Michael A. Brown | Salt Lake City, UT USA | 11/24/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"NewsRadio was part of NBC's Must See TV on Thursdays, and Tuesdays, and Wednesdays, and Sundays. Basically, if there was a hole in the schedule this workhorse was plugged in. Unfortunately, that also led to quite a bit of viewer frustration since it was hard to find the series at times.This set brings together the first two seasons. It starts off with Dave (Dave Foley) being hired as the new Program Director for a New York all news radio station. First, he has to fire the old PD, and make nice with the reporter (Maura Tierney) who wanted the job.Some of the early episodes only hint at what the characters would become. Jimmy James (Stephen Root) starts out far less wacky than the character became by the fifth season. Phil Hartman's Bill McNeil was brilliant out the blocks. Matthew (Andy Dick) was annoying right from the beginning. MIA from the pilot is Joe Garrelli (Joe Rogan) who joined in the second episode.Overall, NewsRadio was a great show that never got the recognition it deserved from NBC. Fortunately, it gets a new lease on life thatnks to a very reasonably priced DVD set.The release date has been changed. The creator of the show heard about the DVD set and called the company to make sure that he was able to add extras to the discs. Now, instead of a bare-banes compilation there will be commentary tracks, out-takes and other extras."
A real sleeper
L. Harris | Winter Haven, FL USA | 12/27/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I don't remember how I discovered NewsRadio. Most people I've known have never even heard of it. But anyone I treat to a few episodes from my tape collection loves it. Well cast (Katherine excepted -- sorry to all the Katherine fans, I just never liked her character), brilliantly written, this is the only show I know which can have me laughing so hard I can't breathe just thinking about an episode I haven't seen in months ("Super Karate Monkey Death Car"). Stephen Root is fabulous as crazy billionaire station owner Jimmy James. Maura Tierney is absolutely adorable as Lisa. Phil Hartman is perfect as the self-centered on-air talent whose ego knows no bounds. Add Matthew, the complete idiot, Beth, the useless secretary and Joe, the station electrician who makes his own duct tape and you have one lovable group of misfits for whom Dave Foley plays the perfect den mother. I don't know what it is about this show, but you really grow to love it and its characters in a way you just don't see in very many shows. Like others who've posted here, I've been waited anxiously for this to come to DVD and I dearly hope they do a good job with it, despite the bargain price."
Update. .sell sorta
reddragon72 | 10/24/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"On October 18th Dave Foley was on The Screensavers on G4TechTV. He stated in the interview that they just got done with the final touches on the series release and should ship before the end of the year. He also mentioned that he doesn't have a whole lot to do with the release date, but mentioned it was coming. Man I just cannot wait to see this show again. I watch it everynight back to back, that's right an hours worth every night, when they showed reruns on one of the odd stations. Anyways I just thought I'd throw that out there. Oh and i check the show note and they didn't put it in there, but there was a little blurb about The kids in the Hall."
An Update on the DVD release Part 1
uager | Miami, FL United States | 05/17/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"According to something posted to the newsgroup[Excerpted from the latest NewsRadio Newsletter message.]I know you're all wanting an update on the forthcoming NewsRadio DVD release, and while I don't have a release date for you, I can tell you that 20 episode commentaries for the set have been completed with a mix and match of participants, including Paul Simms, Dave Foley, Stephen Root, Maura Tierney, Andy Dick, Vicki Lewis, Joe Rogan, Khandi Alexander, Josh Lieb, Brad Issacs, Joe Furey, Lew Morton, Brian Kelley, Julie Bean, Kent Zbornak, Tom Cherones, Brad Grey, and yes, former NBC President Warren Littlefield.Kent Zbornak, one of NewsRadio's producers, had the job of coordinating it all, and the show's erstwhile script supervisor, Robert Spina, sat in on the sessions and took photosPaul Simms has promised some additional musings on the recording of the commenataries, but right now he'll say, "In short? It was incredibly fun."An anonymous member of the NewsRadio team adds, "It was a reunion and a revisiting in the purest sense. The commentary was funny and twisted, just like the show itself."The NewsRadio Newsletter""
At its best, the best sitcom of the 1990's
Rob Neyer | Earth | 10/21/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Any sitcom lives and dies with the interplay of its primary characters, and NewsRadio was blessed with not one, not two, not three . . . but four brilliant and compatible comic actors in Phil Hartman, Dave Foley, Andy Dick, and Stephen Root (and I'm probably not giving enough credit to Maura Tierney and Vicki Lewis, both of whom were excellent). Like most sitcoms, NewsRadio didn't truly hit its stride until the second or third season, but the first season is well worth watching, because of course that's when everything began coming together.
I've seen every episode of NewsRadio at least five times -- well, except for the last season, when things just weren't the same without Phil Hartman -- and I really can't recommend the show highly enough, except to say that it's probably the greatest combination of slapstick, absurdity, and comic sophistication ever committed to the small screen.
(A little background on the DVD release: Columbia, which owns NewsRadio, was going to release a bare-bones version months ago. But when Paul Simms, the show's creator, found out about Columbia's plans, he raised such a stink that they agreed to delay the release until Simms could pull together a bunch of extra features. The wait's driving me crazy, but I'm comforted by the knowledge that it won't be forever. Now, if somebody would just let us see Dabney Coleman's Buffalo Bill on DVD, I could die a contented man...)"