Josh Charles' Sports Night Role Remains One of TV's Best Characters

Many TV characters capture one idea. Josh Charles' performance as Dan Rydell in Sports Night embodies more than one when examined 25 years later.

Sports Night is still a part of the television lexicon, 25 years after its debut on ABC, for a myriad of reasons. The series introduced TV viewers to a then still nascent Aaron Sorkin, who had penned the Academy Award-nominated films A Few Good Men and The American President -- the former based on his successful Broadway play -- but had yet to become a bona fide superstar. It became Exhibit A that laugh tracks don't work and audiences don't need to be told what's funny. It made people who didn't care about sports understand at least a few things about sports.

But the primary reason why the series continues to be a cult hit, far outliving its original two-season run, is its wonderful characters. Sorkin made some bold choices and some bewildering choices in developing them, but he never played by the rules of the sitcom game. And what still hasn't quite been talked about enough is what each of the actors contributed, not just in playing those characters but bringing them to life past the words on the page. Josh Charles has gone on to get his due with roles in The Good Wife and David Simon's We Own This City, but what he did as Dan Rydell on Sports Night was special... and becomes even moreso when one looks at it a second time.

Dan Rydell Was Sports Night's Unrecognized MVP

Sports Night benefited from a perfectly balanced ensemble. There was no weak link amongst the core characters or the actors that played them -- which made it obvious when someone else interjected, such as William H. Macy's Emmy-nominated work as Sam Donovan. But amongst the regular lineup, Dan was the utility player. There were the Casey and Dana stories and the Natalie and Jeremy stories, but Dan could fit into any story. Whether he was off talking about his "New York renaissance," providing support to Natalie as she executive produced her first show or he had the main plotline by ticking off Continental Corp, he was always a factor. What becomes more impressive about Charles' performance in the rear view mirror is how balanced it was. All of the characters were high-energy -- in Season 2, Episode 4, "Louise Revisited," Sam told Dan that "you people have an ability to chatter at someone with energy and enthusiasm regardless of whether they seem interested or not" -- but Charles was able to modulate that incredibly well. He knew exactly where the line was between funny and too much, and always held a little something back, which was an integral part of Dan's character. Dan remains a wonderful character because of his unapologetic appreciation for both his job and life in general, yet once one looks past that, it's easy to see how Charles was even more powerful in the smaller moments and wasn't afraid to play against what the plot might suggest.

And while the various romances were great to watch, Dan was at the core of the two friendships that provided the bedrock for the series. There was the endearing dynamic he shared with managing editor Isaac Jaffee -- played brilliantly by the late Robert Guillaume -- in which they traded the mentor and student role. Isaac was someone Dan looked up to and who told him some hard truths, but Dan was also there to return the favor in Season 1, Episode 11, "The Six Southern Gentlemen of Tennessee," which remains one of Sports Night's best episodes. And Dan and Casey's friendship was as memorable as the Dan Patrick / Keith Olbermann dynamic that inspired it, but unlike most TV buddy relationships, audiences saw it add depth and even fracture with time. Season 2's "Draft Day" two-part featured an underrated performance from Charles as Dan found himself pushed to his breaking point -- one of several times that season where he had to take a hard look in the mirror. Most characters get one or two decision points in a season, if that; Dan had at least three.

Sorkin, of course, wrote the scripts and built out Dan's story arc. But it was Josh Charles who could effortlessly switch levels, sometimes in the same scene. He nailed the over-the-top comedic moments, while constantly preserving what was hiding beneath Dan's charismatic surface. Of the six main characters, he best represented the internal stresses that can come with working in the media world and the public eye. His work was akin to what Patrick J. Adams accomplished on the suddenly resurgent Suits -- in his first TV series regular role, he was a breath of fresh air, not beholden to any rhythm or preconception. Unlike Adams, Charles had been acting for over a decade before he jumped onto the small screen, but he was still the X-factor in a group that was either experienced in TV or had at least worked with Sorkin before. That was particularly effective on a show that never intended to fit into any kind of formula.

