Sports Night

Already at odds with the network over Casey’s recent lack of professionalism, the team is struggling to get the go-ahead to air a human interest feature on an African runner who’s about to compete in his first major race since recovering from a potentially career-ending leg injury. Natalie finds herself attracted to Jeremy, a nerdy but knowledgeable applicant for an opening on the production team.

The network is upset when a magazine quotes Dan as saying that he favours the decriminalization of marijuana. When he is forced to give an on-air apology, he dedicates it to his little brother who died in a car accident while intoxicated.

Isaac sends Jeremy out on his first line producing job, covering hunting. Natalie uses a company function to encourage Casey and Dana to date, but when they get there they discover she is on a date with a man named Gordon.

Casey is jealous of Dana’s relationship with Gordon. Dan is reprimanded for singing Happy Birthday to Casey on the air, because the network was forced to pay royalties to the song’s copyright holder, and wants everybody on the team to choose a public domain song for him to sing on their birthdays.

The team tries to score an exclusive interview with Christian Patrick, a football player who’s under investigation for sexually assaulting his ex-girlfriend, but Patrick’s agent will only grant the interview if the assault allegation is off limits. Natalie is sent to conduct a pre-interview with him, but comes back with an injured wrist. All hell breaks loose when the team learns that a stadium employee saw Patrick physically attack a female sports reporter in the locker room.

Still on edge from the Christian Patrick incident and the hate mail she’s receiving from football fans for deciding to press charges, Natalie is distracted and keeps messing up her work. The team is cutting her some slack, but the show is beginning to suffer. Jeremy wants to take Natalie out to dinner to comfort and support her, but is having trouble choosing a restaurant.

Jeremy writes a letter to his sister Louise, describing a day in the office. Dan struggles with writer’s block and Natalie tries to help him by acting as if it were the hiccups. Isaac is unhappy that his teenage daughter is dating a young Republican.

The mischievous Greek ghost Thespis is in the building, causing havoc with the show. Dana worries about impressing her mother at Thanksgiving dinner, while Isaac worries about his oldest daughter’s pregnancy complications.

The team is covering a mountaineering expedition that’s close to the top of Mount Everest. Dana develops a surprising interest in Broadway musicals after taking her niece to see The Lion King. Dan struggles to find a charity to support.

Another anchor team’s flight is grounded in Pittsburgh, forcing Casey and Dan to stay at work instead of taking a planned weekend trip to Atlantic City - but they turn disappointment into opportunity, challenging the rest of the team to an office poker night.

Casey appears on The View, but upsets some of his coworkers when he accepts a compliment on his clothes without giving credit to the wardrobe staff. Seven college football players in Tennessee are suspended for refusing to play under the Confederate Flag and Isaac resists the idea that he’s obliged to get personally involved in the story just because he’s black.

Isaac is worried about his job because he spoke out on the Confederate Flag issue. Dan thinks Casey should start dating again.

Natalie is in the producer’s chair for the night when Dana, Gordon, Casey and a woman from Gordon’s office go on a double-date. When a rumor about a major player trade starts filtering through the gossip mill, the production staff scrambles to land an exclusive scoop. Dan has to contend with fill-in co-anchor Bobbi Bernstein (Lisa Edelstein), who claims that Dan once had sex with her in a hotel in Spain.

Dan is intrigued by Rebecca Wells, an analyst in the network’s marketing department who may or may not have flirted with him in the elevator. Dana is worried that Gordon wants to break up with her, and Isaac is flustered by a critical newspaper article.

Gordon invites Dana on a snorkeling trip, but Dana is afraid of fish. Dan tries to convince Jeremy to put in a good word for him with Rebecca.

Gordon stands Dana up, which makes her worried about their relationship. Jeremy is nervous about spending the weekend with Natalie’s family, fearing conflict because they’re Catholic and he’s Jewish. Dan discovers that Casey has slept with Sally. Casey discovers that Gordon has also slept with Sally and confronts him about it.

A tennis match has gone longer than expected, delaying Sports Night and messing up Dana’s dinner plans with Gordon. The network allows Dana to hand off the show to Sally and Casey is shocked and offended when Dana decides to do exactly that.

When Jeremy learns that his parents are divorcing, he becomes obsessed with finding out what happened to The Sword of Orion, a yacht which went off course and wrecked during a sailing competition 10 years before. Dan tries to convince Rebecca to watch a baseball game with him.

Dan’s having a truly horrible day: first he sees Rebecca talking to her ex-husband, and then Bobbi Bernstein’s back again to cover a college basketball event. The team is worried when they don’t hear from Isaac long after his flight from London lands. They eventually find out that Isaac had a stroke.

Dana is in charge while Isaac is in the hospital and the network is coming down hard. As if that weren’t enough to put everybody on edge, someone has phoned in an anonymous bomb threat.

A cricket player in India has taken all ten wickets in an innings. It is a major story, and the team is willing to cover it on the show except they don’t know what it means. Casey’s been making Jerry Falwell jokes on the air ever since the bomb threat and Dana wants him to knock it off. Rebecca tells Dan she wants to go back to her husband.

Gordon has proposed to Dana. Casey’s response is to follow Napoleon’s battle plan ("Show up, and see what happens"), but Dan isn’t sure that’s a good idea: Napoleon lost, after all. Dana, for her part, sublimates her mixed feelings about Gordon’s proposal into obsessing over a camera. When she finally finds out that Gordon and Casey both slept with Sally, she’s more upset about Casey.

Dana buys the new camera and wants to take a staff photo. Casey’s son Charlie comes to visit. Jeremy is following a baseball game in the hopes that the losing team might get a ninth inning rally. Just when everything has gone wrong and Dana is desperate for something good to happen, Isaac arrives for a visit.