RegPinky

Per Wikipedia: "Sports Night is an American comedy drama television series about a fictional sports news show also called Sports Night. It focuses on the friendships, pitfalls and ethical issues the creative talent of the program face while trying to produce a good show under constant network pressure.

"Created by Aaron Sorkin, the half-hour prime time drama on ABC for two seasons, from September 22, 1998, to May 16, 2000.

"Towards the end of the second season, Sports Night struggled to find an audience and ABC cancelled it after two seasons. Although it had the opportunity to move to several different networks, including HBO, Showtime and USA, Sorkin decided to let the show pass so that he could focus on The West Wing. However, TV Guide ranked it #10 on their 2013 list of 60 shows that were "Cancelled Too Soon".

"The show is said to be a semi-fictional account of the ESPN SportsCenter. So, the fictional Sports Night is a sports news program in the style of SportsCenter that broadcasts live from 11 pm to midnight and is rebroadcast through the next morning.

"In the story, the program debuts in 1996 and airs from the Rockefeller Center in New York City on the fictional Continental Sports Channel (CSC), a unit of Continental Corp, owned and run by Luther Sachs.

"Although the first season of Sports Night is a sitcom, it often is portrayed as more of a comedy drama representative of some of Sorkin's later work on The West Wing. Sorkin intended for the series' humor to be drier and more realistic than typical sitcoms. He initially wanted the show to be recorded without a laugh track but ABC network executives insisted on including one. The volume of the laugh track faded as Season One continued and was abandoned at the beginning of Season Two.

"The dialogue is often delivered at a rapid-fire pace and intentionally exposes many aspects of communication that go beyond the words that are spoken. The show also frequently employed a technique known as "Walk and talk where the characters are walking from one location to the next while in conversation. This is another characteristic of Sorkin's shows as "walk and talks" are used quite frequently in The West Wing and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. A number of similar themes, elements and actors carried over from Sports Night to The West Wing and later Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.

"The show's main focus is the relationships between the characters. The character of Isaac Jaffe (Robert Guillaume), the Sports Night Director, hovers over his staff as a benevolent but uncompromising father figure. However, Guillaume suffered a stroke midway through the first season but this event was worked into his character and the season's story arc, and the show continued."

I had no idea who this writer/producer Aaron Sorkin was until relatively recently. I'd heard all the hype about The West Wing series, but for some reason at the time it was aired, I wasn't really interested.

But earlier this year, 2025, for some reason, I decided to see what all the hoopla and commotion about this series was. And, after I began watching it, I was floored!! It was so exceptionally good. In fact, it was so good, that after I watched The West Wing, I went ahead and watched the other TV Series' he'd written and produced. The Newsroom was almost as great. And, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip was extremely good as well.

I enjoyed the way Aaron Sorkin writes his characters, and the fast pace of the dialog and action. I loved he way his writing made each series feel so authentic, and therefore placed the audience inside of the story. But, the thing that I enjoyed more than anything was how Mr. Sorkin brought each and every character to life, and how each and everyone of the characters was woven together into an extremely believable and human story. It is the fantastic acting, and how the relationships of all the characters as a whole interact and bring the story together, that makes it feel real.

So of course I had to watch his only other TV series, Sports Night. And, as I've stated in other reviews, even though I could watch all these TV series' or shows by streaming them from channels I subscribe to, I love collecting DVD's. So, I bought News Night on DVD.

As I began to watch the show, it reminded me a lot of The Newsroom, being that it was about a sports news program. But, then came the.... Laughtracks??? OMG... I wasn't sure I could continue watching this show.

I mean, I knew that this series had been described as a comedy. But, to be honest, I really can't stand comedies. I keep thinking the writer is trying to make me laugh, and I'll show them! But laughtracks... as in like a SitCom??

But, after a short while, I got hooked into the story and getting to know the characters, so I kind of blanked out the laughtracks, and in one case audience clapping... omg! But, it was worth it because like I said, with Aaron Sorkin's writing, he makes the characters come alive and viewers become instantly invested. And, fortunately, after 4 or 5 episodes, the laughtracks became less and less, and then completely stopped for the rest of the entire 45 episodes.

Like his other series, the production, direction, writing and acting of Aaron Sorkin's Sports Night's was extraordinary.

Another thing that differed this series from Sorkin's other series was that instead of the episodes lasting an hour, they lasted only half and hour. And, that means that with the commercial breaks that aired at the time, the episodes were actually about only 20 minutes long. What a difference network television is from streaming cable. But even so, the show was so good I binge watched episode after episode until 3 or 4 in the morning. So, yeah, the show was so good I couldn't stop. And it didn't hurt that the two main characters the Sports Anchors, were extremely good looking either... lol.

It's really unfortunate that the show only lasted 2 seasons because I for one could have fanatically watched 5 or 6 seasons easily.

Severance is an American science fiction psychological thriller television series created by Dan Erickson, and produced and primarily directed by Ben Stiller.

The series follows employees at the biotechnology corporation Lumon Industries that have undergone "severance"-a medical procedure that ensures they retain no memories of the outside world while at work and have no recollection of their job once they leave. This results in two distinct personalities for each employee: the "innie", who exists solely within Lumon, and the "outie", who lives their personal life outside of work.

Severance premiered on Apple TV+ on February 18, 2022. It received critical acclaim for its cinematography, direction, production design, musical score, story, and performances. It received 14 nominations at the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Drama Series

The second season premiered on January 17, 2025. Severance was renewed for a third season on March 21, 2025.

As I've stated in other reviews, even though I could watch all these TV series' or shows by streaming them from channels I subscribe to, I love collecting DVD's. So, I bought the Severance season 1 on DVD.

The story in Severance seemed interesting, and since I'm a huge SciFi fan, I watched Season One, which was somewhat enjoyable or at least interesting, even though the word "thriller" is not even close to anything I'd use to describe this series.

When season 2 was released, I of course bought the DVD set as I was interested in the continuance of the story and plot.

I watched Episode 1 of Season Two, and almost fell asleep. In fact, I think I might have actually fallen asleep. But, not to be the first one to give up on a potentially good series, I struggled through the boredom and began watching Episode 2.

It takes a lot for me to give up on a show and stop watching it. Heck, I spent 20 bucks each for season 1 and season 2. But this show was so bad... so boring I couldn't even get through the second episode of season 2.

I have no idea how in any reality this show ever received any awards, or nominations for them. The production sucked. The direction sucked. The story and the writing was awful. And cinematography? What cinematography? You mean, the camera panning down faceless sterile hallways continually?

And, the production design, Huh? Again, you mean, the camera panning down faceless sterile hallways continually? Musical score? Really? Whatever music was played during the entire series was so award winning that it was completely and totally forgettable or unmemorable. And... the acting... was abysmal!.

I usually like to write reviews that are a bit more comprehensive and not so brief. And, no matter that some other reviews might say that season 2 gets better towards the end, I didn't want to waste my time to find out. Going through the amount of boredom this show produced was enough of a waste of my time, let alone wasting my time writing a lengthy review about it.

Skip this horrid effort at Science Fiction. Your time is worth more than that.

PS - Anyone want to buy two slightly used DVD Series?