Josh Charles Gave Dan a Darker Edge That Mattered

Sports Night's biggest joke was that it wasn't a half-hour comedy. ABC's marketing poked fun at the show's inability to fit into a box by saying that the series was about sports as much as Charlie's Angels was about law enforcement. For all of the laughter, there were always a number of very serious storylines, many of which are even more poignant today seeing what has since developed in the sports and television worlds. None of the characters fit any kind of archetype, but Dan in particular was special because of how Charles deconstructed him. Sorkin took a major swing with Dan right off the bat in Season 1, Episode 2, "The Apology," in which Dan got into hot water for his comments about drug use -- and that led to him revealing on-air the guilt he felt for his brother Sam's death. It was impressive to delve into such issues in only the second episode, and to do so as emphatically as the script did. Charles' work in that episode has been discussed ad infinitum, but it wasn't just an outstanding bit of acting; he laid the groundwork for who Dan Rydell was. He built a character who was more dramatic than comedic, and who became an important anchor for the rest of Sports Night's excellently quirky world.

All of the characters had their serious plotlines, but for most of them, that lasted for an episode or maybe a few if it was an ongoing subplot. With Dan, that extra bit of gravity was a constant, particularly in the second season. Despite his important role in the group, he never entirely fit in, similar to how Charles was playing against the grain. There was always that little bit of distance, which first surfaced in "The Apology" and was hinted at in other episodes like Season 1, Episode 19, "Eli's Coming." But Sports Night tackled Dan's mental and emotional health head-on in Season 2. Not only did he begin going to therapy, he confronted Casey about their professional disparity in the "Draft Day" two-parter and he nearly made a game-changing decision in the show's final two episodes. Dan's battle for his self-worth -- both to find it in himself and to get it from others -- was unique for the half-hour format and for the time, well before mental health discussions were commonplace. To dig into that topic so honestly and to communicate Dan's struggles in portions of a 22-minute window showed how talented Charles is, and in retrospect feels like foreshadowing for the much harder work he'd do eight years later during In Treatment.

Dan went to places that other characters didn't -- not just on Sports Night but in general. When TV characters are famous, plotlines often focus on the unwanted attention and the stress it puts on their relationships; Dan showed the pressure it creates individually, especially in wanting (and to an extent professionally needing) to be liked in the face of criticism. Season 2, Episode 4, "Louise Revisited" included a subplot about a web poll to see whether Dan or Casey is cooler, and that was well in advance of daily social media. The audience doesn't often think about how their reaction affects a performer or an anchor, but Dan's character tackled that in both funny and serious ways. "Draft Day" was a high point in Season 2 because it was so much more than another TV argument between best friends. Dan's frustration boiled over from a very understandable place, and Casey was also reasonable to push back before the two ultimately became stronger for having that fight, not in spite of it. The sole predictable aspect of Dan was his family issues, and even then Charles dug that extra foot deeper to show how deeply that had shaped Dan's self-image -- but also how that did not control him. He took Sorkin's layered plotlines and pushed them further.

That was not only critical in making Dan the most layered character who's ever been on a half-hour series, but it was meaningful to Sports Night as a whole. Season 2 was still wonderful, but could be frustratingly uneven, with more sitcom-ish plot points like Dana's infamous "dating plan." Charles was the counterbalance to that and the steady presence no matter what else was going on. Through both Dan's character arc and the acting choices he made, he ensured the show maintained that dramatic side that helped set it apart in the first place. Sports Night would not have been the success it was without Josh Charles' willingness to be counterintuitive, and 25 years later, Dan remains one of a kind because Charles stayed true to himself while diving into Sorkin's singular vision. But while Aaron Sorkin has gotten plenty of praise for his unique voice as a writer, Charles still deserves more credit for what he accomplished as Dan Rydell.