Product Description

Tune into New York City radio station WNYX if you like your news straight ... and your comedy utterly off-the-wall! In its fourth outrageous season NEWSRADIO captures the screwball absurdity of office politics with one of the funniest ensemble casts ever assembled. Dave Foley (TV's "The Kids in the Hall") plays the overworked news director who has to rein in a team of misfits. But office clown Matthew (MTV's Andy Dick) won't act normally ambitious producer Lisa (Maura Tierney "ER") won't back down duct tape-obsessed handyman Joe (Joe Rogan "Fear Factor') won't stop "fixing" things ... and irrepressible anchorman Bill McNeal (Phil Hartman TV's "Saturday Night Live") won't shut up!The sublime silliness reaches new heights in 22 episodes featuring guest appearances from Lauren Graham (TV's "Gilmore Girls") Jon Lovitz (TV's "Saturday Night Live") Bob Odenkirk and David Cross (HBO's "Mr. Show with Bob and David").System Requirements:Running Time 480 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: NR UPC: 043396146327 Manufacturer No: 14632

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #19675 in DVD
• Brand: SONY PICTURES HOME ENT
• Released on: 2006-06-20
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Portuguese
• Number of discs: 3
• Dimensions: .55 pounds
• Running time: 480 minutes

Amazon.com
With the departure of Khandi Alexander in the seventh episode, the radio-station sitcom became looser and wackier as the season went on. No new costar was immediately brought in, allowing other actors to do more, especially Phil Hartman as WNYX's blowhard anchor, Bill McNeil. Hartman rises to the challenge in his last season; he tragically died before the start of season 5. Bill gets to be boss for a day, works on his lounge act, interviews a jumper (fellow SNL alum Jon Lovitz, his second go-around on the show), tries to prove he can tell jokes, seeks adoption, and invents interviews with celebrities. The penultimate 22-epoisode fourth season starts off with a goody-two-shoes efficiency expert played by future Gilmore Girl Lauren Graham raising havoc: Matthew (Andy Dick) is fired (but still hangs around the station), Lisa (Maura Tierney) takes over as manager, and Dave (Dave Foley) winds up as Bill's producer. When the expert leaves, things return to relatively normal with episodes on the new security system, owner Mr. James's (Stephen Root) ballooning adventure, Joe (Joe Rogan) showing his Ultimate Fighting persona, Beth (Vicki Lewis) going British for a charity auction, and the annual fantasy-episode placing the station on the Titanic. The show seemed ready to hit the mainstream by the end of the season, even introducing a new character, Mr. James's hunk nephew (Brad Rowe) who short circuits the office romances (Dave and Lisa are still apart, despite the "help" of others). Alexander certainly didn't have enough to do on the show, but her final episode is the season's best. When she quickly states she's leaving and runs out the door, everyone has a different version of what happened, played out with hilarious results. As before, the DVD set has commentary roundtables on a few key episodes and 20 minutes of knee-slapping bloopers. --Doug Thomas

Customer Reviews

Another Superb Installment of NewsRadio
The 1990s were a notoriously bad decade for sitcoms. Hundreds of Seinfeld- and Wayans-wannabes flooded the airwaves and, in general, aside from Seinfeld and Sports Night, few had any originality or staying power. NewsRadio is a glorious exception, a bright and occasionally very biting comedy about the workplace which is kindred to Mary Tyler Moore and Newhart more so than to Just Shoot Me. NewsRadio's laughs came from brilliant observations, recurring gags, well-defined characters and logical but wacky plotlines. It was close in vein to Seinfeld's unsentimentality, but far more vicious: one example is in season 3's Daydream episode, for those who saw it, has all the characters experiencing revealing daydreams. It features a vendor whose dream is to be one of the "gang" at WNYX, but as it turns out is hardly known and barely tolerated. NewsRadio invests more in its characters than do most dramas, and never settles for the half-assed laugh-track banality of its contemporaries. This is why it developed such a following, even if it was a very small percentage of the population.

The fourth season of NewsRadio is once again a triumph. With every season, the show kept building upon itself and getting better. There were notable guest appearances: Jon Lovitz has another guest appearance, this time as a suicide jumper exactly one year before joining the cast. Additionally, a pre-Gilmore Girls Lauren Graham begins a stint in this season as an efficiency expert. There were some departures as well: first, Khandi Alexander left the show, despite the fact that her initially poorly-written character had improved a great deal; and, of course, Phil Hartman was murdered by his wife after this season. The knowledge of this invariably tints the experience of watching this season. Nevertheless, these episodes show Hartman at his imperious best: taking over the office (in Who's the Boss?), getting a butler (in The Secret of Management), and becoming a Bob Roberts-type performer (in The Public Domain). Other highlights: Matthew (Andy Dick) gets fired, Dave (Dave Foley) and Lisa (Maura Tierney) split again and then switch jobs, and then switch again. This doesn't stop Lisa from trying to pick the brain of the station's owner, Mr. James (Stephen Root), with hilarious results. I could go on, but ultimately, this is a sitcom that is better enjoyed the less you know going in. Even so, it rewards multiple viewings, which is surprising since many sitcoms don't even reward single viewings. With the release of this show on DVD, it will likely become more popular than ever, and hopefully take its rightful place in the pantheon of great comedy.

NewsRadio Is Great
Newsradio is a prime example of a great cast having a great time on a great show.
In a word?
Great.
Its also a fitting tribute to the genius of Phil Hartman, an
amazing actor, comedian & allround good guy who met a tragic end.
Buy them for the memories, remember how funny every cast member was & pay your respects to the unforgettable Phil.
10 Stars out of 5.

Best Show Ever!
Just my favorite show of all time. Unfortunately overlooked by audiences, but it's comedic genious is in every episode which is just so rare in today's comedy arena. Sometimes you miss jokes because you are still laughing from the last joke, which means the episodes have multiple watches. I hope you enjoy!

I just wanted to add to the one's review who did not have information on episode 63.

Episode 63. Look Who's Talking. Dave and Lisa are surprised to learn that Bill is looking into adopting a baby.