haha, yeah, I did try not to have great expectations.
OH DANNY BOY. Dan is totally the Obligatory Psychotic Jackass all grown up and put into the mundane world. He was my favorite. And yeah, his breakdown and the strain it puts on his relationship with Casey was so realistic and pushed the envelope for a sitcom. Especially just the way it went on for a few episodes. It's generally a risk to have a main character go through that, even in more angst-friendly genres, and I have so much admiration for the way Sorkin, the actor, and the show went there.
I do have to say, we never saw enough of the show to figure out why, exactly, Casey was the superstar and Dan was the underdog. Or, come to think of it, why people thought Dan was a jerk while being so sure Casey was Mr. Congeniality.
Sports Night - perhaps because it's a sitcom where the other two are dramas - portrays Dan's behavior as every bit as ridiculous as it is.
Exactly! I do wonder, too, how much of that was, actually, other writers were sometimes involved and probably had more input just by way of Sorkin not yet having such a massive ego name. I don't think HE gets that it's unacceptable unless he has someone around to call him out. And I don't think it's a particular strength of writing that I feel like I have this insight into him individually based on seeing these shows.
YES TO EVERYTHING about Jeremy/Natalie. It was like all she had to put into the relationship was being so much more invested in it than he was. She ended up being such a Manic Pixie Dream Executive Assistant.
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carisma_sensei
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Date: Aug. 2nd, 2011 04:09 am (UTC)OH DANNY BOY. Dan is totally the Obligatory Psychotic Jackass all grown up and put into the mundane world. He was my favorite. And yeah, his breakdown and the strain it puts on his relationship with Casey was so realistic and pushed the envelope for a sitcom. Especially just the way it went on for a few episodes. It's generally a risk to have a main character go through that, even in more angst-friendly genres, and I have so much admiration for the way Sorkin, the actor, and the show went there.
I do have to say, we never saw enough of the show to figure out why, exactly, Casey was the superstar and Dan was the underdog. Or, come to think of it, why people thought Dan was a jerk while being so sure Casey was Mr. Congeniality.
Sports Night - perhaps because it's a sitcom where the other two are dramas - portrays Dan's behavior as every bit as ridiculous as it is.
Exactly! I do wonder, too, how much of that was, actually, other writers were sometimes involved and probably had more input just by way of Sorkin not yet having such a massive
egoname. I don't think HE gets that it's unacceptable unless he has someone around to call him out. And I don't think it's a particular strength of writing that I feel like I have this insight into him individually based on seeing these shows.YES TO EVERYTHING about Jeremy/Natalie. It was like all she had to put into the relationship was being so much more invested in it than he was. She ended up being such a Manic Pixie Dream Executive Assistant.