You Can Dance if You Want To
***
The night of the third season finale, the entire staff watched together in the newsroom. Everyone, that is, except Dan. He had closed off the blinds to his and Casey’s office, and they could see the light flickering, so they assumed he was watching something - some “real” sport. As the results came in, and the show crowned Emmitt Smith as their first athlete champion, Casey left the group, and slipped away to see Dan. As he opened the door to the office, the television snapped off.
“So, Emmitt won. And, you know Dana’s going to make us give the results tonight.”
Dan sat quietly at his computer. “I know.”
“We could find something off the wire, but I think Dana would want something original, and we’ll have to write it quick. Sorry - I’ll write it.”
“No - you don’t have to. I’ve already got something.” Dan handed over a typewritten sheet.
Casey read it quickly. “This is…this is really good. Where did you get it?”
Dan turned around and looked up, and then stood. “What I’m about to tell you, you can’t tell anyone.”
Casey nodded, and tried to look as solemn as possible, “I swear on your mother’s life.”
“I’ve been…I’ve been watching the show since the beginning of this second season. I saw Drew win last season, and so I decided to watch this competition. And I’ve been a big fan of Emmitt this entire season. And I just think that he deserves some recognition from a show that does not include Kenny Mayne.”
“Dan, my man, I think you are right.”
***
“And finally, we here at Sports Night would like to extend our congratulations to Mr. Emmitt Smith, formerly of the Dallas Cowboys and the Arizona Cardinals, for winning season three of Dancing with the Stars. When other participants came in to the competition as performers with some dance training, and could only plateau, you improved weekly, and we are proud to call you our favorite dancer-athlete, and master of two sports.” Dan paused. He heard the intake of breath and sigh on Dana’s end of the mic. “You’ve been watching Sports Night on CSC.”
Casey added, “Goodnight,” and that was that.
***
this story is dedicated to my mother (who took ballroom dance lessons when she was my age) and my father (who secretly loves DwtS). this fic would not exist in a readable format without minervacat. This afternoon I sent her five pages of dialogue without plot or a continuous verb tense, said, I know this could be funny, but how do i do it? and she returned it to me with verbage and a string to hold it all together. seriously dex - i couldn't have done it without you.
yes...the title comes from the Men Without Hats song "The Safety Dance".
and there is one line in here that i saw while watching a season 3 episode of the west wing, and figured, if sorkin can steal from himself for future shows, i can steal one perfect line for a fic that goes to a previous show. :) 10 points if you can spot it.
***
And for all you guilty-pleasure viewers/listeners out there, I present four songs that appeared on Emmit's dance card during this past season:
Son of a Preacher Man - Cha Cha
Sir Duke - Samba
Black Horse and the Cherry Tree - Quickstep
U Can't Touch This - Freestyle
(If you want to make your own Dancing with the Stars music playlist, season three selections can be found here)
P.S. Season 4 starts on Monday, March 19th at 8pm. What has two thumbs and is totally psyched even though she should be writing papers at that time? THIS GAL.
The night of the third season finale, the entire staff watched together in the newsroom. Everyone, that is, except Dan. He had closed off the blinds to his and Casey’s office, and they could see the light flickering, so they assumed he was watching something - some “real” sport. As the results came in, and the show crowned Emmitt Smith as their first athlete champion, Casey left the group, and slipped away to see Dan. As he opened the door to the office, the television snapped off.
“So, Emmitt won. And, you know Dana’s going to make us give the results tonight.”
Dan sat quietly at his computer. “I know.”
“We could find something off the wire, but I think Dana would want something original, and we’ll have to write it quick. Sorry - I’ll write it.”
“No - you don’t have to. I’ve already got something.” Dan handed over a typewritten sheet.
Casey read it quickly. “This is…this is really good. Where did you get it?”
Dan turned around and looked up, and then stood. “What I’m about to tell you, you can’t tell anyone.”
Casey nodded, and tried to look as solemn as possible, “I swear on your mother’s life.”
“I’ve been…I’ve been watching the show since the beginning of this second season. I saw Drew win last season, and so I decided to watch this competition. And I’ve been a big fan of Emmitt this entire season. And I just think that he deserves some recognition from a show that does not include Kenny Mayne.”
“Dan, my man, I think you are right.”
***
“And finally, we here at Sports Night would like to extend our congratulations to Mr. Emmitt Smith, formerly of the Dallas Cowboys and the Arizona Cardinals, for winning season three of Dancing with the Stars. When other participants came in to the competition as performers with some dance training, and could only plateau, you improved weekly, and we are proud to call you our favorite dancer-athlete, and master of two sports.” Dan paused. He heard the intake of breath and sigh on Dana’s end of the mic. “You’ve been watching Sports Night on CSC.”
Casey added, “Goodnight,” and that was that.
***
this story is dedicated to my mother (who took ballroom dance lessons when she was my age) and my father (who secretly loves DwtS). this fic would not exist in a readable format without minervacat. This afternoon I sent her five pages of dialogue without plot or a continuous verb tense, said, I know this could be funny, but how do i do it? and she returned it to me with verbage and a string to hold it all together. seriously dex - i couldn't have done it without you.
yes...the title comes from the Men Without Hats song "The Safety Dance".
and there is one line in here that i saw while watching a season 3 episode of the west wing, and figured, if sorkin can steal from himself for future shows, i can steal one perfect line for a fic that goes to a previous show. :) 10 points if you can spot it.
***
And for all you guilty-pleasure viewers/listeners out there, I present four songs that appeared on Emmit's dance card during this past season:
Son of a Preacher Man - Cha Cha
Sir Duke - Samba
Black Horse and the Cherry Tree - Quickstep
U Can't Touch This - Freestyle
(If you want to make your own Dancing with the Stars music playlist, season three selections can be found here)
P.S. Season 4 starts on Monday, March 19th at 8pm. What has two thumbs and is totally psyched even though she should be writing papers at that time? THIS GAL.