NewsRadio/Trivia


 * Actor Allusion: The Halloween episode when Dave dressed up as a woman was no surprise to anyone who knew of the many convincing female characters Dave Foley played as a member of the all-male comedy troupe The Kids in The Hall.
 * In "The Trainer", the staff is shocked to find out that Dave is actually Canadian. Dave Foley is from Canada.
 * "Bill's Autobiography" has a scene where Bill is given a tape recorder to write his thoughts for his autobiography, which includes a tape of Bill singing the song "A Horse with No Name" by America. Phil Hartman, during his time working as a graphic artist, designed three of that group's album covers; while his brother John was the band's manager.
 * The Character Died with Him: Phil Hartman/Bill McNeal. As coincidence would have it, Hartman's final episode concluded with everyone but Dave surviving the Titanic episode. In the tribute episode to Hartman, however, it's stated that Bill merely died of a heart attack. While a great gesture by the cast and crew, the somber tone of Bill's death didn't ring true for a show as ironic and cynical as this one; particularly since most the mourners would have (in-universe, at least) been jubilant over Bill's demise.
 * It's highly debatable of course, but this could be considered a fitting reaction if the Hidden Depths displayed in "Bitch Session" are taken into account: The entire staff mocks Dave behind his back and turn on him completely when they find out he was spying on them. But when Jimmy tells the staff he'll make it right by firing Dave, they all abandon their grievances and stand up for him. Joe explains that in-fighting doesn't mean anything by comparing it to something insanely violent his brother did to him, saying, "It doesn't mean he didn't love me." When being called out for showing compassion and sincerity, Bill himself says, "Those dimensions are there, they're just unexplored."
 * The Danza: Dave Foley/Nelson & Joe Rogan/Garelli. Phil Hartman's character was named Bill purely to avert this trope.
 * Also notable is the episode "Chock", in which David Cross, Bob Odenkirk, and Brian Posehn show up playing characters named David, Bob, and Brian, respectively.
 * Missing Episode: The episode "Injury" was withheld from broadcast for nearly two years due to concerns about the script's excessive use of the word "penis". The word appears three times in the version that eventually made it to air, but was reportedly a lot more in the original version of the episode.
 * Mildly ironic, the word penis was used in reference to censorship on the show.
 * Interestingly enough, this led to the studio being uncertain whether to class the episode as a Season Two or Season Three show, so they decided to include it on both DVD sets as a service to the fans.
 * Reality Subtext: Phil Hartman's death.
 * Screwed by the Network: The show changed time slots 11 times in five seasons.
 * Network head Warren Littlefield actually admits this was a mistake on a DVD commentary.
 * Shrug of God: The writers admit that even they aren't sure how Bill's last name is supposed to be spelled (McNeal vs McNeil). Reportedly, both versions found their way into scripts depending on who wrote that particular episode.
 * What Could Have Been: Ray Romano was originally cast as Joe Garelli.
 * Writer Revolt: News Radio was the king of this trope. The writers intensely disliked the story directives NBC would impose on them and would protest by subverting those demands in some way. For instance, they were told to add a Will They or Won't They? plot to the show. The answer was "yes", in episode two. Later they were told to do a funeral story as part of a cross-series promotional gimmick. They created an episode about the death of a rat.