I know there are some Sports Night fans out there from the various announcements that the show's entire run will wind up on DVD in time for Christmas (Sarah, if I've not asked for it by now, I am asking for it). The show represents several things you don't see on prime time TV nowadays: sharp writing, an ensemble that truly is an ensemble and can act the hell out of any script, and an Aaron Sorkin not hopped up on magic mushrooms. Sadly, it also represented something altogether too prevalent on prime time TV today: idiot network executives whose tunnel vision and need to put every show in a neatly-defined box prevents them from giving a show that studiously avoids such definition the time to develop. Just one sample of Jamie Tarses' attempt to bury ABC.

Anyway, for your diversionary pleasure, my top 11 Sports Night moments:

11. Every shot of New York City that contains the World Trade Center.

10. Jeremy meets a porn star who he later dates. The porn star, played by Paula Marshall, is notable as she is a show killer on par with Ted McGinley (who played Gordon Gage during the show's first season) and Alison La Placa. She's offed Wild Oats, Chicago Sons, Cupid, Snoops, and Cursed. Not that most of those shows needed her help. She's starring in this season's Hidden Hills; be warned.

9. The Passover seder where Dan and Casey patch up their fight and Jeremy admits to Natalie that he's dating a porn star, only to have Natalie tell him how much she misses him. Moving stuff.

8. We learn that Isaac Jaffe missed the "Shot Heard 'Round the World" Bobby Thompson homer that won the Giants the 1951 pennant because he was in the bathroom washing his hands. Imagine being in a place where something will happen that will define something you love forever. And then put yourself in the can when that thing happens. Robert Guillaume did a whale of a job with this.

7. One of the early episodes has Casey flirting with Sally, the West Coast Update producer (I think it's "Smoky," but can't find corroboration). He and Dan then have an exchange about Sally that is phenominal, with Dan ending with "I say she has no reflection!" Just once, I want to be able to say that the way he did about someone.

6. Casey appears on The View and fails to credit the wardrobe people for his clothes. This leads to a dressing down (sorry) by a wardrobe assistant (played by Janel Moloney, better known now as Donna Moss on The West Wing) and an on-air thank you rundown of all the staffers on the show. Which, it took me a few airings to figure out, were actual thanks to staffers on the actual show. Check the credits.

5. After Dan finally makes headway with Rebecca and Casey is rebuffed by Dana, we get this exchange:

Dan: You know, sometimes it's worth it, taking all the pies in the face -- sometimes you come through it feeling good.
Casey: Yes.
Dan: And how was your day?
Casey: Sometimes you just stand there, hip deep in pie.

I have days like that. We all have days like that. I named my fantasy football team Hip Deep in Pie one year in tribute.

4. The episode "Quo Vadimus," where Continental Sports Channel is bought out and the new owner promises to keep Sports Night on the air. In reality, it's the show's last episode. To quote Homer Simpson, "Think about the irony."

3. Natalie, after being sexually assaulted by football player Christian Patrick, runs into him backstage at the show after an interview with him is cancelled. She tells him she's taking out a warrant against him, and ends their encounter by throwing a quote of his back at him: "How much do you love me now?" Timing is indeed everything.

2. Any poker-related moments in "Shoe Money Tonight," from Natalie saying she's got game to the actual cards to Dana's constant repetition of the title phrase.

1. The network tries to take over the show, more or less, by forcing notes (network suggestions for improving the show) on the staff. Sam Donovan, a ratings guru brought in by Isaac, calls the meeting off and leads the suits on a walk through the offices while talking about Cliff Gardner, brother in law of Philo Farnsworth, who invented the television. Sam compares himself to Cliff- he doesn't have the technical know how to put it all together, but he can get one thing done that's crucial to TV success, just as Cliff did when he learned to make glass tubes for this thing called TV. Sam then disses the suits' ability to get the best from people, and lets them know that they took their walk to get to the studio exit.

William H. Macy is ridiculously underrated.