Joshua Malina will be guest starting on House M.D. on Mon Nov 30 and from the
looks of the preview at the end of Monday's episode he may be playing the
patient House and his team will have to deal with. His character's name on the
show will be Tucker according to IMDB.

I don't think the title would have mattered. I started thinking of series that
were a "show in a show": NewsRadio, WKRP in Cincinnati, Mary Tyler Moore Show,
Murphy Brown, Good Morning Miami, Talk to Me, and Back to You. The first 4 were
successful and the last 3 had a shorter life span than Sports Night (I think
Miami was the only one to make it at least one full season).

As for marketing, I remember the initial push as "It's about sports the same way
Charlie's Angels is about law enforcement." Later in the first season, ABC
started promoting it as "Aaron Sorkin's 'Sports Night'". I'm guessing that was
trying to tap into Sorkin's recent movie success and also distinguish it as a
"show," not a "sports program."

But I can't help but wonder what other titles it could have been...
"Dan and Casey"
"Smarter than a Fifth-Grader"
"Dork Recess"
"Five Nutty People and Isaac"
"Sports Night on CSC on ABC"
"You're Watching Sports Night" (which could have had some subliminal context)


Jim


--- In 1_Sports_Night@yahoogroups.com, "Bethany A" <sn_listmum@...> wrote:
>
> Hello fellow fans!
>
> Here's something I don't think we've ever discussed before: It has been said
many times that the show might have attracted more viewers if it'd had a
different title. I have often wondered what else the title could possibly have
been. Any thoughts/suggestions?
>
> Bethany
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>

I think the suggestion was that people thought it was a real sports show and
didn't tune in. Or did tune in looking for sports and tuned out again when they
realised it wasn't.  If that's true, it's more the fault of ABC for not
promoting it properly than the fault of the name. Personally I don't think there
can be that many people that made that mistake.

Can't really think of an alternative title that would have pulled in more
viewers, other than "Seinfeld" of course. Maybe something like "9 Eastern" or
whetever time the fictional show was supposed to air. It could have had a
different title in each time zone.

Paul


   ----- Original Message -----
   From: Bethany A
   To: 1_sports_night@yahoogroups.com
   Sent: Tuesday, October 06, 2009 3:38 PM
   Subject: [1SN] change the title?


     Hello fellow fans!

   Here's something I don't think we've ever discussed before: It has been said
many times that the show might have attracted more viewers if it'd had a
different title. I have often wondered what else the title could possibly have
been. Any thoughts/suggestions?

   Bethany

   [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Bethany A wrote:
> Hello fellow fans!
>
> Here's something I don't think we've ever discussed before: It has been said
many times that the show might have attracted more viewers if it'd had a
different title. I have often wondered what else the title could possibly have
been. Any thoughts/suggestions?
>

Well, considering that the show is the fictionalized events around a
sports digest show on a sports cable channel, there seems to be very
little choice of titles. The show was an homage to Sports Center on
ESPN. The title may have much less to do with the shows popularity than
most people would think. Think of other sitcoms that have no relation to
their subject matter. There was Seinfeld, and M*A*S*H, and WKRP In
Cincinnati.  Would Something like The Misadventures of Dan and Casey in
New York have helped anything? Or maybe if the title referenced the
unconsummated romance between Dana and Casey, like maybe Unfinished
Business? I still don't think the title would have made a difference.

I remember in March 1999, Tom Shales of the Washington Post called
Sports Night, "The best show that nobody's watching"


~R
> Bethany
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Group Addresses:
> Post message: 1_Sports_Night@yahoogroups.com
> Subscribe:  1_Sports_Night-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
> Unsubscribe:  1_Sports_Night-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
> List owner:  sn_listmum@...
> Group page: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/1_Sports_Night
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>

Hello fellow fans!

Here's something I don't think we've ever discussed before: It has been said
many times that the show might have attracted more viewers if it'd had a
different title. I have often wondered what else the title could possibly have
been. Any thoughts/suggestions?

Bethany

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Not sure if it has been mentioned here, but Josh Charles is in the new
series The Good Wife on CBS. His role in the pilot episode wasn't very big.
Not sure about future episodes though.

