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NewsRadio: season 3, episode 23, 24 & 25
"Mistake," "Space," "Injury"
August 18, 2009 - 11:08a.m.
Here at the end of Season 3, our final episodes look both backwards and forwards. In the backwards camp is "Injury," an episode filmed as part of season 2 but not aired until the following year due to conflicts with ... -
NewsRadio: season 3, episode 21 & 22
"Sleeping" and "The Real Deal"
August 11, 2009 - 06:08a.m.
It's the penultimate NewsRadio post for this summer -- three big episodes to close out season 3 next week! -- and it's time to explore that most forbidden of dynamics, the Dave-Jimmy relationship. There they are together in "Sleeping," Dave ... -
NewsRadio: season 3, episode 19 & 20
"Office Feud" and "Our Fiftieth Episode"
August 4, 2009 - 11:08a.m.
Let us now praise Bill McNeal. Yes, of course Phil Hartman plays him with singular genius -- we'll get to that. But this week's two episodes provide an unusually clear portrait of a truly multi-faceted character. If he were ... -
NewsRadio: season 3, episode 17 & 18
"Airport" and "Twins"
July 28, 2009 - 11:07a.m.
_jpg_595x1000_q85.jpg "reconciling logical paradoxes")
There are no rules in comedy. Or so it seems after this week's two episodes, which stand expectations on their heads.Rule #1: United we stand, divided we fall. Don't separate the ensemble, people. We're seen it ... -
NewsRadio: season 3, episode 15 & 16
"Rose Bowl" and "Kids"
July 21, 2009 - 11:07a.m.
_jpg_595x1000_q85.jpg "so the guy has an insatiable appetite for hardcore porn, so what?")
This week is a study in contrasts. In this corner: "Kids," perhaps my husband's favorite NewsRadio episode ever. In that corner: "Rose Bowl," an episode so crushingly mediocre that I have no recollection of ever seeing it before, despite ... -
NewsRadio: season 3, episode 13 & 14
"Led Zeppelin Boxed Set" and "Complaint Box"
July 14, 2009 - 11:07a.m.
For years, I thought it was the buzzer. The buzzer that Joe installs on the complaint box because Dave tells him not to put a bell on it. The sound of that buzzer, insistently repeating while Dave tries to have ...
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NewsRadio: season 3, episode 11 & 12
"Trainer" and "Rap"
July 7, 2009 - 11:07a.m.
If I were a better TV Clubber Classic (TV Club Classicker?), I would use today's entry to kick off a seven-part series on the deadly sins as expressed by NewsRadio. But since it's just me, I'll settle ...
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NewsRadio: season 3, episode 9 & 10
"Stocks" and "Christmas"
June 30, 2009 - 11:06a.m.
Ah, holidays in sitcom land. Networks demand themed episodes. And generally they're lame. In fact, I approached "Christmas" without much excitement, possibly because "Stocks" is a bit on the choppy side. But it turns out this is the rare ...
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NewsRadio: season 3, episode 7 & 8
"Daydream" and "Movie Star"
June 23, 2009 - 11:06a.m.
Today's pair of episodes raises an interesting question: What is NewsRadio's attitude toward television? Where does it believe that it fits, and how is it trying to reshape the mold of television to create its own unique niche ... -
NewsRadio: season 3, episode 5 & 6
"Halloween" and "Awards Show"
June 16, 2009 - 10:06a.m.
“Your last name is Garelli?”
Bill's scene-capping line, tossed out after Joe appears unexpectedly turned out in a suave tux imitating James Bond, turns out to be the most quotable moment in an episode full of high-concept humor and ... -
NewsRadio: season 3, episode 3 & 4
"Massage Chair" and "Arcade"
June 9, 2009 - 11:06a.m.
I'm swayed by cuteness. And I'm not afraid to admit it. It's a good thing that NewsRadio has so much objective greatness, because if it were a lesser show I would probably cut it way too much ... -
NewsRadio: season 3, episode 1 & 2
"President" and "Review"
June 2, 2009 - 10:06a.m.
Welcome, summer! Your brilliant sunshine warms us. Your high humidity and UV index threaten us with heat stroke and melanoma, respectively. Best of all, you bring us back to TV Club Classic. I'll be revisiting NewsRadio's third season ... -
NewsRadio: season 2, episode 19, 20 & 21
"Presence," "Coda," and "Led Zeppelin II"
September 2, 2008 - 11:09a.m.
