List of Sports Night episodes

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is a list of episodes for the American television sitcom Sports Night, which aired from 1998 to 2000 on the ABC television network.

[edit] Season 1 (1998-1999)

No.	Title	Director	Writer(s)	Original air date	Prod. code
1	"Pilot"	Thomas Schlamme	Aaron Sorkin	September 22, 1998 (1998-09-22)	1-01
Already at odds with the network over Casey's recent lack of professionalism, the team is struggling to get the go-ahead to air a human interest feature on an African runner who's about to compete in his first major race since recovering from a potentially career-ending leg injury. Natalie finds herself attracted to Jeremy, a nerdy but knowledgeable applicant for an opening on the production team.
2	"The Apology"	Thomas Schlamme	Aaron Sorkin	September 29, 1998 (1998-09-29)	1-02
The network is upset when a magazine quotes Dan as saying that he favours the decriminalization of marijuana.
3	"The Hungry and the Hunted"	Thomas Schlamme	Aaron Sorkin	October 6, 1998 (1998-10-06)	1-03
Isaac sends Jeremy out on his first line producing job, covering a hunting rally. Natalie encourages Casey to ask Dana to be his date to a company function, but she's already going with her lawyer boyfriend Gordon (Ted McGinley).
4	"Intellectual Property"	Thomas Schlamme	Aaron Sorkin	October 12, 1998 (1998-10-12)	1-04
Casey is jealous of Dana's relationship with Gordon. Dan is reprimanded for singing "Happy Birthday" to Casey on the air, because the network was forced to pay royalties to the song's copyright holder, and wants everybody on the team to choose a public domain song for him to sing on their birthdays.
5	"Mary Pat Shelby"	Thomas Schlamme	Tracey Stern, Aaron Sorkin	October 20, 1998 (1998-10-20)	1-05
The team tries to score an exclusive interview with Christian Patrick, a football player who's under investigation for sexually assaulting his ex-girlfriend, but Patrick's agent will only grant the interview if the assault allegation is off-limits. Natalie is sent to conduct a pre-interview with him, but comes back with an injured wrist. She says she wrenched it on the way back to the office, but all hell breaks loose when the team learns that a stadium employee saw Patrick physically attack a female sports reporter in the locker room.
6	"The Head Coach, Dinner and the Morning Mail"	Thomas Schlamme	Matt Tarses, Aaron Sorkin	October 27, 1998 (1998-10-27)	1-06
Still on edge from the Christian Patrick incident and the hate mail she's receiving from football fans for deciding to press charges, Natalie is distracted and keeps messing up her work. The team is cutting her some slack, but the show is beginning to suffer. Jeremy wants to take Natalie out to dinner to comfort and support her, but is having trouble choosing a restaurant.
7	"Dear Louise"	Thomas Schlamme	Aaron Sorkin	November 10, 1998 (1998-11-10)	1-07
Jeremy writes a letter to his sister Louise, describing a day in the office. Dan struggles with writer's block, and Natalie tries to help him by acting as if it were the hiccups. Isaac is unhappy that his teenage daughter is dating a young Republican.
8	"Thespis"	Thomas Schlamme	Aaron Sorkin	November 17, 1998 (1998-11-17)	1-08
The mischievous Greek ghost Thespis is in the building, causing havoc with the show. Dana worries about impressing her mother at Thanksgiving dinner, while Isaac worries about his oldest daughter's pregnancy complications.
9	"The Quality of Mercy at 29K"	Thomas Schlamme	Bill Wrubel, Aaron Sorkin	December 1, 1998 (1998-12-01)	1-09
The team is covering a mountaineering expedition that's close to the top of Mount Everest. Dana develops a surprising interest in Broadway musicals after taking her niece to see The Lion King. Dan struggles to find a charity to support.
10	"Shoe Money Tonight"	Dennie Gordon	Aaron Sorkin	December 8, 1998 (1998-12-08)	1-10
Another anchor team's flight is grounded in Pittsburgh, forcing Casey and Dan to stay at work instead of taking a planned weekend trip to Atlantic City — but they turn disappointment into opportunity, challenging the rest of the team to an office poker night.
