NewsRadio
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| NewsRadio | |
|---|---|
 Original cast of NewsRadio. |
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| Genre | Comedy |
| Creator(s) | Paul Simms |
| Starring | Dave Foley Phil Hartman (1995–1998) Maura Tierney Andy Dick Vicki Lewis Stephen Root Joe Rogan Khandi Alexander (1995–1997) Jon Lovitz (1998–1999) |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| No. of episodes | 97 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 23 minutes (approx.) |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | NBC |
| Original run | March 21, 1995 – May 4, 1999 |
| Links | |
| IMDb profile | |
| TV.com summary | |
NewsRadio was an American sitcom, originally broadcast from 1995 to 1999 on NBC. The show was created by executive producer Paul Simms. All five seasons have been released on 4 DVD sets and contain various special features, such as commentaries, gag reels, and featurettes.
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[edit] Background
The series is set at WNYX, a fictional news radio station in New York City populated by an eccentric station owner and staff. Similar to WKRP in Cincinnati, the show begins with the arrival of a new news director, level-headed Dave Nelson (Dave Foley), fresh from the heartland of Wisconsin. While Dave turns out to be less naive than his youthful appearance suggests, he never fully gains control of his unruly co-workers.
The fast-paced, irreverent scripts and ensemble cast combined physical humor and sight gags with smart dialogue and absurdist storylines. Plots frequently involve satirical takes on historical events, news stories, and pop culture references appealing to the sophisticated, college-educated target audience. The third- and fourth-season finales take the absurdism to the extreme, setting the characters first in a news radio station in outer space, and then as crew-members aboard the Titanic.
Despite critical acclaim and an extremely loyal fanbase, ratings for the show were inconsistent. NBC moved the show a total of eleven times, often to inhospitable timeslots, making it difficult to establish and maintain an audience. After stabilizing the show on Tuesday nights, ratings did well, only to plummet when the show was moved in the fall of 1996 in an attempt to establish a block of sitcoms on Wednesdays. The show spent the remainder of its life on the brink of cancellation.
NewsRadio was officially canceled in May 1998, after its fourth season, but the decision was reversed a day later, with an order of 22 episodes placed for Season Five. A few days after the renewal, focal cast member Phil Hartman was murdered by his wife. His absence would ultimately serve as the straw that broke the camel's back. Staff and cast morale never fully recovered, and NBC left the series "on the bubble" until the day the final Season Five episode aired, months after production had wrapped.
In all, 97 episodes of NewsRadio were made (see list of NewsRadio episodes). Reruns continued in syndication for several years before disappearing in most markets, but the show recently returned, airing on the cable programming block Nick at Nite and during afternoons on the TBS network. It also airs on TVTropolis in Canada. The program will be available in syndication to local stations starting in July 2007, through the General Mills Program Exchange.
[edit] Cast
- Dave Nelson (Dave Foley) is the station's long-suffering news director. He has a sarcastic wit and is addicted to coffee. He is often mocked for his youthful appearance by Bill. Dave considered a career as a professional tap dancer before going into radio. A former Boy Scout and 4-H Club member, Dave is also a talented tap dancer, knife thrower and ventriloquist. He is a science fiction geek and a former arcade game addict. Dave's favorite show is Green Acres. His favorite movie is Logan's Run. Dave is the rock of the office, listening to people's problems whether he wants to or not. He is secretly (until the third season) Canadian.
- Lisa Miller (Maura Tierney), with whom Dave has an intermittent relationship, is promoted and demoted within the show's run, serving as reporter, on-air personality, producer and news director. Lisa's parents raised her in a regimented environment (which Dave called a "Skinner Box"). She abruptly decided to go into news radio while eating a cheesesteak. Before this decision her former major was forest ranger although in early episode she said she was a poli sci major. A ridiculous overachiever, Lisa is able to perform complex mathematical calculations without the use of a calculator and also went so far as to retake her SAT exam well out of college. Her extensive crime record which includes breaking and entering,car jacking,felony breaking and entering is a direct result of her ambitious desire to excel. This caused her to spend a total of two months in juvenile detention.
- Bill McNeal (Phil Hartman) is a co-news anchor for WNYX. Bombastic, egocentric, and insubordinate, Bill is frequently a thorn in the news director's side. But despite his abrasive personality, Bill does have a streak of genuine kindness. As news director, Ed, Dave, and Lisa all struggled to deal with Bill. His relationships are often unorthodox or contentious. This is especially evident when Bill describes seemingly painful or sad childhood memories as "good times, good times." As a result of Hartman's death between the fourth and fifth seasons, Bill's death was addressed in the first episode of the fifth season.
