The series is set at WNYX, a fictionalAM broadcastingall-news radio station inNew York City, populated by an eccentric station owner and staff. The show begins with the arrival of new news director Dave Nelson (Dave Foley). While Dave turns out to be more experienced than his youthful appearance suggests, he never fully gains control of his staff.
The scripts and ensemble cast combinedphysical humor andvisual gags with quick-witted dialogue and farcical storylines. Plots often involved satirical takes on historical events, news stories, andpop culture references. The third and fourth season finales took the surrealism to the extreme, setting the characters in outer space and aboard theTitanic, respectively.
NewsRadio debuted on March 21, 1995.[3] It took over the time slot fromSomething Wilder.[4]
There are a total of97 episodes. Reruns continued in syndication for several years before disappearing in most markets. However, the show has aired onA&E,Nick at Nite, andTBS in the United States, andDTour and the Comedy Network in Canada. In the United States, the show occasionally airs as a filler onWGN America and runs regularly onReelz,Antenna TV, andRewind TV.[5] For several years starting in July 2007, the program was syndicated throughThe Program Exchange.[6]
Dave Nelson (Dave Foley) is WNYX'snews director, described as a "Midwesterner out of place in New York and pointedly young for such a responsible job". He was raised in Wisconsin, although he was born in Canada.[7] Dave has a number of talents that the other staff members consider embarrassing, including tap dancing,acting work in high school, participation in an all-male a cappella group, knife throwing, and ventriloquism. He also has a very friendly, formal, and easy-going personality, which contrasts with the more lively personalities of the other characters and the farcical situations that occur on the show.[8] He frequently has phone conversations with his mother and keeps a picture of her in his desk. He has an overwhelmingcoffee addiction, as well as a strong passion for television and classic sitcoms, particularlyGreen Acres andMister Ed. Dave has an inexplicable "obsession", as Lisa calls it, with theAmerica song "A Horse with No Name".
Jimmy James (Stephen Root) is the station's extroverted, playfulbillionaire owner. His name comes from theBeastie Boys song "Jimmy James".[9] Despite owning a vast corporate empire, he seems to enjoy micromanaging WNYX. He acts as a father figure toward his employees, often helping them learn life lessons. Recurring gags associated with Mr. James include his search for a wife (for which he keeps an extensive list of potential "wife candidates"), his infatuation with Dave's mother, his inability to act, his rivalries with other wealthy entrepreneurs (such asTed Turner andBill Gates), and his considerable inside knowledge of conspiracies and government cover-ups; he claims to have beenDeep Throat and is at one point suspected to have been the infamous aircraft hijackerD. B. Cooper. In the show's series finale, Mr. James "retires" toNew Hampshire, where he buys a news radio station and newspaper, taking most of the WNYX staff with him.
Matthew Brock (Andy Dick) is anews reporter. Superficially clumsy, naive, and immature, he is the butt of many physical jokes on the show; he is often seen tripping, falling, flying over furniture, or handling electronics that explode or catch fire. Matthew idolizes Bill, who bullies him in return. Later in the series, he displays an affinity for science fiction and fantasy media. Matthew holds a degree in dentistry — and appears to be a very competent dental practitioner — but prefers radio journalism, despite the fact he is very often shown to be truly inept at it. He develops a crush on Lisa. He initially dislikes Max, seeing him as an interloper who is trying to take Bill's place, and believes himself to be Bill's rightful successor, but eventually grows to like him.
Lisa Miller (Maura Tierney), with whom Dave has an intermittent relationship, serves as reporter, on-air personality, producer, and news director briefly in the series. An obsessive overachiever, Lisa can instantly perform complex mathematical calculations and keeps a detailed life-plan. She frequently brags about herSAT scores and retakes the exam well out of college. Also, she gets turned on if she yells too much. Lisa was born in Boston, living there until the age of seven when her family moved to Connecticut. She represses a working-classBoston accent, which results in her having a sibilant "S" while speaking. During the first two seasons of the show, she is in regular contact with her ex-boyfriend Stuart, with the suggestion that they might still be in love. In season five, she marries Jimmy's archenemy Johnny Johnson (played byPatrick Warburton).
Beth (Vicki Lewis) is Dave's secretary. She wears ridiculous, often midriff-baring outfits, has bright red hair, and chews gum. Her salary is often the subject of jokes; characters frequently point out that she "earns next to nothing". Her first name comes from theKiss song "Beth",[9] and she claims that she does not have a last name. In the third season DVD commentary, the writers revealed they had planned to have Jimmy adopt Beth as his daughter, but felt there was never a right time for it.
