Sports Night on CSC > F.A.Q.

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Currently, there are no places selling high-quality tapes of "Sports Night." You will find an Emmy-nominated tape of the series once in a while on eBay, but nobody has a a complete high-quality collection of the series.

The good news is that the series is out on DVD. The original DVD release was in November, 2002. The boxed set contains the original 45 episodes.

A special 10th Anniversary Deluxe Edition was released in September, 2008. Not only did it contain the original 45 episodes, but it also included interviews, commentary, gag reels, and more.

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"Sports Night" is my favorite television show of all-time. It was the only show I would watch week-after-week. This show made me laugh, made me care, and inspired me. Of course, I was disappointed and saddened when ABC canceled the series after being on for two years. That is when this opportunity presented itself to me.

I decided to take my disappointment, and write. I wanted to see what would happen with all the characters. I decided to challenge myself, take my inspiration, and write a "third" season.

I'll admit I could never replace the television series, but if I could have one-tenth of the success of this series and one-tenth of the joy it gave me- I would be very happy with this project.

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"Webisodes" are stories which could be acted out in 22 minutes, just like a television series. The plan is to write and release these stories over the course of a television season. Most of each story is written like a transcript, which I feel allows for faster reading. Sports Night was known for its fast pace, and I feel writing in this fashion allows for that pace to be continued.

These "webisodes" are designed to pick up where the "Sports Night" storyline left off and continue with the series.

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This site is continuing where the television series left off, so the storylines will continue and new ones will be introduced. I also wanted to have these stories written as if the series was still continuing in real-time, so I would take into account events actually happening. For instance, Felicity Huffman had just given birth right before the time when a third season would have started shooting, so I decided to write her out of the script for the first four or five stories.

Ninety-percent of each webisode consists of my own writing. The other ten percent comes from outside sources: fan fiction and fan participation.

I've read and collected over 200 fan-fiction stories, which were written by fans of "Sports Night." I decided to incorporate some of the stories by including excerpts in each webisode. I've chosen different stories from different authors to incorporate, and sometimes I'll change the excerpts to fit the current situation or to effect the current plot.

Fan participation comes from voting. In the "Place Your Vote!" section a new question is placed every few weeks. People visiting this site will have the opportunity to vote for future twists in the storyline. Each question has a few answers, and none of the answers can be considered right or wrong. Fans can vote for their favorite answer, and the winning selection will be worked into the future stories.

Of course, as this site grows, the basis for creating these stories may change, but for right now, this is how these "webisodes" will be created.

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"Place Your Vote!" is where you can vote for different twists in the storyline. Every few weeks, a new question with a series of answers will be posted. There are no right or wrong answers with each question. All you have to do is click on your favorite answer, and your vote is cast. The answer with the most votes will be worked into a future story, probably about two or three stories after the last vote has been cast.

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Yes. Lyric excerpts were used for certain scenes in each webisode. I had a license through the RIAA (Recording Industry Artists of America), which allowed me to legally reprint lyrics. The license was for one year, and I chose not to spend the money ($1000+) to renew the license. So, I am in the process of removing the lyrics before the license expires and saved myself from legal troubles.

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Although I appreciate the input I receive from fans, whether through "Place Your Vote!" or through e-mail, this is one option I am not going to do.

There won't be a musical webisode because I don't have the rights to songs, or if I did have the rights, I would have to remove the webisode once my rights expire. If you're willing to give me over a thousand dollars every year (See F.A.Q. #5), then I would consider doing it.

As for the "role-playing game" webisode, I looked into it. I attended a couple of role-playing games, and I thought of a combination of "Sports Night" and the improv comedy, "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" would be a possibility for a webisode. What keeps me from doing it is the fact that I would lose complete control over the series. Something could happen or be said which would affect the whole series. I try to map out certain events throughout the season, and something impromptu could change the plans and I would have to start all over again. I feel a role-playing game is best left with the sites that conduct them.

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Yes and no. This site is designed to combine different fan-fiction stories together, so you can have your story woven into a webisode. As for writing a whole webisode, I'm inclined to say 'no' at this point, but things change and I could be completely blown away by something you wrote.

Right now, it is easier for me to search for existing fan-fiction and piece together stories. It might be nice to take a little vacation in the future and turn the writing over to someone, though. :)

If you do have a "Sports Night" story, please post it at one of these two sites:

Sports Night Fan-fic Archive 1     http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/snfanfic_1_/

Sports Night's Fan-Fiction   http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/sportsnightfanfiction

I check those two sites for new stories, so I know I will be able to pick it up and contact you for your permission from there.

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As of right now, I know of two other places. One is written by three talented fan-fiction writers and it is called, "I Can't Believe It's Not Sports Night," and it is located at:

http://members.tripod.com/isabella.m/icant.htm

The second site is called "University of CSC" and it is written by another talented fan-fiction writer. It is located at:

http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/Sports_Night_Season_3_Project

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I frequently get questions on why so-and-so did such-and-such-thing. Even though research and time is put into making sure things are accurately portrayed in the webisodes, there will be times when something will slip through the cracks. It's bound to happen here. I'll try to explain your questions to the best of my ability, but I usually get the rationale of characters from my own personal and professional experiences. I try to place myself in a particular character's shoes or base their rationale off other people whenever decisions have to be made.

Always feel free to ask any questions you might have about this series.

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Unfortunately, the show is officially cancelled. The show was canceled by ABC in the summer of 2000, and Aaron Sorkin decided to pursue other interests, even though other networks were interested in the series and an offer was made by Showtime. Crew and cast members have started doing other projects, and the series just would not be the same with different writers and actors.

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No, with the reason being the exact files sent through e-mail are the files available for download through the different webisode guides. You can download them at your leisure, instead of waiting for e-mails or hoping your account doesn't fill up with these files.

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