Matthew Brock (Andy Dick) is a news reporter and official "office weird guy". Clumsy, awkward and maladroit, the character is the butt of many physical jokes on the show, and is often seen tripping, falling, flying over furniture, or handling electronics that explode or catch fire. Matthew idolizes Bill, who in return calls him "Spaz" and torments him with often cruel jokes. Matthew is known for his odd obsessions and his slavish devotion to his pet cats, once even refusing a plum assignment because it would require being separated from them for several days. Matthew holds a degree in dentistry (and is shown to actually be a more than competent dentist), but prefers to work in radio journalism, considering it his passion.
― iatee, Thursday, 11 June 2009 17:23 (fourteen years ago) link
i think that probably happened in every ER episode
xp
― Ømår Littel (Jordan), Thursday, 11 June 2009 17:23 (fourteen years ago) link
"funny show is serious" unrequited love shit
This is no worse than replacing Phil Hartman with Jon Lovitz, a move that sounded good in theory but was disasterous in practice.
― Johnny Fever, Thursday, 11 June 2009 17:24 (fourteen years ago) link
yes it is worse
― gangsta hug (omar little), Thursday, 11 June 2009 17:24 (fourteen years ago) link
I'm still voting for Newsradio and I liked it a lot back in the day - but would anyone read that paragraph and think "I want to watch that show!"??
― iatee, Thursday, 11 June 2009 17:25 (fourteen years ago) link
idk iatee sounds like a situation ripe for comedy imo
also i havent really seen any like post-98 or 99 frasiers just a minute or two channel flipping when i was looking up these shows i had no idea it ran until 2004!
― ho hum i'm having a fantasy (Lamp), Thursday, 11 June 2009 17:25 (fourteen years ago) link
Did Newsradio have EDDIE THE DOG? I think not.
(that's a vote for Frasier, obv)
― ailsa, Thursday, 11 June 2009 17:25 (fourteen years ago) link
the only onscreen things that stress me out are certain episodes of frasier, where he has like 2 dates, one in the bedroom and one in the kitchen and he has to keep running around trying to fake his way through the whole thing....RUN FRASIER RUN THEY ARE ON TO YOU!!!!!!!
― M@tt He1ges0n, Thursday, August 21, 2008 4:04 PM
― Pleasant Plains, Thursday, 11 June 2009 17:28 (fourteen years ago) link
There actually was a lot of funny stuff in the last two seasons of Frasier (Daphne's family members, in particular), but it was often a chore to watch by then. xxp
― Johnny Fever, Thursday, 11 June 2009 17:28 (fourteen years ago) link
God, Daphne's family were excruciating! The stuff with Laura Linney right at the end of the last series was wonderful though, and the Daphne and Niles thing worked out just fine when the love became requited. Also, Lilith = A++++ character
― ailsa, Thursday, 11 June 2009 17:31 (fourteen years ago) link
God, Daphne's family were excruciating!
DELICIOUSLY EXCRUCIATING! Anthony Lapaglia FTW
― Johnny Fever, Thursday, 11 June 2009 17:32 (fourteen years ago) link
remember how for awhile everyone was afraid daphne would end up with saul rubinek, whew dodged that bullet
― gangsta hug (omar little), Thursday, 11 June 2009 17:32 (fourteen years ago) link
frasier went from being alright to being unbearable pretty quickly, and then stuck around on tv for another 50 years.
― akm, Thursday, 11 June 2009 17:33 (fourteen years ago) link
Oh, and Frasier's whole strange relationship with Jean Smart's character was fantastic too.
― Johnny Fever, Thursday, 11 June 2009 17:33 (fourteen years ago) link
Ha, Daphne falling for the utterly charmless Donnie was totally OMGWTF right out of character.
Tempted to rescind my Frasier vote for that episode in Daphne's British pub with her British friends.
― ailsa, Thursday, 11 June 2009 17:39 (fourteen years ago) link
Maura Tierney look intersting
― mookieproof, Thursday, 11 June 2009 17:40 (fourteen years ago) link
― Pleasant Plains, Thursday, 11 June 2009 18:28 (5 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
also, i don't think any britishes will look kindly upon daphne's britisher familles.
also, cheers>>>>>>>>>>>frasier, has to be said.
also, i have not seen newsradio but would like to.
