Customer Reviews

Newsradio - The Complete Third Season

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

It's a good time for NewsRadio fans. The release of the first and second seasons in May of 2005 was a dream come true (not associated with Dream Come True Garage Door Openers). As nice as it is to have just the episodes on DVD format, the set included a gag reel, a short featurette and best of all, around 20 commentary tracks from the likes of Paul Simms, Dave Foley, Stephen Root, Maura Tierney, Andy Dick, and the rest of the cast and writers that are still around (Phil Hartman and Drake Sather have both died since the show). Although some fans complained about the video quality (which wasn't great, but was more than acceptable to me), the DVD set was a truly incredible release.

Well, the news has come in, and season 3 is coming out at the end of February (and hopefully that date will not be changed). NewsRadio's third season was when one of, if not the greatest comedy show was at it's prime (which is really the first four seasons, but 3 and 4 are out of the park). I was worried due to the time lapse between DVD releases, which makes it even better news that there will be ten more commentaries, another gag reel, and multiple featurettes (that all sound a bit better than the one included on the first set).

Some of my all time favorite episodes are here...
President - Where Mr. James runs for President and Matthew grow a moustache.

Arcade - Star Gate Defender, SATs and moldy sandwiches.
Daydream - Heat induced hallucinations plague the office.

Movie Star - James Caan visits WNYX and finds out what make Bill McNeil tick.

The Trainer - Dave turns out to be Canadian and the office is shocked. Meanwhile, Bill enrolls at the Ted Chambers gym where he has to deal with the money grubbing antics of Ben Stiller.

Rap - Bill is enraged to find out that Rap music not only has lyrics, but that they are offensive and readily available to the children and the elderly.

Complaint Box - A favorite among anyone who has seen it.

Airport - Dave and Bill are snowed in at an airport in the midwest. One of my all time top five episodes.

The Real Deal - Bill McNeil; Meet Jerry Seinfeld.

Space - What would NewsRadio be like in Outer Space? The answers in this episode.

Every single episode here, all 25, are great. There isn't one that falls below the line of excellence. The ones I listed are just a few personal favorites. The episodes that will have commentary tracks (from everybody again), will be Arcade, Stocks, Daydream, Christmas, The Trainer, Rose Bowl, Our 50th Episode, Sleeping, Mistake and Space. I for one am looking forward to these commentaries almost as much as I am to having the episodes. The other extras include a gag reel (I think), Space: From Table Read to Film, A Visit to Andy's Trailer and Joe Furey's One Man NewsRadio. This promises to be an amazing release.

I am a big Newsradio fan. But in what you expect from a DVD in terms of extras, this third season DVD is far inferior to the DVD for the first two seasons. There are only commentaries for 10 of the 25 episodes; the first DVD had 20 commentaries for 29 episodes. But the quality of the commenatries has completely collapsed. Most are just rambling messes. Quite often, the commentators have no idea about which episode they're commenting on. In one case, Maura Tierney has to be contacted by phone for her contribution. Of course, she can't even see what she's commenting on so someone has to describe it to her. The first DVD's commentary sounded like the participants cared about the program. You don't get that sense of pride in this DVD. And that's a real shame because Newsradio deserves better than these throwaway commentaries.

I bought the third season of newsradio two days after it came out on DVD. I was excited when I got home thinking I will have about a day and half worth of episodes, and a great gag reel, and some great commentary. I wasnt wrong about the first part. I love Newsradio episodes, the outer space one was hysterical. The tie in to the older movies, and the whole spaz thing were great. The episodes never fail to amuse me.

I loved the gag reel, I always find that amusing.

The commentary I would give half of a star. I thought the commentary was going to be like Seasons 1 and 2, and I kept my expectations high, only to fall flat on my face after hearing the first two. They were horrible and completely unorganized. And I am a huge Maura Tierney fan, and I loved her commentary during season 1 and 2, and I was horribly dissapointed to hear her phone commentary. I was glad that I did get to hear her commentary, and the creative way of having her comment, but it was dissapointing that someone messed up her scheduling, and she couldnt be there. It was amusing and funny, but I wish there would have been more. so I guess I will have to wait until next season to see whether or not they can hold themselves together.

By the third season, the cast of Newsradio was in full throttle. The chemistry was working well, the timing was great, and the writing up to its usual excellence. This season features some of the best Newsradio episodes. Pure comedy based on character interactions; no frilly pranks.
I recommend everyone preorder this dvd to support the release of Season 4.

I can hardly wait for the 3rd season to come out, in fact I can't wait to own the entire series. Dave Foley is excellent and is still underrated to this day. Stephen Root, who is gradually getting more and more roles, but not near as many as he should, shines as Jimmy James, the owner of WNYX. And who could ever forget Phil Hartman as Bill McNeil - maybe his most memorable character ever.

