The Alternate Ending DVD Review: Newsradio - The Complete Fifth Season
Posted by Dave Tomlinson on 04.10.2007
And I thought this was an ensemble show.
For those who never watched the show, Newsradio was one of the best sitcoms of the 90’s. Overshadowed by a couple other high profile (though mostly inferior) shows, it remains probably the most underrated comedy of the last 15 years, maybe ever. I’m reviewing the fifth season here because it just hit this week, but if anyone wants to read my thoughts on the first 4 seasons, I’ll be happy to get them posted. Please let me know.
Newsradio: The Complete Fifth Season
For people who never watched I’ll give a quick synopsis. It concerns the goings on of a New York City AM news station. The show started when Dave Nelson (Dave Foley) arrived from Wisconsin to take over the news director job. Most of his time was relegated to trying to keep the bizarre and borderline psychotic personalities in line. He had Bill McNeal (the late, great Phil Hartman) the narcissistic boisterous on air talent. There was station “electrician”, Joe Garelli (Joe Rogan), though he usually spends his time inventing things that already exist and worrying about alien invasions and government conspiracies. Feisty red head Beth (Vicki Lewis), theoretically Dave’s assistant, but who had issues with answering the phone or getting coffee. Lisa Miller (Maura Tiernny), straight laced to a fault due to her strict upbringing. Catherine Duke (Khandi Alexander) Bill’s on air partner and off air nemesis. Then we have Station owner and billionaire Jimmy James (Stephen Root), who essentially just hung around the station and being generally weird. And of course Matthew Brock played by Andy Dick acting like… well Andy Dick. Khandi Alexander had left the show in the middle of season 4, why? I have no idea. She never did anything else, and was back on series television a few years later in the inferior "CSI: Miami". The summer before this season, Phil Hartman was killed under unfortunate circumstances I won’t go into here. While the show is ostensibly an ensemble cast, the loss of Hartman really hurt the chemistry the cast shared. Season five, while funny, just couldn’t match the brilliance of the first four seasons.
Shows: Disc 1 Bill Moves On
Bittersweet is the only way to describe the season premier, with the staffers dealing with the passing of Bill, who had died suddenly of a heart attack. I didn’t discover the show until syndication, so I didn’t see this air originally, but even as I watched I remember being a little choked up, as I was a big Hartman fan in general. They manage to keep things light, getting plenty of laughs out of the staffs various reactions to the news. Lisa in particular, who hit the bottle… for a week or so. This leads to the best line of the episode from Jimmy: “Cathartic… that’s a pretty big word coming from a pie-eyed drunk.” On paper that might not sound funny, but few can deliver lines like Stephen Root (Milton in “Office Space”) does.
Meet Max Louis
Dave forces the staff to come to grips with replacing Bill on air. Matthew takes this especially hard (his somewhat creepy affection for Bill was a great running gag for the first four seasons). This episode introduces Jon Lovitz as Max Louis. Now you’ll never hear me say Jon Lovitz isn’t funny, I love him, but he was all wrong for this show. Even Stephen Root admits it during a commentary, stating his comedic talents were a bit too sluggish for the shows lightning pace. But in all honesty, most fans of the show wouldn’t accept anyone as a replacement for Hartman, so it was a thankless job from the start.
Lucky Burger
The first really funny episode of this season, we have a few plot threads going. Lisa decides she wants to do more serious news, so she goes undercover in a fast food restaurant to expose health code violations, getting so immersed she becomes a model employee and is promoted. Meanwhile Dave is trying to get Max to fit in, as he’s worried everyone will find out he’s… weird! A great bit at the end as Dave goes around the office and runs down the eccentricities of the staff.
Noise
This is one of my two favorite episodes of the season. Jimmy is worried about Dave because his blood pressure through the roof, so Joe builds him (Dave) a white noise machine. Dave goes from neurotic and edgy to blissed out in the course of 5 minutes. Classic stuff as Dave cannot be riled by anything and stating the obvious to everyone, no matter who he offends. Meanwhile Max hijacks Lisa’s “This Day in History” segment, ruining it with historically false details and sensationalistic tricks.