Nancy

I haven't been keeping up with Alan Sepinwall's SN reviews since he took a
break!  I don't know if any of you have been watching his site, but for those of
you who might not have, I thought I'd post a few of the latest links.



Alan took a summer vacation break, came back to write about "The Quality of
Mercy" and "Shoe Money Tonight," and then took a little time away again to work
as press for Comic Con.  During that -- and upon return from -- the convention,
these are the next episodes he's covered:



"The Six Southern Gentlemen of Tennessee" & "Smoky"

http://sepinwall.blogspot.com/2009/08/sports-night-rewind-six-southern.html



"Small Town" & "Rebecca"

http://sepinwall.blogspot.com/2009/08/sports-night-rewind-small-town-rebecca.htm\
l



"Dana and the Deep Blue Sea" & "Sally"

http://sepinwall.blogspot.com/2009/08/sports-night-rewind-dana-and-deep-blue.htm\
l



"How Are Things In Glocca Morra" & "The Sword Of Orion"

http://sepinwall.blogspot.com/2009/08/sports-night-rewind-how-are-things-in.html



"Eli's Coming" & "Ordnance Tactics"

http://sepinwall.blogspot.com/2009/08/sports-night-rewind-elis-coming-and.html





He still has to find time to squeeze in reviewing these three episodes: "Ten
Wickets," "Napoleon's Battle Plan," and the season closer, "What Kind Of Day Has
It Been?"



* FYI. Linda Holmes of NPR's Monkey See blog helps out with reviewing some of
these episodes because Alan was apparently crazy-busy with covering Comic Con
and other things, and he really wanted to get through reviewing the first season
of Sports Night before the new TV season started.  :)



~ Sherry






_________________________________________________________________
Windows Live: Make it easier for your friends to see what you’re up to on
Facebook.
http://windowslive.com/Campaign/SocialNetworking?ocid=PID23285::T:WLMTAGL:ON:WL:\
en-US:SI_SB_facebook:082009

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

speaking of mr. sorkin, does anyone watch entourage?  i understand he
was on it last week.

alex.

On Wed, Sep 2, 2009 at 4:41 PM, timtaylor<timtaylor@...> wrote:
>
>
> Sports Night and Aaron Sorkin recognized by Entertainment Weekly....
>
> http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20301513_6,00.html
>
>

Sports Night and Aaron Sorkin recognized by Entertainment Weekly....



http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20301513_6,00.html

There were a couple in between that nobody linked to. There was "Dear
Louise" and "Thespis". The best way to make sure you have read them all is
to go through this link:

http://sepinwall.blogspot.com/search/label/Sports%20Night

Of course, he has some other good content, so you could just look at the
main page too:

http://sepinwall.blogspot.com/


And to Alex:
No, not really. Sorkin had a tendency to make all his characters seem like
idiots at one point or another. For instance, the "big house" comment from
Natalie. That just did not fly with me. Natalie is not that stupid and you
have to figure the phrase "full house" had to have come up at some point
during that game. I often wonder if the actors ever said anything to Aaron
about how stupid he sometimes made the characters look. It may have been
good for a laugh, but it always seemed awkward to me because I knew that
character wasn't that dumb. I have never paid attention to whether or not he
did it more to women. I really don't think so. He was an equal opportunity
writer. Of course, now that I am trying to think of other instances where he
did this, none will come to me. I will probably think of 10 more as soon as
I hit send on this message.

Nancy



-----Original Message-----
From: 1_Sports_Night@yahoogroups.com [mailto:1_Sports_Night@yahoogroups.com]
On Behalf Of Michael Finn
Sent: Thursday, July 23, 2009 12:31 PM
To: 1_Sports_Night@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [1SN] Latest Sepinwall re-view link

http://sepinwall.blogspot.com/2009/07/sports-night-rewind-quality-of-mercy-a
t.html

"The Quality of Mercy at 29K"
&
"Shoe Money Tonight"

Incidentally, "Shoe Money Tonight" has the scene I find myself re-watching
most frequently -- Jeremy's speech to Natalie at the poker game.  Makes me
grin just thinking about it.

