'' was an American Sitcom , originally broadcast from 1995 to 1999 on NBC . It was created and executive produced by Paul Simms . All together, 97 episodes were made (see List Of NewsRadio Episodes ).
The series is set at WNYX, a fictional New York City news radio station, and begins with the arrival of Dave Nelson ( Dave Foley ), a level-headed Wisconsinite, as the new news director to manage the wild eccentricities of the station owner and staff. The initial premise is similar to that of '' WKRP In Cincinnati '', but ''NewsRadio'' quickly became a different animal.
''NewsRadio'''s scripts were usually fast-paced and often Absurd . There was often a strong reliance on physical humor and Sight Gag s to balance out the smart (and sometimes political) dialogue. Creator Paul Simms has said that the show's target audience was college-educated 30-somethings; this allowed any number of throwaway references to pop culture, literature and history, a trend which has continued in such niche series as '' Arrested Development ''.
The extreme absurdity and farce was taken a step further with the third- and fourth-season finales, which removed the characters from the contemporary office setting and placed them in oddly different locales: first in outer space and then aboard the ''Titanic'' .
Despite the fact that the show was critically acclaimed and had an extremely loyal fanbase, it suffered from low ratings throughout its entire run, spending virtually its entire life on the brink of cancellation. The ratings are usually blamed on NBC's reluctance to give the show a steady timeslot, and the network's tendency to place it in the most unfavorable spots on the schedule.
''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 for Season Five. Just a few days later, focal cast member Phil Hartman was murdered; his absence would ultimately serve as the straw that broke the show'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, which was months after production had wrapped.
- ( Dave Foley ) is the station's sarcastic, Coffee -addicted, micromanaging news director from Wisconsin. Dave considered a career as a professional tap dancer before going into radio. He was a Boy Scout and 4-H Club member, and also a talented Knife Thrower and Ventriloquist . Dave's favorite show is '' Green Acres '', an older television show that ''NewsRadio'' makes numerous references to. Dave is the rock of the office, listening to people's problems whether he wants to or not. His birth certificate holds a deep, dark secret that's of little consequence to anyone.
- Ambitious and intelligent ( 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 ") and didn't allow her to watch TV. She abruptly decided to go into news radio while eating a Cheese-steak sandwich. She's also a ridiculous overachiever who went so far as to retake her SAT's well out of college.
- The station's News Anchor s are the bombastic, egocentric ( Phil Hartman ) and the unflappable and motherly, but nonetheless sassy '''Catherine Duke''' ( Khandi Alexander , who left the show during the fourth season). The two characters were often bitter rivals, partly due to an office affair they had earlier, casting doubt on the wisdom of Dave and Lisa's relationship.
- ( Stephen Root ), the station's 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. 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 .
- ( Vicki Lewis ), is Dave's perpetually gum-chewing Secretary , whose work mainly consists of eavesdropping, getting coffee for Dave, and being the coolest person in the office.
- The clumsy and not very bright ( Andy Dick ) is a News Reporter and official office weird guy, relentlessly called "Spaz" by his idol Bill.
- ( Joe Rogan ) is the station's engineer 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 . His last name is the subject of a running gag: whenever it is mentioned, someone looks perplexed and says, "your last name is Garelli?"
- ( Jon Lovitz ) is Phil Hartman's replacement in the final season, an old colleague of Bill's whose odd mannerisms and personality-changing compulsions kept him moving between literally dozens of radio announcing 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 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).
- The only Recurring Character to appear in more than one production season was Jimmy's lawyer, Roger, once played by Norm MacDonald , but replaced with ''NewsRadio'' writer Drake Sather in subsequent episodes when MacDonald was unavailable.
- Several other actors appeared in mutliple seasons playing different characters, notably Jon Lovitz, David Cross , Toby Huss , David Anthony Higgins, and Bob Odenkirk .
- An inordinate amount of guest characters had the last name Johnson.
Tone Lōc and Toby Huss played security guards Lorenzo and Junior in two Season Two episodes. The charaters were based on the security guards at the studio where ''NewsRadio'' was shot.
Patrick Warburton played a notable recurring character during the show's last season, . Johnny was a nemesis of Jimmy James and later a love interest for Lisa Miller.
