NewsRadio 4.22

Sinking Ship

WNYX is a ship. Dave is the captain. Lisa, Mr. James, and Bill are passengers. Joe, Matthew, and Walt are crew members. Dave is concerned that the ship will hit an iceberg and sink. That's exactly what happens.

Beth is not in this episode.

This is the final episode of the season. It is kind of off the wall in the same way that the final episode of season 3 was. I didn't find it very good or funny. There are no discernable plot threads, just a lot of gags. Maybe if I had seen Titanic I might appreciate this episode more.

On the plus side, the episode title makes sense.

NewsRadio 4.21

Jackass Junior High

Lisa gets annoyed when all the men at the radio station start acting like she is one of them. Bill gets angry because no one thinks he is funny. Matthew gives tours of the radio station because it is supposed to be a historic landmark.

Thoughts

Beth is not in this episode.

There isn't a whole lot to this episode other than the three themes. Some the jokes landed with me and some didn't. It isn't a favorite of mine but it wasn't awful either.

NewsRadio 4.20

4:20

Mr. James plans to have Joe and Matthew fight at the smoker he is attending. Lisa and Beth try to talk Matthew out of it. Joe doesn't want to do it once he finds out that his opponent will be Matthew but Matthew refuses to back down.

Bill tries to convince Dave, numeroud times, that Lisa is having an affair with Walt, the intern. Dave isn't interested in hearing about it.

Dave shows Lisa a trick he uses to get rid of Matthew when he doesn't feel like talking to him. Lisa tries it on Beth and then tells Mr. James about it. He uses it on Joe and then tells Matthew about it. Matthew tries it on Beth.

NewsRadio 4.19

Monster Rancher

Jimmy talks Dave into hiring Walt, Jimmy's nephews, as an intern. Dave is skeptical. Bill feels threatened by Walt's good looks. Beth feels threatened by Walt's salary, until she learns that he is an unpaid intern.

Matthew has a crush on Lisa. He wants to ask her out on a date but he can't bring himself to do it. Lisa finds out and asks him about it. They end up going out. Things get weird.

Thoughts

Joe is not in this episode.

I have no idea why this episode is called Monster Rancher.

This is an okay episode. It wasn't great but it has its moments. I preferred the part involving Matthew and Lisa.

NewsRadio 4.18

Copy Machine

Ted from Accounting died late at night when his tie got caught in the feeder. Nobody remembers who he was. Everyone seems to think that Dave is grieving over Ted's death. He's not but they don't believe him when he insists that he isn't.

Ted's roommate from college visits the station. He wants to hear about what Ted was like since he last saw him. Various members of the staff make up stories. Dave ends up having to give the eulogy at Ted's funeral.

Thoughts

This isn't a great episode. I'm not even sure that I would say it is a good one. It ends with a joke that is in very bad taste and not all that funny. 

NewsRadio 4.17

Balloon

Mr. James announces his plan to fly around the world in a hot air balloon. He claims that Bill Gates has been making fun of and this is Mr. James way to prove himself. The staff of WNYX tries to talk him out of the trip but Mr. James insists on doing it, solo.

Bill decides to give up smoking. He still needs a nicotine fix so he takes up chewing tobacco.

Thoughts

This was a fun episode. I don't recall seeing it before but I might have. It isn't my favorite but I might watch it again. Not great but good fun.

NewsRadio 4.16

Beep Beep

Mr. James wants Dave and Lisa to get back together. He thinks that their productivity has suffered since they split up. Mr. James puts Bill on the job after he gives it a swing and gets nowhere.

Mr. James gets Matthew a birthday present, an electric car that he can drive around the office.

Thoughts

I wasn't crazy about either of these storylines but I didn't hate them either.

Newsradio 4.15

Big Brother

Matthew reveals that he's a part of the Big Brother program. Danny, Matthew's big brother, comes to visit WNYX. Beth and Lisa are surprised to see that Danny is about the same age as Matthew. Beth and Lisa try talking some sense into Danny and Matthew without much success.

Bill, Joe, and Mr. James (in that order) become obsessed with learning whom Lisa is dating since she and Dave split up. Dave has no interest in finding out.

Thoughts

I enjoyed this one very much. I think I've probably seen it before but it didn't bring back any memories. I did laugh on more than one occasion. 

NewsRadio 4.14

Security Door

Dave has a security door installed at the offices of WNYX. The purpose of the door is to prevent theft and unauthorized access of the office. It is very unpopular. Dave catches employees letting unauthorized people into the office and propping the security door open. He becomes increasingly agitated and tries harder and harder to enforce the rules he has created for the door.

Bill is asked to do a commercial for Blue Genie Blue Jeans. He asks Lisa to help him with the negotiations of his contract. She reluctantly agrees. Bill quickly caves and winds up doing more work for less money. Lisa tries but Bill can't be stopped.

NewsRadio 4.13

Who's the Boss (Part 2)

Mr. James decides that there will be an election to determine whether Dave or Lisa will be the News Director. Neither of them want the job. They do their best to make it clear that they don't want the job to everyone voting.

