Watching Studio60

This gossip tidbit, a report from the Television Critics Association press tour by Gail Pennington on STLToday.com, made me smile yesterday, although surely if their relationship really was the basis of Matt and Harriet’s, this will only be one in a series of many, many ons and offs. Writes Pennington:

“And who to my amazement should appear but Aaron Sorkin, my very favorite person in all TV land? He has no show on TV right now and was there only ‘as a date tonight,’ with Kristin Chenoweth of Pushing Daisies and before that The West Wing. They’ve been on again, off again for years, and he said, ‘Go on, write it, we’re on again. I don’t want other guys sniffing around her.’ He looked great, healthy, very much his old “West Wing” self. The next time he has an idea for TV, he says, he’ll do TV again. Since I’m one of the few people who saw him, and I got two hugs, I feel very special.”

Doesn’t that bit about “I don’t want other guys sniffing around her” sound just like a line that Matt would have said about Harriet? I can practically see Matthew Perry’s droll delivery of it in my head.

Here’s hoping Sorkin comes up with a good idea for TV again. And finds a network that will stick with it. And a viewing public that will embrace it. And more critics he will want to embrace. Our Sports Night and West Wing and Studio 60 DVDs are only going to sustain us for so long.

I watched “The Quality of Mercy at 29K,” the ninth episode of Sports Night, again last night, and that was really sort of a Message Episode, wasn’t it? A little heavy-handed there at the end with the homeless guy, but an interesting thematic effort.

Everybody’s plot, in one way or another, turned out to be about What We Can Do. We can climb the tallest mountain in the world and knock on heaven’s door. We can put together a work of art that moves even the most skeptical and hoedown-wary. We can put love of another person ahead of all our selfish ambitions and pipe dreams. We can reach out to others with compassion, whether by writing a check or sharing a sandwich.

If Jed Bartlett had stepped in at the end and gave an inspirational speech about the miraculous things that humans can do, it would not have been out of place. It sort of called for that, didn’t it?

Dana’s theatrical transformation courtesy of The Lion King (above) was pretty amusing, and the bit about Casey feeling he understands the “spirit of the mountain” because he climbs the wall at his health club. I could sure relate to Dan and his donation dilemma, have received mailboxes-full of come-ons and felt guilty about tossing them. (I recommend this service for at least reducing the volume.)

Both my favorite parts involve Natalie, though: Her response to Dan asking what she does with her money, and her inspiring the realization in Jeremy that he will never climb Mt. Everest.

What did you think about this episode? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Sports Night, ABC, Thespis, review

It’s taken a little stumble due to 451 Press server issues, but I’m about ready now to get our Sports Night marathon back on track with Episode 9, “The Quality of Mercy at 29K,” which originally aired on December 1, 1998.

The synopsis, according to the DVD box: “Dana realizes a joy for theater she never knew before, while the crew gears up for a live remote from Mount Everest as climbers approach the summit.” I remember very little about this episode, other than Dana’s initial humorous disdain for Broadway theater, her assumption that she could just call up the box office and get Lion King tickets, and then her over-the-top rapture when she got back from the show. Bit of ABC/Disney product placement there maybe, but still pretty funny.

Cue up your DVD and watch this episode with me tonight, and come back during the week for a review, recap, and memorable lines.

_{Photo by Terri Mauro}

Sports Night, ABC, The Quality of Mercy at 29K

Hey, when I said the memorable lines for “Thespis” were still to come, I didn’t know they’d be this long in coming. There were some technical issues with the 451 Press servers over the last week-and-a-half that kept me from getting on here to post anything, and probably kept you from getting on here to see that I wasn’t posting. Is there a mischievous Greek ghost that screws up the Internet? Looks like we had our own Thespis at work.

At any rate, here at last are the lines I picked. Did I miss your favorites? Share them in the comments.

Dan: Dana, Elliot wants to know why there’s a 20-pound frozen turkey on the light grid.
Dana: It’s 24 pounds.
Dan: I’ll tell him that, but then he’ll probably just want to know why there’s a 24-pound frozen turkey in the light grid.

Kim: It’s a time for giving thanks, a time to share in the warm embrace of family.
Natalie: Right. You don’t want to take any crap from your mother.
Dana: I really don’t.

Casey: Jeremy. November 23rd — does that date ring a bell? And don’t go to the computer.
Jeremy: Don’t have to.
Casey: What is it?
Jeremy: It was on this day in 534 B.C. that Thespis stepped out onto the stage at the Theater Dionysus during a choral song and dance and became the first man to speak words as an actor in a play.
Casey: (to Dan) Tell me I was supposed to know that.

Isaac: How can he find the hospital if he hasn’t rehearsed the route?
Dana: Isn’t Douglas a radar officer in the Navy?
Isaac: Yes, and if we were scrambling F-16s, I’d trust him to find the flight deck of the USS Coral Sea. But we’re having a baby, and you can’t find Berkeley General unless you rehearse the route.

Dan: Today is our anniversary.
Casey: Jeez, Dan, that night in Minneapolis with the Jagermeister, we didn’t do anything untoward, did we?
Dan: You mean, did we get married?
Casey: Yeah.
Dan: No.
Casey: Good.
Dan: We recited the St. Crispin’s Day speech in the lobby of the St. Paul Radisson.
Casey: Was it untoward?
Dan: No, it was just embarrassing.

Casey: Impersonating my ex-wife never won anyone a place in my heart.
Dan: It’s an important day to me.
Casey: It’s an important day to me, too.
Dan: I don’t think it is.
Casey: How can I prove it to you?
Dan: Remembering it would be a step in the right direction.

Natalie: So Thespis is the Roman god of theater?
Jeremy: That’s exactly right, except he’s not Roman and he’s not a god.
Natalie: What is he?
Jeremy: He’s Greek, and he’s a ghost.

Dan: I remember what you were wearing. Do you remember what I was wearing?
Casey: I remember not thinking at the time that you were a woman.

Dana: I’m not gonna be beaten by a 6,000-year-old Roman god!
Jeremy: He’s a 3,000-year-old Greek ghost.
Dana: Well, I’m a 33-year-old television producer, and for one hour every night, this is my little corner of the world, and nothing screws up here unless I screw it up!

Isaac: Did a big frozen turkey fall down on the anchor desk during the last commercial?
Casey: Yes.
Isaac: And why?
Casey: Aw, Isaac, is there really an answer I can give to that question that will satisfy you?

Isaac: So you say a few words. You make a gesture. You remember an important date. Small price to pay for what you get in return. For what you get in return, it’s a steal. The rest is all vanity.

Dana: I’ve named this Thanksgiving it. I’m calling it, “The Thanksgiving of Mom’s Disapproval.” Included on the two-record set are the hit songs “Why Aren’t You Married?” and “Sports Is No Place for an Educated Woman” and “Didn’t Anyone Ever Tell You How to Cook a Turkey?”

Dana: (to Jeremy) For a guy who’s read The Hobbit 14 times, you’re not so dumb.

Elliot: Listen to this phone call I just got. Frank and Kathie Lee Gifford were accepting a humanitarian award over at the Sheraton. Kathie Lee got up to the podium, slipped and fell face first into a plate of tapioca.
Dana: At the Sheraton?
Elliot: Yeah.
Dana: All the way across town?
Elliot: Yeah.
Dana: Aaah! Ladies and gentlemen, Thespis has left the building.

Sports Night, ABC, Thespis, memorable lines