NOTIFICATION: Sports Night Season 2

Next season to start will be:

Sports Night
Season 2
Initial run: 05/10/1999 - 16/05/2000

Starring:

Josh Charles	as	Dan Rydell
Peter Krause	as	Casey McCall
Felicity Huffman	as	Dana Whitaker
Joshua Malina	as	Jeremy Goodwin
Sabrina Lloyd	as	Natalie Hurley
Robert Guillaume	as	Isaac Jaffe

Pre-season buzz (quotes):

• "As the second season begins, writer/creator Aaron Sorkin ditches the repetitive banter and almost all attempts at goose-the-laugh-track humour; making the show the half-hour drama it struggled to be from the start." (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
• "Tonight's season premiere, set three months after last season's finale, continues two principal story lines: the whiff of romance between co-anchor Casey McCall and producer Dana Whitaker, and the inconsistent recovery of executive producer Isaac Jaffee from a stroke earlier in the year. It also adds a third plot line: conflict between lovers Natalie Hurley and research analyst Jeremy Goodwin. The episode, written by Sorkin, makes it clear that "Sports Night" remains committed to its unique narrative approach: Drop viewers in the middle of a fast-paced, hyper-verbal, yet believable universe and demand that they pay attention." (New York Daily News)
• "Sorkin acknowledges the series' real-life ratings plight when he brings in a ratings expert played by Huffman's real-life husband, William H. Macy ('Fargo'). [...] But who knows if the show will last? It ranked 62nd in its first season." (San Francisco Chronicle)
• "[Casey]'s reeling from the collapse of his marriage, and his fear of dating is making him maddeningly clumsy in reaching out to Dana. For her part, Dana is as quick and clever as anyone in the building, skilled at her job and unconventionally pretty. Yet she, too, seems to be making a mess of her personal relationships, including the budding one with Casey." (New York Daily News)
• "This season [Jeremy]'s been promoted to associate producer and stud. His character will have two women in his life. [Joshua Malina] says he's shocked. 'I'm in touch with my inner stud, and I'm realistic about my outer stud,' he says. According to ABC, [Jeremy] will be 'hotly pursued' by a former girlfriend. 'He will?' asks Malina, who has already shot five episodes of the new season. 'If anyone's in hot pursuit of me, I've yet to notice it.'" (San Francisco Chronicle)

Pre-season buzz (from last season's finale):

• Last season's finale was a surprisingly normal episode, including storylines about Casey putting pressure on his son, and Dana buying a new camera. It's unlikely these will continue into season 2.
• Isaac made a surprise return to the show after being off for an extended period (this was in part due to the actor's real illness). It will be interesting to see how he handles being back, and to what extnet he regains control. Not the biggest storyline of the finale, but the most emotional.
• The actual biggest storyline of the finale was that Gordon and Dana broke up, which was the culmination of a series of events involving a "love square" between Gordon, Dana, Casey and Sally. Gordon cited Dana's love for Casey as his reason for breaking off the engagement. I doubt he'll be around much from now on, but it certainly leaves the door open for Dana and Casey to (maybe) live happily ever after.
• Okay also a load of big stuff happened in the third-to-last episode "Ten Wickets". Natalie and Jeremy got back together, and appear to be pretty happy, while Dan and Rebecca split up because she decided to go back to her violent ex-husband. These are storyline which will likely continue into season 2.

Pre-season buzz (statistical):

• This season's premiere is titled "Special Powers". It has been confirmed that it starts 23 days after last season's finale "What Kind Of Day Has It Been?"
• This season's finale, "Quo Vadimus", is also the last ever episode of Sports Night. There are 22 episodes in total in this season. "Quo Vadimus" is Latin for "Where are we going?"
• There are no new credited cast members in season 2. There are some new recurring cast members, but only fairly minor ones. William H Macy appears as Sam Donovan, Jayne Brook as Abby Jacobs, Paula Marshall as Jenny, Megan Ward as Pixley, and Clark Gregg as a mysterious character called "The Stranger".
• Previous recurring characters appear for one episode apiece: Teri Polo as Rebecca Wells, Brenda Strong as Sally Sasser and Robert Mailhouse as JJ.