# Andy Dick: Dick **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 16, 2008, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-dick-dick/456754 "2008-07-16T21:52:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-dick-dick/456754/61 "2008-07-18T00:21:17Z")
[QUOTE=Exapno Mapcase] Aaarrrggghhh! NewsRadio (one word) is simply one of the great all-time sitcoms. It’s one of those few shows in where every cast member is perfect, yet totally unlike one another. They used actors from a number of different comedy traditions - sketch players like Dave Foley from Kids in the Hall and Phil Hartman from SNL, a stand-up like Joe Rogan, and the sui generis Andy Dick. Dozens of other comedy names made appearances as guests. Vicki Lewis was so good that Kathy Griffin slavishly copied her part on Suddenly Susan. Stephen Root’s station owner is as magnificent a creation as Mr. Burns. Poor Khandi Alexander only had to talk sassy and look good because the writers never figured out her role, but she did both of those as fine as anyone could. The show started out snarky and then got progressively surreal. (One season-ender had the show broadcast from space in the future.) When people today praise the quirkiness of the “one-camera” comedies like 30 Rock or Arrested Development, they forget that NewsRadio did it just as well, and in front of a studio audience. It’s true that in real life Andy Dick is a real dick. (Oddly, my freshman roommate’s last name was Dick, and he was also a dick. Go figure.) But he was brilliant on the show, doing physical comedy in almost every episode that steals the scene from the great dialog. I have to say a word about the dialog. There is a certain type of sitcom-y dialog that is clichéd and stilted and probably one of the reasons that sitcoms have been dying for a long time. NewsRadio never had that dialog. The standard set-up and punchline got twisted so that the punchlines were never predictable, but were funnier than anything you expected. That’s a big point for me, since as a writer I can often see things coming because no one bothered to put the extra work necessary into improving the lines. All five seasons are available on DVD. The show starts getting truly weird in the third season, so if you want to sample it you might start there. Phil Hartman was murdered just after the show was picked up for the fifth season and his friend Jon Lovitz took his place. Not his fault, but the show never recovered its rhythm. Hate Andy Dick all you want. Go ahead. Please. But give NewsRadio a try. It’s wonderful. [/QUOTE] Word. That show is absolutely fantastic, and would be one of the all-time greats if the folks at NBC had given it a chance. I’ll point out one thing, though: The show never really relied on punchlines for its bread and butter. It set up whole gags, which is what made it so different from other sitcoms. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-dick-dick/456754/62 "2008-07-18T01:06:14Z")
Hey, guys, please take your charming, cheerful reminiscence of the wonderful _NewsRadio_ to a new thread. You’re clogging up our discussion of what a crusty cloacaberry Andy Dick is. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-dick-dick/456754/63 "2008-07-18T02:36:23Z")
[QUOTE=RickJay] And you didn’t punch his face in because… ? [/QUOTE] Yeah, no shit. My husband or brother would **end** that guy if he grabbed my tits. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![DooWahDiddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@DooWahDiddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DooWahDiddy)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-dick-dick/456754/64 "2008-07-18T04:50:12Z")
[QUOTE=RickJay] And you didn’t punch his face in because… ? [/QUOTE] [QUOTE=EJsGirl] Yeah, no shit. My husband or brother would **end** that guy if he grabbed my tits. 😕 [/QUOTE] First of all, relax. I didn’t punch his face in because I’m not about to get sued by some jackass who has enough money to hire a team of lawyers. And secondly, my friend was laughing at the absurdity of the situation. Lastly, it all happened very quickly, and he was thrown out of the bar by the bouncers about thirty seconds after it happened. ---
**Author:** ![SkeptiJess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@SkeptiJess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkeptiJess)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-dick-dick/456754/65 "2008-07-18T08:59:53Z")
[QUOTE=Weirddave] What I don’t understand is how nobody except Lovitz has beaten the crap out of him. Apparently, he wheels around LA, stoned out of his gourd, and harasses people, especially women, like the 17 YO in the story. Hasn’t he ever accosted one with a large husband or father close by? I mean, if he walked up and grabbed my wife’s tits, I’d sure as hell bank his ass in a white hot second. [/QUOTE] Yeah. If he’d pulled that shit on my daughter, my husband or son (or hell – my 72 year old father) would have dropped him like a sack of wet sand. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-dick-dick/456754/66 "2008-07-18T09:03:14Z")
[QUOTE=Bosstone] Yeah, that is an awful, awful picture. Not that Dick is good-looking on the best of days, but damn. [/QUOTE] You try getting your mugshot taken in the midst of a night’s debauchery, see how that turns out. He’s still a dick though. ---
**Author:** ![singular1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@singular1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/singular1)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-dick-dick/456754/67 "2008-07-18T11:39:38Z")
[QUOTE=Cervaise] Hey, guys, please take your charming, cheerful reminiscence of the wonderful _NewsRadio_ to a new thread. You’re clogging up our discussion of what a **crusty cloacaberry** Andy Dick is. 😛 [/QUOTE] That (bolding mine) is _genius_ (and spot on - I only came up with flaming festered rectum, and it’s not even close), and I am _so_ stealing this! ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-dick-dick/456754/68 "2008-07-18T11:58:59Z")
