Sports Night.

Having just watched 960 minutes of a television show in five days, I figure I should give a shout out to Sports Night. I didn’t watch this when in was originally on TV, though I knew who Aaron Sorkin was and really enjoyed the movie The American President. I’ve spent other vactions watching seasons of The West Wing. Having some time on my hands, I figured I would get the series and see how it was.

It was good enough for me to spend over three hours per day watching it, causing me to avoid much of the “work” I had planned over my vacation. From the pilot episode, where Peter Krauss‘ hair was entirely too poofy, this show had zing and pop that kept me saying, “just one more.” The characters were well developed and likable and the plots nicely balanced the story development, the fluff and the nice big statements. And the writing is so intelligent. I expected it on the West Wing. After all, people working in the White House must have incredibly complex and thoughtful discussions on a daily basis, even under the worst presidents. But intellectual leanings on a show about a sports show?

I also appreciate the shout out Aaron Sorkin gives to those of us interested in the minutiae of life, aka “trivia“. Throughout the series, someone was always talking about some little nugget of information, for example the correct definition of the word montarily, or the curse of Thales. I admire television that is not afraid to be smart, even when you wouldn’t expect it from its characters.