Cheers,
Mike



------------------------------------

Group Addresses:
Post message: 1_Sports_Night@yahoogroups.com
Subscribe:  1_Sports_Night-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Unsubscribe:  1_Sports_Night-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
List owner:  sn_listmum@...
Group page: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/1_Sports_Night
Yahoo! Groups Links

did anyone read chauvinist over/under tones into "shoe money tonight"
or the jeremy/natalie relationship in general?  i certainly didn't,
and, when i re-watch the series, i'll keep an eye out for it, but i
bet i still won't see any.

alex.

On Thu, Jul 23, 2009 at 3:30 PM, Michael Finn<mdfinn@...> wrote:
>
>
>
http://sepinwall.blogspot.com/2009/07/sports-night-rewind-quality-of-mercy-at.ht\
ml
>
> "The Quality of Mercy at 29K"
> &
> "Shoe Money Tonight"
>
> Incidentally, "Shoe Money Tonight" has the scene I find myself re-watching
> most frequently -- Jeremy's speech to Natalie at the poker game. Makes me
> grin just thinking about it.
>
> Cheers,
> Mike
>
>

http://sepinwall.blogspot.com/2009/07/sports-night-rewind-quality-of-mercy-at.ht\
ml

"The Quality of Mercy at 29K"
&
"Shoe Money Tonight"

Incidentally, "Shoe Money Tonight" has the scene I find myself re-watching most
frequently -- Jeremy's speech to Natalie at the poker game.  Makes me grin just
thinking about it.

Cheers,
Mike

Actually, the one you should be thanking is Michael Finn for bringing this
up in the first place. I just finished watching Dear Louise and Thespis. And
I just discover he now has Dear Louise up:

http://sepinwall.blogspot.com/2009/07/sports-night-rewind-dear-louise.html


When this info was first posted here, I was trying to figure out why the
name Alan Sepinwall sounded so familiar. It was really bugging me. But I
have finally figured it out. Years ago, he did a weekly review/recap/summary
of NYPD Blue that was really good. I even found a link on his blog page:
http://www.stwing.upenn.edu/~sepinwal/summaries/summary.txt.html

I feel much better now for figuring that out.

Nancy

-----Original Message-----
From: 1_Sports_Night@yahoogroups.com [mailto:1_Sports_Night@yahoogroups.com]
On Behalf Of Alex Popa
Sent: Tuesday, June 30, 2009 5:35 PM
To: 1_Sports_Night@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [1SN] This week's SN "re-view" from Sepinwall

thanks for emailing the group with this, nancy!  i was very
interested, but i knew i was never going to be able to remember to go
to it.

alex.

On Tue, Jun 30, 2009 at 5:51 PM, Nancy T.<batgirl_520@...> wrote:
>
>
> Just to keep everyone up to date. Here is the next two installments
>
> "Mary Pat Shelby" and "The Head Coach, Dinner and the Morning Mail"
>
>
http://sepinwall.blogspot.com/2009/06/sports-night-rewind-mary-pat-shelby.ht
> ml
>
> Nancy
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>


------------------------------------

Group Addresses:
Post message: 1_Sports_Night@yahoogroups.com
Subscribe:  1_Sports_Night-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Unsubscribe:  1_Sports_Night-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
List owner:  sn_listmum@...
Group page: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/1_Sports_Night
Yahoo! Groups Links

thanks for emailing the group with this, nancy!  i was very
interested, but i knew i was never going to be able to remember to go
to it.

alex.

