The Pop Culture Pundit

^{NewsRadio via YouTube}

On March 21, 1995, the TV show NewsRadio premiered on NBC. In the midst of a stacked Must See TV lineup on the network that included Friends, Frasier, and Seinfeld, NewsRadio was often overlooked–despite its laugh outlet antics and unforgettable cast. 

NewsRadio often seemed to be overlooked because it was misunderstood. The premise is simple: Wisconsinite (and secret Canadian) Dave Nelson (Dave Foley) moves to New York and becomes news director of NPR-like WNYX. Chaos ensues as he tries to manage his staff, including Bill McNeal (Phil Hartman) and aspiring news director Lisa Miller (Maura Tierney), the latter of whom he has a romantic entanglement with. Despite its simple premise, what seemed to make the show constantly underestimated and on the verge of cancellation every season is the fact that it was ahead of its time. 

Before 30 Rock and Community had gone full blown concept episodes, there was NewsRadio. There were dream sequences, arcade machines, dead rats, and that’s not even covering the season 3 and 4 finales, which were episodes set in space and on the Titanic, respectively. Adding on to that was NewsRadio’s trademark move, which The A.V. Club’s Donna Bowman summarizes best: “people dashing quickly into and out of the frame.” This was utilized in many episodes, but perhaps best in the episode “Catherine Moves On” (season 4, episode 7) where the unfortunately underutilized Khandi Alexander left the show. Everyone had different accounts of why Catherine (Alexander) was leaving, none of which were accurate, and all of the various characters’ explanations for her quitting were presented via one fantastic fantasy sequence that had multiple characters ducking in and out of the frame in a frantic manner–there was even a robber suspiciously resembling McDonald’s hamburglar who stared into the camera and broke the fourth wall.

Those fifteen seconds were NewsRadio at its best: a simple premise within a workplace comedy that’s really not about the workplace at all. How does this execution work then? It’s all in the cast, which is lightning-in-a-bottle at its finest. Dave Foley from Kids in the Hall fame. Stephen Root from literally everything. Even Joe Rogan is there for some reason. And of course, the late, great Phil Hartman in his last role before his death. 

After Hartman’s tragic murder in 1998, NewsRadio wasn’t the same. Though fellow Saturday Night Live alum and friend of Harman Jon Lovitz filled in for the fifth season, it was cancelled after its ambiguous finale in 1999, just before the turn of the century. Though NewsRadio may have gone out on a less-than-desired note, the first four seasons should be celebrated for their manic, bold confidence and courage to take risks out of conventional comedic tropes. 

To finish off my celebration of NewsRadio, I have listed my top five episodes below. Grab some Rocket Fuel Malt Liquor and a Goofy Ball–but try not to contribute anything to the complaint box. Now that’s crizappy!

1. “Smoking,” Season 1, Episode 3 (originally aired April 4, 1995)

The first great episode of NewsRadio comes early in its run when Bill McNeal tries to quit smoking in the WNYX office due to a new company policy. As a result, Dave quits drinking caffeine–but both suffer from insanely dramatic withdrawals as a result. The scene where Bill loses it at Matthew is an all-timer and proves that Hartman was a comedic national treasure. 

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2. “The Cane,” Season 2, Episode 9 (originally aired December 12, 1995)

Another fantastic showcase for the Bill-Dave relationship where for some reason, Bill decides to start walking around with a cane, and Dave hides it out of spite. That Dave stole Bill’s cane isn’t revealed until the last part of the episode–but when it is, the comedic timing is absolutely perfect. This episode also features an early appearance of Jane Lynch before she got her big break on Glee. 

3. “Arcade,” Season 3, Episode 4 (originally aired October 4, 1996)

Lisa decides that she and Dave need to re-take the SATs as adults to make sure they are not becoming stupid as they age. The only problem is that Dave gets addicted to the newly-installed arcade machine in the office and promptly bombs the exam–just like he did in high school.  Bill is distraught, meanwhile, that the arcade game has replaced his beloved sandwich machine. You wouldn’t think all of these plots would come together so beautifully–but just like Seinfeld, the seemingly random storylines converge in such a way that leaves you no choice but to laugh. 

4. “Super Karate Monkey Death Car, “ Season 4, Episode 4 (originally aired November 4, 1997)

Perhaps season 4 was the peak of NewsRadio’s comedy–there are simply too many episodes that are gems, from the season 4 premiere “Jumper” to the episode where Bill plays a piano in “The Public Domain” to the finale “Sinking Ship” where WNYX suddenly becomes the Titanic. But “Super Karate Monkey Death Car” is a great showcase for nearly everyone in the cast, and a particularly wonderful spotlight on Stephen Root, the character actor you know from almost everything and are probably like “it’s that guy!” whenever he’s on screen (TV credits include Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Barry, Succession…and that’s not even mentioning his movie credits, which include Office Space, perhaps his most iconic role). 

In this episode, Root’s Jimmy James decides to give a book reading for his memoir, Capitalist Lion Tamer, which became a success in its Japanese translation and now has been translated back to English with the title Macho Business Donkey Wrestler. That in itself is an absurd premise, and Root’s increasingly-exasperated line readings provide much of the comedy alone. 

The other part of the plot provides the rest of the comedy–a pre-Gilmore Girls Lauren Graham joined the cast for a few episodes as efficiency expert Andrea and decides to give everyone a lie detector test–but straight-laced Lisa is terrified she won’t pass and reveals to everyone she’s a convicted felon…for breaking into a library to get an unabridged edition of The Federalist Papers to study for an exam. Dave, being Lisa’s boyfriend, is also nervous, and absolutely fails his lie-detector exam, getting increasingly frustrated every time the detector beeps at his own falsehoods. “Super Karate Monkey Death Car” is one of the best of NewsRadio and a crowning example of how to make both the A and B plots in an episode excel. 

5. “Security Door,” Season 4, Episode 14 (originally aired February 24, 1998) 

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Nowadays, it may be standard practice to have security measures to enter a building for your job to badge-in, but it was a new concept back then–at least to the staff of WNYX, who keep bypassing the newly-installed security door much to the dismay of Dave. His presentation to an increasingly-bored office staff with dire warnings on why using the door is necessary are undercut by his amateur, Sharpie drawings.

The episode also manages to have two call-backs to the show–there’s a picture of the robber that was featured in “Catherine Moves On,” and Bill likens the office to the Titanic, which is where the season 4 finale took place when WNYX suddenly transformed into the doomed vessel. Maybe it’s Arrested Development-style Easter egging, or maybe it’s just a coincidence. Whatever the case, “Security Door” is one of the finest episodes of NewsRadio, one that shows how incredible the cast was, and how lucky we are to have had this hidden gem of a show. Even today, it’s still one of my go-to comfort watches, and certainly one of my favorite shows of all time. 

The first three seasons of NewsRadio are streaming for free on Pluto TV. All five seasons are also available to purchase via Amazon.