On Air
In a nutshell, Newsradio featured a relatively large cast of successful actors and comedians including the late Phil Hartman, Andy Dick, Dave Foley, Stephen Root, Maura Tierney, Joe Rogan, and during the last season, Jon Lovitz. The premise was that each of these individuals, and several others I haven’t named, were co-workers for the number two AM radio station in New York City. The variety of personalities and mannerisms this group of characters brought together were the source of much amusing intra-office banter and laughs. For me, the most memorable scenes involve Dave Foley’s character, the straight-laced news director, clashing with the witty Bill McNeal, played by the late Phil Hartman.
DVD Set Extras
If you are interested this DVD set, chances are it’s either a gift for someone familiar with the series or you’re familiar with the show already. That said, I won’t spend anymore time providing further details on the series. Furthermore, sites like tv.com list episode summaries if you are looking for those. Now as far as this DVD set is concerned, that’s primarily what we’re interested in, so let’s take a closer look at the contents of each disc:
Disc 1
Featurette – A twelve minute behind the scenes feature from 1995 I believe, with several cast members being interviewed about the show.
Commentaries – Eight episodes on this disc feature an optional audio commentary track with series creator and director Paul Simms who is also joined by various cast members on different commentary tracks.
Season 2 Gag Reel – A twelve minute collection of various bloopers, outtakes, and gags from the second season.
Filmographies – Seven filmographies for Dave Foley, Phil Hartman, Andy Dick, and four cast members are provided in still image form, that is, a list of their work to that point is shown in an image.
Disc 2
Commentaries – Five episodes on this disc have an optional audio commentary track with series creator and director Paul Simms who is also joined by various cast members on different commentary tracks.
Disc 3
Commentaries – Seven episodes on this disc have an an optional audio commentary track with series creator and director Paul Simms who is also joined by various cast members on different commentary tracks.
Disc 4
Season 3 Gag Reel – This is the first disc of the third season, and a sixteen minute collection of outtakes and gags are presented.
Commentaries – Three episodes on this disc have an optional audio commentary track with series creator and director Paul Simms who is also joined by various cast members on different commentary tracks.
Disc 5
Commentaries – Three episodes from this disc have an optional audio commentary track with series creator and director Paul Simms who is also joined by various cast members on different commentary tracks.
Disc 6
“Space” episode Table Reading To Film – About fifteen minutes of footage that includes the cast and crew doing a table reading of an episode called “Space” that aired during the third season. Lots of behind the scenes footage is shown of this episode being filmed. There is an optional commentary track for this extra feature that has several writers and actor Stephen Root talking.
Filming An Episode – The filming of the episode “Mistake” is documented and presented hear. You’ll see the introduction of the cast members to the studio audience and watch more behind the scenes footage.
Visit To Andy Dick’s Trailer – Andy Dick sits down in his trailer and talks for about fifteen minutes, not terribly interesting.
Joe Furey’s One Man Newsradio – Writer Joe Furey portrays a typical episode of Newsradio with himself playing all of the parts. This runs about four and a half minutes.
Disc 7
This disc starts the fourth season. The extras include:
Commentaries – Five episodes from this disc have an optional audio commentary track with series creator and director Paul Simms who is also joined by various cast members on different commentary tracks.
Disc 8
Commentaries – Three episodes from this disc have an optional audio commentary track with series creator and director Paul Simms who is also joined by various cast members on different commentary tracks.
Disc 9
Commentaries – One episode from this disc have an optional audio commentary track with series creator and director Paul Simms who is also joined by various cast members on different commentary tracks.
Season 4 Gag Reel – The fourth season’s collection of outtakes and gags is presented here.
Fourth Season One Man Newsradio – Joe Furey again stars in a mock episode of Newsradio with himself playing as the cast; runs for about four minutes.
Disc 10
The start of the fifth and final season.
Commentaries – Three episodes from this disc have an optional audio commentary track with series creator and director Paul Simms who is also joined by various cast members on different commentary tracks.
Disc 11
Commentaries – Three episodes from this disc have an optional audio commentary track with series creator and director Paul Simms who is also joined by various cast members on different commentary tracks.
Disc 12
Season 5 Gag Reel – You guessed it, the collection of outtakes and gags for the fifth season are presented.
Fifth Season One Man Newsradio – Another mock episode with Joe Furey.
Lost Episode – One Man Newsradio – A rough quality video of a nearly two minute mock episode again starring Joe Furey.
Commentaries – Four episodes from this disc have an optional audio commentary track with series creator and director Paul Simms who is also joined by various cast members on different commentary tracks.
And there you have it, the complete list of extra features.
Presentation And Packaging
The complete series comes packaged in an unusual manner. It’s a thin box that has a flap that opens like a book cover. Printed onto the box here is the list of episodes on each disc. There are also some full color pictures of the cast. The actual discs are stacked, spindle style, in a removable thin plastic case. The material of this case reminds me of packaging you might see for cookies– it’s rather collapsible and feels cheap, but it works okay.
In terms of presentation, each disc maintains the same type of menu, so that consistency is appreciated. The quality of the episodes is typical of what you should expect from a mid 90s TV show on DVD. Each episode is presented in full screen color with Dolby Digital audio, and that’s just fine.
Summary
Newsradio was a successful show a decade ago, and it’s nice to see a compact and complete box set released. Prices online may make this an intriguing gift for a fan you know or even for yourself.