"Small Town" is the thirteenth episode of the first season of the television series '' Sports Night'', written by

Aaron Sorkin Aaron Benjamin Sorkin (born June 9, 1961) is an American playwright, screenwriter and film director. Born in New York City, he developed a passion for writing at an early age. Sorkin has earned an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, five Primetime ...

and

Paul Redford Paul Redford is an American television writer and producer. Redford's family, originally Canadian, moved to Mission Hills, Kansas in the early 1970s. Paul graduated from Shawnee Mission East High School in 1976, and in 1980 from Harvard University ...

, and directed by

Thomas Schlamme Thomas David Schlamme (; born ) is an American television director, known particularly for his collaborations with Aaron Sorkin. He is known for his work as executive producer on ''The West Wing'' and ''Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip,'' as well as ...

, premiered on ABC in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

on January 12, 1999. In the episode, Dana and Casey are supposed to take the night off but are reluctant to do so. They choose to have a double date, Dana with Gordon and Casey with blind date Lisa. Natalie is left to produce the show for the first time, and has to handle a late trade, and Isaac and Jeremy question her authority amongst the rush of the deadline. Bobbi Bernstein, Casey's replacement for the night, claims that Dan slept with her in Spain and failed to call her afterwards, which Dan disputes, calling her "psychotic". In a subsequent episode, "Eli's Coming", Dan learns Bobbi is not wrong, but her appearance was different at the time, and Dan knew her as "Roberta". Six characters receive top billing in the episode: Casey McCall (

Peter Krause Peter William Krause (; born August 12, 1965) is an American actor, director, and producer. He has played lead roles in multiple television series, portraying Casey McCall on '' Sports Night'' (1998–2000), Nate Fisher on '' Six Feet Under'' ( ...

); Dan Rydell (

Josh Charles Joshua Aaron Charles (born September 15, 1971) is an American actor. He is best known for the roles of Dan Rydell on '' Sports Night; '' Will Gardner on '' The Good Wife'', which earned him two Primetime Emmy Award nominations; and his early wo ...

); Dana Whitaker (

Felicity Huffman Felicity Kendall Huffman (born December 9, 1962) is an American actress. Huffman began her acting career in theatre, and in the 1990s also had many supporting roles in film and television. She starred as Dana Whitaker in the comedy-drama '' Spor ...

); Isaac Jaffe (

Robert Guillaume Robert Guillaume (born Robert Peter Williams; November 30, 1927 – October 24, 2017) was an American actor and singer, known for his role as Benson DuBois in the ABC television series ''Soap'' and its spin-off, '' Benson'', as well as for voi ...

); Natalie Hurley (

Sabrina Lloyd Sabrina Anne Lloyd (born November 20, 1970) is an American retired film and television actress. She is known for portraying Wade Welles in the science fiction series ''Sliders'', Natalie Hurley in the ABC sitcom '' Sports Night'' and Kelly in '' ...

) and Jeremy Goodwin (

Joshua Malina Joshua Charles Malina (born January 17, 1966) is an American film and stage actor known for playing Will Bailey on the NBC drama ''The West Wing'', Jeremy Goodwin on '' Sports Night'', US Attorney General David Rosen on ''Scandal'', and Caltech P ...

. Several recurring characters also appear in the episode including Kim (

Kayla Blake Kayla Blake (born Elsie Mapuana Sniffen; December 4, 1963) is an American actress. She is also credited as Elsie Sniffen. She is best known for the role of Kim on the ABC Television series '' Sports Night''. Career Blake starred on ''One West ...

); Elliot (

Greg Baker Gregory Baker (born April 16, 1968 in Saint Paul, Minnesota) is an American television and film, actor and musician. He is perhaps best known for his recurring roles as Elliott, a producer on the show '' Sports Night'', Mr. Corelli, Miley Stewar ...

), Chris (

Timothy Davis-Reed Timothy Davis-Reed is an American film, television and theater actor. Career Davis-Reed has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Syracuse University and studied acting with Charles Nelson Reilly and Arthur Storch. As a television actor, he ...

), Will (

Ron Ostrow Ron Ostrow is an American actor who mostly appears on television. His first major credit was in the Aaron Sorkin movie ''A Few Good Men'' in 1992, where he played an MP. He was in the original stage version playing the role of The Sentry. He has ...

) and Gordon (

Ted McGinley Ted Martin McGinley (born May 30, 1958) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Jefferson D'Arcy on the television sitcom '' Married... with Children'' and as Charley Shanowski on the ABC sitcom ''Hope & Faith''. He was a late regular ...

). Lisa Edelstein, who would later have a starring role in ''

House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air cond ...

'', guest-stars as Bobbi Bernstein, while other guest stars include Alice Coppola and Amy Powell, who appear as Leesa and Kelly respectively. The episode received mostly positive reviews. The episode won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Picture Editing in a multi-camera series at the

51st Primetime Emmy Awards The 51st Primetime Emmy Awards were held on Sunday, September 12, 1999. The ceremony show was hosted by Jenna Elfman and David Hyde Pierce. It was broadcast on Fox. The comedy-drama '' Ally McBeal'' won Outstanding Comedy Series, which not onl ...

in 1999, and was nominated for the award Outstanding Directorial Achievement for a Comedy Series at the

Directors Guild of America Awards 1999 The 52nd Directors Guild of America Awards, honoring the outstanding directorial achievements in films, documentary and television in 1999, were presented on March 11, 2000 at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza. The ceremony was hosted by Carl Re ...

. Janet Ashikaga was also recognised by the

American Cinema Editors Founded in 1950, American Cinema Editors (ACE) is an honorary society of film editors that are voted in based on the qualities of professional achievements, their education of others, and their dedication to editing. Members use the post-nominal ...

for Best Editing in a Half-Hour Television Series.

Casting

The series uses an ensemble cast, with six of the cast members identified as main characters.

and

played the two lead anchors on the CSC network, Casey McCall and Dan Rydell respectively.

played ''Sports Night'' producer Dana Whitaker, while

appeared as her boss Isaac Jaffe, the executive producer. The main cast is rounded off by

, who plays co-producer Natalie Hurley, and

, who plays Jeremy Goodwin auditions to join the crew in the pilot. Other characters given billing include

as Kim,

as Elliot,

as Chris and

as Will.

References

External links

* {{DirectorsGuildofAmericaOutstandingDirectingComedySeries 1990–2009 1999 American television episodes