Sports Night/Sally

Sally
Season 1, Episode 16
Airdate	February 23, 1999
Production Number	N-312
Written by	Rachel Sweet and Aaron Sorkin
Directed by	Robert Berlinger
← 1x15 Dana and the Deep Blue Sea	1x17 → How Are Things in Glocca Morra?
Sports Night — Season One

Sally is the sixteenth episode of the first season of Sports Night.

Has anyone seen Casey's shirt? He left it at a woman's apartment, and he won't tell Dan whose. Has anyone seen Gordon? He stood Dana up last night, and now she feels nervous and insecure. Has anyone seen Jeremy? He's making eggnog for Easter. Has anyone seen Sally? Well, now that you mention it...

Starring: Josh Charles (Dan Rydell), Peter Krause (Casey McCall), Felicity Huffman (Dana Whitaker), Joshua Malina (Jeremy Goodwin), Sabrina Lloyd (Natalie Hurley) and Robert Guillaume (Isaac Jaffe),

Guest Starring: Kayla Blake (Kim), Greg Baker (Elliott), Ted McGinley (Gordon), Brenda Strong (Sally)

Co-Starring: Timothy Davis-Reed (Chris), Ron Ostrow (Will), Jeff Mooring (Dave)

Plot Overview

A very slow news day in the CSC offices. A lack of day games leaves Elliott, Kim, Chris, Will and Dave sitting in a circle in the noonday light, with nothing to do and no sports news to report.

Casey and Dan sip coffee in their office. Casey is missing one of his favorite dress shirts. In a slip of the tongue, Casey reveals that he may not have the shirt, but it isn't lost. Dan catches the implication, and realizes that Casey left his shirt with some lady-friend with whom he spent the night.

In Isaac's office, Jeremy is relaying his concerns. Natalie has invited him to spend Easter weekend with her family, including church services. Since Jeremy is Jewish, he's concerned this will be a source of tension with Natalie's religious Christian parents. Isaac and Dana are bored stiff by this conversation. But as soon as Jeremy leaves, Dana spills out her own concerns: Gordon stood her up on a date with the weak excuse of having to work late. But when Casey encounters Dana in the hall, she lies and says that the date was wonderful. Casey comes into Isaac's office and virtually immediately confesses sleeping with a woman. Isaac's lack of concern reaches new lows as he heads to the liquor cabinet.

In the edit room, Natalie is trying to put together a basketball piece with Dana. Jeremy is attempting to mix eggnog, a drink that makes him sick, because he thinks it will impress Natalie's parents. Dana can't keep her mind on the job. She maintains that her relationship with Gordon is good, better than good, yet the fact that he stood her up makes her insecure. She has an urge to call Gordon at work and ask him about it, which Natalie begs her to reconsider.

Dan is still curious about how Casey left his shirt behind. Casey reluctantly tells the story that he spilled wine at the mystery woman's apartment, she offered to clean it, but by morning he didn't want to wait so he slunk away. Strangely, this makes Dan very proud of his friend.

While Natalie watches, Dana places her call to Gordon. At the last second, she decides against questioning him on his no-show last night, and claims just to have called to say "hello." Gordon comforts Dana by telling her he'll visit tonight to watch the broadcast. They hang up, but Dana doesn't feel any better. Natalie has her theory: Dana doesn't really love Gordon. This time, the argument between Dana and Natalie becomes rather sharp. Natalie steps out of the edit room to thank Jeremy for being a stable, mature boyfriend, only to find him dribbling eggnog.

Kim, Elliott and the tech crew still wait for the games to start. Kim waxes nostalgic about the purpose of the chorus in Shakespeare plays, then shakes down Jeremy for office gossip. In their office, Dan finally asks the burning question: who is the mystery woman with whom Casey spent the night? Casey refuses to answer, forcing Dan to play elaborate guessing games.