Flowers for Matthew
Flat out the best episode of the season. Joe develops a “smart drink” and uses Matthew as his guinea pig. Matthew goes from space cadet moron to genius Smatthew (Smart Matthew) in the course of a half hour. Joe and Jimmy of course see dollar signs in the marketing of this drink, while Dave is just happy to have someone normal to talk to. Meanwhile Max tells Beth that Lisa has a thing for him to throw off suspicion that he secretly (not so secretly) loves Beth. The “Max has a crush on Beth” storyline would recur throughout the season. This ep also gives us one of the best back-and-forth's in the shows history.
Jimmy: I see you're reading four books at once... but why is that one up-side-down?
Smatthew: Mr. James, no offense but have you ever read four books at once?
Jimmy: No
Smatthew: Then don't tell me how to do it.
Jail
Thus begins the storyline that pretty well destroyed the show in the eyes of most of the hardcore fans. Jimmy is revealed to be infamous 70s skyjacker D.B. Cooper, and the FBI is hot on his trail. After his arrest Patrick Warburton (“Seinfeld”, “Family Guy”) joins as recurring villain Johnny Johnson. Johnny has everyone convinced he’s just there to help, all except Dave who thinks he’s evil. Of course, he is, and admits as much to Dave since “no one believes a word you (Dave) say anyway”, and sets about trying to take over Jimmy’s corporate empire.
The Lam
Jimmy escapes from prison and heads to rural Wisconsin to hide out at Dave’s parents’ house. I should mention that Jimmy has had a longstanding crush on Dave’s mom throughout the series run. Meanwhile Dave is trying to get the evidence of Jimmy’s guilt away from Johnny before he hands it over to the feds. Johnny and Lisa begin a bizarre relationship, and Max develops a huge man-crush on Johnny.
Clash of the Titans
Cleared of all charges, Jimmy returns to reclaim his empire that Johnny has successfully claimed. I’ll not spoil D.B. Copper’s true identity, it has to be seen to be believed. The battle of wits between Jimmy and Johnny is good stuff, and overall I kind of like this little arc, even if it feels a little out of place for the shows overall tone. Plus theirs a great visual of Dave sitting at a school desk like a high school student, which is another running joke.
Disc 2 Boston
Dave sets about creating an inspirational video for an old high school teacher to show to his students. Of course everyone sets about crushing Dave’s spirit and ruining the video, by telling the students to just blend into the crowd, don’t have any dreams and generally don’t try. Max and Lisa clash yet again over her perceived speech impediment which causes her to revert to her old Boston accent, which I might add makes her oddly hot, I can’t explain it.
Spooky Rapping Crypt
Beth and Jimmy both read the same story about profit sharing and want to implement it at the station. Of course this leads to problems as Jimmy doesn’t want to be seen as caving in to employee requests, while Beth is upset that he won’t even hear her out. Dave is caught in the middle, and a little jealous because Jimmy reveals Beth is his favorite staff member. Also, Matthew believes that Lisa is a Satan worshiper and she abused him. Joe of course realizes this happened when Matthew got drunk at the Halloween party, but encourages Matthew to get his revenge. This is an episode reminiscent of earlier seasons with the staffs various zany personalities just bouncing off each other.
Stinkbutt
Joe and Beth are given the opportunity to pain a mural in the lobby of the building. After they predictably paint something in poor taste Dave is given the task of defending it to the board. His speech to the members is great, defending offensive art by gesturing to Matthew “I can’t tell you how much or how often this man offends me.” Matthew, you see, is wearing the same, very feminine, sweater as Lisa, which she finds infuriating to hilarious results.
Apartment
Lisa, Dave and eventually Max all want the same apartment, causing Jimmy to get the staff to vote for which should get it. Meanwhile Joe is trying to spruce up the stations fledgling website, so he, Beth and Matthew engage in a knock off “Alien Autopsy” for a web cam in the break room.
Towers
Jimmy decides he needs to have a legacy, so sets about constructing two towers in the shape of two J’s. Lisa becomes concerned about their size… some 200 stories, which would block the sun from most of Central Park. While Lisa tries to talk him out that, Dave deals with Matthew’s new punk façade inspired by his up coming 30th birthday. His faux British accent and complete makeover just wouldn’t work on anyone but Andy Dick. Joe’s reaction is hilarious.
Hair
Jimmy can’t complete a business deal because of a deep seeded fear of hippies, so Joe goes about the task of hypnotizing him. Of course he tests on Matthew first, making him what else? A Chicken. Lisa brings her dog to the office while her apartment is being renovated, so of course Beth and Max begin to spoil the dog with junk food and various inappropriate behaviors. Jimmy’s dream state that turns the office into a 70’s playhouse makes the episode.
