# Newsradio on DVD! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 27, 2005, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsradio-on-dvd/305705 "2005-05-27T02:22:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![cbawlmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cbawlmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cbawlmer)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsradio-on-dvd/305705/41 "2005-06-09T17:07:31Z")
> [@ElectricZ](#): > > Not to turn this into a News Radio quote thread, but one of my favorite episodes was the one with the “Big Bonus” and “The Shaft.” Why not? It’s ripe for the quotin’. Here’s one I love that picks up on your \*Shaft \* theme, with a bit of help from the IMDb’s Quote section: > [@from the IMDb](#): > > [Reading cards from the complaint box] > Dave: “You suck.” “You suck.” “Howard Stern rules.” “If you can read this you are a dork.” “Coupon for one free kiss from Joe if you are a girl.” “We need more complaint cards.” “Coupon for one free kiss from Joe if you are a guy.” > Joe: Hey. > Dave: [pulling out a fortune cookie slip] “You will go on a journey, happy long time.” “Matthew is a moron.” “No I’m not.” “Yes you are.” “No I’m not infinity.” “Yes you are infinity plus one.” And this one, “I have doobie in my funk,” which I assume is some sort of reference to the Parliament Funkadelic song, “Chocolate City.” Uh, “You got peanut butter in my chocolate. You got chocolate in my peanut butter. Together they taste like crap.” “Matthew has been staring at me all day… and I like it.” I don’t think I get this one, it says, “I try to be good hard-worker-man, but refrigemater so messy, so so messy.” > Lisa: I think that one’s probably from Milos, the janitor. > Dave: Oh. Refrigem… oh, then that one’s legitimate. > [continues reading the complaint cards] > Dave: Uh, “Who’s the black private dick who’s the sex machine with all the chicks.” > Bill, Beth, Lisa, Matthew, Joe: SHAFT. > Bill: I thought we’d all enjoy that. > Dave: [reading one last card] And, “Help, I’m being held prisoner in a complaint box,” which is actually kinda funny. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsradio-on-dvd/305705/42 "2005-06-09T17:12:54Z")
> [@SolGrundy](#): > > To hijack the thread with something dark and depressing: I wasn’t aware until I saw Teirney’s website that Drake Sather had committed suicide last year. I guess it’s obvious that you don’t get a stand-out show like “NewsRadio” unless the writers can insert some dark humor into it. It just seems like too high a cost if you can’t have something “edgy” without its consuming the people involved. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2005, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsradio-on-dvd/305705/43 "2005-06-10T01:47:12Z")
Well, I’ve got another question. In the episode that involves the “retreat” at Jimmy’s office Dave and Lisa get mad at each other. Later, they’re both sitting in the break room. Katherine comes in and has trouble opening a jar of pickles (?) and Dave eventually opens it for her. Bill can’t open a bottle of soda so Lisa spikes it open on the table. Matthew comes in and is trying to open two cans of beans. Eventually Dave and Lisa are both trying to punch open the lids with some utensils and then they both look up to see the entire staff laughing at them. I’ve seen the episode a hundred times and I still don’t get the joke. What is it? -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2005, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsradio-on-dvd/305705/44 "2005-06-10T02:37:34Z")
The joke is that they’re so competitivate they can’t stop and everybody else is playing with them. They pretend they can’t open stuff so that the “Magnificent Bickersons” will compete to try and open it. The commentaries are pretty good. The early ones (in the order they made them) are mostly them taking about wardrobe and their difficulties with the first costume designer. Then they get really good. I particularly recommend the one where Dave hides under his desk and overhears everyone teasing him. And the one about when they got kicked out of that award show. In the last few they’re reaching and you’ll get a few minutes of no commentary at all. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2005, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsradio-on-dvd/305705/45 "2005-06-10T12:03:21Z")
> [@SolGrundy](#): > > To hijack the thread with something dark and depressing: I wasn’t aware until I saw Teirney’s website … Do you have the link to Teirney’s website? ---
**Author:** ![Sean\_Factotum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sean\_Factotum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sean_Factotum)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2005, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsradio-on-dvd/305705/46 "2005-06-10T12:58:29Z")
> [@BiblioCat](#): > > Do you have the link to Teirney’s website? I would have to guess that it’s [this](http://www.mauratierney.com/) ---
**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:** [June 10, 2005, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsradio-on-dvd/305705/47 "2005-06-10T14:47:16Z")
I got mine in the mail the other day and have watched all of season 1, now going back for the commentaries. So far I am stoked that I still find this show to be terribly funny. You know how you get all excited for a DVD release of a show you thought was funny a long time ago and then you watch it again on DVD and it’s not quite as funny? I have been LOL at the first season. Just impeccable writing and acting, they can’t miss!!! ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2005, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsradio-on-dvd/305705/48 "2005-06-18T06:58:31Z")
I bought it this week. I was kind of amused that the back of the box boasts the spelling-impaired statement, “3-Disc Collectible Set Including The Complete First And Secon Seasons!” ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2005, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsradio-on-dvd/305705/49 "2005-06-18T16:58:58Z")
My wife was champing at the bit for this to come out on DVD. I had never seen it, having been living in Australia in the mid-nineties. It went straight on our Netflix list, and we’re currently up to about episode 17 (of 29). I think it’s fantastic. The whole cast is great, and Phil Hartman is just fantastic. I can’t stop cracking up at the bit when he has a cubicle built around his desk, and he “goes downstairs” to check something. There is some great writing on the show, but Hartman also has the ability to make the most mundane lines extremely funny. Stephen Root as Jimmy James is also amazing. I think the most interesting thing, for me, is where some of them have ended up. Hartman, of course, was killed. RIP. Joe Rogan went on to host the execrable _Fear Factor_. Khandi Alexander is on a high-rating show, but her character on _CSI: Miami_ is, in my opinion, one of the more woefully insipid personas on a show that sets a benchmark for uninspired casting. Maura Tierney is also on a big-name show, but she became a regular on _ER_ just about the time the show took its long, last slide into the abyss. Watching _Newsradio_ was a good opportunity to see these actors playing truly entertaining roles. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2005, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsradio-on-dvd/305705/50 "2005-06-18T18:45:06Z")
> [@Snooooopy](#): > > I bought it this week. I was kind of amused that the back of the box boasts the spelling-impaired statement, “3-Disc Collectible Set Including The Complete First And Secon Seasons!” I did not notice that. Heh heh, there’s ever a space for the d to go. ---
**Author:** ![zuma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9c0ed/32.png) [@zuma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zuma)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2005, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsradio-on-dvd/305705/51 "2005-06-18T18:54:24Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Joe Rogan went on to host the execrable _Fear Factor_. Heh… I loved the one commentary track where Joe says Fear Factor should just be called “Joe Gets a Paycheck”. For anyone watching this, I noticed one error nobody has mentioned. In one episode (can’t remember which one), Beth clearly calls Bill “Phil”. Phil’s sitting at his desk at the time… that’s all I remember. I’m hoping they do release the rest of the series on DVD. Truly an underappreciated show. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2005, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsradio-on-dvd/305705/52 "2005-06-18T19:19:22Z")
Another error I notced was that Beth wasn’t at the scene where Bill’s first name was revealed at the crappy Mexican bar. But you can see her standing behind Mathew in one shot. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2005, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsradio-on-dvd/305705/53 "2005-06-18T19:38:20Z")
> [@Fern Forest](#): > > I did not notice that. Heh heh, there’s ever a space for the d to go. I meant to include that space in my post, but the hamsters ate it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsradio-on-dvd/305705.md?page=2)