Pilot
Season 1, Episode 1 Unrated
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Casey begins to slow down at the job, due to his impending divorce. The staff tries to get him out of his haze and J.J. and the network brass threaten to fire him. At the same time Casey himself thinks about leaving until he witnesses that he'd only do this for the wrong reasons. Dana hires a new associate producer, neurotic, but brilliant Jeremy Goodwin. Dan has a New York Renaissance....
The Apology
Season 1, Episode 2 Unrated
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Dan is misunderstood on his opinion over marijuana and the law. When Luther Sachs reads this, he demands an on-air apology; Isaac seconds it, as does Dana. But no one will answer as to whom he should be apologizing to. Casey worries about why he is not considered "cool" like Dan is. Dan is stalked by one of the CSC fitness show stars.
The Hungry and the Hunted
Season 1, Episode 3 Unrated
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Jeremy gets the "call" from Isaac and Dana, to go out on assignment for CSC's hunting show. While he wants to move up, he has a problem with hunting animals. Natalie tries to orchestrate romance between Casey and Dana, during one of Luther Sach's parties. Technical errors occur on the set.
Intellectual Property
Season 1, Episode 4 Unrated
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Casey spins out of control, due to jealousy when Dana starts seriously dating Gordon. He swats flies that no one else can see, kicks fire hydrants and other odd behavior. Dana, Natalie, and Jeremy wonder where all their "good" ideas went and CSC has to pay royalties after Dan sings Casey "Happy Birthday" on the air.
Mary Pat Shelby
Season 1, Episode 5 Unrated
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Dana is excited to be getting a notorious football player, Christian Patrick on the show. The staff is not when his lawyers force them to not mention the ex-girlfriend he badly abused, Mary Pat Shelby. When Natalie goes to pre interview him, he assaults her. Dana's decision about whether to break the story is a difficult one, and it is not the same as Dan and Casey's. Also Dan wrestles with whether or not to get a goatee and Dana realizes her absence of a sense of humor.
The Head Coach, Dinner and the Morning Mail
Season 1, Episode 6 Unrated
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This title for this episode represents it three main themes. "The Head Coach" involves Dan's harsh treatment on a coach's bad decision. "The Diner" is about Jeremy's major decision about where to take Natalie on their first date. And the morning mail is about the hate mail Natalie receives after the events of last week's episode.
Dear Louise...
Season 1, Episode 7 Unrated
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Jeremy writes a letter to his deaf sister about his new job at Sports Night. In it he describes the last few days there, including Dan's writer's block and the beating of an 80-year-old Negro League ball player, Archibald Russell. He also talks about his love for Natalie. Isaac's mad that his daughter is dating a Republican and Casey tries to annoy Gordon, Dana's new man.
Thespis
Season 1, Episode 8 Unrated
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November 23rd marks the birthday of Thespis, the Greek God of Theater. A legend states that on his birthday he has been known to haunt live productions, and for the first half-hour of it, Sports Night is targeted. This date also is the anniversary of Dan and Casey's first broadcast, and Casey can't remember. Issac worries over his expecting daughter, and Dana worries about making Thanksgiving for her mother.
The Quality of Mercy at 29K
Season 1, Episode 9 Unrated
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The team broadcasts an Everest climb, the first one since 1954. Jeremy realizes he's got something to live for, Natalie. Casey searches for food, as Dan searches for a charity to give to. Dana takes her niece to see "The Lion King", and discovers a love of the theater.
Shoe Money Tonight
Season 1, Episode 10 Unrated
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It's snowing in Pittsburgh so, the anchors of the 2 AM West Coast Update are stuck and the staff have to stay to do the show. Instead of going to Atlantic City, Dan and Casey and the staff have a poker tournament. Natalie is angry with Jeremy because he skipped an outing with her to go play tennis with an old girlfriend who is now an actress. Casey approves a rundown from the 2AM producer, Sally without consulting Dana, making her feel very angry and unappreciated. Isaac is shrinking.
The Six Southern Gentlemen of Tennessee Tech
Season 1, Episode 11 Unrated
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A southern African American football player and five other students refuse to play at a Tennessee college where the Confederate flag is hung. Luther Sachs the owner of CSC and alumnus of the college sides with the college, but Isaac disagrees and says so on the show. Casey goes on "The View" and takes credit for his wardrobe, which he doesn't deserve and this leads Dan and another staffer to teach him that the show is a team.