― Oh baby if only you knew I'm down to a hundred-and-two (stevie), Thursday, 11 June 2009 18:44 (fourteen years ago) link
You can watch it on Hulu.
― congratulations (n/a), Thursday, 11 June 2009 18:49 (fourteen years ago) link
not in britishland i can't
― Oh baby if only you knew I'm down to a hundred-and-two (stevie), Thursday, 11 June 2009 18:51 (fourteen years ago) link
"funny show is serious" i.e. "the moment of shit"
I loved that they had Andy Dick on to be "the weirdo" and then surrounded him with characters who were all equally as weird.
There was an episode where an intern showed up who was like an even weirder Andy Dick - skinny, clumsy, dressed like an eight-year-old. Andy Dick's character spent the entire episode complaining that the new guy was usurping his rightful role as "the weird guy in the office".
― Tracer Hand, Thursday, 11 June 2009 18:54 (fourteen years ago) link
I always got a kick out of the Crane Boys mysteries.
― loose lobsters (brownie), Thursday, 11 June 2009 18:55 (fourteen years ago) link
I don't think I've ever watched an episode of Frasier all the way through.
― Tracer Hand, Thursday, 11 June 2009 18:58 (fourteen years ago) link
hits too close to home?
― ho hum i'm having a fantasy (Lamp), Thursday, 11 June 2009 18:58 (fourteen years ago) link
newsradio in a walk
^^^^ Case closed.
― Daniel, Esq., Thursday, 11 June 2009 18:59 (fourteen years ago) link
What's the British equivalent of white trash?
― Johnny Fever, Thursday, 11 June 2009 19:04 (fourteen years ago) link
White trash that doesn't sound like people with totally weird and non-white-trashy accents.
― ailsa, Thursday, 11 June 2009 19:06 (fourteen years ago) link
I mean, RICHARD E GRANT? REALLY?
I need to go back and see those eps, because the only people I'm remembering are her mother and whoever it was that Lapaglia played (brother?).
― Johnny Fever, Thursday, 11 June 2009 19:08 (fourteen years ago) link
What's the frequency, Lamp?
― Tracer Hand, Thursday, 11 June 2009 19:10 (fourteen years ago) link
LaPaglia was one brother, Richard E Grant and Robbie Coltrane were the others. Brian Cox was her dad. So, an Australian, a posh dude from Swaziland and two Scots. The idea of the characters was fine, but the casting and the accents, not so much (not to mention Jane Leeves' attempt at portraying a Mancunian...). Her mum was probably the best of the lot, so kudos to Millicent Martin for that.
― ailsa, Thursday, 11 June 2009 19:13 (fourteen years ago) link
have only seen the first season of Newsradio but Frasier holds up pretty well against most sitcoms
― sonderangerbot, Thursday, 11 June 2009 20:05 (fourteen years ago) link
fave random newsradio memories:
the episode where bill mcneal decides to pursue a career singing satirical political songs and everyone tells him he's ripping off the guy that already does that.
whenever they joked about not interacting with any of the extras and only holding staff meetings for themselves.
― DUDE, I DON'T LOSE (call all destroyer), Thursday, 11 June 2009 20:16 (fourteen years ago) link
Hmm... I think I have to go with Newsradio for Hartman. Frasier is great as well, but I agree that it went on a little too long. I love both shows - but its Newsradio I have on DVD, so.
― I'm Rick Wakeman, bitch! (Trayce), Friday, 12 June 2009 01:08 (fourteen years ago) link
dave foley shoulda gone on to greater things than he has
― mookieproof, Friday, 12 June 2009 01:16 (fourteen years ago) link
he looks really creepy and awful now tho like even cartoon child molesters are qn his facial hair
2 me the quintessential frasier episode is the one where they all go to a ski lodge w/ some hot friend of daphne's and a good looking french ski instructor dude and most of the episode is french farce + witty repartee and tryna sleep with someone that wants to sleep with someone else. i mean i havent really done it justice but frasier was on w/ that shit like basically no other show was or is but newsradio idk feel like its a good show but there are better wacky workplace jams out there
― Lamp, Friday, 12 June 2009 01:23 (fourteen years ago) link
Gazizza, dilznoofuses, this is Bill McNeal saying, get with the crazappy taste of Rocket Fuel Malt Liquor! Rocket Fuel's got the upstate prison flavor that keeps you ugly all night long. So when you wanna get sick, remember: Nothing makes your feet stank like Rocket Fuel Malt Liquor. Damn, it's crazappy!
