a prime-time soap opera, with just a dash of sports. As opposed to The West Wing -- if you're not interested in politics most of the dialogue will pass you right by. This show stars the delicious Peter Krause (now also deliciously in Six Feet Under) and the almost equally delicious Josh Charles (most notably from Dead Poets Society). Unfortunately, it also stars Joshua Malina, and while I understand why Sorkin needs this character on his shows, this guy can't do anything other than pure geek. He's supposed to also be a sexy guy who the associate producer character is all pent up over. Unbelievable. The guy exudes about as much sex appeal as a dead rabbit, and he isn't the hottest actor either. (And Malina replacing Rob Lowe in The West Wing -- what was Sorkin smoking?) The associate producer, Sabrina Lloyd, is too perky but I don't mind Felicity Huffmann as Dana, mostly because she keeps up her end in the unrequited love battle with Krause's character. So, what makes me want to watch this unabashed soap opera slash comedy series? It's great fun to see Sorkin in his early years, trying out his wings and flying often if not always. That script timing that's so famous in The West Wing is evident here, even if the lines are sometimes far too obvious. Future genius is very clear: my faves are the "Sally" episode at the end of season 1 (I never saw it coming), the choice of music for the you-waited-long-enough-for-this kiss, and the glass of water and eggnog scenes (good enough to induce belly laughs). And I'm only halfway through.

year: 1998-2000
length: 45 30-min. episodes
rating: 2.5
IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0165961/combined