11	"The Six Southern Gentlemen of Tennessee"	Robert Berlinger	Aaron Sorkin, Matt Tarses, David Walpert, Bill Wrubel	December 15, 1998 (1998-12-15)	1-11
Casey appears on The View, but upsets some of his coworkers when he accepts a compliment on his clothes without giving credit to the wardrobe staff. Seven college football players in Tennessee are suspended for refusing to play under the Confederate Flag, but Isaac resists the idea that he's obliged to get personally involved in the story just because he's black. At the end of the show Dan & Casey thank a list of the real Sports Night production staff.
12	"Smoky"	Robert Berlinger	Aaron Sorkin	January 5, 1999 (1999-01-05)	1-12
Isaac is worried about his job after finally speaking out on the Confederate Flag issue. Dan thinks Casey should start dating again.
13	"Small Town"	Thomas Schlamme	Paul Redford, Aaron Sorkin	January 12, 1999 (1999-01-12)	1-13
Natalie's in the producer's chair for the night when Dana, Gordon, Casey and a woman from Gordon's office go on a double-date. When a rumour about a major player trade starts filtering through the gossip mill, the production staff scrambles to land an exclusive scoop. Dan has to contend with fill-in coanchor Bobbi Bernstein (Lisa Edelstein), who claims that Dan once had sex with her in a hotel in Spain.
14	"Rebecca"	Thomas Schlamme	Aaron Sorkin	January 26, 1999 (1999-01-26)	1-14
Dan is intrigued by Rebecca Wells (Teri Polo), an analyst in the network's marketing department who may or may not have flirted with him in the elevator. Dana is worried that Gordon wants to break up with her, and Isaac is flustered by a newspaper article insulting his show's professionalism.
15	"Dana and the Deep Blue Sea"	Thomas Schlamme	Aaron Sorkin	February 9, 1999 (1999-02-09)	1-15
Gordon invites Dana on a snorkeling trip, but Dana's afraid of fish. Dan tries to convince Jeremy to put in a good word for him with Rebecca.
16	"Sally"	Robert Berlinger	Rachel Sweet, Aaron Sorkin	February 23, 1999 (1999-02-23)	1-16
Gordon stands Dana up, and Casey's favourite shirt is missing. Jeremy is nervous about spending the weekend with Natalie's family, fearing conflict because they're Catholic and he's Jewish. Dan comes to a surprising realization when he overhears Casey asking Sally if she's found his shirt yet. Casey comes to a similarly unexpected realization when Gordon comes into the office the following day wearing Casey's shirt.
17	"How Are Things in Glocca Morra?"	Marc Buckland	Rachel Sweet, Aaron Sorkin	March 9, 1999 (1999-03-09)	1-17
A tennis match has gone into overtime, delaying Sports Night and messing up Dana's dinner plans with Gordon. The network allows Dana to hand off to Sally for the evening when live coverage delays the show's start time — but Casey is shocked and offended when Dana decides to do exactly that.
18	"The Sword of Orion"	Robert Berlinger	David Handelman, Mark McKinney, Aaron Sorkin	March 23, 1999 (1999-03-23)	1-18
When Jeremy learns that his parents are divorcing, he becomes obsessed with finding out what happened to the Sword of Orion, a yacht which disappeared during a sailing regatta 10 years ago and was never found. Dan is having trouble understanding why Rebecca refuses to watch a baseball game with him.
19	"Eli's Coming"	Robert Berlinger	Aaron Sorkin	March 30, 1999 (1999-03-30)	1-19
Dan's having a truly horrible day: first he sees Rebecca talking to her ex-husband, and then Bobbi Bernstein's back again to cover a college basketball event. And this time she has photos. The team is worried when Isaac doesn't seem to be back from his trip to London even though his plane landed four hours ago; they eventually find out that Isaac had a stroke.
20	"Ordnance Tactics"	Alex Graves	Aaron Sorkin, Paul Redford	April 6, 1999 (1999-04-06)	1-20
Dana is in charge while Isaac's in the hospital, and the network is coming down hard. As if that weren't enough to put everybody on edge, someone has phoned in an anonymous bomb threat.
