Dan Rydell
Dan is a co-anchor of the CSC evening sports program Sports Night, alongside
Casey McCall, his on-air partner of more than ten years. A graduate of Dartmouth,
Dan is widely concidered (especially by himself) to be the cool one of the pair, though
he often finds himself envious of the respect and accolades that Casey is awarded for
doing the same job as he. Dan is extremely sarcastic and outgoing, and has an
intense desire to be liked by everyone - even though personal interaction often
leaves him with cold sweats and nausea. At the root of his mental and psychological
issues is the death of his younger brother, Sam, who was killed while driving drunk
and high because he wanted to be like Dan. He can be remarkably forgetful (not
remembering that he had ever been to Spain), and doesn't understand the point of
soccer. Dan has the hots for Hilary Clinton.
Casey McCall
Casey is co-anchor of the CSC evening sports program Sports Night, alongside
Dan Rydell, his on-air partner of more than ten years. He attended college, where he
met both Lisa, whom he would marry at the age of 23 (they have one son, Charlie),
and Dana, whom he would work with on Sports Night and a variety of other
shows. In 1993, Casey was offered the chance to host Late Night, but turned
the job down to host a little-seen sports show in Dallas with Dan. It was this event
that began the end of his marriage to Lisa; the two officially divorced in 1998, leaving
Casey with a multitude of self-esteem issues and self-doubt. Following his divorce,
he became fixated on becoming as cool as Dan, and with winning the heart of Dana.
Casey listens to the Starland Vocal Band (but doesn't own the single to "Afternoon
Delight").
Dana Whitaker
Dana Whitaker is the executive producer of Sports Night, a job that she loves
with every breath she has. She comes from a large family, with six brothers,
including Kyle, who plays in the NFL. (Her mother disapproves of her career,
believing that sports is no place of an educated woman, which tends to make Dana
nervous about family functions.) While she is extremely competent when it comes to
her job, Dana is a little less than brilliant when it comes to the rest of her life. She is prone to lamp-buying when frazzled, and taking up random hobbies she knows nothing
about (such as photography). Dana has a love of theater that began with seeing
The Lion King on Broadway.
