rzajac It was professionally done, and a lot of fun, but to my mind it doesn't rise to the level of Seinfeld or Larry Sanders.It's cleverly written, directed, and acted. The problem is that I expect a kind of narrative integrity and trenchancy from my sitcoms, and NewsRadio doesn't deliver.The characters are written to be funny, but there's something about having a running cast that shows up in each episode that makes it difficult to get narratively creative without running roughshod over those characters--which leaves them a bit flat. And that's very true of this sitcom.No question but that the actors' professionalism is churning away, trying to vest each episode with humanity and resonance, but in the end the style and format work against that larger goal.So it's a funny little show, but fails to deliver on a higher level... and other sitcoms have demonstrated that one should expect that payload.

LeonardOsborneKael Both in writing and in acting, NEWSRADIO is second to none. And it sailed so far beyond the normal TV sitcom boundaries so many times that, very often, you could barely believe what you were seeing! Remember the episode where, inexplicably, the radio newsroom had become -- gasp -- THE TITANIC! Yes; instead of broadcasting the news, the cast were traversing the North Atlantic -- complete with portholes and sea spray! For pure bravado, nothing can touch this unforgettable series. Sadly, not a lot of people saw the wonderful freewheeling work. The writer/producers were very young, even by Hollywood standards, and the art of seducing the network brass was unknown to them. As a result, the show was not well-supported by NBC and they changed its time slot countless times -- a sure fire way to shrink ratings and kill off a show. What a shame! This dazzling show had many miles to run. Never has there been such pure creative brilliance behind a television program and, given today's obsession with "reality" programming, it is unlikely to ever happen again. Hey -- if you really wanted to get ALL the jokes, you had better be an expert on the stock market -- a fan of early radio comedy -- and probably a Rhodes scholar to boot! The writers really set the bar in the stratosphere with this one -- scaling the heights in every possible way -- with a cast that had the wit and style to bring it off time after time. One of the few times that pure genius was allowed on TV! My numero uno "complete series on DVD" purchase.

S.R. Dipaling I am making reference to one Brynn HArtman,who shot and killed her husband,the show's star Phil HArtman,while he slept,killing him and then turning the gun on herself in the wee/pre-dawn hours of a Friday morning in June of 1998. Needless to say,as a fan of this show(even more so once I finally got myself to watch them again in reruns),this fact always sort of haunted me,as I am sure it did to other fans of this show and/or Mr.Hartman as well.Through the whole four year run of this show,I feel like the comic timing and writing was very strong. Everyone in the cast--even the future "Fear FActor" host Joe Rogan--was very effective in conveying an office full of selfish,short-sighted news workers on the WNYX staff. I can barely stand Andy Dick,but he is not only good on this show,he is UNCANNILY spot-on as MAtthew,the hopelessly clueless office spaz. Phil Hartman's presence,and then absence,on the show was heavily felt,and as game as Jon Lovitz was in stepping in for Phil,it just wasn't quite the same. To be fair and sure,I don't believe that Hartman's death ALONE caused the show to either go down the tubes(which in all truth,it didn't.MHO)or get canceled. I feel like NBC gave up on the show almost as soon as the rating showed any signs of dipping,and given the fact that the network moved the show no fewer than three times in its run(Tuesdays to Sundays to Wednsdays,as I recall),then I believe they also bear some responsibility in this show's early demise,too.In short,I believe that "NewsRadio" is one of the best sitcoms to come out of the nineties and am happy to see that it's made it to DVD at last. I believe someday I may rent,even purchase the show's episodes on DVD. Until then,I think I'll just do the cheap thing and see if I can run across it in reruns again

nospam-147 NewsRadio was hilarious. It suffered without Phil Hartman, but even after losing Hartman it was still good comedy.You do have to be a certain type of viewer to fully appreciate the genius of the show, but even if you can't see the genius you'll still laugh. You really can't help yourself. It's that good.The show is driven by the characters and by the ridiculous. (Ridiculous is good.) When you appreciate the characters, the comedy is magnified. Comparisons with Night Court are fair, the comedy is pretty similar to that.I miss this show. It's really too bad it was canceled.