Appendix 2: Season Six?

Appendix 2: Season Six?

(NewsRadio fans contribute speculations about what would have happened in season six.)

Comments from Adrian Foo:

While the season finales from seasons three ("Space’) and four ("Sinking Ship") involve most of the cast dying, these were comical fantasies, and thus only season five’s finale "New Hampshire" had a truly tragic tone. However, as well as that panning shot of a tragically empty WNYX office reflected the demise of a cinematic masterpiece, "New Hampshire" was not intended to be a final finale and there were plans to carry on with season six in New Hampshire. Paul Simms had become involved with the show again, after being absent to attend to other projects, and was reportedly enthused about the prospect of taking the show to New Hampshire.³⁶

I speculate that the change of locale would have been reinvigorating. While they had not completely exhausted all the possibilities of screwball in an urban office setting, there was not as much freshness to the antics of the WNYX staff in season five as in previous seasons. Furthermore, the change in setting would have been appropriate for people whose time had come to move on with their lives, going from thirtyish professionals to late thirtyish people with an eye to settling down.

I cannot predict exactly what would have happened in New Hampshire, nor would I entirely want to, for it was one of the great virtues of the show that they were always capable of surprising me with their originality and inventiveness. (I reflect back on the very second NewsRadio episode ever, which caught me by complete surprise with how quickly developed and ardent the Dave-Lisa relationship was.)

Nevertheless, there are a few things that are worthy of speculation. Firstly, the WNYX office provided an environment where all the characters could interact. The close proximity of characters allowed gags to fold into one another as characters joined in or departed the action. A similar setting would have to be found for New Hampshire. Most likely this would have been the AM radio station, and it would probably require that Lisa’s newspaper office be on the same site, if not within the same building. Secondly, Dave and Matthew would have to be enticed to come to New Hampshire and to stick around. I have no idea how this would be done. Thirdly, with the early-retiring Jimmy James as the instigator, the characters would be moving into a phase of their lives where the demands of work must be balanced with non-work-related desires. They should be reaching a point where work alone should no longer be fulfilling. What plot lines and comedy would these conflicting desires generate?

Fourthly, NewsRadio artistically thrived through its relationships. The Dave and Lisa relationship would need drastic correction for without it there would be no sexual energy to the show. Dave’s comment in "Wedding" was very specific: He would have three to five years to convince her to change her mind (about being married to Johnny Johnson). How far the creative forces of the show would go in repairing Dave-Lisa would depend on whether they were able to recognize the mistake they had made. Moreover, the other characters had lost their romantic pairings. Beth-Bill (a relationship that always seemed stored away for future use) and Joe-Catherine were obviously defunct, and I have never been convinced about Beth-Max. Beth-Matthew would not be workable except for purposes of absurdity (see "Airport"). Beth-Joe, while not unreasonable, would not have sufficient intrinsic tensions (like Dave-Lisa, Joe-Catherine or Beth-Bill) from which to create comedy. It may very well be that the show would have benefited from another addition to the cast. It is easy to forget how smoothly Brad Rowe fit into the cast in late season four, and that was with a character who was limited by having little to do. Another female cast member may have been worth considering in order to balance the male-female equation of the cast.

Lastly, the following are other key points of speculation for me.

What would the technology-minded Joe get up to in the rustic hinterlands of New Hampshire?
Would we see Beth again as "one of the wolves that haunt the streets of New York City" now transplanted to terrorize the men of New Hampshire?
Would Lisa’s obsessiveness make her newspaper a dreaded archrival to the rest of the cast’s news radio station?
Will Dave always care only about work?

Comments from Jennifer :

I was genuinely looking forward to seeing how the show planned to deal with the move to New Hampshire. It was both a last-ditch effort to save the show and a decision influenced by the creative possibilities: Moving the station from a big city to a more rural one would create new situations, new territory, and as the network was supposed to see it, almost a new show in itself.

As for plots, I was told by friendly individuals who worked on the show that the plan was for Dave and Matthew to remain at WNYX for a bit, but eventually Dave would join the rest of the staff in New Hampshire. I’m not sure about Matthew, because I believe Andy Dick would have made good on his promise not to return. Either way, the show would say goodbye to WNYX permanently and make their new home in a small town radio station.

Good mileage could have been made out of the culture clash of a bunch of city folk dropped in the middle of a strange land…. Dave would feel most at home, of course, being from Wisconsin, and this would provide him a great amount of discomfort, because it was precisely what he was trying to avoid. Mr. James would continue to drop by the station and hang out, but as a retiree, he could come up with new hobbies to amuse himself with. Poli-sci major Lisa would rediscover the excitement of New Hampshire through print journalism, and maybe get sucked into working on a campaign. Joe and Beth might discover the joys of farm life, and while Joe rigs up contraptions to feed the animals, Beth could sing to them and chat up handsome farmers. As for Max, he would adopt a brand new persona for the New Hampshire news...maybe even a new name.

³⁶ From Jennifer: The project Paul Simms was involved with when he took time off NewsRadio was OverSeas, a pilot starring Joe Rogan, which was reportedly a very unique and promising show, but of course tested badly because of its dissimilarity to any sitcom on TV. The premise was this: A diverse group of individuals working for a Peace Corps-like organization called the International Foreign Aid Foundation try to build a bridge in the fictional jungle of La Shangria, somewhere between Pakistan, India, and Kashmir.