Wino
When they find out Johnny was ruined after Mr. James fired him, the staff all react differently. Now living as a homeless wino, Johnny is still intent on marrying Lisa. Of course Jimmy and Max are thrilled to see Johnny fallen on his face, and go about humiliating him anyway they can… until. After Lisa rejects him they feel sorry for him and try to help him clean up and win Lisa’s heart. Dave is, as always, the lone voice of reason and desperate to keep them apart.
Disc 3 Wedding
Having accepted Johnny’s proposal Lisa prepares for her wedding. She asks Jimmy to give her away since her parents won’t come, which leads to an all time great moment of Jimmy weeping uncontrollably. Johnny asks Dave to be his best man, so of course Max is devastated. And since it’s a Newsradio wedding, you know it can’t end well.
Ploy
We start to get into the treading water phase now, as the show was slated to end with this season. Max tells everyone he’s moving on since he’s accomplished everything he set out to do at the station. But this is just a ploy to get Beth to go on a date with him. Max’s pleas to Dave and Jimmy not to fire him are great while putting on a brave face for Beth. But the real laughs come when Jimmy asks Dave to publicly beg Max to stay… which of course Max milks for all its worth.
Padded Suit
Dave is becoming so infuriated with the lazy staff that he decides to fire one of them to get the rest to shape up. Lisa runs around trying to get everyone to do their job so Dave won’t have cause to go through with it. Meanwhile Max and Matthew ask Joe to teach them how to fight since “it’s been well documented we both fight like girls.” Dave’s euphoria is great laughs, as he sits around daydreaming, “in my mind I’ve already fired them all a hundred times.”
Freaky Friday
Matthew and Jimmy switch places for a day. Matthew runs the corporate empire while Jimmy sits in as a reporter. Matthew spends his day ordering exotic drinks from Jimmy’s secretary and trying to play computer solitaire, while Jimmy does some day trading in Matthews name and makes him $200. Matthew inadvertently looses all of Jimmy’s money and ruining his corporate empire. This leads to one of the all time great Jimmy moments as his fury with Matthew nearly destroys the station.
Retirement
This would be beginning of the end. Jimmy announces he’s going to retire and move out to the country. Dave thinks this is just another crazy Jimmy idea while Lisa is trying to get him to stay. Lisa throws Jimmy a retirement dinner with speeches from everyone, which are all funny in their own right. But Joe’s is the best, and maybe the best summation for the end of the once great show that, like Jimmy, ended before it’s time. “Sallut dude.”
New Hampshire
Jimmy returns from the country because he’s lonely, and asks to take some of the staff with him. Dave is desperate to keep everyone in New York, well except Matthew. Each staff member decides to go in their own right, eventually leaving Dave all alone, well except Matthew. This is sort of a sad way to end the show, doesn’t’ really seem to fit. Though to be fair, I’m not sure what they could have done to do justice to the once brilliant sitcom.
Extras Discs 1 and 2
Commentaries: Both have commentaries on select episodes. These are only for the most hardcore fans, and usually involve the creators and a few of the cast members sitting around laughing at how funny they were. I’ve found this to be a problem on a lot of TV on DVD commentaries… “Simpsons”, I’m looking in your direction.
Disc 3
Commentaries: A few more commentaries, same problem as above
Deleted Scenes: Clearly cut for a reason… nothing special here.
Season Five Gag Reel: These are always good for a few laughs, flubbed lines and reactions are always funny.
Tech Specs Video
Hey, it’s a sitcom from the 90’s so don’t expect miracles. The colors are all bright and everything is sharp, so it looks about as good as it’s going to look.
Audio
There’s nothing special here either, with a Dolby 2.0 stereo mix. But with a show that was dialogue driven, you really don’t need surround sound do you?
The 411: It’s sad to see one of my all time favorite sitcoms end with a whimper instead of a bang. This is not entirely the creators fault as the death of Phil Hartman really hurt the dynamic of the cast. While this really is an ensemble effort, the loss of even one member of the cast really did affect the show more than I would have thought. Though it never got the recognition that the inferior “Friends” or the equally brilliant later seasons of “Seinfeld” did, it certainly had enough laughs for both. In fact, like Seinfeld you won’t often see people so comically self involved or so blatantly obnoxious. I recommend picking up this set as it does have a few winners, but if nothing else than to complete the shows run on DVD.