On Tue, Jun 30, 2009 at 5:51 PM, Nancy T.<batgirl_520@...> wrote:
>
>
> Just to keep everyone up to date. Here is the next two installments
>
> "Mary Pat Shelby" and "The Head Coach, Dinner and the Morning Mail"
>
> http://sepinwall.blogspot.com/2009/06/sports-night-rewind-mary-pat-shelby.ht
> ml
>
> Nancy
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>

Just to keep everyone up to date. Here is the next two installments



"Mary Pat Shelby" and "The Head Coach, Dinner and the Morning Mail"



http://sepinwall.blogspot.com/2009/06/sports-night-rewind-mary-pat-shelby.ht
ml





Nancy



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Only 10 times?  ;-)


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Found a link to this on IMDB this week and apparently the review liked it so
that she has watched about 10 times already:

<http://theflickcast.com/2009/06/17/dvd-review-sports-night-the-complete-series-\
10th-anniversary-edition/>

Kristie

Two episodes covered this time...

http://sepinwall.blogspot.com/2009/06/sports-night-rewind-hungry-and-hunted.html

Thanks so much, Mike!



I just read the first two (from the links you kindly posted), and I'm feeling
all nostalgic for these characters.  Makes me want to watch my DVDs along with
Sepinwall.  :)



Sherry





To: 1_Sports_Night@yahoogroups.com
From: mdfinn@...
Date: Tue, 16 Jun 2009 21:47:51 +0000
Subject: Re: [1SN] TV Critic blogging about re-watching SN this summer







He is posting weekly (on Weds.), but he recently noted that he's going
to review 2 episodes per week
(http://sepinwall.blogspot.com/2009/06/sports-night-programming-note.htm\
l).

Cheers,
Mike

P.S.: I must confess, I came across the link via an Aaron Sorkin
yahoogroups list, which has announced it's shutting down later this year
(or else I'd have referenced that list).










_________________________________________________________________
Insert movie times and more without leaving Hotmail®.
http://windowslive.com/Tutorial/Hotmail/QuickAdd?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_HM_Tutorial_Q\
uickAdd_062009

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

He is posting weekly (on Weds.), but he recently noted that he's going
to review 2 episodes per week
(http://sepinwall.blogspot.com/2009/06/sports-night-programming-note.htm\
l).

Cheers,
Mike

P.S.: I must confess, I came across the link via an Aaron Sorkin
yahoogroups list, which has announced it's shutting down later this year
(or else I'd have referenced that list).

--- In 1_Sports_Night@yahoogroups.com, Sherry Sink <curviegirl@...>
wrote:
>
>
> Fantastic!  Thank you for posting these links for us.  :)  Do you know
how often he'll be posting about it, so we can keep an eye out, or will
you keep posting the links here?
>
> I miss this show.  SO underappreciated.
>
>
>
> Thanks again,
>
> Sherry

Fantastic!  Thank you for posting these links for us.  :)  Do you know how often
he'll be posting about it, so we can keep an eye out, or will you keep posting
the links here?

I miss this show.  SO underappreciated.



Thanks again,

Sherry



To: 1_Sports_Night@yahoogroups.com
From: mdfinn@...
Date: Tue, 16 Jun 2009 03:07:37 +0000
Subject: [1SN] TV Critic blogging about re-watching SN this summer







Alan Sepinwall, TV critic for a New Jersey newspaper, is re-watching
Sports Night this summer, and blogging with commentary on how well it
stands the test of time. Only two episodes thus far; check it out and join in
the discussion:

Pilot episode:
http://sepinwall.blogspot.com/2009/06/sports-night-rewind-pilot.html

The Apology:
http://sepinwall.blogspot.com/2009/06/sports-night-rewind-episode-2-apology.html









_________________________________________________________________
Bing™  brings you maps, menus, and reviews organized in one place.   Try it now.
http://www.bing.com/search?q=restaurants&form=MLOGEN&publ=WLHMTAG&crea=TEXT_MLOG\
EN_Core_tagline_local_1x1

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Wow! Thanks so much for telling us about this. I love that this show still
attracts viewers over and over again. I think I'll go watch an episode right
now!
Bethany

--------------------------------------------------
From: "Michael Finn" <mdfinn@...>
Sent: Monday, June 15, 2009 8:07 PM
To: <1_Sports_Night@yahoogroups.com>
Subject: [1SN] TV Critic blogging about re-watching SN this summer

> Alan Sepinwall, TV critic for a New Jersey newspaper, is re-watching
> Sports Night this summer, and blogging with commentary on how well it
> stands the test of time.  Only two episodes thus far; check it out and
> join in the discussion:
>
> Pilot episode:
> http://sepinwall.blogspot.com/2009/06/sports-night-rewind-pilot.html
>
> The Apology:
>
http://sepinwall.blogspot.com/2009/06/sports-night-rewind-episode-2-apology.html
>
>

that's a great find!  now, i'm going to wear my CSC shirt.

alex.

