sports night

Veteran actress Paula Marshall is joining the FX show Nip/Tuck this fall. She'll play Dylan Walsh's love interest for at least four episodes.

I call her a veteran actress even though shes not that old (her birthday was last week - Happy Birthday Paula!). She's been on a ton of TV shows over the years. Some should have lasted longer than they did (Sports Night, Veronica Mars, Cupid), and some probably lasted longer than they should have (Out of Practice, Snoops).

A few weeks ago, AOL Television editors and TV Squad bloggers teamed up to name the shows they wished could come back from the dead.

Many of you wondered, "Where's Arrested Development? Freaks and Geeks?? Sports Night???" You took issue with some of the choices -- especially shows that had long runs, like The West Wing. For others, our picks were too edgy, like Keen Eddie.

So, we gave you the chance to strike back: We asked fans on both sites to nominate the shows you'd resurrect from the graveyard of television. Boy, was there a long list. We gathered together some of the best posts and here are the results.

Keith Olbermann has a new gig.

Or should I say "another gig," as he'll still be host of MSNBC's Countdown. But he's going to add a co-hosting position on NBC's Football Night In America, the pre-game show that airs at 7pm on Sunday nights before the NFL game that NBC telecasts.

Olbermann has a long history in TV sports, having hosted ESPN's SportsCenter with Dan Patrick years ago (he was one of the models for the characters on Sports Night) and his own show on FOX Sports Network that was good but didn't last too long. This will be his first job in network sports in several years, other than what he does on Dan Patrick's radio show. Olbermann will join Bob Costas, Cris Collinsworth, Jerome Bettis, and Tiki Barber, who started on NBC this morning.

[via TV Newser]

"Bush-bashing accidental liberal hero." "Keith the Impaler."

Those phrases were used to describe MSNBC's Keith Olbermann in a New York magazine profile of the cable talker who first earned fame as the wise cracking sports guy on ESPN's SportsCenter, which later inspired Aaron Sorkin's SportsNight.

The article -- which describes Olbermann as a "world class agitator" and "sworn enemy" of Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly -- says Olbermann appeals to liberals like radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh appeals to conservatives.

Well, this is interesting. I'm not a big fan of David Foster Wallace (1), but anyone who attempts to film something that he has written has my respect.

John Krasinski, Jim on The Office, is directing the movie version of DFW's (2) Brief Interviews With Hideous Men. Not really sure how the movie will be structured, since the book is a collection of short stories, but it's a daring choice for a first time effort. The movie stars Timothy Hutton (3), Rashida Jones (4), Josh Charles (5), Will Forte (6), and Bobby Cannavale (7).

1. He's a smart, interesting guy, but sometimes you just want to throw his books across the room.
2. I can't remember if you're supposed to call him "Foster Wallace" or just "Wallace."
3. From Kidnapped.
4. Karen on The Office.
5. From Sports Night.
6. From SNL.
7. From Will & Grace.

After viewing the frighteningly accurate parody of Studio 60 that MADtv performed I got to thinking (which is always a bad thing). I can't remember a producer/creator of any television show in recent history who has carried so many of his or her trademarks from one program to another. I guess you could say Dick Wolf does this from show to show, but the Law & Order series is probably considered a franchise. Aaron Sorkin has produced three different shows that have had similar structural elements, including actors and actresses. When viewers watch these shows they anticipate those features and are disappointed when they don't see them.

So, with that in mind, here are the five trademarks that Aaron Sorkin puts in his shows.

The walk-and-talk: Others shows have people walking and talking all of the time, but usually slowly down a straight hallway. Aaron has taken this concept and perfected it, making it all his own. His walk-and-talks feature characters going up-and-down stairs, through security gates, behind bleachers, and around corners. He sometimes makes these strolls seem like a relay race: two people will talk for a while, then one person will tag-out and a new conversation will begin with another character. Meanwhile, as they walk they begin and end conversations with so much information that you need to record the show so you catch everything missed. And, speaking about those conversations . . .

One of the constant complaints from both fans and critics of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip is that we never get to see much of the actual sketches that make up the show-within-the-show. I always felt this was kind of a silly complaint since we also never saw much of the actual show-within-the-show on Sports Night but I guess expectations are different for Studio 60. Bob disagrees with me but points out that shows like Entourage, which is about a great actor who we never see actually acting, have the same issue.

Well, if you've been wondering about what those sketches mapped out by Matt Albie, Harriet Hayes and others might look like, the Employee of the Month sketch comedy troupe in Los Angeles is trying to provide a theoretical glimpse. They've taken the snippets of "Crazy Christians," "Nancy Grace" and others from the fictional show and expanded them to full length form. Check out "Employee of the Month Celebrates The Comedy of Studio 60" starting Friday the 17th.

