NewsRadio
The DVD sets also include special features such as gag reels and other featurettes. The show entered off-network syndication three months after the 4th season finale. The third- and fourth-season finales took 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. There are a total of 97 episodes.As a twist on the title of the film, NBC planned for three of its Tuesday night sitcoms to have funerals as the central plot and the fourth to feature a wedding; NewsRadio was given one of the funeral episodes (which were also given to Wings and Frasier, while The Pursuit of Happiness got the wedding episode). Plots often involved satirical takes on historical events, news stories and pop culture references appealing to a sophisticated, college-educated target audience.
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 abandoned without explanation. She was intended as a possible replacement for the departing Alexander, but focus groups disliked the character.
While Dave turns out to be less naive than his youthful appearance suggests, he never fully gains control of his co-workers. The fast-paced scripts and ensemble cast combined physical humor and sight gags with smart dialogue and absurdist storylines. 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. Tone Lōc and Toby Huss played security guards Lorenzo and Junior in two Season 2 episodes.
In 2006, the show began airing on Nick at Nite for a short period of time. On the occasions when they did use arcs, they would usually become bored and end up dropping them with little or no explanation.
Each of them appeared separately in earlier episodes of NewsRadio. In October, 2000, A&E picked up the rights to the show and eventually moved to The Biography Channel in 2003.
The show can currently be seen on WGN America and hulu. . Intended as a regular for season five, the character made no appearances after Sinking Ship .
The highest it ever got in the ratings was 26th. On its first two broadcasts the show received a 20 share, improving on its lead-in (Wings) by a percentage point, and beating its competitors (Under One Roof and Thunder Alley) in its share of the 18- to 49-year-old audience. Despite critical acclaim NBC moved the show 11 times. 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. 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).
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. NewsRadio was briefly canceled in May 1998, after its fourth season, but the decision was reversed two weeks later, with an order of 22 episodes placed for a fifth season. The show began with the arrival of new news director, level-headed Dave Nelson (Dave Foley).
She is sometimes referred to as Planbee after Matthew misunderstands her being Jimmy s Plan B for the office. 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.
Show. Almost all of the episodes from the first four seasons (62 episodes total) are available to view for free on Hulu.
For instance, 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. In a season 4 episode commentary track, 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.
NewsRadio is an American television sitcom. All of season one, and some of season two and three are available to view for free on Crackle, along with several Minisodes. The only recurring character to appear in more than one production season was Jimmy s lawyer, Roger, played initially by Norm Macdonald, and later by NewsRadio writer Drake Sather.
Reruns continued in syndication for several years before disappearing in most markets, but the show has aired on Nick at Nite, TBS network in the United States and TVtropolis in Canada. Some episodes were taped at Sunset Gower Studios.
In the United States, the show airs seldomly as a filler on WGN America. (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.) NBC would also on occasion display displeasure with the content of episodes.
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.
Rather than fulfilling NBC s directive in a straightforward manner, the writing staff wrote Rat Funeral , an episode in which the WNYX staff befriend a rat, then mourn its death. Another 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. Each set includes multiple audio commentaries with creator Paul Simms, the writers and actors.
Celebrities appearing as themselves included Chuck D, Al Roker, Bob Costas, Jerry Seinfeld, James Caan, Adam West, George Goober Lindsey and heavy metal band Anthrax. Guest stars Ben Stiller, Janeane Garofalo, Bob Odenkirk, John F. 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. Brad Rowe had a four-episode run as Walt, an office intern with a crush on Lisa, causing more worry for Dave.
Ten days after its renewal, Phil Hartman was killed by his wife, and his absence cast a pall over the fifth season and NBC left the series on the bubble until the day the final episode of the fifth season aired, months after production had wrapped. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has released all 5 seasons of NewsRadio on DVD in Region 1 between 2005-2007. According to DVD commentary, NBC ordered a halt to this because they found it tiresome.
The show s producers 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 of network interference was an October 10, 1995 promotional gimmick NBC planned in order to capitalize on the success of the 1994 film Four Weddings and a Funeral. Cross guest starred as Mr.
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. O Donohue and David Cross 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.
The show was created by executive producer Paul Simms, and was taped in front of a studio audience at CBS Studio Center. James book signing in Season 4 s Super Karate Monkey Death Car . Ratings for the show were inconsistent.
She s a needy, seemingly friendly woman in desperate need of a friend and so she tries to make one of Lisa—but Lisa and everyone else in the office wants nothing to do with her. Originally broadcast from 1995 to 1999 on NBC. The series is set at WNYX, a fictional AM news radio station in New York City populated by an eccentric station owner and staff.
His absence in season five was attributed to his drowning during the filming of Sinking Ship . 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 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 included John Ritter, Dennis Miller, Janeane Garofalo, Bebe Neuwirth, Lauren Graham, Ben Stiller, French Stewart, Scott Adams, Jon Stewart, Tiffani Amber Thiessen, Patton Oswalt and, in a non-speaking cameo, Ron Jeremy. The program became available in syndication to local stations again starting in July 2007 through The Program Exchange.