On Mon, Jun 15, 2009 at 11:07 PM, Michael Finn<mdfinn@...> wrote:
>
>
> Alan Sepinwall, TV critic for a New Jersey newspaper, is re-watching
> Sports Night this summer, and blogging with commentary on how well it
> stands the test of time. Only two episodes thus far; check it out and join
> in the discussion:
>
> Pilot episode:
> http://sepinwall.blogspot.com/2009/06/sports-night-rewind-pilot.html
>
> The Apology:
>
http://sepinwall.blogspot.com/2009/06/sports-night-rewind-episode-2-apology.html
>
>

Alan Sepinwall, TV critic for a New Jersey newspaper, is re-watching
Sports Night this summer, and blogging with commentary on how well it
stands the test of time.  Only two episodes thus far; check it out and join in
the discussion:

Pilot episode:
http://sepinwall.blogspot.com/2009/06/sports-night-rewind-pilot.html

The Apology:
http://sepinwall.blogspot.com/2009/06/sports-night-rewind-episode-2-apology.html

Hi,

I hope this is okay to do here.  I've been collecting some Sports Night
memorabilia for a while now, everything from promotional mugs and glasses to
crew jackets and posters.  I also collect photocopies of scripts, as they often
include scenes or bits that didn't make it into the episodes and are fun to
read.

Anyway, I just wanted to see of there were any other collectors on here, and if
so, see if anyone was interested in trading scripts or other bits?

If interested, just reply to my message here or shoot me an email at
michaeldshea@....

Thanks,
Mike

Just wanted to give you the new address for the "Sports Night on CSC"
fan-fiction series...

sncsc.sportsnight.net

There's nothing new, yet.  All I've done so far was change all the
URLs on 350+ pages.  Back to work I go...

Jim

I only just discovered that my site was gone today.  Fortunately, over the years
I'd been working on and off on a somewhat improved version, which I still have. 
I guess this is a sign that I should go ahead and actually finish that.

Marnee



In a message dated 10/13/08 16:15:37 Eastern Daylight Time, hilarycb2 writes:
I just discovered this was happening, and am mourning the loss of the
Graecia site. I've saved all the original SN scripts to my hard drive
long since, and someone on LJ has done a complete set of transcripts,
but still. It's like an old friend.

In between this, and the 'Our Boys' fic site going down a couple of
months back, it's like our entire history's being erased.

- Hilary

--- In 1_Sports_Night@yahoogroups.com, "tikihut5" <TikiHut5@...>
wrote:
>
> If you haven't heard, AOL is disbanding their AOL Journals and AOL
> Hometown sites on October 31, 2008. That means some of us who host
> sites on AOL will have to move or disappear.
>
> So, as I'll be moving my "Sports Night on CSC" site, I'll make an
> offer to all static Sports Night-related sites:
>
> I'll host you.
>
> Consider this an act from the "Sports Night Preservation
Society." :)
> Again, your site will have to be static, so I won't be able to host
> journals, blogs, or sites that are constantly being updated.
>
> If you're interested, you may contact me through the sportsnight.net
> site. (Scroll down to the bottom and click on "Feedback.")
>
> As for "Sports Night on CSC," I guess this would be a good time to
> clean it up, tie up some loose ends, and... um, churn out the final
> few webisodes.
>
> Jim
>



------------------------------------

Group Addresses:
Post message: 1_Sports_Night@yahoogroups.com
Subscribe:  1_Sports_Night-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Unsubscribe:  1_Sports_Night-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
List owner:  sn_listmum@...
Group page: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/1_Sports_Night
Yahoo! Groups Links




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I just discovered this was happening, and am mourning the loss of the
Graecia site. I've saved all the original SN scripts to my hard drive
long since, and someone on LJ has done a complete set of transcripts,
but still. It's like an old friend.