Joe Garrelli (Joe Rogan) is the station's street-smart electrician and handyman. He is notorious for his seemingly nonchalant approach to his profession. Believing that consumer products are "rip-offs", he is known to personally craft his own supplies (such as homemade duct tape) and gadgets for others around the office (among many astun gun, awhite noise machine and atwo-way radio). He also espouses various conspiracy theories, particularly with regard to the government's suppression of information about extraterrestrial life. Throughout the series, he displays an infatuation with Catherine Duke. On several occasions, the other employees at the station speculate that Joe might have been theUnabomber. The character of Joe was originally named Rick, and was played byGreg Lee in the pilot episode.Ray Romano was originally cast to play Joe, but was replaced because his style of verbal comedy did not mesh well with the fast-paced wit of the rest of the cast.[10][11]
Catherine Duke (Khandi Alexander) is the second of WNYX's news anchors. She is often bitter rivals with co-anchor Bill McNeal; according to Bill, this is partly due to an office affair they had years earlier. When she was younger she worked with her uncle and learned how to perform and identify numerous scams, such asThree-card Monte. She is well known for slapping her co-workers in the event words do not express her contempt for a certain situation. Catherine is noted for being direct with people, though she is willing to use her charms to get her way. Catherine leaves the station to take a job in London during the fourth season. She makes a brief appearance in the fifth-season premiere for Bill's funeral. The role of Catherine was played byElla Joyce in the pilot episode.
Evelyn William "Bill" McNeal (Phil Hartman) is anews co-anchor for WNYX. Loud, arrogant, and free-spirited, Bill is frequently a thorn in the news director's side. Bill was the breakout character. His relationships are often unorthodox or contentious. He often displays jarring gaps in knowledge. Another running joke in the show has Bill describing painful stories with an air of cheerful nostalgia, often wistfully saying, "good times, good times". Bill occasionally shows flashes of concern and wisdom for his co-workers, whom he perceives as friends. Hartman's death during the production hiatus after the fourth season is addressed in the first episode of the fifth season, where his character is revealed to have died of a sudden heart attack. An issue ofRadio Ink magazine displaying Hartman on its cover was subsequently displayed in Dave's office as a tribute to the actor and character following his death. Bill is shown reading from said issue in the season four episode “Who’s the Boss?”
Max Louis (Jon Lovitz) is Bill McNeal's replacement in season five. He is socially awkward, neurotic and terrible at his job. Max has a penchant for redheads, and Beth in particular, but she quickly ends up despising him. He says that Max Louis is not his true identity, because he uses a different persona every time he gets a new job. Max gets the job at WNYX because he is an old colleague of Bill's, a plot point that reflects the real-life fact that Jon Lovitz took the role inNewsRadio out of friendship with Phil Hartman. When asked why he joinedNewsRadio, Lovitz stated that show creator Paul Simms told Lovitz, "I don't know what to tell you. You're his friend. It feels right. Everybody in the cast wants you."[12] Lovitz first appeared on "Our Fiftieth Episode" when Bill meets him in a mental ward going by the name Fred. Fred later admits he is really an air traffic controller who periodically and voluntarily "flips out" and goes into the mental ward for a vacation from making decisions. Lovitz returned a second time in the fourth season opener "Jumper". In the episode, Lovitz plays Mike Johnson, a disgruntled former employee who has been fired and is threatening to commit suicide by jumping from the ledge outside Dave's office.
The onlyrecurring character to appear in more than one production season is that of Jimmy's lawyer, Roger, played initially byNorm Macdonald, and later byNewsRadio writerDrake Sather, who did a vocal impersonation of Norm Macdonald.
Tone Lōc andToby Huss played security guards Lorenzo and Junior in two episodes in season 2. The characters were based on the security guards at the studio whereNewsRadio was shot.[13] During the last season,Patrick Warburton had a recurring role as Johnny Johnson, Jimmy's nemesis and Lisa's love interest (and eventual husband).
Lauren Graham had a four-episode run as Andrea, a manipulativeefficiency expert who shakes up the office (firing Matthew, demoting Dave, and promoting Lisa). She is sometimes referred to as "Planbee" after Matthew misunderstands her being Jimmy's "Plan B" for the office. 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 (In Dave Foley's appearance onJoe Rogan's podcast, they talked about Alexander leaving because she was not given enough lines). All of the changes introduced during Graham's time on the show would be restored by mid-season to the way things were before her arrival.
Brad Rowe had a four-episode run as Walt the intern, Jimmy's nephew who has a crush on Lisa, which causes more worry for Dave.
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released all five seasons ofNewsRadio on DVD in Region 1 between 2005 and 2007. Each set includes multipleaudio commentaries with creator Paul Simms, the writers and actors. The DVD sets also include special features such asgag reels and other featurettes.
On August 27, 2013, it was announced that Mill Creek Entertainment had acquired the rights to various television series from the Sony Pictures library, includingNewsRadio.[14] They subsequently re-released the first two seasons on DVD on April 1, 2014.[15]
On May 19, 2015, Mill Creek Entertainment re-releasedNewsRadio – The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1.[16]
During its run,NewsRadio's time slot changed eleven times.[17]
On its first two broadcasts, the show received a20 share, improving on its lead-in (Wings) by a percentage point, and beating its competitors (Under One Roof andThunder Alley) in its share of the 18- to 49-year-old audience.[8]
