Dan: Is this one of those times when you say you don't want to talk about it but you really do?
Casey: No, but it's shaping up into one of those times when I say I don't want to talk about it but we end up talking about it anyway.
Casey: No, but it's shaping up into one of those times when I say I don't want to talk about it but we end up talking about it anyway.
Directed by Marc Buckland
Written by Aaron Sorkin & Joan Binder Weiss (uncredited)
A tennis match between Pete Sampras and Alberto Fedrigotti goes much longer than expected, which means Dana has to consider handing off the show to Sally and the 2 am crew. She doesn't want to do it, but Gordon has made a date with them and is tired of her being Married to the Job. Casey, meanwhile, reveals to Dan that Gordon slept with Sally.
Tropes:
- All Women Are Lustful: Natalie asks Jeremy and then Dana if they'd like to go make out with her (shockingly, they both refuse).
- Call-Back: Jeremy's writing another letter to his sister.
- Continuity Nod: In "Rebecca", we learned Dan had met Rebecca while he was starting to see someone else named Elaine. Rebecca gets mad at Dan because he hasn't called Elaine to tell her he'll stop seeing her.
- Department of Redundancy Department: Lampshaded:Natalie: All right, Dave, I guess take us down from stand-by. Kim, Elliot, why don't you talk to the field. Let's stay on top of the late scores and don't anybody go too far.Dana: (as she walks into the control room) Dave, you should take us down from stand by. Kim, Elliot, you should get on the phone with our people in the field and back them up about 45 minutes. Obviously we'll keep updating the late scores and please don't anybody go too far.Natalie: Dana?Dana: Yeah?Natalie: We just did this.Dana: Ah.
- Foreshadowing: We'll hear more about Jeremy's parents' divorce in the next few episodes. Also, Dana's decision to hand the show off to Sally will have serious repercussions between her and Casey.
- Gilligan Cut: As usual with Aaron Sorkin, it's within the same scene:Dan: Here's the thing. I would do it right now. I would do it right this second. But I'm in a sort of pre-show mode. It's a very delicate energy and it can't be tampered with. All anyone here is thinking about is the broadcast.
Dana: (runs up to the office doorway) Guys; a little garbage-can basketball?
Rebecca: Dan's in pre-show mode.
Dana: (starts laughing out loud) That's a good one. - Literary Allusion Title: The episode title is also the name of a song in Finian's Rainbow.
- Premature Encapsulation: Originally, there was a plot point of Isaac trying to remember what show the song was from, but when Robert Guillaume suffered a stroke and was unable to film this episode, it was dropped and used in the Season 2 episode "Celebrities".
- Running Gag: Dan's antipathy towards Sally (though, to be fair, having found out about Gordon and Sally, this time, he has cause).
- Serious Business: For Casey, the fact there's no provolone cheese at the catering table.
- Tempting Fate: Casey insists there's no way Dana will hand the show off to Sally.