In between this, and the 'Our Boys' fic site going down a couple of
months back, it's like our entire history's being erased.

- Hilary

--- In 1_Sports_Night@yahoogroups.com, "tikihut5" <TikiHut5@...>
wrote:
>
> If you haven't heard, AOL is disbanding their AOL Journals and AOL
> Hometown sites on October 31, 2008. That means some of us who host
> sites on AOL will have to move or disappear.
>
> So, as I'll be moving my "Sports Night on CSC" site, I'll make an
> offer to all static Sports Night-related sites:
>
> I'll host you.
>
> Consider this an act from the "Sports Night Preservation
Society." :)
> Again, your site will have to be static, so I won't be able to host
> journals, blogs, or sites that are constantly being updated.
>
> If you're interested, you may contact me through the sportsnight.net
> site. (Scroll down to the bottom and click on "Feedback.")
>
> As for "Sports Night on CSC," I guess this would be a good time to
> clean it up, tie up some loose ends, and... um, churn out the final
> few webisodes.
>
> Jim
>

If you haven't heard, AOL is disbanding their AOL Journals and AOL
Hometown sites on October 31, 2008. That means some of us who host
sites on AOL will have to move or disappear.

So, as I'll be moving my "Sports Night on CSC" site, I'll make an
offer to all static Sports Night-related sites:

I'll host you.

Consider this an act from the "Sports Night Preservation Society." :)
Again, your site will have to be static, so I won't be able to host
journals, blogs, or sites that are constantly being updated.

If you're interested, you may contact me through the sportsnight.net
site. (Scroll down to the bottom and click on "Feedback.")

As for "Sports Night on CSC," I guess this would be a good time to
clean it up, tie up some loose ends, and... um, churn out the final
few webisodes.

Jim

Okay.  I didn't get to spend too much time with it yesterday (I'm supposed to be
a studious
grad student), but I can say that in Sally, "Crimson and Clover" was still used.
Man, that's a
pretty emotional episode.  When I'm in an SN mood, I always watch Shoe Money
Tonight,
Six SOuthern Gentlemen, and Smoky in a row and leave it at that, only
occasionally going
for Dear Louise and Intellectual Property.  So there are episodes I haven't
watched in a
while, and i have to say, most of them are just damn good, aren't they?

It's interesting to hear Sabrina Lloyd and Felicity Huffman talk about how well
Aaron wrote
women, because I'll always remember reading that article about how disturbing it
was that
Aaron's writing is so popular when his women are so neurotic and clingy.  I
don't
remember the exact words, but the article was written by a man, and he thought
Aaron's
female characters were insulting.  Does anyone remember what I'm talking about?


Anyway, back to commentaries:

We've got Aaron and Tommy doing the Pilot and Quo Vadimus

Josh Charles, Peter, Sabrina, and director Robert Berlinger for Six Southern
Gentlemen.  For
this one, two are in New York and two are in LA.  I would have much preferred
not having
the director--he was literally the loudest, and talked too much over that lovely
emotional
episode.  Plus it was the only commentary Sabrina did and I would have liked to
hear her
more. it's pretty great to hear Josh talk about Robert Gillaume.

Janet Ashikaga does Small Town

Eliott Will, Chris and Kim do Sally  (they joke about Dave not being there) 
This one was
funny.  It's the one where they're all sitting there waiting for the games to
start, so they're
all delighted to be in the spotlight for that ep.

Peter and Robert Berlinger do Eli's Coming.

Greg Baker, Kayla Blake, Josh Charles, Timothy Davis-Reed, Joshua Malina, Ron
Ostrow do
Kafelnikov.  This is the Y2K episode. Never comes to mind as a favorite, but it
will be fun
to watch with all these guys!  Still wish it had been a different ep though.

Josh and Joshua do the Local Weather, which I already said was really great. 
Having just
two people in nice.  Which is why it kills me that Felicity and Peter and Peter
and Josh
Charles  don't have one....sigh.  It's going to be really hard to get over that.

Gotta go.
Danielle