- Catherine Duke (Khandi Alexander) is the second of WNYX's news anchors. Beautiful and regal, Catherine, as an African American and minority at the station, secretly wishes there were more minorities on the staff. She is often bitter rivals with co-anchor Bill McNeal, partly due to an office affair they had earlier, casting doubt on the wisdom of Dave and Lisa's relationship. Catherine leaves the station for a job in London during the fourth season. She makes a brief appearance in the fifth season premiere for Bill's funeral.
- Jimmy James (Stephen Root), the station's eccentric, extroverted billionaire owner who often helps his co-workers learn new lessons, places strange bets with his rich friends and is desperately looking for a wife. Despite his divergent business interests, he seems to enjoy micromanaging WNYX (despite the fact that most of his decisions are made seemingly at a whim), but usually gets Dave to make any decisions or announcements that will be unpopular with the staff. He is seen as a loving father figure by everyone in the office, often in spite of his eccentricities, which are bizarre even by the staff's standards. Jimmy knows many secrets about his staff but also has a few of his own. He claims to have been Watergate informant Deep Throat, and was once prosecuted by the federal government, who accused him of being notorious skyjacker D.B. Cooper. He has been banned from the White House after calling Rosalyn Carter "hotlips", stealing a couch from the Lincoln bedroom and peeing in the rose garden after drinking too much Billy beer.
- Beth (Vicki Lewis) is Dave's quirky secretary, whose work mainly consists of eavesdropping, getting coffee for Dave, and being the coolest person in the office. She wears crazy, often ridiculous outfits, and perpetually chews gum. She is Dave's office confidante, and reluctantly advises both him and Lisa throughout their relationship. Her last name is never revealed.
- Matthew Brock (Andy Dick) is a news reporter and official "office weird guy". Clumsy and simple-minded, the child-like Matthew causes the most havoc in the office. He idolizes Bill, who in return calls him "Spaz" and makes him the butt of often cruel jokes. (At one point, Dave tells Matthew: "Bill is not a god." Matthew replies, "Time will tell, Dave.") When Bill dies, Matthew keeps insisting he faked his death to live his dream of starting a new life abroad but a letter Bill left behind makes him face the truth. The staff is easily annoyed with him, but they nonetheless think of him as a kind of little brother. Despite his apparent dimness, it is revealed in the fourth season that Matthew is a skilled dentist who gave up his practice because radio was his "passion."
- Joe Garrelli (Joe Rogan) is the station's electrician and all-around "fix-it guy". He builds all the things he needs, rather than purchasing them (including his own homemade duct tape), and espouses various conspiracy theories. He is rowdy and immature, and will frequently try to start fights for no apparent reason. His last name is the subject of a running gag: whenever it is mentioned, someone looks perplexed and says, "Your last name is Garrelli?" He is a self-proclaimed ladies man, yet is too shy to approach his true love, Catherine. He has never set foot outside of New York City.
- Max Louis (Jon Lovitz) is Bill McNeal's replacement in the final season, an old colleague of his whose odd mannerisms and personality-changing compulsions kept him moving between literally dozens of radio jobs before winding up at WNYX. The eccentric Max has a thing for redheads named Beth and puppies named Daisy. (He is unrelated to two earlier characters Lovitz had played on the show.)
A picture of McNeal/Hartman remained as part of the set in the news director's office during the final season. Lovitz, who had gotten his start with Hartman in The Groundlings and also worked with Hartman in the 1986 movie ¡Three Amigos! as well as Saturday Night Live, later said he agreed to do the show out of love for his friend, saying, "I'm doing this for Phil." When the show was canceled, Andy Dick became very vocal about off-screen feuds with Lovitz on the set (which oddly mirrored Matthew's initial reluctance to accept Bill's replacement).
[edit] Recurring characters and guest appearances
The only recurring character to appear in more than one production season was Jimmy's lawyer, Roger, played initially by Norm MacDonald, but replaced with NewsRadio writer Drake Sather in subsequent episodes when MacDonald was unavailable. During the last season, Patrick Warburton had a recurring role as Johnny Johnson, Jimmy's nemesis and Lisa's love interest (and eventual husband).
Several other actors appeared in multiple seasons playing different characters, notably Lovitz, David Cross, Toby Huss, David Anthony Higgins, Dave "Gruber" Allen and Bob Odenkirk.
An inordinate number of guest characters had the last name Johnson, and there were multiple guests named Dr. Mandel.