Smoky
Season 1, Episode 12 Unrated
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Certain employees try to position themselves for a promotion when rumors of Isaac's leaving start to circulate.
Small Town
Season 1, Episode 13 Unrated
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It's Dana and Casey's night off, and neither wants to take it. They decide to double date, Dana with Gordon and Casey with Lisa a lawyer who's on a blind date. Natalie is left to produce the show for the first time, and has to handle an 11th hour trade, which in its chaos, Isaac and Jeremy question her authority. Casey's replacement is Bobbi Bernstein a psychotic woman who thinks that Dan slept with her in Spain and never called.
Rebecca
Season 1, Episode 14 Unrated
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Rumors spread about Isaac's job status when the Wall Street Journal reports the recent trouble between Luther Sachs and Sports Night. J.J. begs Isaac to let him forward messages to Luther instead of Isaac doing it himself. This leads Isaac to realize that J.J. is the only one to gain if there is turmoil between the show and company. Maybe J.J. is starting trouble? Dana is nervous that Gordon is going to dump her because she is so preoccupied with work. Dan feels he should apologize for not calling Rebecca after he met her in the elevator. She doesn't remember him, though.
Dana and the Deep Blue Sea
Season 1, Episode 15 Unrated
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Having been rebuffed by Rebecca, Dan turns to Casey for help in dating her. Casey, still wrestling with his feelings for Dana, refuses. Next Dan turns to Jeremy in his efforts to be "more than friends" with Rebecca. Meanwhile, Dana agrees to go snorkeling with Gordon even though she is terrified of fish. Casey: "Sometimes you just stand there -- hip-deep in pie." Rebecca [to Jeremy]: "Is everyone who works on your show deranged?"
Sally
Season 1, Episode 16 Unrated
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When Casey has a one-night stand and does not tell anyone, the entire staff, led by Dan, prods him for details. After Gordon cancels a date with Dana, she questions the status and future of their relationship. Jewish Jeremy, panics when he is set to visit Natalie's parents for a Catholic holiday, he knows nothing of.
How Are Things In Glocca Morra?
Season 1, Episode 17 Unrated
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A televised tennis match heads into overtime, delaying the start of Sports Night and forcing Dana to choose between canceling a date with Gordon and handing the show over to Sally. Meanwhile, Jeremy uses the delay to write to Louise; and Dan's charms are beginning to work on Rebecca.
The Sword of Orion
Season 1, Episode 18 Unrated
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Hit hard by the news of his parents' impending divorce, Jeremy pushes himself to solve the mystery of a yachting disaster. This will be his first feature length story. Meanwhile, romance is in the air when Rebecca agrees to watch a baseball game with Dan.
Eli's Coming
Season 1, Episode 19 Unrated
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Dan's day is not shaping up to be a good one as Bobbi Bernstein returns to the broadcast, and he discovers Rebecca's husband hasn't quite reached "ex" status. Meanwhile, Casey and Dana's bickering escalates until news that Isaac has suffered a stroke reaches the staff.
Ordnance Tactics
Season 1, Episode 20 Unrated
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Isaac's in the hospital, the network brass is all over Dana, Jeremy wants to break up with Natalie, Rebecca may go back to her husband and Casey continues to see Sally -- something's bound to explode -- let's hope it's not a bomb in the building!
Ten Wickets
Season 1, Episode 21 Unrated
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Jeremy can't figure out how to report a great story no-one understands. Natalie doesn't accept Jeremy's attempts to break up with her. Rebecca gives Dan her decision. Dana starts losing things and Casey doesn't want to stop the Jerry Falwell jokes.
Napoleon's Battle Plan
Season 1, Episode 22 Unrated
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Gordon has proposed to Dana, and Casey is seething, but tells Dan he plans to "take the high road' and follow Napoleon's Battle Plan: Show up and see what happens next. Dan reminds Casey that Napoleon lost at Waterloo and died in exile, and announces his intention to "step in". So Dan tells Natalie about Gordon's fling with Sally. Natalie runs straight to Dana, who confronts Gordon who, in turn, tells Dana about Casey's fling with Sally. Then Dana confronts Sally, who reveals she has been sleeping with Casey for months.
