TV or not DVD

Four signs the show you’re watching is among The Greatest Series in the History of Television: It’s an ensemble comedy that often resembles a drama and airs without a laugh track; the series’ creator gives interviews in which he/she congratulates the network for having the guts to air the edgy and/or groundbreaking show, but also expresses concern that the network has no idea how to sell it to a disinterested public obsessed with reality programming; it debuts on a Tuesday and ends up airing on Wednesday, then Friday, then Monday before being put on indefinite hiatus before being axed entirely with unaired episodes in the can; and/or it airs on HBO and isn’t named Arli$$ or The Mind of the Married Man. Oh, and after the show gets canceled, some die-hard fans post stories and scripts (“fan fiction,” ugh) from imaginary seasons, because they can’t let go; hey, man, those weren’t characters, they were friends.

Such was ABC’s Sports Night, Aaron Sorkin’s pre-West Wing series about the backstage doings at a would-be ESPN; it starred, among others, Six Feet Under‘s Peter Krause, Josh Charles, Robert Guillaume (pre- and post-stroke), and it was so good it lasted but 45 episodes, or fewer than two seasons. But thankfully, Sports Night–like another beloved ABC-axed show, Once and Again–will last forever, now that Buena Vista Home Entertainment has made the complete series run available in a six-DVD package. But ’tis a blue valentine: Watching the final episode, about a multinational that buys the network and keeps the show, was a bittersweet exercise in wishful thinking; Sorkin knew the show was ending but insisted on going out with the survivor’s grin. Too bad the packaging comes with no extras–no essays or documentaries or even actor bios. All it comes with are six DVDs (fine, good enough)…and a piece of paper pushing the new Push, Nevada, which ABC already canceled.