FRASIER vs. NEWSRADIO

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.

Seinfeld works like this, too.

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.

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.

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.

Fair enough, yeah.

Getting way off topic. My fault. Carry on.

dave foley shoulda gone on to greater things than he has

i am actually a sort-of-embarrassed fan of celebrity poker showdown, but dave foley always seems like he's begging someone to please kill him. poor dude.

anyway, newsradio w/hartman >> good frasier >> newsradio post-hartman >>>>>>>> bad frasier.

although it is hard to watch hartman episodes now because of the weird sideways association of andy dick with his death.

(maura tierney had a very good run on celebrity poker showdown, btw.)

HAHA I Know! She kicks ass at poker, apparently.

And wouldn't she? It makes too much sense.

i am actually a sort-of-embarrassed fan of celebrity poker showdown, but dave foley always seems like he's begging someone to please kill him.

Or fix his teeth, at least.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

This result seems right.

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.

Cheers at best and Seinfeld at best make me really sorry for people who think Arrested Development is the "teh best tv show evarrrr omg"

Watching Jeopardy day before yesterday: "Five People Who Have Never Been In My Kitchen" is now a category. (Even though Cliff only needed three.)

seinfeld vs. cheers would be a good poll imo but i guess its 2 obv one-sided

understand the results but i think frasiers bein underrated here

Frasier is one of the scariest sitcoms to watch stoned. it should win something for that.

Roseanne is worse. I had a bad day with Roseanne once.

cool story bro

I left out the part about the tomato. You should thank me.

(No really, I could ramble on about how Roseanne broke my brain and suddenly became the most deeply strange thing in the world, but... I was stoned.)

Was it this episode when you had a bad day with Roseanne once.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCYPkPipMZE

Next time, try shrooms.

although it is hard to watch hartman episodes now because of the weird sideways association of andy dick with his death.

This hasn't been proven, has it? I know Jon Lovitz smashed Andy Dick's head on a barstool, or something, because of the allegation.

i voted frasier just cuz i think it's being undervalued...and also it's the last of its kind, the last old fashioned farce sit-com

I dunno, "Will & Grace" was pretty madcap at times.

yeah but there was something so self aware and winky about will and grace

At least unlike Frasier, their characters were out of the closet.

no way the frasier fussbudget stylee was the greatest! i liked them being in the closet

I've been streaming Newsradio from Netflix (they have the first three seasons) and man, it's such a great show. The writing is consistently strong and the show was good starting from the pilot, doesn't really have a weak beginning like most sitcoms. Most of the cast is amazing (esp. Stephen Root, Phil Hartman, and Dave Foley but Maura Tierney and Vicki Lawrence too). I find Andy Dick and Joe Rogan repellent for different reasons but they're both great on this show too. Khandi Alexander is kind of a weak spot as Catherine but they don't really give her character much to do most of the time. For a show that wasn't really that popular and was almost canceled basically every season it was on, they seem to spend a lot on fancy sets and props that they only use once.

a tidbit from IMDB: "The cast of NewsRadio was banned from the SAG Awards after one appearance because of their bad behavior. They took their shoes off, stole wine off of the other tables and Andy Dick allegedly asked for Helen Hunt's autograph on his penis."

hahaha awesome

amazing

he should have offered an autograph on her penis in exchange

"no, what i did was stick out my bare arm and say 'sign ME---Dick!'"

This show also has the second-most slap-bassingest theme song of the 1990s.

it's such a weird fusion-y theme to find yourself singing along to

what's the episode where beth makes a dress out of columbia house cds?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUWi0h5aRi8

Maybe it isn't that one.

yah that's what i was thinking of.

4:45
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7GEIeicuY0

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.

YES

YES

(xpost)

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.

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.

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.

there's a dvd collection that has every episode. the commentaries are disappointing -- they were really trying to make a crappy friends clone.

god, maura tierney

no joke