Picked up my copy from Amazon, devoured it over the three day weekend.
These were not my favorite seasons of Newsradio (Seasons 3 and 4 are, although I think Skycable only aired the first two seasons), but Season 2 and parts of Season 1 are great nonetheless. Rewatching the series, I can't help but think this must have been the best sitcom ensemble cast ever, or at least that I have seen. As pointed out in the commentaries, there are eight lead characters in the show, and any two of them have a distinct relationship that emerges throughout the show. That's a total of 32 (I think) different character threads, and all of them work very well.
And may I say best commentaries ever. All the surviving cast members participate (though not altogether), as well as creator Paul Simms, and occasional writers and directors. All the actors talk about how this was their best working experience ever, and the bond between them shows up even in the commentaries, particularly between Andy Dick and Joe Rogan. And it is also quite funny how the other cast members rib Joe Rogan about Fear Factor, which Rogan readily admits is crap (his own name for Fear Factor, "Joe Gets Paid"). There are also thoughtful remembrances of Phil Hartman, who it seems was a real class act.
And there is a conscious effort in the commentaries to avoid dead air. They do this by adopting certain commentary themes for each episode, though they do get scene-specific occasionally. For example, one commentary talks about how the show was developed, another for writer disputes, and one strictly about the cast. There even is a eye-raising commentary featuring Paul Simms and former NBC head Warren Littlefield. Littlefield begins by praising Newsradio as brilliant and unique, and is almost immediately ambushed by Simms and the writers with questions why NBC always shifted the show around into unsuitable timeslots. In the end, Littlefield is forced to admit that he made a mistake by not taking care of Newsradio more, and even saying that his present experience outside the networks as a producer has made him a more humble person. Many TV commentaries b**ch about network executives, but this is the first I know of that directly confronts the beast and vanquishes him into submission.
Only disappointment is that there are no other special features other than a featurette cribbed from Season 1 promotional material and a 12 minute gag reel. But the commentaries more than make up for this deficiency, and the set is well worth it for the fan. I hope this sells well enough so that Columbia will be convinced to release the rest of the series as well.
