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List Price: $69.99 | | Label: Shout! Factory
Salesrank: 5925
Released: September 30, 2008 |
| Our Price: $28.49 |
| Used Price: $26.97 |
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MPAA Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
With breakout and memorable performances by Josh Charles (In Treatment), Robert Guillaume (Benson), Felicity Huffman (Desperate Housewives), Peter Krause (Six Feet Under), Sabrina Lloyd (Sliders) and Joshua Malina (The West Wing), this was writer/producer Aaron Sorkin's (A Few Good Men , The American President) first television series. And it was director Thomas Schlamme's first collaboration with Sorkin. The pair, who would continue to click brilliantly with The West Wing and Studio 60 On the Sunset Strip, may not have known it at the time, but with Sports Night they defined a new style and raised the bar for all television programs to follow.
Critically acclaimed when it debuted on ABC in 1998, Sports Nigh was an innovative half-hour program about a team of funny, smart and likeable people who put on a daily live sports cable newscast, much like ESPN's SportsCenter. They are a group of consummate professionals whose personal lives operate in apparent chaos, communicating every uncensored thought and feeling through a libretto of witty and honest chatter over the hum of the separate-but-integrated live show-within-the-show.
10th Anniversary Special Features:
*The Show: An in-depth look back at Sports Night with creator/writer Aaron Sorkin, directors Thomas Schlamme and Robert Berlinger, cast members Felicity Huffman, Peter Krause, Josh Charles, Joshua Malina, and Robert Guillaume, Emmy(r) award-winning editor Janet Ashikaga, Emmy(r) award-winning director of photography Peter Smokler, producer John Amodeo, and set designer Thomas Azzari. Includes never-before-seen behind-the-scenes home movies shot by John Amodeo.
*Face Off: ESPN's SportsCenter vs. CSC's Sports Night - Sports Night's real-life ESPN counterparts discuss what the series got right and wrong.
*A Conversation with Aaron Sorkin and Thomas Schlamme
*Inside The Locker Room - A look at the innovations of Sports Night with Aaron Sorkin, Thomas Schlamme, Robert Berlinger, Janet Ashikaga, Peter Smokler, John Amodeo, and Thomas Azzari.
*Season Gag Reels
*8 Episode Commentaries including creator/writer Aaron Sorkin, director/executive producer Thomas Schlamme, director Robert Berlinger, editor Janet Ashikaga, and cast members Peter Krause, Josh Charles, Joshua Malina, Sabrina Lloyd, Greg Baker, Kayla Blake, Timothy Davis-Reed, and Ron Ostrow.
*Original Promos
*36-Page Booklet including an introduction by creator Aaron Sorkin
Sports Night: The Complete Series 10th Anniversary Edition Reviews:
Two seasons weren't enough. 
2009-08-23 - Aaron Sorkin can do no wrong on TV, though sadly the American viewer doesn't seem to be smart enough to appreciate him. I will never call this show an equal to the West Wing, but it really isn't trying to be. The characters are professional sports fans and they realize fully that they are not in the business of preserving democracy. But for all the escapism that sports entails, the show reminds us that at sports are also about human excellence. The characters themselves know it and they see their jobs as making sure their viewers remember it too. They don't speak like anyone I've ever met, many come off as neurotic from time-to-time, and they never seem to go anywhere besides the studio or the bar downstairs, but I love watching them all the same. The box set is marred only by its brevity and the occasional ill-conceived laugh track.
Aaron Sorkin's second-best TV series
2009-06-16 - Sports Night was a GREAT show for Aaron Sorkin fans to watch. The dialogue is quick, jokes aren't always obvious if you don't pay attention, but man, you'll definitely laugh while watching these episodes!
I never knew that Sports Night and The West Wing overlapped for a season, until getting this box set and looking at the original air dates of the episodes. Aaron Sorkin was writing for two prime time tv shows at the same time!! wow!
if you're a diehard Sorkinite, like me :) you'll notice some similar story lines/situations that are in all his shows. but that will just make you love him even more.
this 10th anniversary edition has great interviews with the cast and pretty good commentaries with producers/editors/actors.
Some of the best writing and acting on Television
2009-05-03 - Sports Night was originally sent to me as Christmas Present many years ago. After lending it out and not getting it back, I had to replace the set. The series stands the test of time. It is one that can be seen multiple times and always leaves you with the wish that more episodes were made.
Outstanding show
2009-04-19 - I have watched the entire series a dozen times, and every time I enjoy it immensely. Great writing. A show with class and wit, a show that assumes the audience has some intelligence. I strongly recommend the show to my friends, and all have loved it. Getting rid of the annoying early laugh track was an improvement.
Great show, great box set
2009-03-23 - I had bought the original box set several years ago. While the show is one of the best ever, and still holds up over time, the earlier DVD set was not worthy. There were no features, there were no commentaries. It was just the episodes, nothing extra. Admittedly, it was an improvement over the videos I'd recorded when the show was rebroadcast on Comedy Central in 2001, but....
Then I loaned the set to someone, and they never returned it (wise of them, foolish of me). This loss was a blessing in disguise, because it gave me an excuse to buy this anniversary edition. What am upgrade!
Seriously, this is one of my favorite possessions; I might need to buy a second set in case i wear this one out. get it, watch it, rewatch it a few times until you catch all the jokes and witty asides.