21	"Ten Wickets"	Robert Berlinger	Aaron Sorkin, Matt Tarses	April 13, 1999 (1999-04-13)	1-21
A cricket player in India has taken all ten wickets in an inning. It is a major story, and the team is willing to cover it on the show... if only Jeremy can figure out what it means. Casey's been making Jerry Falwell jokes on the air ever since the bomb threat, and Dana wants him to knock it off. Rebecca has news for Dan about her marriage.
22	"Napoleon's Battle Plan"	Robert Berlinger	Aaron Sorkin	April 27, 1999 (1999-04-27)	1-22
Gordon has proposed to Dana. Casey's response is to follow Napoleon's Battle Plan ("Show up, and see what happens"), but Dan isn't sure that's a good idea: Napoleon lost, after all. Dana, for her part, sublimates her mixed feelings about Gordon's proposal into obsessing over a camera. When she finally finds out that Gordon and Casey both slept with Sally, she's more upset about Casey.
23	"What Kind of Day Has it Been?"	Thomas Schlamme	Aaron Sorkin	May 4, 1999 (1999-05-04)	1-23
Dana buys the new camera, and wants everybody to wear their best clothes so she can take a staff photo. Casey's son Charlie is coming to visit, days after going 3 for 3 with 2 RBI, 2 walks and a stolen base in his Little League baseball game — but that achievement sounds suspiciously familiar to Dan. Jeremy is following a baseball game in the hopes that the losing team might get a ninth inning rally. Just when everything's gone to hell and Dana's desperate for something good to happen, Isaac's back for a visit.

[edit] Season 2 (1999-2000)

No.	Title	Director(s)	Writer(s)	Original air date	Prod. code
24	"Special Powers"	Thomas Schlamme	Aaron Sorkin	October 5, 1999 (1999-10-05)	2-01
Casey tries to find the courage to ask Dana on a date. Jeremy and Natalie have a fight after Natalie is offered a job in Galveston. Isaac is back at work, but the stroke appears to be affecting his job performance.
25	"When Something Wicked This Way Comes"	Robert Berlinger	Aaron Sorkin	October 12, 1999 (1999-10-12)	2-02
There's a rumour going around that the network is bringing in a ratings consultant to rejig the show. Isaac shocks everybody by announcing that not only is the rumour true, it wasn't the network's idea — it was his. He introduces Sam Donovan (William H. Macy) to the staff, but nobody trusts him. Dana decides that Casey, who hasn't been on even one date since the breakup of his marriage to Lisa, should date other people for six months before they begin a relationship with each other. Dan attends a Democratic Party fundraiser, and subsequently tries to track down Hillary Clinton to clarify his comments on education funding after learning that he got two words confused and told her the opposite of what he really meant.
26	"Cliff Gardner"	Robert Berlinger	Aaron Sorkin	October 19, 1999 (1999-10-19)	2-03
Sam Donovan's presence has everyone on edge. Dana considers leaving the show, because she feels like she's being held responsible for the show's problems. A meeting with network executives escalates into a crisis which has the team on the verge of quitting, but Sam deftly defuses the situation.
27	"Louise Revisited"	Marc Buckland	Miriam Kazdan, Aaron Sorkin	October 26, 1999 (1999-10-26)	2-04
Jeremy gets nervous when he discovers that Natalie is writing to his sister Louise. The network sets up a web poll to ask whether Dan or Casey is cooler, and Casey asks Jeremy to help him manipulate the votes. Dana goes out for dinner with an old high school friend, and nobody (not even Dana) can figure out why she took off her underwear in the middle of dinner.
28	"Kafelnikov"	Robert Berlinger	Matt Tarses, Bill Wrubel	November 2, 1999 (1999-11-02)	2-05
After meeting an attractive woman (Jayne Brook) and learning that she's a psychiatrist, Dan obsesses over whether she was interested in dating him or taking him on as a therapy client. Jeremy accidentally blacks out the entire studio while trying to run Y2K tests on the production board.
