Forgotten television shows: volume four

(Continuing the series…)
I’m going to change things up here and write about a show that I remember not because it was tied to that wonderful time when your ten years old and you really have no worries in the world. (I mean, think about it. Not worrying about dating, getting into the right school is a long way off. Just all the time a kid could want to watch tv, play video games and work on his jump shot.) So, instead of talking about one of those shows I am going to talk about my favorite show from the past ten years. The show whose biggest flaw was that it was too smart for network television. I’m talking about Sports Night.

Most people couldn’t get past the premise. It’s a comedy that takes place behind the scenes at a cable sports network. A lot of people went “I’m not a sports fan so it won’t make any sense to me.” But it was about sports in the same way that Cheers was about a bar and Northern Exposure was about Alaska. Meaning all that was just backdrop. It was just a stage in which a group of great characters interacted with some of the best dialogue that you’ve ever heard. One of my favorites…

“We'll bring you the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat-and, because we've got soccer highlights, the sheer pointlessness of a zero-zero tie.”

This was just a show filled with characters that were real people. The anchors (Dan and Casey) were not just a bunch of empty suits but really seemed to encompass what it must be like to be trying to make it big time. You had Dana (played by the insanely talented Felicity Huffman) who took on the role of a woman trying to juggle her career with what she wanted out of the rest of her life and made it as real as possible. You had guest stars like William H. Macy who could steal the show at the drop of a hat. And you had a character that did seem like it was myself on screen for a little while.

I’m talking about Jeremy, who probably is the television character who closest resembles me personally in looks and personality. His role on the show was always ill defined, he was pretty high up the food chain in terms of producing the show but he wasn’t running it or second in command. He was just the resident know it all. What I loved about his character is that he showed that knowledge and confidence do not go hand in hand. You can know everything about a situation, understand every nuance, be aware of every contingency, and still be afraid to take that next step. That’s the way I feel in the back of my head a lot of the time and it was comforting seeing that on screen. That he got the girl made life even better.

This is definitely a show worth checking out on DVD. It only lasted two seasons, which is a pity but a blessing nonetheless. This is the type of show that disappears after about four episodes typically. There’s nothing on television this summer. I mean, Beauty and the Geek is a disturbing show and I don’t know what to expect from celebrity Dance Fever so go to the video store or Netflix and pick up the discs. It will be time well spent.