NewsRadio 2.22

Led Zepplin II

A fire breaks out on one of the lower floors in the WNYX building. Phil refuses to stay put and tries to leave. Lisa and Dave kiss and make up on account of the fire. Mr. James is thinking about marrying a woman that he dated once before but can't remember why they split up the first time around.

Final episode of Season 2. Not the best episode ever but it is a good one in my book. There were a few good laughs and Phil Hartman was great, as usual.

NewsRadio 2.21

Led Zepplin

Dave and Lisa announce to the staff that they have broken up. Matthew is not happy and tries to get them back together again. Lisa doesn't want to talk to Dave and insist that he communicate to her through memos. Phil tries to commiserate with Dave by telling him about the gal who dumped him.

This one had a number of good laughs in it. Big thumbs up.

NewsRadio 2.20

Coda

Dave, Phil, and Mr. James spend a whole day working on a 15-second promo spot. Matthew tries to get everyone interested in pitching in for a summer home in the Hamptons. Joe turns to Lisa for help in studying for an engineering exam.

On the whole this episode felt like a bit of a hot mess. None of the three plots amounted to much. Humor-wise I liked it. Not every joke brought a smile to my face or made me laugh but there were a few good ones that made me laugh out loud.

NewsRadio 2.19

Presence

Mr. James loses the office coffee maker and Bill in a poker game with another radio station owner. Jimmy gets some help from Lisa (whose relationship with Dave isn't going so hot at the moment) to win Bill back.

This may not be the out and out funniest episode but I love the silliness of the premise behind it all.

NewsRadio 2.18

The Song Remains the Same

A reporter from the Wall Street Journal interviews Bill. Lisa gets angry when Dave picks Matthew to cover the presidential primary in New Hampshire. Beth is convinced that the guy who just quit had a crush on her. Mr. James plays a few April Fools jokes on the staff of WNYX, even though it is February.

Better than average. A few good laughs.

NewsRadio 2.17

In Through the Out Door

Matthew gambles with Joe. Bill gives Dave advice about how to deliver a speech.

Great episode which showcases Phil Hartman's comedic genius.

NewsRadio 2.16

Physical Graffiti

Dave insists on having dinner with Lisa and her ex-boyfriend, Stewart. It gets awkward, not much gets resolved. At the end of the episode Dave and Lisa split up.

Beth tries to invent new words, like bitchcakes, which she hopes will catch on and be heard everywhere.

Phil and Catherine gets into an escalating war prank war. It turns out in the end that Joe egged them into it and it was all revenge for the time they ate some food he left in the office refrigerator.

Not a great episode, none of the plot threads were appealing. They weren't very funny either. They all felt a bit forced. The only one that might possibly rate any followup in a future episode, and probably not in this season, would be the Dave & Lisa plot thread.

This episode originally aired in March 1996. There are a few references to the Internet. I guess this would be about the time that the Internet was starting to be a thing.

NewsRadio 2.15

Houses of the Holy

Beth dates Theo (played by David Cross), Mr. James nephew. It is a bit of a wild ride.

Joe fills in for Catherine when she is out sick. It is Phil's idea, initially, but then when he sees how good Joe is at reading the news and talking on the air extemporaneously he changes his mind very quickly.

Good one. Not great but solidly good.

NewsRadio 2.14

Zoso

Beth is going to start her own business and asks Mr. James for advice on how to negotiate. Lisa sits in on the advice sessions and unsuccessfully tries to use Mr. James' tips to help her get a raise from Dave. Bill brings his new girlfriend to the radio station. She thinks he is British and Bill asks everyone to play along.

I recall seeing this one before. Not blow my socks off great but there were lots of nice little moments that made me chuckle.

NewsRadio 2.13

The Bitch Session

Dave accidentally overhears the staff bitching about the way he runs things at the radio station. He is unable to deal with the situation so he turns to Mr. James, his boss, for support.

Bill asks Joe to buy him a voice modulator. Joe insists on building one himself.

The b-plot was lacking in laughs but the a-plot was pleasantly amusing. Not a great episode but not truly awful either.

NewsRadio 2.12

X-Mas Story

The employees all chip in to buy Mr. James a real nice gift, a baseball jersey that was worn and signed by his favorite baseball player. His gifts to them seem very impersonal so he does his best to make up for it by buying them all sports cars, except Matthew who gets cassettes of an old radio show.

Bill gets harassed by a bell ringing Santa Claus in the lobby of the WNYX building. It turns out all to be a prank or does it.

Not great. A few smiles and possibly laughs but this is not the best that NewsRadio has to offer. Tone Loc and Toby Huss make their second and final appearances playing security guards.

NewsRadio 2.11

Station Sale

Mr. James announces his intention to sell WNYX to Robertson Communications. It turns out that his desire to sell is based primarily his interest in Jane Robertson, CEO of Robertson Communications. She is the latest target to Jimmy's desire.

The A story, described above was a little too sentimental for me. The B story, in which Matthew handcuffs himself to a chair in a misguided attempt to protest Mr. James plans to sell was moderately funny but not enough to make up for the schmaltz in the other story line.

Not my favorite episode by a long shot.

NewsRadio 2.10

The Negotiation

Matthew gets a meaningless promotion but he sees it differently. Bill has a lot of fun at Matthew's expense but Matthew is so into his new role that he doesn't notice the tricks that Bill is perpetrating.

Lisa is moved by Matthew's promotion to try out for a job in TV journalism. She takes a swing at being an MTV VJ and blows it big time when she's interviewing Anthrax.

Mr. James has decided that it is time to get married. He is attracted to the accountant he has hired to audit the books but gets all tongue-tied around her.

Best moment is the marriage negotiation scene. It isn't exactly the centerpiece of the episode so I'm not sure why that title was chosen for this episode. I wonder what if any alternate titles were rejected.

The pranks Bill plays on Matthew and the manner in which he does them were also great.

NewsRadio 2.09

Friends

- Dave hires Sandi, a temp, to help Beth reorganize the station's files; Sandi (Bebe Neuwirth) turns out to be an old friend of Beth's (or maybe frenemy would be a better way to put it, although I don't believe that term was in popular usage at the time this show first aired); Dave and Lisa don't believe Beth when she tells them about her past with Sandi so to prove her point Beth pretends to be romantically interested in Matthew which leads to Sandi also showing a romantic interest in Matthew; Matthew enjoys the amorous attention while it lasts is very confused when it suddenly ends after Beth and Sandi apologize to one another
- Bill has some trouble with the building's security guards when he forgets his ID on his desk; the security guards are played by Tone Loc and Toby Huss (Boz on Halt and Catch Fire)

- overall a very fun episode
- great group of guest stars; Bebe Neuwirth was wonderful as Sandi; I remembered Tone Loc played one of the security guards but I didn't recall Toby Huss and it took me a moment to recognize him under the beard; the pair of them appear in one more episode together in this season and Huss appears in one other episode in the final season playing a different character

NewsRadio 2.08

The Shrink

- Everyone in the office is on edge and Dave can't seem to get them to calm down; Dave takes Mr. James advice and brings in a therapist, Dr. Frank (John Ritter); Dave quickly gets annoyed by Dr. Frank because he seems to soothe everyone by offering the same advice as Dave, and then he discovers something about Dr. Frank that no one else seems to know
- the b-plot is about Bill and the cubicle he has built around his desk
- lots of smiles and a few laughs; they went a little overboard with the canned laughter; John Ritter was great as Dr. Frank