10 Hilarious TV Sitcoms You Totally Forgot About
1. NewsRadio
This might be one of the greatest sitcoms lost to time. It also has one of the most emotional episodes in any TV series ever.
NewsRadio chronicled the operations of a fictional AM news radio station in New York City. Owned by billionaire Jimmy James, the series opened with the arrival of the new News Director Dave Nelson. His first task? To fire the old News Director who has not been informed of the change. He thinks Dave is there to fill another role.
There is an argument to be made that this show has the best ensemble cast of all time. Kids in the Hall alum Dave Foley played Dave Nelson. He was constantly at odds with veteran anchor Bill McNeal, who was played by the late Phil Hartman. The regular cast also featured Joe Rogan, Andy Dick, Maura Tierney, Stephen Root, Khandi Alexander and Vicki Lewis.
Between seasons four and five, Phil Hartman was tragically killed by his wife before she took her own life. NewsRadio attempted to find a replacement in Hartman's friend and SNL castmate Jon Lovitz. Unfortunately, it just didn't work and the series was cancelled after season five.
In the series, Hartman's character Bill McNeal died offscreen before the season five premiere. His friends come back from the funeral and read letters he left to each one of them. It's one of the most heart wrenching episodes of TV you can watch that doesn't involve Fry and a dog on Futurama. Still, NewsRadio is one of the funniest series ever and should be binged immediately.