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{{work}}
[[File:NewsRadio.jpg|frame|(left to right) Catherine, Matthew, Jimmy, Bill, Dave, Lisa, Joe, and Beth.]]
After Hartman's death, Jon Lovitz signed on as a [[Suspiciously Similar Substitute]].
{{tropelist}}
* [[Aborted Arc]]:
▲* [[Addiction Displacement]] (Bill tries to take up chewing tobacco in order to quit smoking)
* [[Affably Evil]]: Johnny Johnson. Even after learning that he is evil and Mr. James' rival, everyone but Dave is still fond of him. Lisa {{spoiler|even marries him.}}
** Jimmy James himself might qualify. While a generally goofy and friendly guy, who treats his employees well, he IS a highly successful businessman. This might not be enough to damn him, but on a fairly regular basis he all but admits doing all sorts of morally questionable things because it's good for business.
* [[Alien Autopsy]]: Joe, Beth, and Matthew once act out a fake alien autopsy (with Matthew as the alien) in front of a 24-hour webcam for the radio station's website.
** Joe also claims to possess a tape of a genuine alien autopsy. In the Halloween episode, his costume is "alien autopsy surgeon".
* [[Alliterative Name]]: Jimmy James, Johnny Johnson.
* [[Almighty Janitor]]: Joe is a world class engineer, which is played entirely for laughs. He makes all of his own equipment (even duct tape) and can read binary code.
{{quote|
'''Joe:''' I made it.
'''Catherine:''' I mean, where'd you get the parts?
'''Joe:''' I made em!
* [[April
* [[Ash Face]]: One time, Bill tries to escape down the stairwell when fire breaks out in the building, but the stairwell is full of smoke and he comes back covered in soot. Dave then makes a quip referencing ''[[The Jazz Singer]]'' ("I think talking pictures will destroy Hollywood").
* [[Attractive Bent Gender]]: Dave, in the Halloween episode, laments that he looks better as a woman than a man. Lisa gets mad because she thinks he looks better in her dress than she does.
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* [[Be Careful What You Wish For]]
* [[Benevolent Boss]]: Mr. James, of course. Dave, too, considering what he has to put up with everyday.
** James on one occasion, after realizing he got everyone really crappy
** Mr. James appears to actively seek his good boss reputation, by often times making Dave 'make' the unpopular decisions for the company.
* [[The Big Board]]: Only Matthew cares about it, however.
* [[Brainy Brunette]]: Lisa.
* [[Bunny Ears Lawyer]]: Several characters, but Jimmy James stands out.
** Joe Garelli and Bill McNeal also stand out, being highly skilled, but either half-crazed or highly obnoxious.
* [[Burger Fool]]: Lisa in "Lucky Burger".
* [[Canada, Eh?]]{{context|reason=Why this trope instead of just 'Canada'? For that matter, why this trope at all?}}
* [[The Cassandra]]: Dave is a terrific news director. He's tough, has foresight, good instincts and a lot of common sense, and is a BS detector. Despite this, nobody at the office ever believes his warnings and his authority is roundly dismissed, as much of the staff see him as just a [[Stop Having Fun Guy|killjoy]].
* [[Christmas Episode]]
* [[Cloudcuckoolander]]: Most of the cast. But especially Matthew.
* [[Conspiracy Theorist]]: Joe, full stop.{{context}}
* [[Converse
* [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]]: Jimmy's nemesis Johnny Johnson.
* [[Crazy Prepared]]: Bill, in "Presence", always has his contract in an inside pocket of his suit, just in case.
{{quote|
'''Bill:''' At a time like this it doesn't seem so crazy, does it?
** While in his radio booth, Bill has a
** Also, in the episode "Security Door", Dave gets fed-up with everyone not following proper security door protocol. Calling a staff meeting, he has an easel and a huge pad of paper with drawings of what to do and not to do while he gives his speech, covering fires, thieving burglars, propping open the door, earthquakes (even explaining that they mainly happen in the 'ring of fire' in the pacific rim) and... ''Matthew's'' questions. They fit EXACTLY what he is saying, and even predicts what the staff will ask him. To wit:
{{quote|
'''Matthew:''' Yeah, I have a very serious question.