What Kind of Day Has It Been
Season 1, Episode 23 Unrated
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Gordon has an announcement for Dana. Dan helps Casey and his son Charlie with a problem. Dana has a big new camera and she's threatening to use it. Isaac's back!
Special Powers
Season 1, Episode 24 Unrated
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Isaac returns to the job, but the effects of his stroke appear to be affecting his performance. The 90-day "cooling off period" following Dana's canceled wedding is drawing to a close, and Dan encourages Casey to ask Dana out. Natalie and Jeremy fight over a job she's offered in Galveston, TX.
When Something Wicked This Way Comes
Season 1, Episode 25 Unrated
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Rumors abound that a "ratings guy" is being brought in to raise the show from its third place status. To Dana's surprise, Isaac announces the rumors are true. Dana has an "epiphany" that she and Casey should date other people for six months.
Cliff Gardner
Season 1, Episode 26 Unrated
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With Sam Donovan around stiffness ensues both on and off the set. Dana debates leaving the show, after she feels everyone is blaming her for the shows problems. Natalie tells her that if she goes she has to bring her, and Jeremy, and Dan, and Casey. The tension grows, when the network bosses demand that the staff meet with J.J. and his boys for some notes. Sam is offered Isaac's job but he turns it down, and tells them where to go, thus showing he does have feelings.
Louise Revisited
Season 1, Episode 27 Unrated
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Jeremy becomes concerned when he finds out Natalie is writing to his deaf sister Louise. Dan and Casey become, very competitive about an Internet poll, over whose cooler. Casey convinces Jeremy to rig the computer to vote for him 2,000 times a minute. When Dana goes out with an old friend from high school, Cab Calloway, Casey is angry. Dana as a spur of the moment action takes off her underwear during the meal.
Kafelnikov
Season 1, Episode 28 Unrated
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Jeremy tells Dana that there is no reason to hire people to prepare for the expected Y2K computer problems; he has made the computers Y2K compatible. To prove this, Jeremy, rigs the computer to say that it is December 31, 1999 and hold a Y2K test to prove that there will be no computer problems when the studio rolls into 2000. The results are total darkness. Dan picks up a therapist in a bar, who invites him out on a date... he thinks, she really just thinks he needs some therapist.
Shane
Season 1, Episode 29 Unrated
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Natalie obsesses over the loss of hell. In a nod to real-life racist John Rocker, Casey interviews an old friend, Shane McArnold, who heaps disdain on his new home city of New York and all its inhabitants. Casey promises to "fix it" out of loyalty, but Dana knows it's good television and leaves it as is. Meanwhile, Dan's therapist Abby is opening up Dan's true feelings about his family, making him more and more dysfunctional.
Kyle Whittaker's Got Two Sacks
Season 1, Episode 30 Unrated
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Dana is extremely proud when her brother gets two sacks in a football game. She becomes determined to show others how he did it. Jeremy is nervous about firing Corbin Davis, a cousin of JJ's who is screwing up simple assignments. Jeremy gives him a pep talk and Corbin tells him, that he doesn't take sides when JJ talks bad about this show. Because of a drug scandal involving football players erupts, Casey travels to Ohio to find out the names, Tina fills in. When the names are uncovered, one hits close to home for Dana... literally... her brother.
The Reunion
Season 1, Episode 31 Unrated
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Dana gets edgy as the arrival of her brother comes close. As part of a Secret Santa, Casey searches for the perfect gift for Isaac. Natalie tells Casey that if his gift isn't cheap and located within two blocks of the building he's getting socks. When Natalie gives Dan a tape to watch of her work as an anchor, he tells her it was great, when it really was just mediocre. The crew struggles to name an athlete of the century. Dan decides to go to midnight mass, even though he's Jewish.
A Girl Named Pixley
Season 1, Episode 32 Unrated
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Dana worries when Casey goes out on a date. Jeremy's optimism about his award nomination fades.
The Giants Win The Pennant, The Giants Win The Pennant
Season 1, Episode 33 Unrated
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Casey goes out with Pixley again much to Dana's dismay. Dan wants to do a story on the amazing World Series win by the Giants in 1951, and finds out that Isaac was actually at the game, although he missed the key home run. When Casey finds out Isaac never told him, but told Jeremy he questions their special bond.