If any of our LA readers go see this be sure to send in reports.

(S01E23) This is one of my favorite episodes of the show. It has so many great lines and exchanges that I really can't put all of them down here. It's the first season finale, and the way it ends, it almost seems like they weren't sure if the show was coming back and they wanted to end it in a very definite manner, with many plots tied up and the return of a beloved character.

Casey's son Charlie is coming to the studio, and he seems to have an odd relationship with his father. Meanwhile, Dana bought that camera she talked about endlessly in the last episode and wants to take a picture of the staff in their nice clothes to break in the camera, and Dan is still wondering if Rebecca will change her mind and come back to him.

(S01E22) This is one of the more soap opera-ish of the Sports Night episodes, because it deals with relationships and secrets and who's sleeping with who and who knows and who doesn't know and will they find out. But it doesn't feel lie it, because it's still Sports Night, and that means it's still funny and smart and well done.

Gordon proposes to Dana, who has accepted, and this ticks off Casey, who knows that Gordon slept with Sally. But he can't tell Dana because then she'll find out that he too slept with Sally. Casey says he's just going to follow "Napoleon's Battle Plan" and just see what happens. Dan isn't sure if this is such a good idea, and has a plan of his own.

(S01E21) You know, when you get right down to it, there's nothing sadder than a man in love, waiting for his woman, holding a bottle of wine, a bouquet of flowers, and an old abacus.

Dan has a special night planned for Rebecca, but she's thinking about going back to her husband. Meanwhile, Casey is still freaked out about last week's bomb scare and still ticked at Dana for bailing on the show to go to dinner with Gordon. And Jeremy is still broken up with Natalie. At least he thinks so. Natalie is telling him and everyone else in the studio that they are still together. Maybe Jeremy's obsession with a cricket (the sport, not the insect) story will make him forget how maddening she's being.

(S01E20) While Isaac continues to recover from his stroke in the hospital, Dana is in charge, and the network execs are putting a lot of pressure on her. Meanwhile, Rebecca might want to go back to hubby Steve, which doesn't please Dan too much, and Jeremy wants to break up with Natalie, because there are way too many things happening right now, including his parents breaking up.

Oh, and there's a bomb threat called in to the building.

(S01E19) It must be hard as hell to do an episode of a show where something bad happens to one of the characters that actually happened to the actor in real life. In this episode, we find out that Isaac had a stroke after returning from a vacation. Actor Robert Guillaume had a stroke in real-life too. It's a tricky thing for a show to write in a real-life incident into a show, but because of the way this show is structured - a seamless blend of comedy and drama - it actually works.

Before they find out about Isaac, the staff is getting ready for special March Madness coverage. They're working on a Saturday, Bobbi Berstein is coming in to co-anchor (which thrills Dan, since she still thinks they slept together in Spain), and Dan is wondering why Rebecca's ex-husband Steve is in her office. On a Saturday. He thinks it's like "Eli's Coming," the classic Three Dog Night song, that something bad is about to happen. But as Casey reminds him, the song isn't about that, it's about a womanizer. No matter, Dan still thinks it's going to be a bad day.

(S01E18) At this point, the show is rather complex, with many storylines going on and continuing from episode to episode. There's even a "previously on Sports Night" clip at the beginning, though it's kinda odd. They show a scene with Jeremy telling Natalie that his parents are getting divorced, but I don't remember that from a previous episode.

Jeremy is going to see his parents about the divorce, and Natalie is upset because he hasn't called her in a few days. Meanwhile, Dan is trying desperately to get Rebecca interested in baseball.

(S01E17) Basically, it's all Pete Sampras' fault.

That's what everyone thinks in this, one of my favorite episodes. Pete Sampras is in the middle of a U.S. Open match with a guy he should be beating easily, but the nobody is actually making a comeback against the world's #1 player, which means that Sports Night is delayed (side note: I'd love to find out how CSC got the rights to the U.S. Open). It also means that Dana might have to cancel her date with Gordon, Rebecca won't be able to see her first live broadcast of the show, and Dana might have to hand the show over to Sally's 2am show.

But it gives Jeremy time to write a letter to his sister Louise, who's in college but is thinking about quitting because of boyfriend problems.

(S01E16) This episode has one of the great surprise lines in sitcom history (in my opinion anyway, don't want to oversell it).

While Dana is upset that Gordon stood her up last night and Jewish Jeremy is freaking out that he has to spend three days with Natalie's Catholic family, Casey talks to Dan about a shirt of his that's missing, and Dan figures out how and why this particular shirt is missing.