― xhuxkfactor (los blue jeans), Friday, 12 June 2009 03:04 (fourteen years ago) link
Haha. I wonder how many Frasier episodes are different variations on this idea. Must hide this thing/person from these people/this person, frantic running around back and forth, etc. I found this show pretty entertaining when it was on, haven't seen it for a long time though. Never really watched Newsradio.
― circa1916, Friday, 12 June 2009 04:08 (fourteen years ago) link
I wonder how many Frasier episodes are different variations on this idea.
MANY of them.
Sort of like how Three's Company was always driven by someone overhearing someone else and coming to an incorrect conclusion until they discovered the truth at the end. Basic premise, almost always funny.
― Johnny Fever, Friday, 12 June 2009 04:11 (fourteen years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKlge0jfg48&feature=related
Newsradio, duh
― ya'll are the ones who don't know things (Z S), Friday, 12 June 2009 04:12 (fourteen years ago) link
I saw him recently in a guest spot on the Nickelodeon show iCarly, which my daughter watches. So, yeah. He deserves better.
― Daniel, Esq., Friday, 12 June 2009 04:15 (fourteen years ago) link
Yeah the comedy of errors is a big part of what Frasier is all about. I have to say I wasnt a huge fan of the jolly farce ski lodge ep - I found it a bit exhausting!
― I'm Rick Wakeman, bitch! (Trayce), Friday, 12 June 2009 04:15 (fourteen years ago) link
Larry David was on iCarly not too long ago!
― Pleasant Plains, Friday, 12 June 2009 04:47 (fourteen years ago) link
I'm going to hate myself in the morning, but I voted Frasier. PLEASE PLEASE understand I LOVE NewsRadio and have it all on DVD, which I can't say for Frasier. But the writing for Frasier is just too good over too long a period of time for me not to think that it's one of the most consistent sitcoms ever, if not one of the funniest (and I think it's also that).
No it doesn't. Cheers has some great episodes, but it has some really bad ones, too. Hell it has some really bad seasons.
"NORM! How about a beer?"
"No thanks, Sammy. I just realized that I'll never get work again after this show ends. How about you kill me and then yourself?"
― Brundlefly (kenan), Friday, 12 June 2009 05:07 (fourteen years ago) link
The best of Cheers more than makes up for the worst of Cheers, though.
― Johnny Fever, Friday, 12 June 2009 05:12 (fourteen years ago) link
Cheers at its best is best ensemble comedy ever on TV. Every character is a cultural touchstone, and every character someone you relate to and are secretly afraid makes up just a little too much of your own personality.
No, it's quality stuff.
― Brundlefly (kenan), Friday, 12 June 2009 05:16 (fourteen years ago) link
Seinfeld works like this, too.
― Brundlefly (kenan), Friday, 12 June 2009 05:20 (fourteen years ago) link
Cheers at its best is best ensemble comedy ever on TV.
Hard for me to rank between that, M*A*S*H and Roseanne. And Roseanne may take it for being the realest of the real and still riotously funny in both obvious and nuanced ways.
― Johnny Fever, Friday, 12 June 2009 05:20 (fourteen years ago) link
I'm down with Roseanne.
M*A*S*H is hard for me to judge, because watching random reruns sometimes I get a great early or mid-period episode, but sometimes I get one of those creepy-serious later Alda episodes. Sometimes I'm afraid of M*A*S*H.
― Brundlefly (kenan), Friday, 12 June 2009 05:29 (fourteen years ago) link
I don't think Radar leaving was what made M*A*S*H take its turn into the creepy/not-as-funny-as-before realm, but it's a good marker.
― Johnny Fever, Friday, 12 June 2009 05:31 (fourteen years ago) link
Fair enough, yeah.
Getting way off topic. My fault. Carry on.
― Brundlefly (kenan), Friday, 12 June 2009 05:39 (fourteen years ago) link
it's such a weird fusion-y theme to find yourself singing along to
― rinse the lemonade (Jordan), Tuesday, 2 March 2010 18:47 (fourteen years ago) link
what's the episode where beth makes a dress out of columbia house cds?
