NewsRadio

I've been meaning to write this post since two weeks ago. At that time, an article appeared in the New York Times (now hidden in their for-money archive) by a guy who thinks NewsRadio ruined Dave Foley's career. To which my first reaction was "huh?" --and now, after having completed watching most of the new DVD set of NewsRadio's first two seasons, my reaction is...HUH?

Of course, it doesn't help that the guy doesn't seem to have liked NewsRadio very much, while I think it was the best new sitcom of the '90s. Oh, Friends and especially Seinfeld got all the hype, but Newsradio was consistently smart, sometimes surreal and above all funny for five years.

And unlike Friends or The Drew Carey Show (the second-greatest new sitcom of the '90s), it ended its run while it was still fresh. Albeit not by the creative teams design--they were cancelled. But given a choice between shows that run for five years and leave me wanting more and shows that stagger zombie-like towards their graves for the last several years of their run, you know which side I'm on every time.

I also can't agree when he says that Foley was ineffective as the star of the show, even though he does it while praising supporting player Stephen Root's performance, and I stand behind few people in my admiration for Root (he's one of the only good things in Kevin Smith's Jersey Girl).

NewsRadio had an outstanding supporting cast--in its way the equivilent of 24 or The West Wing's ensembles--but Foley's Dave Nelson was the necessary eye of the hurricane. Think Kermit on the Muppet Show, Alex on Taxi or Andy on WKRP (NewsRadio's most obvious spiritual ancestor). You can't just have a bunch of crazy people running around without one character who at least appears sane (although, as Kermit the Frog said when so complimented: "Me not crazy? I hired the others!").

But not only that, if the show has any dramatic arc at all--and that is a big if, as with almost any sitcom--it is about a young man who comes to New York from Winconsin and learns how to whip a big city radio station into shape. That man was Foley's Dave Nelson.

Finally, it is ludicrous to say that NewsRadio "ruined" his career. It allowed him to do some of the best work of his career, certainly equalling in another medium his work with The Kids in the Hall. It also allowed the late Phil Hartman to do hands-down the best work of his career.

The DVDs, obviously, are highly recommended if you missed the show's runs on network or in syndication--and for fans there's what I believe you call your treasure trove of goodies. A gag reel, featurette and commentaries on something like two-thirds of the episodes with all the living cast members, many of the writers and creator Paul Simms in various combinations.

When Foley and most of the rest of The Kids in the Hall made an appearance at a video store where I used to work, Kevin McDonald, who guest-starred on the show, described a Newsradio taping as being a lot like going to a Rat Pack party that was only occasionaly broken up with bursts of acting. The commentaries lend creedence to this. These people obviously enjoyed each other and their show and now, with the benefit of hindsight and rose-colored glasses, they're like frat guys and co-eds getting together for a reunion.