A pre-'' Gilmore Girls '' Lauren Graham had a four episode run as , 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 Khandi Alexander, but Graham tested terribly with audiences, and her character disappeared before Alexander left, and without explanation. 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 , 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."
Steve Susskind had a recurring role as , appearing in three episodes.
Kevin McDonald , a former castmate of Foley from '' The Kids In The Hall '', made a guest appearance as the knife-wielding Throwdini.
Other guest stars have included John Ritter , Chuck D , Al Roker , Bob Costas , Scott Adams , Jerry Seinfeld , James Caan , Jon Stewart , Ben Stiller , Bebe Neuwirth , Dennis Miller and Tiffani Amber Thiessen .
- The show was sold into syndication at the end of its fourth season with a very low amount of episodes--75. Traditionally, shows don't reach syndication until 100 episodes are produced, and ''NewsRadio'' never reached this, with its series finale clocking in at number 97.
- The only actors to appear in all 97 episodes are Dave Foley , Stephen Root , and Andy Dick .
- The name "Jimmy James" came from a Beastie Boys song with the same title.
- The name "Beth" came from a KISS song with the same title.
- 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, and the writers felt it best to replace him with a pre-" Fear Factor " Joe Rogan .
- A pre-'' Everybody Loves Raymond '' Ray Romano was originally cast to play Joe, but was fired because his particular brand of verbal comedy did not mix well with the fast-paced Repartee of the rest of the cast. The writers have stated that his particular brand of slow speech contrasted horribly with the fast-paced hectic arena of a New York talk radio station (Season 1 DVD commentary).
- The role of Catherine was played by a different actress, Ella Joyce , in the pilot episode. Khandi Alexander took over the role in episode 2.
- There was a rumor that 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.''" {Link without Title}
- Until about halfway through the season, each episode of the second season begins with a short comic situation ending with Andy 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. Like usual, the writers had Andy falling in every single episode, most notably when Andy broke his wrist in the "Crazy Santa" Christmas episode ( {Link without Title} )
- The last nine episodes of season two ( 2.13-2.21 ) 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" 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."
- Similarly, a major point of contention between NBC and the show was NBC's insistence that the show include Story Arc s, 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 abandoned and never mentioned again.
- Dozens of references are made to the hypothetical death of Phil Hartman's character, Bill McNeal, prior to the actor'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.
- An early third season episode, "Review", features Matthew becoming obsessed with the comic strip '' Dilbert '', and quitting his job when he feels unappreciated by his coworkers. Dave has a friend pretend to be ''Dilbert'' creator Scott Adams to talk Matthew into returning. Adams does appear in the episode, though not as this character; he plays the man standing in line behind Dave and Joe in the episode's opening scene.
- In episode 1 season 3 "President" Jimmy James admits to eating special brownies once but it was at an office party by accident, a reference to the controversy over whether President Bill Clinton had tried Marijuana .
Several cast members of NewsRadio have gone on to lead successful careers in acting, either on TV or film.
- '' since 2003 , recurring role on '' Will & Grace '', and parts in various films such as '' Sky High ''. He also starred in a movie he helped write, '' The Wrong Guy '', voiced the character Flik in the Pixar film '' A Bug's Life '', and has a role in the upcoming '' Out Of Omaha '' with Vicki Lewis .
- '' and '' Welcome To Mooseport ''. Maura's had a string of successful appearances on Dave's show '' Celebrity Poker Showdown '' where she beat fellow ''NewsRadio'' actress Lauren Graham .
- '' and '' The Ladykillers '', as well as doing various TV voice overs and guest appearances, notably as Bill on the FOX animated series '' King Of The Hill ''. He also appeared on the show Dave Foley hosts, '' Celebrity Poker Showdown '', as well as a stint on '' The West Wing '' as a strategist for Senator Arnold Vinick .
- '' and had his own sketch comedy show on MTV and later a reality show called "The Assistant".
- ''. She has an upcoming role in the film '' Out Of Omaha '', which also stars Dave Foley .
- '' as well as an announcer for the UFC . He also continues his on-going Stand-up Comedy career.
- '' as Chief Medical Examiner Alexx Woods. Both she and Maura Tierney appeared on ER, but never shared any scenes together.
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