The NewsRadio Story - Chapter 4: A Turbulent Season Three (1996 - 1997) - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

Adamantium · 10-12-2016, 05:27 PM

Chapter 4: The Turbulent Season Three (1996 - 1997)

On September 18, 1996 the third season of NewsRadio debuted. It was the show’s first night in its new Wednesday time slot. Creatively, many fans consider season three to have some of the best episodes, but ratings-wise, this is where it all falls apart. Its main competition was the wildly successful ABC sitcom The Drew Carey Show, which was in its second season.

The first episode, titled “President,” besides focusing on Jimmy James running for President of the United States just to meet women, saw a slight shift of focus from Dave and Lisa’s relationship to more of the zaniness of the staff. Paul Simms wanted to get away from it always being about the couple, and even had Dave Nelson address this by telling Joe that while yes he and Lisa are back together, they don’t want to make a big deal about it.

One high note behind the scenes was the fact that Tom Cherones, the cast and crew’s favorite director, was at the helm for twenty of that season’s twenty-four episodes. They no longer had to deal with a “director of the week.” While being a calm presence on the set, Cherones was also good at keeping the cast in line when he would occasionally bark at them to stop goofing off and focus on the work.

The cast and crew loved each other. They spent more time with each other than they did their own families. Much of that had to do with the dysfunctional relationships they were all in. Dave had gone through a nasty divorce. Stephen was also in a divorce. Phil was dealing with jealous and sometimes cruel Brynn. Vicki had problems with her alcoholic live-in boyfriend, actor Nick Nolte. So whenever the gang could get together to party, they would, and that seemed to be a lot. Things would usually get wild.

If this story is to have a true villain, it would have to be Preston Beckman, the Head of Scheduling. Beckman hated NewsRadio and bashed the show whenever he could and did all that was possible to kill it, including moving it all around the NBC schedule. Beckman once said of the show that he doesn’t know of any other hit sitcom where the characters are so mean to each other. Of course, he seemed to forget about the network’s biggest comedy, Seinfeld.

The actors branched out (as actors often do). Dave Foley worked on a movie in which he created and wrote called “The Wrong Guy.” It was a comedy about a man (Foley) who finds his boss dead and then believes people will think HE killed him. So he goes on the lam. Maura Tierney did a more well known movie with comedy superstar Jim Carrey called “Liar, Liar.” Vicki Lewis did a film called “Mousehunt” starring Nathan Lane.

During the third season, Stephen Root was cast in another comedy series. An animated show called King of the Hill on Fox. It was created by Beavis & Butthead creator Mike Judge. Root voiced Bill Dauterive and was able to do both network shows simultaneously. After all, Phil Hartman was able to make numerous appearances on The Simpsons as Troy McClure and Lionel Hutz, while still playing the pompous anchorman each week on NewsRadio

Mid-season, NBC added a new workplace comedy to the lineup and immediately promoted it more than they ever did NewsRadio. Just Shoot Me! was created by Steven Levitan who had worked on The Larry Sanders Show, just like Paul Simms. The comedy was similar to NewsRadio in that it had an ensemble cast working in an office (in this case for a magazine) with a goofy boss, a strong female and an SNL alum. Just Shoot Me! became a hit for the network and eventually landed a primo spot on Thursdays before the series ended its seven season run in 2003.

Andy Dick had a drug and alcohol problem. This was obvious to the entire cast and crew. It was also obvious to one guest star in particular. James Caan* did an episode and immediately took interest in Andy. As soon as they finished taping the episode, Caan grabbed Andy and said “You’re coming with me, kid.” He took Dick to AA. For this reason alone, Andy considers James Caan to be his most favorite guest star on the show and AA may have helped initially but he would soon return to his alcohol and drug addictions.

*(Because it’s AA, the identity of the guest star was bleeped out on the DVD commentary but it was obvious to me, through Andy’s impression, that it’s James Caan.)

A milestone was reached in 1997 as the fiftieth episode was produced (though it was broadcast as the 48th). SNL alum and best friend to Phil Hartman, Jon Lovitz guest starred as an inmate in the asylum Bill was sent to. The B-plot in the episode was taken from real life. NBC heads wanted Paul Simms to work in a wedding between two main characters on the show. Rather than do that, Simms had a plot of Jimmy wanting Lisa and Joe to fake an engagement on the air. This classic episode was rerun in Pop-Up Video style, with bubbles popping up through out the episode giving show trivia - a novelty at the time.

Ratings for NewsRadio were in the dumper. Each week, writer Josh Lieb would come to work wearing a t-shirt with the rating number on it. This would both amuse and depress the cast and crew, who couldn’t understand why such a great show was failing so miserably in the ratings. Staying true to themselves, whenever a real life situation would occur that felt right for the show, they included it. WNYX became a low-rated radio station with Dave and Jimmy working on ideas to improve the ratings. Comedian and star of Seinfeld, Jerry Seinfeld did his part to help out by playing himself in the episode titled “The Real Deal,” where Bill McNeal sees Seinfeld at a restaurant and tries to get an interview with him.

