"Greed is good. Money is everything. I love Big Bird. Please make the call." – Dave Nelson to Jimmy James ("Rap" [3-12])   "I’m just resting up for that big sale at Baby Gap." – Dave Nelson ("Bitch Session" [2-12])

In this ensemble cast Dave Nelson was the closest thing to a leading man or hero. Before the series started Foley had already become a cult legend with his work on The Kids in the Hall, and the Dave Nelson character was written specifically for Foley. In NewsRadio, Dave was primarily the straight man or set up man, although he occasionally got to display his own moments of craziness, mainly when they played up the paranoid side of the Dave Nelson character. The extraordinary subtlety of his acting, in particular his facial expressions and reaction shots, made him perfect for this role. In fact, the word that is almost universally used to describe Dave Foley’s acting is "subtle." Note that not all types of subtlety are the same. Many would consider Alec Guinness’ acting to be subtle, but his acting tried to communicate experiences (about who the character was and what he was about). Foley’s acting subtly communicates desires (what his character feels and wishes; his reactions and aversions) and is the much greater cinematic experience for it.

One of the episodes that best highlighted Foley’s skills was "Pure Evil" [4-6], where Dave, distraught at losing his job to Lisa, decides to become "pure evil" (a cunning and ruthless schemer). We see incredibly subtle changes in facial expression as he goes from stressed out to comically maniacal and devious. Also amazing was a scene from "Stocks" [3-9], where Dave is alone in the office, picks up the katana Matthew has given him and pretends to be Obi-Wan Kenobi in the light saber duel with Darth Vader. A mischievous smirk appears on his face that I have not seen any other actor accomplish.

Dave Foley’s main role on the show was as set up man. In an interview he explained how he was specifically hired for this role, "One of the reasons Paul hired me in the first place was because he had seen the first "Chicken Lady" sketch Kids in the Hall had done. This is a sketch where I was on a blind date with the Chicken Lady, and Paul had seen that and noticed I was getting all these laughs in the sketch from straight lines. I was getting huge laughs from reaction shots. I was saying what sounded like straight lines, but in the context was getting huge laughs, and that was what he wanted for NewsRadio… Someone who was able to do that." ⁶

Everything about Dave Foley’s comedy style conforms to a distinctive psychological comedy. Foley’s characters react to the outside world and the situations imposed on them. In conveying these reactions his acting expresses the psychological state of his character. In "Pilot" [1-1] Dave Nelson, the oncoming News Director at WNYX, is never comfortable as he has to cope with one bizarre situation after another and one eccentric or zany staff member after another. In this sense, Foley’s comedy arises out of him being the set up man or straight man. Comedy arises out of absurdity, and for this to occur something has to be absurd relative to what is normal. In NewsRadio, while other characters around him are behaving absurdly or while dealing with absurd situations, Foley’s performance provides the frame of reference for that absurdity. In "Inappropriate" [1-2] what is funny is not the fact that Beth immediately knows when Dave is lying by that "thing" he does with his tie, but it is Dave’s reaction to Beth’s awareness that makes the moment funny. What makes Foley so special as a comedic actor is his ability to generate laughs purely out of reaction shots.

In the beginning Dave was written as the central focus of the narrative, but this emphasis was quickly devolved as the entire cast and their relationships were developed. Nevertheless, Dave was involved in the three cardinal relationships of the show: Dave-Lisa, Dave-Bill, and Dave-Jimmy. The Dave-Bill relationship represents perhaps the most basic unit of comedy in the show. Here we have the fire-starter (Bill McNeal) interacting with the reactor to the fire. Classic examples of their interaction can be found in "Smoking" [1-3], "The Cane" [2-9] and "In Through the Out Door" [2-13]. In season three but especially in season four, the Dave-Bill relationship was extended into a Dave-Bill-Lisa relationship. Putting Lisa Miller into the equation allowed for a deepening through Lisa’s ‘sexual fuel,’ hence those priceless moments in "Stupid Holiday Charity Talent Show" [4-8], "Who’s the Boss (Part 1)" [4-12] and "Big Brother" [4-15] where Bill makes sexual innuendo at Lisa’s expense. The Dave-Lisa and Dave-Jimmy relationships will be dealt with later in this article.

I regard Foley as one of the greatest comedic actors of all time, primarily for taking psychological acting to places no other actor has been before. Some have compared Foley’s acting to that of Bob Newhart. Newhart himself was under-appreciated as a set up man par excellence. (Newhart was so subtle that he could actually give reaction shots without seeming to change facial expression.) In comparing him to the very great Cary Grant, we can say that Foley lacks Grant’s animal grace and magnetism, but even Grant lacks Foley’s supreme timing and ability to enhance a comic moment with the faintest of facial expressions or the simple change of vocal intonation.

Foley was one of the four actors who were pillars of the NewsRadio cast. Every great comedy needs a set up man, and Foley is among the very best ever.

⁶ "An Interview with Dave Foley." Tibby’s Bowl Online (http://www.tibbysbowl.com).