'''Dave:''' Of course, Matthew. [Flips paper over, revealing a picture of a man riding a flying ''Unicorn''.] In the event that a ''wizard'' casts a spell on us...
* [[Cross Referenced Titles]]: Bored with coming up with titles for their episodes, the writers resorted at one point to naming all the episodes after [[
** "Catherine Moves On" in Season Four and "Bill Moves On" in Season Five.
* [[Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass]]: Jimmy James is deceptively spry. When an ex-employee denounces him on-air, James dives across Dave's desk to hit the kill-switch button (done off-screen).
{{quote|
'''Jimmy:''' I save energy [[Crazy Prepared|for times like this]].
* [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]]: In universe example, possibly. Mr. James justifies his decision to keep the station in exchange for Beth's $200 by saying that million dollar business deals happen every day, but getting a secretary to volunteer to brown bag her lunch for a month? Now that's something you write home about. It's up for interpretation how much this was really true, or if it was just enough for him to justify keeping the station (
* [[Curse Cut Short]]: From "The Trainer".
{{quote|
'''Catherine:''' Shut up.
'''Matthew:''' No, seriously! Say something in African.
'''Catherine:''' Shut the f- (''show cuts to the next scene'')
** Also happens in "Kids", when the teacher that Jimmy's dating insists he set a good example for a student to whom she's trying to teach good manners.
{{quote|
'''Jimmy:''' Oh. What the hell.
'''Teacher:''' And don't say "hell".
'''Jimmy:''' Damn.
'''Teacher:''' And don't say "damn".
'''Jimmy:''' All right, but what the f- (''show cuts to the next scene'')
* [[Deadpan Snarker]]: Dave.
* [[The Ditz]]: Matthew.
* [[Does This Remind You of Anything?]]: In "The Real Deal", Bill and Lisa try desperately to get Jerry Seinfeld to appear on their show so it won't get cancelled... which bears a suspicious resemblance to the real life situation that ''[[News Radio]]'' was in at the time.▼
▲* [[A Day At the Bizarro]]: "Space" and "Sinking Ship"
* [[
▲* [[Does This Remind You of Anything]]: In "The Real Deal", Bill and Lisa try desperately to get Jerry Seinfeld to appear on their show so it won't get cancelled... which bears a suspicious resemblance to the real life situation that ''[[News Radio]]'' was in at the time.
* [[Eccentric Millionaire]]: Bllionaire, actually: Mr. James.▼
* [[Embarrassing First Name]]: Evelyn William McNeal.▼
▲* [[Drunk With Power]]: Parodied, Matthew's promotion
▲* [[Eccentric Millionaire]]: Bllionaire, actually: Mr. James
▲* [[Embarrassing First Name]]: Evelyn William McNeal
* [[Eye Take]]
* [[Failure Knight]]: Matthew, with regard to Bill.
* [[Fauxtastic Voyage]]: "Balloon".
* [[Feng Schwing]]: Bill's apartment, but {{spoiler|later revealed to actually be his gigolo neighbor's place}}.
* [[Flowers for Algernon Syndrome]]: "[[Literary Allusion Title|Flowers for Matthew]]".▼
▲* [[Five Five Five]]: Subverted, when Mr. James realizes he's been given a fake 555 number.
▲* [[Flowers for Algernon Syndrome]]: "[[Literary Allusion Title|Flowers for Matthew]]"
* [[Foil]]: Dave and Bill are an excellent example.
* [["Friend or Idol?" Decision]]: Not quite a straight example, as Mr. James is already a billionaire, but when an excellent offer for the new station is made (
* [[A God Am I]]: Played for laughs. Mr. James bets Bill in a poker game with another radio station. Bill pulls out his contract and says there is no way he has the right to do that. Mr. James then tells him to check the extraordinary circumstances section, saying that the contract does not cover instances of sudden illness, acts of God, etc. Again, Bill protests. Mr. James finally tells him to read his Act of God clause.
