Comparing "Sports Night" to the real thing
David
Keeping it real on 'Sports Night'
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By Jeff Merron
"Sports Night," a series depicting what goes on behind the scenes of
"Sports Night," a show that looks a lot like "SportsCenter," first
aired on ABC on Sept. 22, 1998. It got rave reviews and picked up a
couple of Emmy Awards, but never moved beyond the middle of the pack
in the ratings. The 45th, and final, episode aired on May 16, 2000.
It says a lot when you can put an entire series on six DVDs.
Aaron Sorkin, who created the show and wrote much of the series, says
he aimed for realism, even spending some time at the ESPN campus in
Bristol. But he also, obviously, was attempting to produce a funny and
compelling series that would be wildly popular.
Recently, the complete run of "Sports Night" came out in a six-disc
box set. If every episode of "SportsCenter" were released in a DVD
set, the box would be the size of an 18-wheeler. So that's one
difference. Any others?
THE BIG PICTURE
In Reel Life: "Sports Night" is a "SportsCenter" competitor.
In Real Life: Sorkin got the idea for the series from watching
"SportsCenter" in order to wind down after a day of writing a
screenplay. "You are the origin [of the series]," Sorkin told Keith
Olbermann in an Esquire interview. "I sat in this hotel room for 13
months writing 'The American President.' To keep me company, I would
have 'SportsCenter' on. I'd watch the Big Show four times in a row,
and I thought it was the best-written show on television. It turned me
into a big-time sports fan." Sorkin first thought of writing a book
with themes and plots similar to "Sports Night," and then a movie.
"But I had a hard time thinking of a two-hour story to tell. It all
seemed episodic to me, like small stories." Finally, he realized a TV
series would be the ideal vehicle.
In Reel Life: Co-anchor Casey McCall (Peter Krause) has a special
signal he gives to his son, to tell him that it's time to stop
watching Dad on TV and go to bed.
In Real Life: "SportsCenter" anchor Chris McKendry says she doesn't
have a special signal for anyone, but suspects that some of the other
anchors do. "I do remember that when I was anchoring the Sunday
Morning 'SportsCenter,' ['Sunday Sportsday'] my co-anchor, Jack
Edwards, would sometimes make a reference to the Simsbury A's. He'd
say something like, 'They're as sharp as the Simsbury A's.' That was
for his son -- it was his son's Little League team."
In Reel Life: The "Sports Night" offices tend to be neat.
In Real Life: "Our cubes are messy," says McKendry. Charley Steiner,
talking about the show a few years ago, said pretty much the same: "I
don't see any of their tapes piled up on their desks like at our
place."
In Reel Life: There's often a lot of tension and panic just before the
show goes on the air.
In Real Life: "Sometimes it's like that," says ESPN's Gus Ramsey, who
produced "SportsCenter" from 1994 to 1999. "Say, if we're broadcasting
a game before the 11 o'clock 'SportsCenter,' and the game ends early,
we might be rushed because we have to go on the air at 10:50 instead
of 11. But it's not every day."
In Reel Life: There are four rundown meetings a day, starting at noon.
The last one is at 10 p.m.
In Real Life: "That's overkill," says Ramsey. "For the 11 o'clock
'SportsCenter,' the first meeting of the day is at 3:30, then there's
a later rundown meeting, around 7 p.m., for the coordinating producer,
producer, and the people involved in building the scoreboard and
graphics." At ESPN, the "talent" -- the anchors -- work in the same
"pod," or four-cubicle setup, as the producers, and are pretty much
discussing the show all day, hence making so many meetings
unnecessary.
In Reel Life: There's a lot of technical talk about segments being in
the "10s" and "30s" (or "10 block") and so on.
In Real Life: Each "SportsCenter" has seven segments per hour (divided
by six commercial breaks), and the "10s" and "20s" terminology was
lifted right from "SportsCenter," says Ramsey. Now, though, segments
are called the "A's," "B's," "C's," and so on. Ramsey gave an example
of why this system is useful. "Say we have the Red Sox playing the
Blue Jays, and we have the highlight on page B4 (of the
script/rundown) and the score on B5. If the game's running late, we
can easily communicate to everyone that we're moving B4 and B5 to
another specific slot in the show. And if a show is shortened, it's
easy to eliminate segments."