Natalie, giving up all possibility of getting work done, sits on the edit room couch. Dana wonders if Casey might be seeing Sally, since Casey is divorced and unattached while Sally is physically attractive and obviously willing. Natalie immediately dismisses this as impossible, because Casey is too considerate of Dana's feelings.

Dan is still guessing women's names when Sally enters the office. He trades jibes with her, then Sally tells Casey that she can't find something of his, but maybe "it got mixed up in someone else's laundry." Dan puts two and two together and realizes where Casey left his favorite shirt. Dan is admiring, but at the same time disappointed, and he tells Casey that he should not let Dana find out.

Jeremy returns to Isaac's office for advice on how Jesus' ressurection has anything to do with bunny rabbits, but surly (and possibly slightly drunk) Isaac boots him out. Casey spots Gordon and Dana embracing in the control room, and knocks on the window to break them up. Gordon and Casey exchange a few terse words until Dana leaves them alone.

Once Dana's out, Casey asks Gordon if he's ever met Sally. Gordon recalls talking a few times to a woman who's "really tall." Casey begins to walk away, then turns back. He warns Gordon not to take his relationship with Dana for granted. Whether or not he's in love with her, Casey says, he's known Dana for a long time and would go to great lengths to avoid hurting her. When Gordon asks him to speak his mind, Casey replies [SPOILER - hover to reveal] that Gordon is wearing his shirt. The shirt Casey left in Sally's apartment. Meaning Gordon spent last night in Sally's apartment. Casey walks out, leaving Gordon to think about that.

Later that evening, Dana finds Casey in his office. She asks what he and Gordon talked about, but he shrugs it off as nothing. She's glad that the two men are, in her eyes, getting along better now, because things are "going great" with Gordon. Elliott interrupts to announce that "the games have started." Dana bustles out, leaving Casey to stand in the doorway, watching her.

Arc Advancement

Happenings

• Dan finds out that Casey has slept with Sally, and left his favorite shirt at her apartment.
• Natalie invites Jeremy to spend Easter weekend at her parents home in Ohio.
• Gordon forgets a date with Dana. He told her he had to work late, but [SPOILER - hover to reveal] Casey recognizes Gordon wearing his favorite shirt, meaning Gordon spent the night with Sally.

Characters

• Dana is becoming more nervous about the stability of her relationship with Gordon.
• Casey's rendezvous with Sally makes him realize that he needs to confront his feelings about Dana.
• Casey chooses not to damage Dana's relationship with Gordon, because despite his feelings, he doesn't want Dana to be hurt.
• Isaac is really starting to loathe hearing about the personal problems of his staff.

Referbacks

• Apparently, Dana and Gordon have already returned from their second ski trip, which Gordon suggested last episode.

Trivia

The Show

• Despite being the title character of this episode, Sally appears for only 49 seconds!
• Kim has more lines in this episode than in any episode thus far.
• Possible goof: Jeremy dribbles eggnog on his shirt before the second commercial break, and immediately after the break he's wearing the same shirt without any stain. (It's possible that someone as meticulous as Jeremy could (a) have a great way to get out stains, or (b) have a spare shirt handy.)

Behind the Scenes

• The week this episode aired, ABC used NYPD Blue characters to promote Sports Night. NYPD Blue's Det. Russell asks one of her friends to make sure to tape Sports Night for her, and to tell her what happened between Dana and Casey that night. The promo then juxtaposed a baseball cap bearing a "Sports Night" logo with flashing police lights, saying "It would be a crime to miss it."
  
  Compare that with the Spin City tie-in ABC used to promote the previous episode, where the characters watched Sports Night, the fictional CSC program. This week, Det. Russell was obviously referring to Sports Night as an ABC program.

Allusions and References

• Jeremy: I mean, it's not like I'm Pacino going back to Corleone and bringing gifts to Appolonia's family.

Jeremy is referencing the classic film "The Godfather".

• The Box-and-one Defense, which Natalie keeps trying to discuss with Dana, is a basketball strategy.