― abanana, Tuesday, 2 March 2010 18:54 (fourteen years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUWi0h5aRi8
― James Mitchell, Tuesday, 2 March 2010 21:48 (fourteen years ago) link
Maybe it isn't that one.
― James Mitchell, Tuesday, 2 March 2010 21:59 (fourteen years ago) link
yah that's what i was thinking of.
― abanana, Wednesday, 3 March 2010 01:02 (fourteen years ago) link
4:45https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7GEIeicuY0
― my sex drew back into itself tight and dry (abanana), Thursday, 30 September 2010 21:29 (thirteen years ago) link
So, if you haven't seen this show before, is it worth a shot? I'm curious and have basically run out of all other tv to watch.
― Chuck_Tatum, Tuesday, 3 June 2014 21:55 (nine years ago) link
YES
― balls, Tuesday, 3 June 2014 22:00 (nine years ago) link
(xpost)
― take a load off, Whiney, and and aaaand you put the load right on me (some dude), Tuesday, 3 June 2014 22:01 (nine years ago) link
haha god bless youtube. was disappointed to find it's not on netflix anymore. amazon prime? nope. somebody upload full episodes to youtube? yes, several seasons.
― balls, Tuesday, 3 June 2014 22:07 (nine years ago) link
a couple years ago the Reelz channel was padding out their schedule with sitcom reruns and was playing 2 episodes of Newsradio a day, really enjoyed that while it lasted. don't think it's run anywhere else since then, seems like it may never.
― take a load off, Whiney, and and aaaand you put the load right on me (some dude), Tuesday, 3 June 2014 22:42 (nine years ago) link
yeah it was all over the place in syndication for awhile but it's been a long time since i've seen it. paul simms, the guy who created it, hasn't really done much since. he wrote for letterman and then larry sanders before that and post newsradio there's a few (and i do mean few, like 5 in total) episodes of various hbo shows (girls, boardwalk empire, flight of the conchords) he's done but other than that and one pilot w/ matthew broderick that didn't get picked up there's been nothing. every other 'this show was underappreciated' creator i can think of gets a second act, albeit not always one i'm happy to find out about (dude who created better off ted - also a funny show, though no newsradio - bounced back w/ sean saves the world), this guy one great show and that's it.
― balls, Tuesday, 3 June 2014 22:58 (nine years ago) link
there's a dvd collection that has every episode. the commentaries are disappointing -- they were really trying to make a crappy friends clone.
― mohawk ororoducer (abanana), Tuesday, 3 June 2014 23:04 (nine years ago) link
god, maura tierney
― j., Tuesday, 3 June 2014 23:11 (nine years ago) link
no joke
― balls, Tuesday, 3 June 2014 23:19 (nine years ago) link
Watching Newsradio all day instead of working is a pretty sweet consolation prize for being sick as shit and couch-ridden. God, I love this show so much. Maybe my favorite three-camera sitcom of all time.
Very glad to see that my search for 'newsradio oral history' was not in vain: http://uproxx.com/tv/newsradio-oral-history/
― Chortles And Guffaws (Old Lunch), Saturday, 30 January 2016 00:51 (eight years ago) link
all five seasons of newsradio are on prime now!!! i don't think it has ever been on any of the big streaming services before? i know there was a season or two if it on crackle or one of those weird ones
― na (NA), Friday, 5 August 2022 19:03 (one year ago) link
although it is hard to watch hartman episodes now because of the weird sideways association of andy dick with his death.
― dow, Friday, 5 August 2022 19:23 (one year ago) link
And was eventually on Celebrity Rehab, trying to get his son to get him out of jail.
― dow, Friday, 5 August 2022 19:24 (one year ago) link
Gazizza, dilznoofuses, this is Bill McNeal saying, get with the crazappy taste of Rocket Fuel Malt Liquor! Rocket Fuel's got the upstate prison flavor that keeps you ugly all night long. So when you wanna get sick, remember: Nothing makes your feet stank like Rocket Fuel Malt Liquor. Damn, it's crazappy!― xhuxkfactor (los blue jeans), Thursday, June 11, 2009 10:04 PM (thirteen years ago) bookmarkflaglink
― xhuxkfactor (los blue jeans), Thursday, June 11, 2009 10:04 PM (thirteen years ago) bookmarkflaglink
― an icon of a worried-looking, long-haired, bespectacled man (C. Grisso/McCain), Friday, 5 August 2022 19:27 (one year ago) link
Iirc, Andy Dick played some part in recovering addict Brynn Hartman going off the wagon and ultimately killing Phil.
