Newsradio" stands out, in my opinion, as one of the most underappreciated sitcoms of the 90's, and maybe ever. The series took a little while to get going, but once it did, the show's incredible ensemble, which featured a set of comedians with their own styles, really became remarkably funny. The series ran from 1995-1999, but suffered a loss with the tragic death of Phil Hartman.

The pilot episode has Dave coming to New York from Wisconsin to take over the position of news manager at WNYX. He faces some problems, though: billionaire owner Jimmy James (Stephen Root, in a classic performance as a boss who does whatever he wants because he has so much money he doesn't know what to do with it) has not told the staff that Dave is coming to work there as their boss. He also expects Dave to fire the man that he's going to be replacing.

The pilot episode of the series has a few laughs, but the show still seems to be finding its way in these early moments. The other issue with the early moments is how Dave quickly falls for Lisa (Maura Tierny), the woman who thought that she would be getting the news manager position. The early episodes use the romance between Dave and Lisa for a fair amount of humor, and not enough of it works. "Newsradio" started in 1995 as a mid-season replacement, with a total season of only 7 episodes. By the time the opening run had wrapped up, the series had begun to come together, with the cast getting into their roles and the writing getting sharper and funnier.

The second season had the sitcom running in high gear, and was able to come up with more to do for its cast, including slick news anchor Bill (Phil Hartman, displaying masterful comedic timing in one of his finest roles), secretary Beth (Vicki Lewis), reporter Matthew (Andy Dick, actually funny), Bill's co-anchor, Katherine (Khandi Alexander) and electrician Joe ("Fear Factor"'s Joe Rogan).

This set, which includes both the short first season and regular second season, includes several highlights: "The Crisis", where the station tries to cover an accident in the subway system; "No, This is Not Based Entirely On Julie's Life", where Joe sets-up the station refrigerator to catch a food thief; "Goofy Ball", where Beth and Matthew are distracted by a new product Jimmy is testing; "Biography", where Bill tries to write his autobiography; "Xmas Story", where Bill finds himself stalked by a local santa and everyone except for Matthew gets a sports car for Christmas from Jimmy; "In Through the Out Door", where Dave gets public speaking lessons from Bill before he's to introdce him at a broadcaster's convention and "Presence", where Jimmy loses Bill in a poker game.

1st Season Spring 1995

1. 1- 1 Pilot
2. 1- 2 Inappropriate
3. 1- 3 Smoking
4. 1- 4 The Crisis
5. 1- 5 Big Day
6. 1- 6 Luncheon at the Waldorf
7. 1- 7 Sweeps Week

2nd Season 1995

8. 2- 1 No, This is Not Based Entirely on Julie's Life
9. 2- 2 Goofy Ball
10. 2- 3 Rat Funeral
11. 2- 4 The Breakup
12. 2- 5 The Shrink
13. 2- 6 Friends
14. 2- 7 Bill's Autobiography
15. 2- 8 Negotiation
16. 2- 9 The Cane
17. 2-10 Xmas Story
18. 2-11 Station Sale
19. 2-12 Bi)ch Session
20. 2-13 In Through the Out Door
21. 2-14 The Song Remains the Same
22. 2-15 Zoso
23. 2-16 Houses of the Holy
24. 2-17 Physical Graffiti
25. 2-18 Led Zeppelin
26. 2-19 Presence
27. 2-20 Coda
28. 2-21 Led Zeppelin II


The DVD

VIDEO: "Newsradio" is presented by Sony Pictures Home Video in 1.33:1 full-frame. Despite the fact that 27 episodes are presented across three discs (with extras, as well), the picture quality here actually was quite good. Sharpness and detail were above average throughout the episodes, with only slight occasional softness.

Some minor shimmering and a few traces of pixelation are apparent briefly on a few occasions, but the picture is generally up to broadcast quality, if not slightly better at times. Colors remained bright and vivid, with nice saturation and no smearing.

SOUND: The stereo soundtrack was perfectly fine, with crisp dialogue.

EXTRAS: Commentaries are included on 20 of the 27 episodes from: Actor Dave Foley, actor Khandi Alexander, actor Andy Dick, actor Joe Rogan, actor Maura Tierny, producer/creator/writer Paul Simms, producer Josh Lieb, producer Joe Furey, former NBC head Warren Littlefield, producer Julie Bean, writer/producer Brad Issacs, actor Vicki Lewis, writer Lewis Morton, writer Brian Kelley and director Tom Cherones. All of the participants are broken into small groups of about four to comment on each of the 20 episodes. The commentaries have some dry spells, but they are mostly funny and insightful looks back at the making of the series.

The first disc also has a production featurette taken from footage during the time of production, filmographies and a 10-minute gag reel.

Final Thoughts: "Newsradio" stumbles at times during its early moments, but by season two the characters were getting stronger, the writing was snappier and everything was coming together superbly. Columbia/Tristar's DVD edition provides fine audio/video quality and a very nice helping of supplements. Highly recommended.


Recommended:
No

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age