allysonkrieger
runonsentence.com

originally published on WildWeb, 4/27/99

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TV Editor's Top Pick for Tuesday, April 27

By ALLYSON KRIEGER / Those of you who have been following "Sports Night" since its inception last fall probably associate it with the following words: innovative, creative, original. While it's true -- creator Aaron Sorkin has managed to offer jaded TV viewers something fresh -- one of "Sports Night's" main storylines is pure classic. It's the one involving Casey, the aloof-but-soft-inside sportscaster, and Dana, the tough-but-soft-inside show producer.

Casey's and Dana's season-long mating dance is reminiscent of all the infamous, sexual-tension-ridden, will-they-or-won't-they couples in TV history: Sam and Diane, David and Maddie, even Rachel and Ross. Said parties both long for each other, but in typical sitcom fashion, some external (or internal) factor causes them to deny their true feelings. The setup gets us every time: Yes, we're immediately hooked, we want to know how the show will resolve the situation. But -- and this is a big but -- the problem with all such TV plots is that their culmination is deemed a failure the minute the storyline begins. I'm sure you've heard it before: "Oh, that's so 'Moonlighting'!" "Once they get together, the show will be ruined!" Unfortunately, these TV relationships are doomed from the get-go because the writers are forced to bow to the "Moonlighting" curse -- the beaten cliché that resolving a couple's sexual tension inevitably leads to boring television.

This week's episode of "Sports Night" furthers the Dana-Casey quagmire (see, I was going somewhere with this after all) as Dan tells Natalie of Gordon and Sally's indiscretion. In case you've never seen the show but now are interested, Dan is Casey's best friend and fellow sportscaster; Natalie is Dana's best friend and assistant producer; Gordon is Dana's fiance and Sally her arch rival. If you followed that, put the characters together with the setup I just described, and you'll understand why it combines for a promising episode.

Finally, a note to Aaron Sorkin: If you want to continue to buck the trend and do innovative TV, get Casey and Dana together, and make it work. Spit in the face of the "Moonlighting" cliché -- we're sick of hearing about it. Try it, do it different, make it funny. We'll love you for it, and we'll keep watching. I promise.

"Sports Night" airs Tuesdays at 9:30 p.m. ET on ABC.

WildWeb | April 26, 1999