Tone Lōc and Toby Huss played security guards Lorenzo and Junior in two Season 2 episodes. The characters were based on the security guards at the studio where NewsRadio was shot.
Lauren Graham had a four-episode run as Andrea, an efficiency expert who shakes up the office (firing Matthew, demoting Dave, and promoting Lisa to news director). She was intended as a possible replacement for the departing Alexander, but Graham tested terribly with audiences, and her character disappeared before Alexander left, and without explanation. It is worth noting that on a season 4 commentary, Tierney gives the hiring of Graham as a possible explanation for Alexander's departure, which contradicts the idea that Alexander intended to leave before Graham appeared on the show. All of the changes introduced during Graham's time on the show would be reverted by midseason to the way things were before her arrival. She is sometimes referred to as Planbee after Matthew misunderstands her being Jimmy's "Plan B" for the office.
Brad Rowe had a four-episode run as Walt, an office intern with a crush on Lisa, causing more worry for Dave. Intended as a regular for season five, the character disappeared without explanation after "Sinking Ship" (most likely due to the fact that his character was often used as an impetus for Bill's actions in several episodes).
Steve Susskind had a recurring role as Milos the Janitor, appearing in three episodes in the second season.
When Alexander appeared as Catherine Duke in the fifth season opener (in which the McNeal character was killed off to coincide with Hartman's death), she was credited as a recurring character.
Kevin McDonald, Foley's former castmate from The Kids in the Hall, made a guest appearance as the knife-wielding Throwdini in the episode "Stupid Holiday Charity Talent Show" during Season 4.
Other guest stars inluded John Ritter, Dennis Miller, Janeane Garofalo, Bebe Neuwirth, Ben Stiller, French Stewart, Scott Adams, Jon Stewart, Tiffani Amber Thiessen, and, in a non-speaking cameo, Ron Jeremy. Celebrities appearing as themselves included Chuck D, Al Roker, Bob Costas, Jerry Seinfeld, James Caan, Adam West, George "Goober" Lindsey and thrash metal icons Anthrax.
Guest stars Ben Stiller, Janeane Garofalo, David Cross, and Bob Odenkirk all worked on The Ben Stiller Show with Andy Dick.
Guest stars in Season 4's "Chock" episode, David Cross, Bob Odenkirk and Brian Posehn all worked together on Mr. Show. Each of them appeared separately in earlier episodes of NewsRadio. Cross guest starred as Mr. James' weird nephew in Season 2's "Houses of the Holy", Odenkirk appeared as the doctor in "The Injury", and Posehn asked questions at Mr. James' book signing in Season 4's "Super Karate Monkey Death Car".
[edit] Additional character, episode and series info
- The show was sold into syndication at the end of its fourth season with an atypically low amount of episodes—75. Traditionally, shows do not reach syndication until 100 episodes are produced, and NewsRadio never reached this, with its series finale clocking in at number 97. Despite the syndication popularity of the show, it was on the brink of cancellation every season that it originally aired.
- The only actors to appear in all 97 episodes are Foley, Root, and Dick.
- The name "Jimmy James" came from the Beastie Boys song "Jimmy James".[1]
- The name "Beth" came from the Kiss song "Beth".[2]
- As the series progressed, the writers made a conscious effort to incorporate elements of the actors' real-life personalities into those of their characters. This is especially true of Lisa and Joe, the characters played by Maura Tierney and Joe Rogan, respectively.
- The character of Joe was originally named Rick, and was played by another actor, Greg Lee, in the pilot episode. Greg Lee tested horribly, however, and the writers replaced him with Rogan.
- Ray Romano was originally cast to play Joe, but was fired because his style of verbal comedy did not mix well with the fast-paced repartee of the rest of the cast. The writers commented on the Season 1 DVD commentary that his particular brand of slow speech contrasted horribly with the fast-paced hectic arena of a New York talk radio station.
- The role of Catherine was played by a different actress, Ella Joyce, in the pilot episode. Alexander took over the role in episode 2.
- There was a rumor that Foley's character, Dave Nelson, was named after the Twin Towers. The towers were once called "David" and "Nelson" in reference to the Rockefeller brothers who initially championed the project [3], and Dave was sometimes seen in the opening credits with the towers in the background. According to Paul Simms, this is a coincidence. Simms says "I named this character Dave because I wrote it with no one else but Dave Foley in mind. Nelson is my mother's maiden name."[4]
- Many episodes in the second season begin with a short comic situation ending with Dick falling over or knocking something over just before the NewsRadio title sequence. According to DVD commentary, NBC ordered a halt to this because they found it tiresome. The writers then had Dick falling in every single episode, most notably when he broke his wrist in the "Crazy Santa" Christmas episode.