Also, what is quite possibly the great 30-minute sitcom episode of all time will be in this box set. This episode is the one with Bill and Dave stuck in the St. Louis Airport. Classic. You will want to watch it over and over. The episode where Jimmy James runs for president is another NewsRadio Classic as well.

If you are only going to buy one TV series, or even one DVD, then this is THE one to buy. In fact, it is a must own.

Newsradio boasts an excellent cast backed up by fantastic writing. The show never resorts to miscommunication-driven plots I hate so much about most sit-coms. All the stories are well plotted out and remain true to each character. The writers really let loose in this third season. I laughed out loud at least once an episode, and I'm not the type of person who normally laughs out loud. If you have to own only one season of Newsradio... pick up the season 1-2 set for story reasons, but I promise if you buy that one you'll want to buy this.

FINALLY is all I have to say, my brother, my boyfriend and I will all sleep a lot better with these videos in our possessions! The first & second season discs have been in my DVD player since I bought them last year, esp. b/c I don't have cable and lately all I've been thinking is "When are the other seasons coming out...". FINALLY! This sitcom was and is the greatest thing shown on TV, in my opinion. I'm going to have something to look forward to - I'm so excited!

The first two seasons were great, and I can't wait for the third. The writing is superb, and the characters work very well together. This is probably the best (and most underrated) cast ever assembled for a sitcom. Dave Foley is nominally the star, and does a good job, but Hartman steals the show. Maura Tierney, Stephen Root, etc. are all very talented as well. Andy Dick, who I find very annoying generally, is perfectly cast as Matthew, an equally annoying member of the radio station's staff.

If one sitcom is worth owning on DVD, this is the one.

For all the people out there who argue that "Friends," "Seinfeld" or "Everybody Loves Raymond" are the best sitcoms, you really need to take a look at "NewsRadio." The combination of absurdity, slapstick, and creativity that go into every episode make this the funniest TV show of the 90's, if not of all time.
The show really starts to pick up steam in season 3 (actually, the second half of season 2 as well) and seasons 3 and 4 are the best by far. Thanks Sony, for continuing to release this great show!

Newsradio got better every year it was on, except the 5th season of course, but the 5th and last was still very good. Season 3 was really the breakout. When you have great comedic actors like Andy Dick and Phil Hartman you need to let them let loose. Luckily this is a showcase for them. You never know what they are going to do as they do something even crazier every episode. One of the highlights is the 'Daydream' episode. And do we really need to know what Bill(Phil Hartman) dreams about? Oh yes! James Caan comes to observe Bill for a movie role in the episode 'Movie Star' only he finds Matthew(Andy Dick) much more interesting. In 'The Trainer' Bill goes to a gym so that guest star Ben Stiller can rip him off in an early acting performance from him. In 'Rap' Joe(Rogan) charges Bill $20 to fix his car stereo. He turns the treble up and Bill learns that there are lyrics to rap music! This of course causes Bill to go on-air with his anti-rap speeches. Other Bill adventures include him going to a mental hospital, getting stuck in an airport with Dave(Foley) near Dave's hometown, and falling in love with a 90 year old woman. Matthew's twin brother comes to visit and then you can't miss it when Matthew let's it be known he is a virgin.

Matthew and Bill are not the only ones who go crazy though. This whole office is completely pyscho. In 'Arcade' Dave goes crazy when his favorite video game from his childhood comes right into his office. And it is not Dave's fault when he goes crazy. When he puts up a complaint box this results in somebody putting a complaint in whenever he isn't looking. Lisa(Maura Tierney), and Beth(Vicki Lewis) help try to keep the office under control but they definitely have mental health problems as well. Catherine(Khandi Alexander) has the most limited role out of the cast but she is still hilarious and good eye candy. Then you have the crazy billionaire Jimmy James(Stephen Root) who owns the radio station and that probably best explains why there is hardly ever radio stuff going on.

Newsradio is one of my top 5 favorite shows ever right up there with 'Taxi', 'Batman: the Animated Series', and 'The Office'. It is a show where you can watch the episodes over and over again which is way too rare.

I haven't thought the special features have been all that good for seasons 1-4, but I guess this was the best(hopefully they have something really special planned for season 5). Unlike the season 4, we get Andy Dick and Dave Foley to help on the commentaries. The real treat is seeing Andy Dick in his trailer during Season 3. When we open the door he has to hide his pipe and as you can imagine, it gets pretty crazy from there. 2 other great special features are showing rehearsels and filming of the 'Space' episode and then a look at the filming of 'Mistake'. There is also a very short Newsradio film that the producers made. All of the featurettes have commentaries too which was really cool.