[QUOTE=choie] Depraved indifference? Maybe I’m missing part of the story, **Marley23**. [/quote] I admit I’m using the term in a way it normally isn’t used. I mean offering coke to someone who’s trying to stay sober is so wrong as to be pretty much depraved and it’s not something a halfway decent human being would do. I don’t mean that it makes Dick primarily responsible for the deaths of the Hartmans, I just mean it makes him worthless in my esteem. ---
**Author:** ![RTA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b4bc9f/32.png) [@RTA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTA)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-dick-dick/456754/69 "2008-07-18T12:55:34Z")
Did anyone see the new _Gong Show_ last night? He’s on the panel of celebrity judges (though maybe not any more.) Though I agree with the general theme of this thread, I couldn’t help laughing my ass off when he stood up with his crank hanging out through a hole he cut in his score card (they put a black box over it) and brought the show to a screeching halt ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-dick-dick/456754/70 "2008-07-18T13:37:26Z")
> [@DooWahDiddy](#): > > I didn’t punch his face in because I’m not about to get sued by some jackass who has enough money to hire a team of lawyers. [QUOTE=RTA] Did anyone see the new _Gong Show_ last night? [/QUOTE] > [@jay jay](#): > > Outside of Newsradio, I’ve only seen Andy Dick once, when he visited the Surreal Life house… Based on his career since the end of Newsradio and his reputed expensive appetites, I suspect Dick barely has the money to hire ONE lawyer, much less a team of them. And I doubt the LA cops would much care if someone beat him up. It would save them the trouble. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-dick-dick/456754/71 "2008-07-18T13:41:37Z")
[QUOTE=aldiboronti] You try getting your mugshot taken in the midst of a night’s debauchery, see how that turns out. He’s still a dick though. [/QUOTE] Perhaps. I’m still going to make fun of him. They should put that picture on his driver’s license. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-dick-dick/456754/72 "2008-07-18T15:17:50Z")
[QUOTE=RTA] Did anyone see the new _Gong Show_ last night? He’s on the panel of celebrity judges (though maybe not any more.) Though I agree with the general theme of this thread, I couldn’t help laughing my ass off when he stood up with his crank hanging out through a hole he cut in his score card (they put a black box over it) and brought the show to a screeching halt [/QUOTE] Looks like this Gong Show is all for laughs. They had zero talent.But I am an Atell fan. ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-dick-dick/456754/73 "2008-07-18T16:44:31Z")
[QUOTE=Shot Clock] Well, this Dick 1) has been given way more rope than anyone else I can think of, and 2) ain’t even remotely creative or brilliant, much less humorous. [/QUOTE] Andy was actually good on News Radio, but the news about him, especially in regard to Mrs. Hartman, has almost ruined the show for me. What a creep. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-dick-dick/456754/74 "2008-07-18T17:11:10Z")
Yeah, on last night’s Gong Show, he put a foreign object covered in (fake) blood into his mouth, he wrestled a pair of midgets (and lost), and he exposed himself to the general public. Which, in his world, might just mean “It’s Thursday”. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-dick-dick/456754/75 "2008-07-18T17:40:28Z")
[QUOTE=Bosstone] Perhaps. I’m still going to make fun of him. . [/QUOTE] My thoughts exactly. 🙂 One of my favorite places is the [Smoking Gun Mugshot page.](http://www.thesmokinggun.com/mugshots/index.html) And in particular: [Nick Nolte](http://www.thesmokinggun.com/mugshots/nolte1.html) [Rip Torn](http://www.thesmokinggun.com/mugshots/riptornmug1.html) :D:D ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-dick-dick/456754/76 "2008-07-18T17:43:07Z")
[QUOTE=aldiboronti] My thoughts exactly. 🙂 One of my favorite places is the [Smoking Gun Mugshot page.](http://www.thesmokinggun.com/mugshots/index.html) And in particular: [Nick Nolte](http://www.thesmokinggun.com/mugshots/nolte1.html) [Rip Torn](http://www.thesmokinggun.com/mugshots/riptornmug1.html) :D:D [/QUOTE] I’m kind of wishing there was a Rip _Taylor_ mugshot. I’m betting it would include confetti. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-dick-dick/456754/77 "2008-07-18T18:02:28Z")
[QUOTE=RTA] Did anyone see the new _Gong Show_ last night? He’s on the panel of celebrity judges (though maybe not any more.) Though I agree with the general theme of this thread, I couldn’t help laughing my ass off when he stood up with his crank hanging out through a hole he cut in his score card (they put a black box over it) and brought the show to a screeching halt [/QUOTE] And the worse part is, everyone seemed to be laughing in approval. I can’t think of a more appropriate time to pick up a mallet and “Gong” him right where it counts. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-dick-dick/456754/78 "2008-07-18T18:05:37Z")
[QUOTE=aldiboronti] [Nick Nolte](http://www.thesmokinggun.com/mugshots/nolte1.html) [/QUOTE] Trivia. At the time of that mugshot, Nick Nolte was still living with Vicki Lewis, Dick’s co-star on NewsRadio. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-dick-dick/456754/79 "2008-07-18T18:39:57Z")
[QUOTE=Exapno Mapcase] Trivia. At the time of that mugshot, Nick Nolte was still living with Vicki Lewis, Dick’s co-star on NewsRadio. [/QUOTE] Who looks like and is often mistaken for Kathy Griffin, who was David Strickland’s co-star on “Suddenly Susan.” ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-dick-dick/456754/80 "2008-07-18T18:58:53Z")
… which starred Brooke Shields, who played James Spader’s sister in “Endless Love,” who inherited Kevin Bacon’s role in an unsold 1983 CBS pilot based on the movie, _Diner_. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-dick-dick/456754.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-dick-dick/456754.md?page=5)