- The last nine episodes of season two are named after Led Zeppelin albums, though not in order of their release. All of the albums except for Led Zeppelin III have an episode named after them. In addition, episode 3.13 is named "Led Zeppelin Boxed Set". None of the episode titles have any connection to the episodes' contents.
- In addition to the actors' personalities influencing the show, many plots were derived from the quirks of the writing staff; many stories (particularly those revolving around the breakroom's food supply) won't make sense otherwise, atypical to non-entertainment workplaces.
- The writers and producers were vehemently against NBC's notes and would often falsely set up situations that the network had requested.
- After the pilot was shot, NBC had pushed for a "Sam & Diane"-type relationship between Dave and Lisa, but Paul Simms opted to have the characters sleep together in the second episode and have tension come from the aftermath.
- Later, NBC ordered a wedding to be incorporated into the show to boost ratings, and in response, the show "Our Fiftieth Episode" featured a B-story in which Jimmy tries to force Joe and Lisa into a fake on-air marriage, which Lisa outright refuses. The show would later relent in its final season, and Lisa married Johnny Johnson in an episode that became NBC's "Spotlight of the Week".
- Another instance was a 1995 promotional gimmick NBC planned capitalizing on the success of the 1994 film Four Weddings and a Funeral, wherein three of NBC's Tuesday night sitcoms would have weddings as the central plot, and one would feature a funeral; NewsRadio was given the funeral episode. Rather than bow to NBC's directive, the writing staff wrote "Rat Funeral", an episode in which the WNYX staff befriend a rat, then mourn its death.
- Similarly, a major point of contention between NBC and the show was NBC's insistence that the show include story arcs, which the producers were vehemently against, preferring shows that were self-contained. On the occasions when they did use arcs, they would usually become bored and end up dropping them with little or no explanation. One example is a late third season arc in which Lisa decides she wants to have a baby with Dave but doesn't want to get married; after being introduced, the idea is given passing mention in a couple of episodes, then promptly abandoned without explanation. (Later, in the fourth season episode "Look Who's Talking", the idea would suddenly be brought up again, with Lisa explaining that the window has passed.)
- Dozens of references are made to Bill's hypothetical death prior to Hartman's death. In both fantasy episodes, however, every character dies except for Bill and Matthew.
- There was strong fan speculation during the last season that Beth would be revealed as Jimmy's daughter, but this never materialized. In the third season DVD commentary, the writers revealed they had been planning to have Jimmy adopt Beth as his daughter (presumably the genesis of the rumor), but never followed through with it.
- One episode, "The Injury", was produced early in the second season, but did not air until the summer following the third season, due to excessive use of the word "penis." The writers admit that they were trying to see how many times they could use the word on-air in response to NBC's relaxing of standards for other shows. The episode remained in the censorship offices for nearly two years, and the number of times the word was used was cut down in the footage to three. "The Injury" appears on both the Season 2 and Season 3 DVD releases, but does not include two additional uses of the word that showed up only in the syndicated airings.
- In 2000, Dick, Tierney, Lewis, and Root reunited on the King of the Hill episode "Movin' On Up".
- In 2007, Andy Dick guest starred in the ER episode "Crisis of Conscience", reuniting him with NewsRadio co-star Maura Tierney.
- An occasional joke about Canada was inserted into the show; eventually it was revealed that Dave's character, like the comedian who played him, was a Canadian by birth. As Hartman was also Canadian, these might be seen as in-jokes.
- Although the location of the WNYC offices was stated in the show as being on the corner of 59th Street and Madison Avenue, the building used for exterior shots was 1450 Broadway, on the corner of 41st Street. The exterior of the building has been changed in recent years.
- Pay close attention to the food containers appearing throughout the show. (e.g. Soda cans that have the Pepsi logo are labeled "Cola." The Grape Nuts box in the break room is labeled "Grape Nits.")
[edit] Episodes
[edit] DVD releases
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment have collected the original broadcast episodes of NewsRadio and released them in 3 disc season sets, with the last set released on March 20, 2007. Along with the episodes they have included multiple audio commentaries with the writers and actors, as well as creator Paul Simms, as well as other "special features", including "gag reels" featuring cast (and sometimes writer) bloopers and One Man NewsRadio featurettes, in which writer/director Joe Furey recreates scenes from the show playing every part from the show.
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DVD Name
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Region 1
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Cover
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Special features
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| The Complete First and Second Seasons |
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| The Complete Third Season |
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| The Complete Fourth Season |
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| The Complete Fifth Season |
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