In Reel Life: There's a real bond between Dan and Casey that goes way
beyond the snappy banter.
In Real Life: "The thing that 'Sports Night' has that's so true in
real life is the relationship between the co-hosts, the two-man patrol
in the middle of war," Olbermann told Esquire. "Dan [Patrick] and I
used to have that bunker mentality."
In Reel Life: Dan Rydell (Josh Charles) and Casey have a huge office
that has a great view of the New York skyline.
In Real Life: Hollywood fantasy, according to "SportsCenter" anchors
present and past. "Kenny Mayne and I sit back-to-back in a cubicle
like prairie dogs!" says McKendry, who adds that seniority is the key
to getting your own office. And things don't look so good for the
Bristol-based anchors at ESPN. "Dan Patrick and I had cubicles that
overlooked the Otis Elevator Testing Shaft," Olbermann said. "And that
is when we had windows!" [Note: visitors to Bristol may notice, close
to the ESPN campus, a very tall tube that looks like a grain elevator.
It's not. It's where the good folks at Otis literally test elevators.
That's what Olbermann's talking about.]
In Reel Life: Dana Whitaker (Felicity Huffman) is the young, very
talented and hard-working producer of "Sports Night." She's constantly
on the move, giving short instructions to people as she walks through
the office.
In Real Life: "When I visited ESPN, I was very impressed with a
particular producer who was juggling about a hundred things at once,"
explained Sorkin. "She was the inspiration for casting a woman in the
role of producer of 'Sports Night.' "
But things aren't quite as hectic for "SportsCenter" producers as they
are for Dana. "There are a lot of people who you have to talk to,"
says Ramsey, including the anchors, the people who cut tapes, the
folks who do core panels and other graphics, and those in charge of
"bumps" (the short "coming up next" segments) and "teases" (the show's
opening sequence). "But you do have time to eat dinner and watch a
game for a while."
In Reel Life: Before the show goes on the air, there's a general call
for the "first team" to get to the studio.
In Real Life: Doesn't happen, says McKendry. "We know when we're on
the air, and we don't need to be reminded when to get to the studio.
The only page you'll hear comes about 10 minutes before the show: 'Six
o'clock tapes are on their way down.' That's it." There's also no
"first team" (or second or third, for that matter) at "SportsCenter."
In Reel Life: Before and after almost every show, people say to each
other "Good show," meaning either, "Have a good show," or "We had a
good show."
In Real Life: Says McKendry, "Before the show, the producers usually
say something like, 'Have a good show,' and afterward everyone thanks
each other."
In Reel Life: The main characters spend a lot of their time talking
about relationships and personal stuff. The gang is very close, not
only professionally but in what little personal lives they have.
In Real Life: The "SportsCenter" staff, in Ramsey's experience, isn't
this close in their personal lives. "Mostly because of volume," Ramsey
explains. "We have so many people who work on a show, it's hard to
know everybody and know everyone well.
"When I was doing the 11 o'clock with Dan and Keith, we were friendly,
but we weren't hanging out together all time.
"A lot of the production assistants, though, live in the same
apartment complexes and may hang out more together."
In Reel Life: Before the show, and during breaks, Dan and Casey are
surrounded by what one web wag calls "fluffers" -- people who comb the
co-anchors hair, brush their collars, and generally primp the two
guys, who look perfect to begin with.
In Real Life: "We don't have 'fluffers,' " says McKendry. "The only
time I had someone to help me like that (during a broadcast) was when
I was covering the X Games, because it was so cold. We have makeup
people, but it's done before the show."
In Reel Life: Dan and Casey need lots of help getting dressed for the
show every night. They have a head wardrobe person who selects their
outfits, and an assistant who delivers them.
In Real Life: "SportsCenter" anchors get dressed all by themselves,
and choose what they wear each night. "We have a woman who helps us
with our wardrobe," says McKendry, "but it's months in advance."
In Reel Life: Dan and Casey write their own scripts.
In Real Life: As do the "SportsCenter" anchors. "You either write it
or you have nothing to say," says McKendry.