29	"Shane"	Robert Berlinger	Kevin Falls, Matt Tarses, Bill Wrubel	December 7, 1999 (1999-12-07)	2-06
The Vatican has declared that Hell isn't real, and Natalie struggles to understand why she should bother being a good person if there's no eternal punishment for sin. Casey interviews an old friend, baseball player Shane McArnold, but Dana won't let him clean up the tape to bury Shane's bigoted comments about New York City. After Dan and Jeremy spend over an hour recording and rerecording a ten-second commercial voiceover because Dan can't say Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Dan thinks he may need therapy after all.
30	"Kyle Whitaker's Got Two Sacks"	Dennie Gordon	Tom Szentgyorgyi, Aaron Sorkin	December 14, 1999 (1999-12-14)	2-07
Dana's beaming with pride after her brother Kyle, a football player with the Denver Broncos, gets two sacks in a football game. Dana sends Casey to investigate an imminent steroid scandal at the university, not knowing that her brother is one of the players involved. Jeremy is nervous about firing an incompetent employee in the video library who happens to be J.J's cousin.
31	"The Reunion"	Dennie Gordon, Thomas Schlamme	Kevin Falls, Aaron Sorkin	December 21, 1999 (1999-12-21)	2-08
Kyle is coming to town after his suspension is announced, and Dana's pretty much ready to kill him. Everyone is shopping for their office Secret Santa gifts, and Casey is mystified when Isaac says he wants a cheese grater. With the turn of the millennium just days away, the team is still struggling to decide who to name as the athlete of the 20th century.
32	"A Girl Named Pixley"	Dennie Gordon	David Walpert	December 28, 1999 (1999-12-28)	2-09
Jeremy is nominated for a sports journalism award he knows he's not going to win. After fighting Dana's dating plan, Casey finally goes out on a date with a girl named Pixley, and Dana begins to have second thoughts.
33	"The Giants Win the Pennant, the Giants Win the Pennant!"	Pamela Dresser	Matt Tarses, Aaron Sorkin	January 11, 2000 (2000-01-11)	2-10
Dan wants to do a documentary on the 1951 World Series, but Isaac refuses to be interviewed for it even though he was at the final game. Dan thinks Isaac is embarrassed about his speech having been slowed down since the stroke, but in reality Isaac is embarrassed to admit that he missed the Shot Heard 'Round the World because he was in the bathroom. Dana is even more freaked out when Casey goes on a second date with Pixley.
34	"The Cut Man Cometh"	Alex Graves	Bill Wrubel, Aaron Sorkin	January 18, 2000 (2000-01-18)	2-11
Dan's perennially disapproving father (Peter Riegert) is in town for a visit. The team is preparing to cover a heavily hyped boxing match, but must contend with an annoyingly dense on-site reporter who insists on being addressed as "Cut Man". The match ends in less than a minute, because the underdog goes down for the count on the very first punch, and the team has to improvise to fill the whole hour. Dana and Casey come to blows over the dating plan.
35	"The Sweet Smell of Air"	Alex Graves	David Handelman, Kevin Falls, Matt Tarses, Aaron Sorkin	January 25, 2000 (2000-01-25)	2-12
Sports Night is offered an exclusive interview with Michael Jordan, but the team struggles to accept the strict conditions attached: they can't ask him about sports at all, but only about his new line of cologne. Sam is back, and advises the team that the Michael Jordan interview was only offered to them out of the perception that they would be the only one of the major sports networks desperate enough for the ratings to agree to Jordan's conditions. Casey is invited to speak to Charlie's class, but can't figure out what to talk about.
36	"Dana Get Your Gun"	Alex Graves	David Walpert	February 1, 2000 (2000-02-01)	2-13
Natalie and Jeremy fight over going to a nightclub, and end up breaking up. Dan has the night off, but the substitute anchor is morose and keeps making comments on the air to his ex-girlfriend instead of reading the teleprompter. Dana is conflicted after she inherits an antique Civil War gun.
