TV SERIES · 1995– · USA
NewsRadio
67 archived facts 7 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (67)
- #001
Filming of 'Bill Moves On' (1998), the first episode shot after Phil Hartman's death, had to be halted several times because the cast kept crying.
- #002
Maura Tierney was added to the cast one day before the pilot was shot.
- #003
Over the series' five-year run, viewers never learn Beth's last name. When asked in the final season, Beth says she doesn't have one.
- #004
In the final season, a photograph of the late Phil Hartman can be seen in Dave Nelson's office.
- #005
The cast of "NewsRadio" was banned from the SAG Awards after appearing once because of their bad behavior. They took off their shoes, stole wine from other tables, and Andy Dick allegedly asked for Helen Hunt's penis autograph.
- #006
In every season it aired, the series came close to being canceled.
- #007
Jon Lovitz appeared as three different characters: 1. as a mental patient who befriends Bill McNeal in a guest appearance, 2. as a suicidal man perched on the ledge outside Dave's window in a guest appearance, 3. as Max Lewis, a radio DJ who had worked a few dozen jobs in his past but was hired largely to replace the late Bill McNeal because he had once worked with him. Lovitz said he took the role to honor the memory of his close friend, the late Phil Hartman. Andy Dick was reportedly mean to Lovitz during his regular season on the show, but the rest of the cast praised Lovitz (though they weren't that close) for stepping into a terrible situation and doing a good job.
- #008
During the credits, Dave Foley's name is shown over the twin towers of the World Trade Center. The towers had rather uncommon nicknames, 'David' and 'Nelson', after the Rockefeller brothers. Foley's character is named Dave Nelson. According to series creator Paul Simms, this is just a coincidence.
- #009
Dave Foley, Andy Dick and Stephen Root are the only actors who appear in all 97 episodes of the series.
- #010
In the pilot episode, the room that served as the production studio became the break room for the rest of the series (except for Episode 4).
- #011
Jon Lovitz refuses to talk about the series in interviews because of the circumstances under which he joined the regular cast.
- #012
During the series' first few years, Phil Hartman was asked several times whether he had considered playing a character on a weekly series; he had previously played various different characters on SNL (and was named the member with the most appearances). Hartman said he felt there was an 'upside' to it, since if you stay with a series you can keep exploring more 'dimensions' of a character.
- #013
Stephen Root (Jimmy James) didn't much like his character becoming a buffoon in later seasons. When the character was first introduced in the pilot, he had preferred his mysterious level of intelligence. Root has since taken 'recurring' roles in various TV series, but later made an exception to have a 'normal' role with Barry (2018).
- #014
The third and fourth season finales were a special event called 'What If?'. The first episode depicted the news team on a futuristic space station, the second depicted them on the 'Titanic' (a play on the film, which was a big hit at the time). Phil Hartman (sitting in the studio chair) hosted the opening and closing of both. There was none in the fifth season.
- #015
Ray Romano was originally cast in the role of the handyman, but was fired.
- #016
After Phil Hartman's tragic death, Rob Schneider was considered to replace him before Jon Lovitz was brought into the cast.
- #017
The series has a running joke about people not knowing that Joe's character's last name is "Garrelli."
- #018
The fifth season finale ended with most of the staff moving to New Hampshire, leaving Dave Nelson behind at the radio station. The series was still 'on the bubble' for a sixth season, but it never happened due to extremely low ratings.
- #019
Some episodes of NewsRadio are named after Led Zeppelin albums.
- #020
One of the series' running jokes is that Bill frequently misquotes a famous saying and Dave usually corrects him.
- #021
Sarah Silverman and Mary Lynn Rajskub both auditioned for the role of secretary Beth.
- #022
Much of Dave Nelson's personality is based on Foley himself, particularly his coffee addiction and his love of the sitcom Green Acres (1965).
- #023
In a recent interview during a fraud case, Dave Foley said that if the series were revived, he would want it to be about Dave and Lisa stuck in the radio building with nowhere else to live. He also stated, however, that a revival could only go ahead if original creator Paul Simms were involved or approved it.
- #024
Creator and showrunner Paul Simms was 29 years old when the series first went into production.
- #025
The opening sequence of the fourth season (showing the cast) was actually filmed in New York City, the only part of the series shot in the city where it is set.
- #026
Several cast members said they felt much of the series 'died' with Phil Hartman, and that working on it after his tragic death never felt the same as it had during the first 3.5 seasons.
