Old NewsRadio is Good NewsRadio (По-русски; 한국어; Ελληνικά)

Lifting NewsRadio above the average and stereotypical is the witty dialogue, great chemistry between the players (especially Dave Foley, Phil Hartman, and the underrated yet brilliant Stephen Root), and comedy that focuses more on the eternal foibles of foolish human behavior rather than strictly topical material, though some of the references might escape those of you too young to have lived through that long-ago (ahem!) era.

Of course, the true test of any comedy is whether it makes you laugh, and this one consistently hits my funny bone. I saw most of the episodes during the first two seasons when they first aired, so watching those felt, in part, like an exercise in nostalgia, but Season 3 is entirely new to me, and it’s been a delightful experience.

I can’t guarantee that NewsRadio will make you laugh; I have no idea if the comedy can transcend national borders, or if the material, even at just 10 years’ remove, is too dated to jibe with current tastes.

All I can say is that I loved the show when I first watched it, and am having a good time, both getting reacquainted with it and discovering nuances and rhythms that become more apparent when commercials don’t interrupt the flow every few minutes.

The show managed to hang on for five seasons despite being yanked around the network television schedule, and survives today thanks to DVD sales. The Season 3 set features 25 episodes on three disks.

Seasons 1 & 2 are combined on a three-disk set, with a multitude of audio commentaries. The most recently released, Season 4 has 22 episodes on three disks.