The Cut Man Cometh
Season 1, Episode 34 Unrated
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While prepping to cover a major fight, Dana and Casey duke it out over their stalled fling, and Dan's dad, Jay, hits town for a tense visit. But after the match goes south, the CSC staff bands together to knock out a killer show, including an hour's worth of coverage of a fight that lasted under a minute and a correspondent who only will respond to being called "the cut man", calls Dan; Casey, and Casey; Dan. He also shows he has no idea what he is talking about, when he talks about the last winner of the Miss America pageant, Miss Rochester.
The Sweet Smell of Air
Season 1, Episode 35 Unrated
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The crew is excited when they get a chance to interview Michael Jordan; that is until the strings began to be attached. First they find a paper in the press packet, that coaches Michael how to steer away from sports questions, next they are told to only talk about his new cologne, and then they get a request for total editorial control to Michael. They drop the interview when they discover that they were picked because of their ratings vulnerability.
Dana Get Your Gun
Season 1, Episode 36 Unrated
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Natalie and Jeremy fight over going to a club. Dan finagles the night off. A substitute anchor can't do his job because of his girlfriend. Dana and Sam share a moment.
And the Crowd Goes Wild
Season 1, Episode 37 Unrated
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Jeremy and Natalie's break-up ripples through the show after Jeremy asks for his "stuff" back. Casey's dilated pupils provide comic relief for Dan and the crew. Dana deals with Sam's imminent departure. A riot breaks out at Madison Square Garden and Natalie questions turning over the show's filmed coverage of the event to the police.
Celebrities
Season 1, Episode 38 Unrated
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The staff prepares for a game of "Celebrities". Jeremy, feeling left out, goes to the bar and makes a new friend, then panics when he realizes who she is. Isaac, despite his vast knowledge of American popular theatre, cannot recall the lyrics of "How Are Things In Glocca Morra".
The Local Weather
Season 1, Episode 39 Unrated
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Dan decides to skip therapy and spends an hour in Abby's office telling her so. Jeremy e-mails the porn star he blew off, then decides to tell her in person why he's not going to see her again. Casey decides to bribe the gang with international cuisine to get them to watch a track and field event in the wee hours. Dana decides to seek shelter from a rainstorm in church.
Draft Day:Part I It Can't Rain at Indian Wells
Season 1, Episode 40 Unrated
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Casey and Dana try to psyche each other out as they prepare to make their NFL draft day predictions. Dan gets glum when his golf date with PGA star David Duval is jeopardized - by his job. Jeremy tells Natalie about Jenny - except for the part about her being a porn star. Casey questions Dan's attitude and Dan questions their relationship.
Draft Day:Part II The Fall of Ryan O'Brian
Season 1, Episode 41 Unrated
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As NFL draft day unfolds, relationships unravel. Jeremy anguishes over Jenny's visit to the studio, where she and Natalie discover common ground and she and Jeremy come apart. After giving him a talking-to behind closed doors, Casey is stunned when Dan humiliates him in front of millions.
April Is the Cruelest Month
Season 1, Episode 42 Unrated
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The network deals a financial blow to "Sports Night" that has Isaac and Dana reeling - the show's Olympic coverage is going to be cut to the quick and Natalie's job may be cut entirely! Depressed about his disgraceful on-air behavior toward Casey, Dan decides to hold a Passover Seder, which Jeremy turns into a theatrical event that has a healing effect on everyone.
Bells and a Siren
Season 1, Episode 43 Unrated
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Upset when Natalie gets a job interview with Saturday Night Live, Dana encourages everyone to undermine her confidence. Dan's publicist wants him on the PR fast track - starting with an appearance in New Jersey! Casey and Jeremy roll up their sleeves and try to get to the bottom of CSC's financial woes. Isaac stresses over his stroke's effect on his grandson.
La Forza Del Destino
Season 1, Episode 44 Unrated
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While at Anthony's trying to drown their fears about the future of "Sports Night," Dana meets a mysterious stranger who seems to know a great deal about the bidding for Continental Corp.; and Dan tries to convince Casey that a move to LA might not be a bad thing.
Quo Vadimus
Season 1, Episode 45 Unrated
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Bidders drop out of the auction for Continental Corp., which causes concern for the future of the "Sports Night" team. Meanwhile, Casey prepares to look for new work without Dan, who is reunited with a familiar face from his past.