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Sports Night/Mary Pat Shelby
| Mary Pat Shelby | |
| |
| Season 1, Episode 5 | |
| Airdate | October 20, 1998 |
| Production Number | N-305 |
| Written by | Tracey Stern and Aaron Sorkin |
| Directed by | Thomas Schlamme |
| ← 1x04 Intellectual Property |
1x06 → The Head Coach, Dinner and the Morning Mail |
| Sports Night — Season One | |
Mary Pat Shelby is the fifth episode of the first season of Sports Night.
Isaac books an exclusive interview with a star football receiver who gives Natalie more than she bargained for when he injures her. Dana's moral dilemma: use this as leverage, or scrap the piece completely. Also, Dan's moral dilemma: should he grow a goatee?
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), Brad Henke (Christian Patrick), Jon Simmons (Burke) and Ray Wise (Evans)
Co-Starring: Jeff Mooring (Dave), Timothy Davis-Reed (Chris), Ron Ostrow (Will)
Contents |
Plot Overview
Dana is delighted to hear that Isaac has negotiated an exclusive in-studio interview with Christian Patrick, a star football receiver. Patrick is a controversial player because he has recently had a winning season and also gotten into trouble for beating up his girlfriend, Mary Pat Shelby. Dana decides to heavily promote the interview to boost the show's ratings.
Dan is seriously considering growing a goatee, despite the disapproval of everyone in the office. Dana decides to send Natalie out for a pre-interview with Patrick in the locker room. They're both excited about the expected ratings boost, and the possibility of Sports Night winning the market for the evening.
On the day of the interview, Patrick's lawyers have established guidelines for the interview: it must cover only sports topics, Mary Pat Shelby cannot be mentioned. Casey is angry that these restrictions have been imposed after it's too late to change their minds about the interview. He also doesn't like that the show is being used to burnish the reputation of a felon while also ignoring the injured girl. Dana reminds him that the show needs to break out of its third-place slot, so she's willing to make the moral compromise. Casey scolds Dan for not involving himself in the argument, Dan explains that he's taking a vacation from his moral compass.
Natalie returns from the interview, and she's acting strange and a little jumpy. Jeremy notices a bruise on her wrist. At the rundown meeting, as Dave, Chris and Will remind Dan that a goatee would present a lighting problem. Isaac interrupts with an unconfirmed story that Christian Patrick grabbed a girl by the arm in the locker room and exposed himself. Jeremy puts two-and-two together, and realizes the girl was Natalie.
When questioned, Natalie admits to being the girl in question, but protests that she is fine. She declines to go home before Patrick arrives, wanting to do her job as normal. Dana decides that while Mary Pat Shelby can't be discussed, the incident with Natalie is still fair game, and should be announced first on Sports Night. Dan agrees that the incident is newsworthy, but warns that Natalie wants the story kept quiet.
In the meeting with Patrick's lawyers, Dana offers an ultimatum: Natalie will deny the incident if all the other restrictions on the interview are lifted. They all agree, but Isaac is silently stunned at Dana's calculating manipulation. In the editing room, Natalie vents to Jeremy: she's already being excluded from important news decisions, if she goes public with the accusation, the press will turn her life upside-down. Jeremy has a verbal confrontation with Patrick outside the green room.
Casey finds Dana sitting alone in Isaac's office. She tells him that she deliberately sent Natalie to the pre-interview, hoping to provoke a reaction. Casey tells her that he's already figured that out, and reckons that Natalie has as well. Dan finds Natalie still in the editing room, and indirectly counsels her to go public with her accusation. Natalie reminds him about a female newspaper reporter who received death threats after accusing an athlete. Dan reminds her that her friends will stand by her no matter her decision.
Dana comes charging out of Isaac's office with a decision: the Patrick interview is cancelled. Isaac supports her decision, as does the staff. Patrick storms out, and is met in the hallway by Natalie. Maintaining her composure, she warns Patrick of the impending complaint she's going to file with the police. In the studio, Dana apologizes and gives Natalie a big hug.
