News Radio - The Complete Fifth Season
Picture:
C+ Sound: C+ Extras: C+ Episodes: C+
Open your
eyes and tune your ears for The Complete
Fifth and Final Season of News Radio! This season of the at times hilarious comedy
starts off on a bit of a downer, addressing the unexpected death of the
character Bill McNeal. Bill McNeal was
played by Simpsons and Saturday Night Live alum Phil Hartman,
who also tragically died in real life as well.
In a way to replace Hartman’s character the series introduced the new
character Max Louis, who was played by another Saturday Night Live alum, Jon
Lovitz. Though Jon Lovitz does breathe
some new life into the series with his obnoxious kookiness, he just could not
fill the shoes of the talented Phil Hartman.
For those new to the series don’t worry it is a simple sitcom with no
deep back plot. The show is from the
creator of the HBO hit The Larry Sanders
Show, Paul Simms.
The basic
premise is that there is an unusually unique group of characters who work in a
New York City news station and when you put them all in the same place, chaos
is bound to happen. The show stars Dave
Foley (Kids In The Hall, reviewed
elsewhere on this site) as the station manager, Maura Tierney (ER) as a news personality but more so Dave
Foley’s love interest, Andy Dick (Andy
Dick Show) as a news personality but more so a flippin’ weirdo, Joe Rogan (Fear Factor) as the office handyman,
and many more. Besides the cast regulars
News Radio was always good for having guest stars and this season is no
different with Patrick Warburton (Seinfeld
and Venture Bros.) and the
classic Adam West (Batman) making
appearances. Overall, this last season
was probably the worst season of the series, the death of Phil Hartman most
definitely taking a toll on the cast.
Though it is not the best season The
Complete Fifth Season of News Radio has
it moments of gut-busting humor for fans to enjoy.
The
technical aspects of this TV on DVD release are basic and the most common for
this type of release. The picture is
presented in a 1.33 X 1 Full Screen format that is slightly better than the
syndicated copies of the episodes on television today. The picture quality does vary from time to
time having a slight fuzziness occasionally and some color issues. The sound is in your basic Dolby Digital 2.0
Stereo that does contain high/low errors, but overall adequate. The extras are somewhat disappointing for a
final season release. Extras include a
Gag Reel and some deleted scenes that are understandably deleted. It would have been nice for the DVD to contain
an ‘In Memory of Phil Hartman’
segment with cast interviews and such, but sadly there is none.
In the
end, if you purchased Seasons 1-4 this is a no brainer, pick it up. For new comers to the series stick with the
older Phil Hartman episodes.
- Michael P Dougherty II