With nothing to lose and being in a pissy mood, Paul Simms gave an interview for “Rolling Stone” magazine… an interview that would live in infamy. At the time it looked like there was little hope for a fourth season renewal from the network. Simms answered a few questions using vulgarity, not thinking about consequences and not knowing that his words would be used verbatim. He bashed NBC and the scheduling and took aim at Preston Beckman. After the article was published, Simms prepared for the worst. As with other real-life behind-the-scenes situations, the whole interview ordeal became a plot for “Mistake.” In the episode, Dave had given an interview for a magazine where he bashed all of his co-workers and sponsors. He then had to make amends by handing out apology letters to the staff.

Paul Simms was planning a special fantasy episode, in which WNYX is a space ship in the future. This would be a special effects-laden episode that would not be shot in front of an audience. The conclusion of this episode saw the deaths of everyone but Bill and Matthew. Simms started to worry when NBC decided to air this as the season finale, instead of second-to-last, which was the original plan. The episode titled “Space” was broadcast on May 21 before a decision on the show’s fate had been announced.

On June 5, the “lost” episode titled “Injury” was finally broadcast, although it was heavily edited down from its original version. Could they be airing this episode so as to burn off the unaired episodes before cancelling the series?

As it turns out, the “Rolling Stone” article may have saved NewsRadio. Despite coming in 92nd place out of 162 network shows, Warren Littlefield agreed to renew the show for a fourth season and even move it back to its original Tuesday timeslot. Things were looking up for the staff of WNYX.

Adamantium · 10-13-2016, 11:21 AM

If there’s something you feel I should have included in the telling of this story please let me know. I’m trying to keep this short as opposed to being novel-sized but I still want to include all that I can.

One story I’d like to tell is the SAG awards one but I don’t know what year that happened, so I don’t know which chapter to put it in.

Adamantium · 10-13-2016, 01:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alan Brady's Hair

I don't really know anything about the production history. From what happened to Phil Hartman and what I've subsequently heard about Andy Dick, it might help not to know anything about the background to become a fan of the show.

Of all the shows to get those behind the scenes movies, I've always felt that NewsRadio should be at the top of that list... especially over Full House.

From what I've read and heard from the cast members in interviews and commentary is that they all got along, bonding over most of them being in bad relationships at the time, and pretty much keep in touch today (with the exception of Andy Dick and Jon Lovitz, who never liked each other). And people already know about Phil Hartman's murder and Andy Dick's drug addictions. So I'm just filling it in with all the other stuff. Which, I'm no expert, I'm just gathering information from the commentaries and online interviews and books such as the recent Phil Hartman biography and an old book about Showrunners, which interviewed Paul Simms during season five of NewsRadio when he was balancing that show and a new pilot he was making for NBC (which didn't get picked up).

