The 1998 series
Sports Night had a tag line as part of its advertising: "
It's about sports...the same way Charlie's Angels was about law enforcement." In other words, not at all. This wonderful show from creator Aaron Sorkin (
The West Wing) was a terrific balance of comedy and drama set against a background of a team of people trying to put on an "ESPN Sportscenter"-style broadcast every day. You didn't have to be a sports fan to watch it, any more than you need to be a medical professional to enjoy
Grey's Anatomy.
And it was packed with stars from the past, present and future of television! The two guys hosting the show-within-a-show were played by Peter Krause (
Dirty Sexy Money, Six Feet Under) and Josh Charles (
Six Degrees, In Treatment). It was a place for Felicity Huffman to shine before she became one of the
Desperate Housewives...and
DH narrator Brenda Strong has a great story arc in this series as a rival to Huffman's character! Huffman's hubby William H. Macy is seen for a half-dozen episodes as well, as is television's "Jack of all Programs" Ted McGinley. Getting back to show regulars, you'll find that they also include Joshua Malina (
The West Wing), Sabrina Lloyd (
Sliders), Greg Baker (
Hannah Montana) and the legendary Robert Guillaume (
Benson, Soap, The Lion King) as the guy in charge of it all.
Back in 2002 the folks who own the show, Disney (under their Buena Vista shingle) put out
a bare-bones DVD release of the complete series, which has since been taken out of print and is very hard to find...and very expensive whenever you DO find a copy.
Now, one of our industry contacts has told us that fans of the show will get their chance to pick this up at a decent price, and with decent extras to boot! Yes, they have given us the gossip that
Sports Night - The 10th Anniversary Edition is coming to DVD this
September.
Is it coming from Disney themselves? We're not sure, and neither is our contact. They say that there's a very good chance that Disney licensed this out to an independent studio. Our bet is on the folks at Shout! Factory, who did such an incredible job late last year with their Disney-licensed release of
My So-Called Life - The Complete Series.
Stay tuned for more updates on this great news, as developments occur! For now, though, keep it in the "rumors" category - officially, anyway - until formal word about this comes down from an involved studio.