Notes
Arc Advancement
Happenings
- Natalie is sexually assaulted by a football player during a locker room pre-interview. She decides to file charges.
Characters
Referbacks
Trivia
The Show
- Jeremy first mentions his sister Louise, when he tells a childhood story about her tying him to a tree.
- We learn that Natalie has a journalism degree from Northwestern, and that she began work at Sports Night as a summer intern.
- Despite being the title character of this episode, Mary Pat Shelby does not appear at all!
Behind the Scenes
Allusions and References
Memorable Moments
- Isaac and Dana get very close when he announces the big news
- Jeremy's confrontation with Christian Patrick
- Dan and Casey smart-mouth one of Patrick's lawyers
- Natalie breaks the bad news to Christian Patrick
Quotes
- Isaac: What do I look like, I just sailed in from Minskapinsk?
Dana: (laughing) No, you don't! But you gotta stop using Yiddish expressions!
Isaac: They work for me!
Dana: Not as much as you think. - Dan: I want this now. This is important to me. I'm an adult and I want to grow a goatee.
- Dan: A lot of great and distinguished men have worn goatees.
Casey: I'll give you a hundred dollars if you don't start naming them for me. - (Dana explains the restrictions on the Christian Patrick interview.)
Dana: Something was better than nothing, and we needed this!
Casey: Yeah, and Patrick's people need to show that their guy can still sell sneakers and soda. And when the whole thing's over, we hop in the shower and they leave the money on the nighttable. Plus, we get to show Mary Pat Shelby that unless she can catch 80 passes in a season, the world could honestly give a damn about her concussion and broken jaw. - (Dana wants to get the show out of third place.)
Dana: I'll do ANYTHING, short of a wet T-shirt contest to get us there and these days, the wet T-shirt contest isn't looking so bad to me. - Casey: What happened to your values?
Dan: I find that maintaining them is a lot of work. I take a day off every now and then.
Casey: You take a vacation from doing the right thing?
Dan: Yeah, I don't loot storefronts or anything, but once in a while, when I consider the effort it takes to diligently adhere to a moral compass, I take myself out of the lineup and I rest for the next game.
Casey: I swear, you could run for Congress and win.
Dan: Not with a goatee. - Natalie: I'd like to stay. I'm the senior associate producer here, I've got a show in 38 minutes. I'd like to be allowed to do my job.
- (talking to Christian Patrick's lawyers)
Dana: Despite a mountain of fairly immutable evidence, I'm prepared to believe that what happened to Natalie, DIDN'T happen to Natalie, and I'm confident I can persuade Natalie to see it the same way.
Lawyer: What's the catch?
Dana: Mary Pat Shelby. - (Christian Patrick offers his hand to Jeremy, he slaps it away.)
Jeremy: Get your hand out of my face. (Patrick smirks) Did I say something funny?
Patrick: I'm six-four, 230 pounds. Bench press three bills, run a four-four forty. What, you wanna dance with me, junior?
Jeremy: You touch her again, I'm gonna have you killed. You understand what I'm saying? I'm gonna pay someone fifty dollars to have you killed. - Dana: Isaac?
Isaac: Yeah?
Dana: We did a big thing badly.
Isaac: I know.
Dana: Can I try and fix it?
Isaac: Go. - Lawyer: You're all going to be the laughing stock of broadcast news!
Casey: We're pretty much used to that by now. - Lawyer: This is a third-place show on a fourth-rate network.
Dan: Yeah, but that's all going to change once I grow a goatee.
Casey: He's just crazy enough to do it, too. - Natalie: You remember how much you wanted to play professional football when you were a kid?
Patrick: Yeah.
Natalie: That's how much I wanted to be a sports reporter. I was just there doing my job. But tomorrow, the sky's gonna fall down on both of us. 'Cause as soon as my show comes down at midnight, I'm going over to the 23rd Precinct and I'm swearing out a warrant for your arrest. - Natalie: Right now, this second, how much do you love me?