- #027
In the episode 'The Real Deal (1997)', Jerry Seinfeld, while talking to Bill McNeal, accidentally says Phil instead of Bill. Bill is played by Phil Hartman. The script has Jerry calling Bill by the wrong name, Phil.
- #028
WNYX is at 585 on your AM dial.
- #029
When the series began, Phil Hartman, the best-known cast member thanks to his work on SNL, insisted on "and" billing in the opening titles rather than the highest billing (which went to Dave Foley), because he thought he did not want to be the one blamed if the series failed.
- #030
Throughout the series, Bill McNeal (Phil Hartman) hosted two idea-based shows at WNYX. Season 2, Episode 22 ("The Injury") centers on Bill's first show, titled 'The McNeal Perspective.' A third-season episode (The Real Deal) features an idea/interview-based show titled 'The Real Deal with Bill McNeal,' which was used for the rest of NewsRadio's run.
- #031
For the fourth season, it was decided that the intro would include the cast members' names alongside images/footage of them. This was largely because, over the first three seasons, TV viewers had trouble matching the names of the series' regulars to their faces; the exception for most was Phil Hartman, already famous for his stint on SNL.
- #032
Phil Hartman's tragic death on May 28, 1998, during the hiatus between the series' fourth and fifth seasons, caused a crisis. Rather than end the series abruptly, the showrunners decided to ultimately scrap the scripts they had planned and wrote Hartman's character, Bill McNeal, to die of natural causes (a heart attack) so that the cast, along with the characters' regulars, could 'move on' after the tragedy. Unfortunately, they lasted only one more season.
- #033
Khandi Alexander reportedly left the series early in the fourth season (on normal terms), largely because she wanted to try more drama and also because several crew members commented that her character was the least functional in the ensemble.
- #034
Two episodes of the series feature a special title sequence centered on Matthew Brock, played by Andy Dick. The first (Season 4's 'The Public Domain') shows Joe placing Matthew in a dumpster outside the building where WNYX is located. The second (Season 4's 'The Secret of Management') shows Matthew outside NBC's Today studio trying to get Katie Couric's and Matt Lauer's attention.
- #035
Ironically, when the fifth season was being chosen, shortly before Phil Hartman's murder, the writers had planned a series of fantasy scenes in which Bill McNeal would die. After the tragedy, the scripts had to be cancelled entirely.
- #036
Although Stephen Root displays a Southern charm in the role of Jimmy James, some viewers of the series are surprised when they learn his natural voice.
- #037
Dave Foley, Andy Dick and Stephen Root appear in every episode of the series (97). Maura Tierney appears in all but one, Joe Rogan in all but two, and Vicki Lewis in all but three. Phil Hartman appeared in every episode until his tragic death during the hiatus between the series' fourth and fifth seasons.
- #038
It is believed that the series' title alone would not draw many people to watch the show and think it was a sitcom (especially when looking at a TV guide book or channel). Also, like many programs, this one kept changing time slots throughout its NBC run, which made it hard for viewers to 'follow' it. However, it has since become a cult hit in reruns or online streaming.
- #039
During the casting process, creator Paul Simms and his team wrote the regular roles for Phil Hartman, Dave Foley and Andy Dick (and additionally considered Andy Dick as a person named 'Matthew', 'Dave' with the same name, and 'Bill' rhyming with 'Phil'). The other four regular roles at the time ('Lisa', 'Beth', 'Catherine', 'Jimmy James') were cast from actors who auditioned.
- #040
Dave Foley was known on set as the only actor who could remember the entire script after a single read-through. This was because of the dyslexia he dealt with as a student by saying things out loud to remember them more easily.
- #041
After Phil Hartman was killed by his wife, most of the cast and crew felt they should end the series, even though the network wanted them to continue. The actors gathered at Paul Simms's house for the funeral, and director Tom Cherones said that Phil's wife had taken him from them, and they should not let her take the series too. They then decided to continue for one more season. However, many cast members later said that the final season did not feel like the series had once been with Phil Hartman.
- #042
WNYX is said to be located in the Criterion Building, which should be at 58th Street & Madison Avenue. However, the building used for the exterior shots of the fictional Criterion Building is actually 1450 Broadway, located at 41st Street and Broadway.
- #043
Khandi Alexander once stated in an interview that she thought of her and Phil Hartman's characters as 'Oprah Winfrey' and 'Phil Donahue' respectively (because Hartman had famously impersonated Donahue on 'SNL' and their characters were news anchors).