37	"And the Crowd Goes Wild"	Alex Graves	Tom Szentgyorgyi, Aaron Sorkin	February 8, 2000 (2000-02-08)	2-14
Jeremy and Natalie's breakup begins to impact the show after Jeremy asks for his stuff back. Casey is temporarily blinded from an eye test, and Dan and the crew take the opportunity to play practical jokes on him. After a riot breaks out at Madison Square Garden, Natalie objects to the show turning over its film of the event to the police.
38	"Celebrities"	Robert Berlinger	Aaron Sorkin	February 29, 2000 (2000-02-29)	2-15
After being excluded from a staff party because Natalie was organizing it, Jeremy goes to a bar and befriends Jenny (Paula Marshall), but panics when he realizes that she's a porn actress. Isaac is upset that he can't remember the lyrics to his favourite song.
39	"The Local Weather"	Timothy Busfield	Aaron Sorkin, Pete McCabe	March 7, 2000 (2000-03-07)	2-16
Dan decides to skip his therapy appointment, but spends the entire length of a normal appointment in his therapist's office explaining why. Jeremy e-mails Jenny to apologize for blowing her off, but then meets up with her in person only to explain why he's not going to see her again. Casey tries to bribe the gang to watch a track and field event with him in the middle of the night.
40	"Draft Day: Part I" "It Can't Rain at Indian Wells"	Bryan Gordon	Matt Tarses, Aaron Sorkin	March 14, 2000 (2000-03-14)	2-17
Casey and Dana compete with each other over their NFL draft predictions. Dan has a golf date with PGA star David Duval, but work might keep him from being able to go. Jeremy tells Natalie about Jenny, except for the part about her being a porn star. Casey and Dan are angry with each other and their professional relationship might be in trouble.
41	"Draft Day: Part II" "The Fall of Ryan O'Brian"	Danny Leiner	Aaron Sorkin, Kevin Falls	March 21, 2000 (2000-03-21)	2-18
Jenny is coming to visit the studio, but Jeremy is afraid of what Natalie will think of her. Dan badmouths Casey on the air.
42	"April is the Cruelest Month"	Don Scardino	Bill Wrubel, Matt Tarses	March 28, 2000 (2000-03-28)	2-19
Due to network cutbacks, the show's Olympic coverage is going to be limited and Natalie may be about to lose her job. Dan holds a Passover seder to make up for his inappropriate on-air behavior toward Casey.
43	"Bells and a Siren"	Don Scardino	Chris Lusvardi, David Walpert, Aaron Sorkin	April 4, 2000 (2000-04-04)	2-20
Natalie gets a job interview with Saturday Night Live, but Dana wants everyone to undermine her confidence so that she won't get the job and leave the Sports Night team. Dan's publicist wants him to make a public appearance in New Jersey. Isaac is upset because his grandson has been scared of him ever since the stroke. Casey and Jeremy decide to investigate CSC's financial situation, but make an unsettling discovery in the process: the network might be up for sale.
44	"La Forza del Destino"	Timothy Busfield	Aaron Sorkin	May 9, 2000 (2000-05-09)	2-21
Everybody begins to plan what they'll do if CSC is sold and they lose their jobs. Dan and Casey debate a job with a television station in Los Angeles. Dana meets a mysterious stranger (Clark Gregg) who seems to be following the CSC bidding war unusually closely; his advice to Dana is to ask her staff, "Where are we going?"
45	"Quo Vadimus"	Thomas Schlamme	Aaron Sorkin	May 16, 2000 (2000-05-16)	2-22
All the bidders in the CSC sale have dropped out, and the team prepares for the axe. Dan decides to go to Los Angeles, but Casey decides not to; Dan's decision is complicated when Rebecca returns and wants to get back together. An unforeseen bidder, Quo Vadimus, suddenly puts in a new bid for CSC, but this doesn't improve anybody's morale — all anybody knows about the company is that it is owned by someone named Calvin Trager, who became wealthy by inventing a technology that revolutionized computer hard drive controllers, and is thus probably more interested in CSC's technical infrastructure than its programming. When Jeremy tells Dana what Quo Vadimus means "Where are we going?", she suddenly realizes that her mysterious new friend is Calvin Trager, and rushes out to find him. "Anybody who can't make money off of Sports Night should get out of the money-making business," he finally tells her. "Your show is on."