Dave Nelson (Dave Foley) is the new director of a New York news radio station owned by the eccentric Jimmy James (Stephen Root). Lisa Miller (Maura Tierney) is the producer and romantic lead. Joe Garrelli (Joe Rogan) is the fixer. Bill McNeal (Phil Hartman) and Catherine Duke (Khandi Alexander) are the news readers. Beth (Vicki Lewis) is the irreverent secretary and Matthew Brock (Andy Dick) is the wackiest of them all. This is a great group of lovable wacky cast. Not since WKRP has there been a sillier group to operate a fictional radio station. This group however excels in slapstick wacky humor. Everything is done to a ridiculous extreme, and it's easy with comedians like Andy Dick and Phil Hartman at the top of their games.Then on May 28, 1998, Phil Hartman was killed by her wife in a murder suicide while he slept. With this act, not only Phil was killed but also the show. The show lasted one more season with Jon Lovitz as a replacement. But he could never erase the sadness of Phil's death or replace the magnitude of Phil's talent.

NewsRadio was a really interesting premise for a sitcom that being that it took place in the world of a news radio station. The show had a fantastic cast with Dave Foley, Stephen Root, Phil Hartman, Maura Tierney, Andy Dick, Joe Rogan, Khandi Alexander and Vicki Lewis which all clicked together on screen perfectly in tandem. The use of the cast as an ensemble and not overdoing the exposure on one character at the sake of the others was able to keep all of the characters fresh and give everyone plenty of screen time.The show not only had some very witty writing but also used physical comedy really well for a modern TV show(for example Matthew's being prone to fall over to start every episode).

I do not wish to disparage Jon Lovitz, it has less to do with the introduction of his character that the show kind of fell apart at the end for me and more for the fact it just sort of depressing after the untimely death of Hartman. Bill McNeil was my favorite character on the show and while everyone else played their parts well it just was not the same without him. Before he passed on though this show was simply great and funny, though I have to say work related shows tend to be better in my opinion than shows that center around families and simply friends. The shows first episode is rather interesting as there are a couple of different things going on as the maintenance man is different and the whole appearance of the show was a bit off compared to the rest too. Still, it marked the beginning of a very good show that was cut short by most likely to many schedule changes and those copy cat shows that tried to emulate the early success of this one. That show Brooke Shields did during this time seemed almost a duplicate right down to the red head. The episodes in this one ran mostly hot, with the occasional cold episode. Most of the cast was on fire, however Andy Dick's character sometimes proved to be a bit to much. Khandi Alexander left a bit of void when she left, however the show probably had to many characters as it was so it probably was best she left as the show had enough people to focus on. My favorite episode though had to be when Dave got obsessed with playing that video game Stargate and I also like the one where Bill is locked up in the loony bin and Jon Lovitz was in that one too and did a good job. All in all a great show that ended prematurely.

This show was the best hands down. The rapport between Andy Dick and the late Phil Hartman was incredible. As a matter of fact those two in my opinion made that show. While the other actors were right up there also, Andy and Phil were always the ones that were able to make me laugh the most. I was and still am a huge fan of Phil and I cried when I heard of his passing. I'd never done that before!!! I own four out of the five seasons and am waiting for funds to appear so I can purchase season three. Even though Andy had some troubles in the past and more as of late, he still rates right up there as far as comedians are concerned. Hell of a way for him to promote a new release.