1. Details about the show

Setting

NewsRadio is a comedy set at WNYX, a New York news radio station. In the first episode Dave Nelson is introduced as the new News Director. Dave’s boyish appearance belies his determined professionalism as he tries to control a staff that can accurately be described as "crazy." Lisa Miller is the hardworking, sometimes obsessive, reporter who thinks the News Director job should be hers. Despite the competitive nature of their relationship, Dave and Lisa become romantically involved early in the series. Jimmy James is the eccentric billionaire who owns the station and has a gift for spouting bizarre logical paradoxes. Bill McNeal is the immensely articulate but totally egocentric anchorman who has a remarkable talent for tormenting the rest of the staff. Unfortunately for Dave, it is his responsibility to (try to) control Bill. Bill is joined in the news booth by the stylish Catherine Duke. Beth, Dave’s secretary, has a penchant for trashy clothes and doing very little work. Matthew Brock is the resident office ‘weird guy’ who is always screwing up and clumsily stumbling over things. Joe Garelli is the station’s electrician, a guy’s guy who insists on fixing everything himself (even to the point of making his own duct tape) and has a fervent belief in UFOs. (There were three cast changes over the years: the departure of Khandi Alexander in season four, the tragic death of Phil Hartman prior to the fifth season, and the addition of Jon Lovitz as Max Louis in the fifth season as a replacement for Hartman.)