- #044
In a long retrospective several years after the series ended, the actors recalled where they were when they heard the news of Phil Hartman's murder. Joe Rogan heard it when a friend called him at home. Khandi Alexander was at the gym, and when she got home her answering machine was full of messages about the event. Maura Tierney was shooting a film in New York and heard the news on the radio of the taxi she was in. Dave Foley was shooting a film in Toronto, and when he left the set his manager called and asked how he wanted to handle the press. Foley asked why, what had happened, and received the tragic news.
- #045
Dave Nelson (Dave Foley) appears in both the first and last scenes/shots of the series.
- #046
On your AM dial, WNYX is at 585, but no AM radio station in New York frequencies ends in "5". They all end in zeros.
- #047
From Season 2 onward, the Station Manager's office door is no longer glass with blinds. From that point on it is a solid wooden door.
- #048
Before Khandi Alexander and Phil Hartman were cast on NewsRadio, the two had appeared in the cult classic film CB4 (1993), starring Chris Rock, and in Greedy (1994), starring Michael J. Fox.
- #049
In several episodes, Bill McNeal does various voices or celebrity impressions, a natural talent Phil Hartman also had.
- #050
Five of the six male actors (including Jon Lovitz) appeared as guest stars on the sitcom Just Shoot Me! (1997); the exception is Phil Hartman (largely because he survived only a little over a year while the sitcom was on the air).
- #051
Maura Tierney and Khandi Alexander were both in the regular and recurring cast of ER (1994).
- #052
There turned out to be a 'Mandela effect' at the time, with many viewers misremembering/believing that actor/comedian Kathy Griffin was a regular on this series. The actress was Vicki Lewis, who physically resembles Griffin. Coincidentally, both were born in the same year (1960), and Griffin played a character named 'Vicki' on the sitcom "Suddenly Susan", which aired during many of the same years as "NewsRadio".
- #053
According to creator Paul Simms's DVD commentary, director James Burrows, an experienced TV director, tried to persuade Simms to spread the romance between Lisa and David gradually over several episodes. However, Simms decided to have the relationship begin more quickly and then figure out how to keep it hidden from the rest of the station staff.
- #054
Phil Hartman was known on set for scripts marked with color-coded tabs across all his scenes and lines, along with other notations indicating how he wanted each line read.
- #055
Apart from Lisa, who married near the end of season 5, none of the main characters were married for most of the show's run. In real life, four of the cast members had deeply troubled marriages. Stephen Root divorced after the second season. Dave Foley was known to have a troubled marriage and also divorced near the end of season 2. Maura Tierney eventually divorced in 2006 but remained close friends with her ex-husband. Phil Hartman had the worst marriage, due to his wife's drug habits and constant fighting, and on 28 May 1998 she killed Hartman and then herself.
- #056
Dave Foley and Phil Hartman were both born in Canada.
- #057
Phil Hartman and Jon Lovitz had previously been Saturday Night Live (1975) regulars. Only a few SNL alumni appeared on the series as guest stars, however, one of them being Norm MacDonald.
- #058
Although numerous US politicians were mentioned or spoofed (including Bill Clinton, Bob Dole, Leon Panetta, Al Gore and Madeleine Albright), none of them (or political figures in general) appeared on the show as guest stars (though in one episode Jimmy James (Stephen Root) was edited into a Clinton speech event).
- #059
Khandi Alexander wore different wigs throughout her time on the series, which explains why her hairstyle changed from episode to episode.
- #060
Dave Foley and Joe Rogan are the only two regular cast members whose characters' names match the actors' given names.
- #061
In several episodes, Bill McNeal is either threatened, or a statement is made about whether he has been shot, or he worries that he will eventually die in the year 2032. In real life, Phil Hartman was the victim of a murder, shot with a firearm by his drug-addled wife, during the hiatus between the fourth and fifth seasons.
- #062
Dave Foley and Stephen Root also appeared in episodes of the animated series "Adventure Time" (2010-2018) at different times.
- #063
The other floors of the WNYX building were very rarely shown.
- #064
One of the series' running gags is Matthew constantly falling down.
- #065
One member of the NewsRadio cast became a major figure in broadcasting. Joe Rogan (who played handyman Joe Garelli) hosts The Joe Rogan Experience, among many other things a leading podcast discussing politics and current events.
- #066
Phil Hartman was the oldest (earliest-born) cast member of the series. Because of his tragic death, he was the first to pass away. As of 2021, he is the only regular cast member to have died. He was also the shortest-lived regular cast member, since he was 49 when he died.
- #067
Very few of the episode plots actually have anything to do with the radio business.
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