In Reel Life: Often, during breaks in the live "Sports Night"
broadcast, the anchors leave the set. Other times, they work out
personal problems on the set. Sometimes, they just banter.
In Real Life: "You can't leave the set because you're attached to it,"
says McKendry. "Your mike is connected. And in a two-minute commercial
break, you don't go out and have a personal crisis, because you're
focused on the work. During the two minutes, that's when you're
getting your shot sheets (play-by-play rundowns) for the highlights
coming up. Or changes to the show."
In Reel Life: The "Sports Night" production staff refers to commercial
breaks as "c-breaks."
In Real Life: "We don't speak in code," says McKendry. "I've never
heard that term before. We just say 'break.' "
INCIDENTS AND ACCIDENTS
In Reel Life: In the pilot episode, Casey says he's sick of reporting
on the crimes committed by athletes.
In Real Life: Sorkin said this was inspired by the Latrell Sprewell
choking incident. One of his friends said, "If we're not disgusted by
this, we should at least give the appearance we're disgusted by it, if
only for the sake of our children." Steiner said the pilot struck a
chord. "I could relate to [it] because we have the same disgust as
everyone else."
In Reel Life: In the pilot episode, Jeremy (Joshua Malina) comes in
for an interview. He's grilled about what the Knicks must do to
contend in the upcoming season, and is expected to respond with
astonishing detail.
In Real Life: "That's spun from ESPN lore," says Ramsey, "about Al
Jaffe, our guy in charge of hiring just about everyone. For the PAs
(production assistants), the most talked-about part of the interview
process is asking those type (trivia) questions. I came in as a
producer, and before I met Al Jaffe, I spent two days cramming my mind
full of stats and trivia. But as a producer, I didn't get any of
those. I got questions about content and presentation."
In Reel Life: Dan and Casey have to anchor the 2 a.m. "West Coast
Update." To kill time between shows, they play poker with the gang.
(Episode 10, "Shoe Money Tonight")
In Real Life: Doesn't happen, Rich Eisen told the Washington Post.
In Reel Life: Romance is always in the air -- Dana and Casey, Jeremy
and Natalie (Sabrina Lloyd), etc. Jeremy woos Natalie by setting up a
candlelit dinner (with Chinese food) at her desk. (Episode 6, "The
Head Coach, Dinner and the Morning Mail")
In Real Life: "I guarantee you there are people who work here who are
going out together," Eisen told the Washington Post. "But they are not
having candlelit picnics in the pods, like on the show."
In Reel Life: Dana plans to go to see "The Lion King" on Broadway. In
a display of total idiocy and ignorance, she doesn't realize she needs
to buy tickets way in advance for the most popular show on Broadway.
Somehow, though, "Sports Night"'s head honcho, Isaac Jaffe (Robert
Guillaume) miraculously comes up with tickets for that day's matinee.
(Episode 9, "The Quality of Mercy at 29K")
In Real Life: Alert viewers may understand why Isaac/Guillaume might
have a pair of the impossible-to-get ducats. He was the voice of
Rafiki the Mandrill in the 1994 Disney movie, "The Lion King," and
played the role again in 1998's "Lion King II: Simba's Pride."
If Dana had worked for Disney, she could have gotten the tickets
herself. The corporation allows employees to internally purchase
tickets for sold-out shows.
In Reel Life: Isaac has a stroke, and is away from work for a while,
but eventually returns. (Episode 19, "Eli1s Coming")
In Real Life: Guillaume had a stroke and collapsed on the "Sports
Night" set. His absence from the series, and his subsequent return and
recovery, were built into the script. For example, on the show, Isaac
is often frustrated about how hard it is to do simple things like walk
across a room, and at one point he exercises on a treadmill.
"I figured that since I hadn't died, the only way for me to go was in
the opposite direction," Guillaume told Time. "Still, some days are
better than others. Just picking up my legs and moving across the room
requires a tremendous amount of forethought and planning." He also
told Time that using a treadmill was among his rehab exercises, and
that he had to undergo speech therapy.
In Reel Life: Isaac is frustrated because he can't remember the lyrics
to a show tune ("How Are Things in Glocca Morra" from "Finian's
Rainbow"), saying that he has a comprehensive knowledge of musicals.
