SPORTS NIGHT - PILOT OUTLINE

This pilot is from 1998 and it was ahead of its time. Can't believe that the first season had a laugh track. It lasted 45 episodes, but definitely was an indication of the kind of dramedy that was soon-to-come in TV. 

By Aaron Sorkin

...Chatter over darkness. 

1. FADE UP ON: 
2. CONTROL ROOM: A big paragraph tells us where we are and what’s going on. It’s a cable sports show. We also meet DANA, NATALIE and ISAAC. Also we meet the hosts CASEY and DAN. 
3. THIS GREAT LINE SUMS UP SO MUCH OF WHAT SORKIN DOES: THE ATMOSPHERE IS CALM, PROFESSIONAL CHAOS, AND WHILE WE MAY NOT ALWAYS KNOW WHAT THESE PEOPLE ARE TALKING ABOUT, WE KNOW THAT THEY DO. 
4. STILL CONTROL ROOM: Dan asks Casey if he’s ready to get out of the house yet, kind of ribbing him, while they both field info from the producers as the show is about to air in 30 seconds. Dan catches a mistake on the prompter just before they go on, and we learn that Casey is going through a divorce. Then recording starts…
5. ACT ONE
6. NEWSROOM: Elliot has a lawyer’s wife on the phone. Then Dan shows up in street clothes b/c it’s morning…
7. NICE MOMENT: CASEY AND ELLIOT TRY TO MAKE SUBTLE GESTURES WITH THEIR HANDS THAT SAY “YEAH THIS IS PRETTY BAD BUT I GUESS IT’S NONE OF OUR BUSINESS.” Dan: Are you guys miming something? 
8. We get more info about what’s going on: A basketball player freaked out, so that’s the lawyer they’re trying to talk to. Meanwhile, it’s suspected that Casey slept at the office and revealed that he’s going through something.
9. CONFERENCE ROOM: Isaac and Dana talk. We learn that Casey is quitting but he hasn’t told Dan. Dan enters and they all figure out how to cover the bar fight story, then he leaves and they turn back to Casey quitting, then he comes back and feels the bad vibes and Casey reveals that he is leaving the show. 
10. END OF ACT ONE
11. NOTE: Sorkin does a great job of making people real by giving them interests, problems and concerns that lie outside the office. Dan is obsessed with New York’s arts and culture scene, Casey has his divorce, etc.

ACT TWO

1. Dana tells Casey he shouldn’t leave, that he’s screwing up her show, that she loves her job. He simply nods in understanding. 
2. DANA’S OFFICE: Meet Jeremy the intern as he’s grilled by Dana an Natalie. It’s a tough interview but he does a good job.
3. IN THE STUDIO: Dan and Casey have it out. Casey is sick of the negativity and crime he reports on in sports. Dan rags on him for quitting and leaving his friends behind. Then Kim runs in and says there’s something they need to see…
4. An old and formerly handicapped runner is winning a race. It’s the electric moment Casey needed to restore his faith in sports. Also, Sorkin set it up in act one, when they were deciding to pursue the bar fight story over this ‘cuz the guy had “no chance.”
5. STUDIO: Casey ad libs a promo without copy and it’s great. He makes up with Dan. He makes up with Dana, who there might be a spark with, and the show ends by paying off a joke from the top of Act 1. 

LESSONS LEARNED: Remember to keep it simple. DOn’t worry about doing too much, but also make sure that the characters have lives outside of wherever they are. Keep the writing light and fun and energized, the reader should feel that lightness and energy when they read. This episode dealt a lot with positivity vs. negativity and the power of sports, and that was intentional throughout. That’s the kind of thing that needs to be pre-conceived and followed through with, and it will really resonate. 
Just like with NEWSROOM, this is a show about characters who have a history and a complicated relationship. But unlike NEWSROOM this didn’t have that mystery and secret coursing through it, so it was a little less engaging. 

For BLING, we should make sure we embrace the stakes of our world like they do in NEWSROOM, and also have the complicated history and relationships of a show like that.