I’m a huge fan of Aaron Sorkin — I think he and Joss Whedon are the best writers working in television today, and I’d watch anything they created (side survey: who do you think are the most talented show creators today?). So for Father’s Day I bought Sir Monkeypants the complete series of Sports Night on DVD, and we’ve watched the first few episodes so far.
It’s very good but you can see why the series failed at first — there’s an obvious discrepency between the show that Aaron Sorkin wanted, and the show that the network wanted. The scripts are full of the dense, complex dialogue that is typical Sorkin, with many people talking at once and a few different conversational threads being sustained in a single scene. Much like The West Wing, the show has both humour and drama in it, and overall it’s a much more serious and intellectual show than a regular old sitcom. It’s clear though that the network saw a half-hour show with some humourous elements in it and said, “Sitcom!,” and tried to force it into that mold. For starters, there’s a very odd laugh track that tries to worm its way into quick-patter conversations that is just distracting, and for the most part, randomly inserted after lines that are funny in that they are building to an overall effect, but aren’t big “punchlines” like you’d see on something like The Cosby Show. Then, there’s the overall look of the show — even though it is directed in an unusal manner for a sitcom, with lots of interesting angles that work with the complex dialogue, it has an overall flat and bright look that is very traditional sitcom in a “Three’s Company” kind of way.
I watched a few of the later episodes before the show went off the air and I think the laugh track had been eliminated, so I’m looking forward to the show moving in a more Sorkinesque direction. I suspect that this show paved the way for the more non-traditional sitcoms of today, like Arrested Development, The Office, and even My Name Is Earl (is there a laugh track on that show? I don’t remember one). If it debuted next season I think it would be a big hit. It’s kind of sad to see a show die because it was ahead of its time.
TurtleHead 
I agree with you completely, although I can’t say I’m disappointed that Aaron Sorkin quit producing that show in order to make The West Wing, because tWW was great from the get-go.
Have you heard about the new Sorkin show that’s coming this fall?
Definitely, I’m really looking forward to it. It still doesn’t have a firm weeknight though — they were planning to air it on Thursdays, but then ABC moved Grey’s Anatomy to Thursdays, so now NBC is looking for a new night. Hopefully it will mesh with the rest of my schedule — but I’m sure I’ll make room for it no matter what.
I really liked his “Firefly” series. Have you checked it out? The dialogue is great and the show manages to do the very tricky thing of having a large ensemble cast where none of the cast members seems superfluous.
It was also sabotaged by the network (Fox), which decided it didn’t like the pilot and started showing the series with the 2nd or 3rd episode — a really brilliant decision.
I haven’t watched much of Aaron Sorkin’s stuff, but all the in-the-know TV people rave about Sports Night. Another show I liked, which had great dialogue, was Cupid (starring Jeremy Piven and Paula Marshall). I don’t think it’s available on DVD, which surprises me, because every cancelled series these days seems to come out on DVD.
Veronica Mars is another show with great writing. I just hope to find some time to get through the second half of the second season!
I don’t know if he’s a writer, but JJ Abrams, who does “Lost”, seems to be particularly talented, also. I still need to get through the second half of its season two …
Cupid was brilliant — easily my favorite show on TV in many years. It probably just didn’t last long enough for a DVD treatment. Although at 15 1-hour episodes, it’s certainly enough to fill a box set. That’s one I’d love to see…
It’s nice to see that Jeremy Piven has flourished since Cupid. Too bad we don’t get HBO so we could watch Entourage.
I was just about to mention Entourage! Entertainment Weekly just raves about it. Someday I’m sure we will download it from the net and watch it all at once. We’re rather addicted to checking out hard-to-access shows this way, I’m afraid :). I also adored Cupid, by the way. I’d love to see it come out on DVD.
As for Firefly — loved it! I actually just bought it on DVD because Chapters had it on sale for $25 and I needed to fill out an order to get free shipping. The DVD has all the episodes in the correct order, as well as 3 or 4 completed episodes that never aired, and lots of extras. I’ve seen all the episodes before (even the never-aired ones) but I’m looking forward to checking out the commentaries now. I’ve loved a lot of shows that I thought were cancelled before their time, but Firefly is the only one whose cancellation and lack of support I really don’t understand. It had such a rich setting and character set, I could easily see it building a huge fan base. I guess it did, as the fan base was the reason the movie was made (recommended, as it ties up some loose ends and kind of completes the series).
And as for Veronica — my favourite show! is opposed to collecting TV shows on DVD but I really feel that the first season stands as one of the greatest seasons of any show, ever. I must own!