(Episode 38, "Celebrities")
In Real Life: Most people, when they think of Guillaume, think of
Benson, the character he played on "Soap" in the 1970s, then again in
the long-running spinoff, "Benson." (In that role, he won several Emmy
Awards.) But he's also been a star on the stage, scoring a 1977 Tony
nomination for his portrayal of Nathan Detroit in "Guys and Dolls." He
also starred in "Porgy and Bess," "Purlie" and "Phantom of the Opera."
In Reel Life: There's a critical error in the script. The "s" in
"bulging disk" is missing. This could have resulted in an embarrassing
on-air mishap, but it's caught in time. ("Eli's Coming")
In Real Life: Pulled right from the "SportsCenter" misplay book.
During one broadcast, a TelePrompTer typo dropped the "s" in "disk."
As a result, anchor Steve Levy did say, on the air, that a player was
out of action with a "bulging dik." Olbermann, co-anchoring, "was
crying he was laughing so hard," Rich Eisen told the L.A. Times.
In Reel Life: Isaac hires a "ratings expert," Sam Donovan (William H.
Macy). Dana leads the "Sports Night" crew in hating him, even when he
improves their ratings. (Episode 25, "When Something Wicked This Way
Comes")
In Real Life: This is another stumper. These folks are TV pros, are
third in their time slot, and they don't think they could use some
help?
Ramsey explains that this is a very unrealistic reaction to someone
who's there to help lift the ratings. "We have consultants. We
scrutinize the ratings every day. We have a ratings research
department to help us figure out what works and what doesn't work.
Just in the last year, we've made a lot of changes, and that's driven
by what the ratings people tell us.
"Some people are anti-change, but obviously if the ratings are down,
something's wrong. A few years ago, we started putting music under our
highlights. Some people didn't like that. Now, ["SportsCenter" and
other ESPN shows] would seem strange without it."
In Reel Life: Michael Jordan is scheduled to do a five-minute live
interview. He wants to promote his new cologne, "Jordan." The other
sports news shows won't do it, because it's clearly promotional, but
"Sports Night" will. (Episode 35, "The Sweet Smell Of Air")
In Real Life: "Certainly there are PR releases about athletes being
available for interviews," says Ramsey. "For example, you might get a
press release saying that Peyton Manning will be on the satellite and
talking about his new video game. Someone like that, you do the
interview."
In Reel Life: The company mistakenly includes in its press kit
instructions to Jordan to keep the interview focused on cologne. The
"Sports Night" crew wants to him to talk mostly about basketball and
other topics. So they set up practice interviews to try to figure out
how to do this.
In Real Life: With athletes who are promoting products, says Ramsey,
"You throw them a bone and ask them a question about their video game,
then move on to something else. Sometimes they won't do the interview
unless you agree not to discuss a certain topic. But it's highly
doubtful that Jordan wouldn't talk about basketball."
When all said and done, let the pros handle the sports news.
McKendry says the practice interview scenario is bogus. "I go over my
talking points and the line of questioning I want to follow with one
of the producers of the show, to make sure I'm covering all the
ground. But we don't role play our interviews."
In Reel Life: Dana and Sam almost get together -- but Sam ends up
skipping town. (Episode 37, "And The Crowd Goes Wild")
In Real Life: Macy and Huffman have been married since 1997. He hasn't
skipped town on her.
In Reel Life: CSC (Continental Sports Channel) is purchased by a
company called "Quo Vadimus." Despite the poor ratings of the
show-within-a-show "Sports Night," the new owner decides to keep the
show on the air. (Episode 45, "Quo Vadimus")
In Real Life: The last few episodes of "Sports Night," in which the
characters weren't sure whether their show would stay on the air after
CSC was put up for sale, mirrored, to a certain extent, the
uncertainty of "Sports Night"'s fate late in its second season.
As it turned out, ABC wasn't as patient with the "real" "Sports
Night," canceling the show. There was some talk about the series being
picked up by a premium cable channel (Showtime or HBO), but it never
panned out. The series is now rerun on Comedy Central. The episode
schedule is here.