10-12-2016, 05:27 PM	#1
Adamantium TVAdam No More Forum Veteran Join Date: Sep 11, 2002 Location: Springfield, Ohio Posts: 7,820	The NewsRadio Story - Chapter 4: A Turbulent Season Three (1996 - 1997) Chapter 4: The Turbulent Season Three (1996 - 1997) On September 18, 1996 the third season of NewsRadio debuted. It was the show’s first night in its new Wednesday time slot. Creatively, many fans consider season three to have some of the best episodes, but ratings-wise, this is where it all falls apart. Its main competition was the wildly successful ABC sitcom The Drew Carey Show, which was in its second season. The first episode, titled “President,” besides focusing on Jimmy James running for President of the United States just to meet women, saw a slight shift of focus from Dave and Lisa’s relationship to more of the zaniness of the staff. Paul Simms wanted to get away from it always being about the couple, and even had Dave Nelson address this by telling Joe that while yes he and Lisa are back together, they don’t want to make a big deal about it. One high note behind the scenes was the fact that Tom Cherones, the cast and crew’s favorite director, was at the helm for twenty of that season’s twenty-four episodes. They no longer had to deal with a “director of the week.” While being a calm presence on the set, Cherones was also good at keeping the cast in line when he would occasionally bark at them to stop goofing off and focus on the work. The cast and crew loved each other. They spent more time with each other than they did their own families. Much of that had to do with the dysfunctional relationships they were all in. Dave had gone through a nasty divorce. Stephen was also in a divorce. Phil was dealing with jealous and sometimes cruel Brynn. Vicki had problems with her alcoholic live-in boyfriend, actor Nick Nolte. So whenever the gang could get together to party, they would, and that seemed to be a lot. Things would usually get wild. If this story is to have a true villain, it would have to be Preston Beckman, the Head of Scheduling. Beckman hated NewsRadio and bashed the show whenever he could and did all that was possible to kill it, including moving it all around the NBC schedule. Beckman once said of the show that he doesn’t know of any other hit sitcom where the characters are so mean to each other. Of course, he seemed to forget about the network’s biggest comedy, Seinfeld. The actors branched out (as actors often do). Dave Foley worked on a movie in which he created and wrote called “The Wrong Guy.” It was a comedy about a man (Foley) who finds his boss dead and then believes people will think HE killed him. So he goes on the lam. Maura Tierney did a more well known movie with comedy superstar Jim Carrey called “Liar, Liar.” Vicki Lewis did a film called “Mousehunt” starring Nathan Lane. During the third season, Stephen Root was cast in another comedy series. An animated show called King of the Hill on Fox. It was created by Beavis & Butthead creator Mike Judge. Root voiced Bill Dauterive and was able to do both network shows simultaneously. After all, Phil Hartman was able to make numerous appearances on The Simpsons as Troy McClure and Lionel Hutz, while still playing the pompous anchorman each week on NewsRadio Mid-season, NBC added a new workplace comedy to the lineup and immediately promoted it more than they ever did NewsRadio. Just Shoot Me! was created by Steven Levitan who had worked on The Larry Sanders Show, just like Paul Simms. The comedy was similar to NewsRadio in that it had an ensemble cast working in an office (in this case for a magazine) with a goofy boss, a strong female and an SNL alum. Just Shoot Me! became a hit for the network and eventually landed a primo spot on Thursdays before the series ended its seven season run in 2003. Andy Dick had a drug and alcohol problem. This was obvious to the entire cast and crew. It was also obvious to one guest star in particular. James Caan* did an episode and immediately took interest in Andy. As soon as they finished taping the episode, Caan grabbed Andy and said “You’re coming with me, kid.” He took Dick to AA. For this reason alone, Andy considers James Caan to be his most favorite guest star on the show and AA may have helped initially but he would soon return to his alcohol and drug addictions. (Because it’s AA, the identity of the guest star was bleeped out on the DVD commentary but it was obvious to me, through Andy’s impression, that it’s James Caan.) A milestone was reached in 1997 as the fiftieth episode was produced (though it was broadcast as the 48th). SNL* alum and best friend to Phil Hartman, Jon Lovitz guest starred as an inmate in the asylum Bill was sent to. The B-plot in the episode was taken from real life. NBC heads wanted Paul Simms to work in a wedding between two main characters on the show. Rather than do that, Simms had a plot of Jimmy wanting Lisa and Joe to fake an engagement on the air. This classic episode was rerun in Pop-Up Video style, with bubbles popping up through out the episode giving show trivia - a novelty at the time. Ratings for NewsRadio were in the dumper. Each week, writer Josh Lieb would come to work wearing a t-shirt with the rating number on it. This would both amuse and depress the cast and crew, who couldn’t understand why such a great show was failing so miserably in the ratings. Staying true to themselves, whenever a real life situation would occur that felt right for the show, they included it. WNYX became a low-rated radio station with Dave and Jimmy working on ideas to improve the ratings. Comedian and star of Seinfeld, Jerry Seinfeld did his part to help out by playing himself in the episode titled “The Real Deal,” where Bill McNeal sees Seinfeld at a restaurant and tries to get an interview with him. With nothing to lose and being in a pissy mood, Paul Simms gave an interview for “Rolling Stone” magazine… an interview that would live in infamy. At the time it looked like there was little hope for a fourth season renewal from the network. Simms answered a few questions using vulgarity, not thinking about consequences and not knowing that his words would be used verbatim. He bashed NBC and the scheduling and took aim at Preston Beckman. After the article was published, Simms prepared for the worst. As with other real-life behind-the-scenes situations, the whole interview ordeal became a plot for “Mistake.” In the episode, Dave had given an interview for a magazine where he bashed all of his co-workers and sponsors. He then had to make amends by handing out apology letters to the staff. Paul Simms was planning a special fantasy episode, in which WNYX is a space ship in the future. This would be a special effects-laden episode that would not be shot in front of an audience. The conclusion of this episode saw the deaths of everyone but Bill and Matthew. Simms started to worry when NBC decided to air this as the season finale, instead of second-to-last, which was the original plan. The episode titled “Space” was broadcast on May 21 before a decision on the show’s fate had been announced. On June 5, the “lost” episode titled “Injury” was finally broadcast, although it was heavily edited down from its original version. Could they be airing this episode so as to burn off the unaired episodes before cancelling the series? As it turns out, the “Rolling Stone” article may have saved NewsRadio. Despite coming in 92nd place out of 162 network shows, Warren Littlefield agreed to renew the show for a fourth season and even move it back to its original Tuesday timeslot. Things were looking up for the staff of WNYX.
	Last edited by Adamantium; 03-07-2018 at 09:42 AM.

10-13-2016, 11:21 AM	#2
Adamantium TVAdam No More Forum Veteran Join Date: Sep 11, 2002 Location: Springfield, Ohio Posts: 7,820	If there’s something you feel I should have included in the telling of this story please let me know. I’m trying to keep this short as opposed to being novel-sized but I still want to include all that I can. One story I’d like to tell is the SAG awards one but I don’t know what year that happened, so I don’t know which chapter to put it in.