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Kicking off the 45 episode ABC television series Sports Night was this pilot episode that originally aired on September 22, 1998. After two years together as co-anchors of the popular sports wrap-up show Sports Night, Casey McCall (Peter Krause) and Dan Rydell (Josh Charles) are hitting a difficult patch in their working relationship. Newly divorced, Casey is filled with uncertainties about his life that are clearly impacting his work performance -- a development that hasn't been lost on the network executives. Show producer Dana Whitaker (Felicity Huffman) and Dan take it upon themselves to get Casey back up to speed before the higher-ups feel compelled to intervene, or before Casey does something drastic like quit. In the meantime, associate producer Natalie Hurley (Sabrina Lloyd) has conducted a search for a new research analyst and has chosen the bright but quirky Jeremy Goodwin (Joshua Malina) for the job, whom she presents to the very thorough Dana for final approval.