Two types of television programs are canceled after only one or two seasons: the brilliant and the utterly stupid. Certainly among the former is the great work of the incomparable Aaron Sorkin. Of his three forays into the small screen, only one made it past its second season, the critically acclaimed The West Wing. It is his other two series, though, that you probably missed: Sports Night and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. (Aside: Aaron Sorkin is also the writer of several films including one of my all-time favorites A Few Good Men.)

Sports Night

Premise: What happens behind the scenes of a nightly sports news show? I know, you probably don’t care. It doesn’t really sound like a great premise, but the relationships between the dysfunctional staff, heavily relying on the witty banter that Sorkin is known for, makes for comedy gold. In short, there are the two anchors, the producer, her assistants, and their managing editor. Everyone has their own quirks and when you pit them against each other, sparks fly.

Fate: The show aired for two seasons (1998-2000) and failed to reach the audience that it needed to justify being kept around. For about the last 4 episodes of season two, the shows fate is mirrored within the series by the uncertainty of the show-within-the-show’s fate.  This culminates in the amazing two part finale – Quo Vadimus.

Legacy: I never really saw the show when it was on, but having Sorkin’s name attached compelled me to buy the entire series on DVD when I graduated from college back in 2002. I’ve watched the entire thing at least 5 times since. The original collection went out of print, but was revived in a 10th Anniversary Edition, which I read was not really that much better. Just this year, Season One was released as a stand-alone for who knows what reason, with some of the extras from the Anniversary Edition.

Studio 60

Premise: What happens behind the scenes of a late night sketch comedy show? Sounds intriguing, doesn’t it? In fact, what if you cast that news chick from SNL and Alec Baldwin? You’d have a hit on your hands. But, what if you cast Chandler from Friends and the skeezy guy from Billy Madison? You’d move to L.A., double your address, and get canceled after one season. The show itself bears too many similarities to Sports Night to count, though it does have a bit more of a serious side and more hot button issues are addressed.

Fate: If you missed my allusion to 30 Rock above, then perhaps you’ve been under one. As we all know, that program has gone on to do big things over at NBC. Unfortunately for the folks over at…NBC (???) their show didn’t do so well. Wait! Did I say they were both on NBC? Yeah. Now there’s some good planning. And as usual the “sheeple” voted with their remotes because “silly/stupid” sells better than “witty/intelligent.” And the Thursday night spot next to The Office didn’t hurt either. Oh, yeah, they launched the shows a month apart back in 2006.

Legacy: You just missed it. Studio 60 has been on Hulu for free for like the last two years (Update: The show has expired on Hulu). But, you can still pick up the DVD set. And you should.

Both of these are available on Netflix, if you roll like that.

So, do you know these shows? Do you have an intellectual man-crush on Aaron Sorkin? (It’s ok if…”You Can’t Handle the Truth!”)

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