Matthew runs for the office of Fire Marshall. No one else wants the job but Matthew insists on campaigning for it.

Joe's brothers show up. They argue and fight with him and one another about the plans for their parents' 35th wedding anniversary.

NewsRadio 4.12

Who's the Boss (Part 1)

Lisa is tired of Bill's insubordination. She talk to Dave and together they come up with a plan to teach him a lesson. Lisa makes Bill the boss. Everyone likes him as boss, including Lisa. Dave is the lone holdout.

Joe goes on strike. Mr. James breaks things accidentally in the hopes that Joe won't be able to stand seeing things that need to be fixed and give up on the strike. Mr. James plan doesn't exactly work.

The episode ends with Bill returning to the broadcasting booth. Lisa doesn't want to be boss again. She tries to get Dave to take back his old job. He doesn't want it but agrees to flip Lisa for it.

NewsRadio 4.11

Chock

Three of Dave's old friends from Wisconsin visit him in New York. They are there to revive their acapella quartet, Chock Full of Notes, and go professional. Dave has no interest but the others seem determined to go through with the plan.

Lisa yells at Matthew and makes him cry. Beth thinks Lisa was justified in yelling at him but Mr. James does not.

Thoughts

David Cross, Bob Odenkirk, and Brian Posehn play the other three members of Chock Full of Notes: Dave, Bob, and Brian.

NewsRadio 4.10

Look Who's Talking

Bill announces that he's going to adopt a baby. Dave and Lisa, among others, are both stunned and concerned. Bill convinces Dave that he'll be a great dad but Lisa still has doubts.

Mr. James pays Beth to get the betting started at a charity auction where a date with him will be one of the prizes. 

Things don't exactly work out the way Bill and Mr. James had hoped they would. 

NewsRadio 4.08

Stupid Holiday Charity Talent Show

Mr. James agrees to re-hire Matthew but only if someone from WNYX wins the Holiday Charity Talent Show. Dave agrees to do it but then discovers that tap sancing won't go over well. No one else steps forward to take his place so Dave agrees to do his knife throwing act at the talent show.

Dave loses his nerve just before he is scheduled to go on stage after he runs into Throwdini, one of his knife throwing rivals, backstage. Phil and Beth go on stage instead of Dave. Phil plays the piano and Beth sings but Phil blows it. Matthew goes on stage with a ventriloquist's dummy and wins the competition.

NewsRadio 4.07

Catherine Moves On

Catherine quits. Jimmy wasn't around for the announcement and wants to know what happened. Everyone has a different story.

I'm pretty sure I have seen this one before but I don't recall my reaction from that viewing. This episode is not good. It felt very choppy. The humor was a bit flat although I can appreciate what they were trying to do. I think I might have laughed once.

NewsRadio 4.06

Pure Evil

Dave wants his job back. He turns over a new leaf, towards that end, and pledges to be pure evil from that point forward. He has Bill do fake interviews with President Bill Clinton on the air. It generates all sorts of publicity for the radio station. Bill winds up testifying before Congress. Jimmy is very happy.

Lisa is too nervous about her new job, as news director, to run a staff meeting. Beth tries to give her advice and pep talks. Lisa either does too much or too little. It probably doesn't help that Matthew has been sleeping in her office since he got evicted from his apartment.

NewsRadio 4.09

The Secret of Management

Lisa gets annoyed when Mr. James spends more time with Dave than he does with her, especially considering that she is now Dave's boss. She asks Mr. James to tell her the secret of management, after she discovers he already shared that information with Dave.

Bill hires a butler. Matthew has been rehired but he still doesn't feel as though everyone appreciates having him back.

Thoughts

Catherine is not in this episode.

NewsRadio 4.05

French Diplomacy

Bill makes an offhand remark on the air. Someone takes Bill's remark to heart and drags the French Ambassador out of his car and beats him. Dave and Lisa try to rectify the situation but it just gets worse. No matter what they try it doesn't make the situation any better.

Beth spots someone spying on them from a building across the street. It turns out to Matthew. They also find out that he had another career before he started working at WNYX, he was a dentist.

NewsRadio 4.03

The Public Domain

Andrea brings in Steve, another efficiency expert. to take over part of Dave's job. Dave has to try to convince her that he knows how to run the radio station. She gives him until the end of the day.

Phil decides he needs to practice for his new job by playing the piano and singing satirical songs about politicians in the office. Jimmy brings a movie crew into the office to film how he runs his business.

Dave finds it almost impossible to impress Andrea.

NewsRadio 4.04

Super Karate Monkey Death Car

Andrea, the efficiency expert, makes everyone take a polygraph test. Lisa has something to hide, a criminal record.

Mr. James invites Dave to a reading of his book which is a big hit in Japan. He's had it translated back into English but he doesn't get a chance to proof the retranslated book before the reading.

Thoughts

Dave Allen, whom I know best for his role as the guidance counselor on Freaks and Geeks, plays an employee of the book store. He also shows up in an episode from season 5.