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With its shaky five-season tenure (1995-99) including a dozen different time slots and only one major Emmy nomination, the outstanding NewsRadio is the atypical sitcom of its age. While most of the '90s sitcoms were based around a single big name talent (Jerry Seinfeld, Candice Bergen, Drew Carrey), NewsRadio came from the same stock from earlier shows Taxi and Cheers: a relatively unknown cast that rarely ventured away from the place of business. These first 29 episodes (7 as a mid-season replacement the first year), deliver a consistently hilarious show about the day-to-day life with the eccentric staff of New York radio station WNYX. Creator Paul Simms (The Larry Sanders Show) built a talented cast relying on expert delivery and character traits instead of goofy situations. The most famous cast member, Saturday Night Live's Phil Hartman, went against the grain of most SNL veterans and gleefully took a supporting role, the pompous, silver-tongued anchor Bill McNeal. The lead--the glue--of the series is Kids in the Hall member Dave Foley as the earnest new station manager, Dave Nelson. Soft but eager, Nelson plays lion-tamer delicately maneuvering around staff to keep the station humming along. This is complicated from the get-go when he falls into a secret, but very cute affair with Lisa (Maura Tierney), the ace reporter.
The station, like Mary Tyler Moore's TV crew two decades earlier, has a good balance between funny folks and just plain whackos. The former includes Stephen Root as the rich yet time-crunched owner, Joe Rogan as the fix-it man, and Khandi Alexander as Bill's tart co-anchor. The latter is embodied in Andy Dick as the helpless Matthew, a sublime airhead whose comic highjinks are often the show's hardest laughs, and Vicki Lewis, continuing the famous TV tradition of the lovable ditzy secretary that knows all. But the legacy of the show belongs to Hartman who tragically died after the fourth season. His comic bravura is balanced with the ability to play the fool. In one perfect scene, Lisa walks by with only a bra on (don't ask) and Bill doesn't move, reading his newspaper. Lisa returns to slap him anyway, shocking him. "I didn't say anything." Lisa retorts, "You were thinking it" and walks away. Hartman eases into a juicy, soft smile and returns to reading, "Well, that's fair."
If you're not a fan of commentary tracks, you won't find the love and care that went into this DVD set. There are commentaries on 20 of the 27 episodes with the cast and crew rotating duties. The nice thing about a cast full of comics is that the commentaries are very funny and rewarding for fans. We hear about the casting of the show, Foley's uncanny ability to memorize a script, the art of the archaic reference, and how the fix-it man was--for half the pilot--Ray Romano. But if you don't have time for the commentaries, watch and laugh hard at the 10-minute (!) gag reel. --Doug Thomas
Description
Off the airwaves and into your living room, Emmy Award-winning NEWSRADIO arrives on DVD for the first time! Airing for five highly-rated seasons (1995-1999), this audience favorite is a hilarious take on office politics at New York City's WNYX station. Spotlighting a stellar comic cast, including Phil Hartman ("Saturday Night Live"), Dave Foley ("Kids in the Hall") and MTV's Andy Dick, NEWSRADIO is one of the most sharp-witted sitcoms ever, staffing its no-holds-barred station with a gallery of wildly memorable characters: on-air host Bill (Hartman), anchor Catherine (Khandi Alexander, "C.S.I."), supervising producer Lisa (Maura Tierney, "E.R."), and handyman Joe ("Fear Factor"'s Joe Rogan).
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Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
brilliant writing combined with superior acting equal NR,
By Chad (Knoxville, TN United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Newsradio : The Complete First and Second Seasons (DVD)
Nine out of ten sitcoms fail to bring even a smile to my face. Everyone tells me that I'm a hard nut to crack, but I think what lacks in most shows today is either convincing acting or witty scripts (not just a joke cracked here and there). I could articulate about what made this show a perfect 5 stars all day, but when it comes right down to it I'd have to say that the show had a very rare and wonderful chemistry. You find yourself actually caring about the characters and looking forward to what happens next. NR is a dynamic sitcom that dosen't just walk the 'fishing for a laugh'-line. Instead it breaks out of the sterotype that sitcoms have become (as one viewer said earlier it combines situational and charactor humor/development to get its laughs-sit/charcom if u will) and sets a new standard for what TV comedy should become.The early seasons are developing the charactors and the laughs are fewer and further between in comparison to the later seasons, but in comparison to 'friends' and all the other "great" sitcoms of the 90s this is by far the best (seinfeld is a close second)!
4.0 out of 5 stars
Okay, when's the next set coming out,
By
This review is from: Newsradio : The Complete First and Second Seasons (DVD)
We all waited an especially long time for this first set to come out (and, yes, it was well worth the wait) BUT WHEN IS NEXT SET COMING OUT?! With only a few acceptions, this is one cast that really meshed well together. The actors have that on-screen chemistry that, say, "Seinfeld", "Arrested Development" or "Cheers" all possess. Diverse, intelligent, and timeless, Newsradio is the epitomy of a what a well-made television program is all about. You can tell that (by the commentaries) that the actors really enjoyed working together and that all of their projects since (ER, Fear Factor, Celebrity Poker, etc) are just another paycheque. SURE WISH THE ENTIRE SERIES WERE OUT ON DVD. (Hint, hint).
5.0 out of 5 stars
Absolutely hillarious!,
This review is from: Newsradio : The Complete First and Second Seasons (DVD)
This show is hillarious. It's very much a character based sitcom, it's how the characters react and interact that brings the laughs.. not as much the situations. It's got an all-star cast with genius phil hartman, dave foley, andy dick, joe rogan, khandi alexander, stephen root, maura tierney and vicki lewis. The commentaries are nice but the greatest part of this set is having them all the time. This show bounced around time slots and eventually dissapeared but now you get them all to play at your leisure. Also, there's really now warm up period with this series, it's hillarious from the pilot onwards. In fact, some of my favourite episodes are on season 1. Give us more or we WILL riot.Phil Hartman is in his prime in this series.
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