• Natalie calls Dana "William Safire" after she corrects her use of the word 'coven.' Safire writes the weekly "On Language" column for the New York Times where he discusses correct word usage.

• Kim talks about Salanio and Salerio, two characters from the Shakespeare play The Merchant of Venice. Elliott confuses them with Sacco and Vanzetti, two Italian labor agitators executed in 1927.

• Jeremy quotes to Isaac the King James Version of Luke 24:39. Source: Project Gutenberg link

• The song playing at fade-out is "Crimson and Clover" by Tommy James and the Shondells.

Memorable Moments

• Dan realizes why Casey doesn't have his shirt.
• Isaac asks Jeremy to use a blunt instrument on him.
• Natalie tells Dana she has no idea what the word "love" means in a romantic context, and the uncomfortable silence that follows.
• Jeremy can't swallow eggnog.
• Sally stares down Dan.
• Casey and Gordon's conversation in the control room, and the revelation that follows.

Quotes

• Dan: You went to a woman's apartment, and there you had wine. And there you had sex.
  Casey: You are way off base, that is not what happened, except... yes, that's what happened.
• (Jeremy is nervous about meeting Natalie's parents)
  Dan: I'm Jewish. And her family is, you know, incredibly not. Which isn't, by the way, any sort of a problem for me but I do think it might be a problem for them, because after all, there are those who think I killed their Lord, Jesus Christ. Not me directly mind you, I didn't drive the getaway car or anything. In fact, my family's from Latvia, so we've got a pretty solid alibi, but anyway, Isaac, what do you think?
  Isaac: Oh my God, were you talkin' to me all that time?
  Jeremy: You want me to start again?
  Isaac: Yeah, but first, could you just hit me over the head with that blunt instrument over there?
• Isaac: (to Casey) Keep talking. I'm just going to start drinking now.
• (Casey left his shirt at a woman's apartment.)
  Casey: So I put my jacket on over my tee-shirt--
  Dan: And slink on home.
  Casey: I didn't slink.
  Dan: What time was it?
  Casey: It was about six AM.
  Dan: Just getting light outside?
  Casey: Yeah.
  Dan: Jacket over the tee-shirt?
  Casey: Like I said.
  Dan: You slinked.
  Casey: Danny--
  Dan: You slinked, my young friend. And I've never felt closer to you in my entire life.
• Dana: Jeremy's still at it with the eggnog?
  Natalie: He badly wants to be accepted by my parents.
  Dana: Yes.
  Natalie: Come to think of it, so do I.
• Dana: I like Gordon a lot. I love Gordon. I'm telling you--
  Natalie: And I'm telling you that when you use that word in a romantic context you have absolutely no idea what you're talking about!
• (Dan wants to know the name of Casey's romantic assignation.)
  Dan: We can do this the hard way or we can do this the easy way.
  Casey: What's the hard way?
  Dan: I don't know, but the easy way is you telling me her name.
• Casey: It's a very slow news day.
  Gordon: Well, a bunch of Congressmen are about to vote to roll-back entire sections of 77 sub-B.
  Casey: Any of them gonna be holding basketballs when they do it?
  Gordon: Probably not.
• Sally: You got a problem with me today, Dan?
  Dan: You're 19 feet tall, why are you wearing heels?
  Sally: Are you feeling diminutive?
  Dan: No, but now I have to look up that word.

Spoiler:

(Casey had left his shirt at Sally's apartment.)
Casey: Don't take my friendship with Dana for granted.
Gordon: What do you mean?
Casey: I know you think that I'm in love with her, I know she thinks that I'm in love with her, and that's all fine as long as it's fun and games. But I want you to know that Dana's important to me. I've known her a long time and I like her a lot. And there are certain lengths I'd go to to avoid seeing her get hurt in any way.
Gordon: What's on your mind, Casey?
Casey: You're wearing my shirt, Gordon.
(long pause as they stare each other down)
Gordon: I was wondering why it felt so tight.