― an icon of a worried-looking, long-haired, bespectacled man (C. Grisso/McCain), Friday, 5 August 2022 19:30 (one year ago) link
That allegation is why Jon Lobito beat the shit out of Andy Dick
― castanuts (DJP), Friday, 5 August 2022 19:32 (one year ago) link
Lol LOVITZ, thanks phone
"I see now, that the title of the book is... Macho Business Donkey Wrestler. I had it translated into Japanese and back into English..."
― mh, Friday, 5 August 2022 19:37 (one year ago) link
Frasier is faster, louder, more flamboyantly stylized than Newsradio: frequently calculated to farcical peaks, with doors slamming and people running around yelling, repartee and punchlines, but also w room for romantic, sentimental xp "serious" passages, incl. some resolutions--in that way deviating from otherwise somewhat Sienfeldian approach, the basic rule of which is "No learning, no group hugs"---still works in a screwball comedy-romance way, even though Frasier is huffnpuff express, not like William Powell's cruise control.NewsRadio's characters get flustered and all, but never as fast and loud as Frazier (which is more like atage comedy, the kind of play that might have been [at least hoping to be] the basis for a William Powell etc. flick). The players, who all seem like sketch comedy company vets, as Foley and Root and Hartman and maybe others were, know when and how to draw it in a little, not overemphasizing the Funny part, cos all funny enough to get by, Not brittle-edgy like Seinfeld, but closer to it in terms of going for pure comedy than Frasier's many and sometimes too many nods to plush mush (while still making title character the butt of well-earned joeks before and after the sentiments)
― dow, Friday, 5 August 2022 20:14 (one year ago) link
Both are maybe a little tedious sometimes? Haven't seen NewsRadio and a while, but Frasier's on late nights Hallmark Channel or something close to that on the grid, so one of my housemates has it on fairly often
― dow, Friday, 5 August 2022 20:18 (one year ago) link
maura tierney tho
― mookieproof, Friday, 5 August 2022 21:49 (one year ago) link
She would still tip the scales to Newsradio, yeah pretty sure. Always seems truly disturbed by craziness, as Jane Leeves does not (always).
― dow, Friday, 5 August 2022 22:13 (one year ago) link
Leeves a tad more overtly professional/om the nose.
― dow, Friday, 5 August 2022 22:15 (one year ago) link
on the nose, no om about it
― dow, Friday, 5 August 2022 22:16 (one year ago) link
obv phil hartman is amazing in newsradio but i don't think i truly appreciated how great stephen root was in it too. incredible comedic performance.
andy dick and joe rogan are both terrible people in their own ways but at least dick is very funny in this show. rogan is just kind of flat and boring.
apparently vicki lewis was in a relationship with nick nolte for like 10 years
― na (NA), Friday, 19 August 2022 19:19 (one year ago) link
andy dick (was) a genuinely hilarious talented person at one time. sad/dark stuff.
― kurt schwitterz, Friday, 19 August 2022 19:27 (one year ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9IXNDBKKqo
― an icon of a worried-looking, long-haired, bespectacled man (C. Grisso/McCain), Friday, 19 August 2022 20:09 (one year ago) link
https://spaceba✧✧✧.ma✧✧✧.host/@tvaz✧✧✧@masto✧✧✧.soc✧✧✧/109946161141209118
― an icon of a worried-looking, long-haired, bespectacled man (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 1 March 2023 18:33 (one year ago) link
oops
― an icon of a worried-looking, long-haired, bespectacled man (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 1 March 2023 18:34 (one year ago) link
Damn, Mastodon...
Anyways, it was about this cursed set of images (which you probably shouldn't watch either):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAzbJXuzTFs
― an icon of a worried-looking, long-haired, bespectacled man (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 1 March 2023 18:43 (one year ago) link