The Friday link for 1/20/23

This week we remember the TV show NewsRadio.

For radio people, this show is liked, but it's well in the rearview mirror behind WKRP. WKRP was brilliant because whoever wrote it worked in radio and managed to create a perfect representation of everyone in the station (the underdog morning host, the eccentric night host, the plucky promotions person, the nebbish newsman, the composed PD, the sleazy salesman). I've said before; I worked with EVERYONE represented at WKRP.  It never ceases to amaze me how well they wrote those characters.

NewsRadio was very different. Instead of a radio station geared to a youth-centric music format, they embraced a more business-like news format. They managed to capture two solid comedic talents in Phil Hartman (fresh off his SNL run), and Dave Foley from Kids in the Hall (the counterculture SNL) for the two leads, found soon-to-be breakout stars (in the hilarious Stephen Root and the insanely versatile Maura Tierney), and...Andy Dick and Joe Rogan were there too.  To be fair to both of them, they were both pretty good on NewsRadio, prior to becoming a train wreck and, well, Joe Rogan. 

The show was very well written and in many episodes created a cast of characters where it was hard to root for any of them.  It captured the 90's dystopian viewpoint perfectly.

The NewsRadio episode I'm posting is the third episode of the series, 'Smoking.' This is also a great bit of historical comedy as TV sitcoms and dramas embraced what was a big part of American culture at the time, the removal of smoking from inside the workplace.  It is a bit of fun to see them grapple with it, realizing nearly 30 years later how foreign smoking in the office feels.

If you want absolute comedy gold, go to 11:28.  Watch Phil Hartman and Dave Foley at their best as Phil's Bill McNeil gives up smoking whole Dave's Dave gives up coffee.  Spectacular all-time scene.

Also tonight I am going to post a little something from Star Wars. I just finished watching Andor and I have to say how impressed I was with that show.  Although most of the newer movies haven't lived up to their hype (minus Rogue One), there have been some TV shows and other elements which have excelled.  

Take this trailer from Star Wars: The Old Republic.  This storyline takes place hundreds of years before the Star Wars movies. Frankly, how the heck didn't this get made into a movie. These six minutes are some of the best Star Wars action, period! 

Have a great weekend.  Please make sure you are vaccinated and rest up if you are feeling sick.