They say you should always try to go out on a high note. And so it's fortunate that in the last few weeks of this summer edition of TV Club Classic, Newsradio has been hitting the sweet spot consistently ... -
NewsRadio: season 2, episode 16, 17 & 18
"Houses Of The Holy," "Physical Graffiti," "Led Zeppelin"
August 26, 2008 - 12:08p.m.
When a sitcom is clicking on all cylinders, it doesn't even need much of a concept to be funny, fresh, and inventive. A couple of timeless gag structures, a little commitment to timing and staging, and the energy of ... -
NewsRadio: season 2, episode 14 & 15
"The Song Remains The Same" and "Zoso"
August 19, 2008 - 11:08a.m.
Like it or not, Newsradio became increasingly disconnected from reality as the series went on. Personally, I'm in the "like it? no -- love it!" camp. Why quibble about whether a sitcom, one of the most artificial theatrical conventions this ... -
NewsRadio: season 2, episode 12 & 13
"Bitch Session" and "In Through The Out Door"
August 12, 2008 - 11:08a.m.
Attention Classic Clubbers: Your Newsradio schedule will soon accelerate in order to complete Season 2 by September 2. Supersized posts (three episodes!) are coming for the final two weeks.
And that means I've got to practice leaner, meaner posting ... -
NewsRadio: season 2, episode 10&11
"Xmas Story" and "Station Sale"
August 5, 2008 - 11:08a.m.
Seventeen episodes into its lifespan, and Newsradio has really hit its stride. Today's two episodes are top-shelf stuff, and they illustrate what it means for a television show to be great overall, not just a collection of its greatest ... -
NewsRadio: season 2, episode 8&9
"The Negotiation" and "The Cane"
July 29, 2008 - 12:07p.m.
"Bill ... I stole your cane."
For many of us, clearly, it's the epitome of Newsradio-style comedy. We've been cackling about it in the comments since the very first episode. Here's the set-up: Dave has insisted for ... -
NewsRadio: season 2, episode 6&7
"Friends" and "Bill's Autobiography"
July 22, 2008 - 12:07p.m.
Let's subtitle this week: "A Study In Contrasts." Because the whims of the two-at-a-time schedule have thrown up a draggy, dreggy episode and a solid near-classic for our consideration, we can put them side by side and see what ... -
NewsRadio: season 2, episode 4&5
"The Breakup" and "The Shrink"
July 15, 2008 - 01:07p.m.
You know when you rave about a TV show to your friends or co-workers, and they come back in a few days and say, "Yeah, I tuned in, but I couldn't see what's so special about it," and ... -
NewsRadio: season 2, episode 2&3
"Goofy Ball" and "Rat Funeral"
July 8, 2008 - 10:07a.m.
They could've called it "Models," or "Bill's Stalker." But they called it "Goofy Ball," and a legend was born. On the other hand, they couldn't have called our second episode anything but "Rat Funeral," because absolutely nothing ... -
NewsRadio: season 1&2, episode 7&1
"Sweeps Week" and "NTINBEOJL"
July 1, 2008 - 11:07a.m.
Two years ago -- back when we thought 100 comments on an article was a stratospheric, shoot-the-moon kind of event -- the A.V. Club ran a feature on Simpsons quotations that are useful in everyday life. Maybe while we're hiding ... -
NewsRadio: season 1, episode 5&6
"Big Day" and "Luncheon At The Waldorf"
June 24, 2008 - 10:06a.m.
It was May 2, 1995 when I first knew that I loved Newsradio. That was the night when I sat on my crummy couch in my two-bedroom furnished apartment and watched "Big Day." And although the pilot and "Smoking" had ... -
NewsRadio: season 1, episode 3&4
"Smoking" and "The Crisis"
June 17, 2008 - 06:06a.m.
... And here's where my high expectations begin to get me into trouble.
I was jazzed by the unexpected riches and already-crisp pacing of the first two episodes of the series. And look, here comes "Smoking," one that we all ... -
NewsRadio: season 1, episode 1 & 2
"Pilot" and "Inappropriate"
June 10, 2008 - 07:06a.m.
As Noel proves on a weekly basis in Popless, your life history is inextricably tied to your aesthetic judgments. So it's with some trepidation that we revisit the art, literature, and pop culture that we loved years ago. Will ...