{{quote|
* [[Gratuitous English]]: Mr. James' book {{spoiler|Macho Business Donkey Wrestler}}.
* [[The Great Whodini]]: Dave was both the great Throwgalli and the Great Ventriloquodini.
* [[Heads
* [[Heroic BSOD]]: Mr. James has one of these when he loses Bill in a poker game.
* [[He's Just Hiding]]: [[Invoked Trope|Invoked]] in-universe with Matthew's reaction to Bill's death. {{spoiler|Initially, at least. Later, Matthew admits that he knows Bill is truly dead, he's just using this trope so as not to alarm the others.}}
* [[Historical
* [[Homemade Inventions]]: Joe's forte. In fact, it's implied that Joe doesn't use ANYTHING he didn't just make in his garage. This often times applies to the individual parts as well, although he has cobbled together several
* [[Hot Mom]]: Although she's never seen onscreen, Jimmy James apparently has and believes Dave's mother is this.
* [[Human Popsicle]]: "Space".
* [[Hypno Fool]]: How Joe cures Mr. James of his fear of hippies.
* [[
* [[I Know Kung Faux]]: Joe Garelli is an expert in "Joe-jitsu".
* [[I'm a Man, I Can't Help It]]: What all of Beth's boyfriends told her. Not just that they are a slave to their sex drive, but that they get sick if they don't.
* [[Indulgent Fantasy Segue]]
* [[In Space]]: The episode "Space" is
{{quote|
* [[I Take Offense to That Last One]]: In "Mistake", Dave in a magazine interview refers to Joe as "a so-called electrician who knows more about imaginary flying saucer technology than he does about a simple light switch". Joe is far less offended by the personal insult than by Dave referring to alien technology as "imaginary".
* [[I Want You to Meet An Old Friend of Mine]]: In "Stupid Holiday Charity Talent Show", Dave's knife-throwing nemesis Throwdini is played by Dave Foley's former ''[[Kids in The Hall]]'' colleague Kevin McDonald. And in "Goofy Ball", Bill's stalker is played by Phil Hartman's former ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' colleague Dennis Miller. Hartman was replaced by Jon Lovitz who was another former SNL
* [[Kawaisa]]: Dave is an in-universe example of [[Moe|cuteness]], much to his frustration and chagrin. He's rarely taken seriously as an authority figure because of his [[Naive Newcomer|inexperience]], [[Incorruptible Pure Pureness|idealism]] and [[Fun Size|boyishness]] -- the others largely agree that he looks like a fourteen-year-old in a business suit. A child visiting the station once calls him "the little boy in the blue suit".
** In episode 57, Dave tries to fool Andrea's polygraph test to make her think he's got a criminal record, but the test reveals he's never even thought about shoplifting, and Andrea calls him the cutest thing. He snaps back, "I am '''not''' the cutest thing!" and the polygraph goes off. Jimmy enters as Dave storms out, then Jimmy says to Andrea, "Ain't he the cutest thing?"
* [["Kick Me" Prank]]: Bill puts a "Spaz" sign on Matthew.
* [[Knife
* [[Lampshade Hanging]]
* [[Large Ham]]: Oh dear god, Bill.
* [[Lost Him in
* [[Magic Feather]]: An interesting variation: When Matthew becomes smart enough to realize the drug he took was a placebo, the effect immediately wears off and he becomes a spaz again.▼
* [[The Main Characters Do Everything]]: WNYX is supposed to be a busy New York City radio station, but the eight main characters seem to do every job. The electrician sits in on story meetings and sometimes goes on the air. The show originally had [[Ghost Extras]] in the background to suggest that there were other employees, but eventually gave up on that.
** [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] and [[Handwaved]] in "Kids", when Dave calls Joe, Matthew, and Bill into his office to make them confess which one of them has been leaving porn magazines in the break room.
{{quote|
'''Joe:''' Dave, did you ever stop to consider it might be one of the 15 or 20 other guys who work at this station?
'''Bill:''' Joe's right. How come every time there's a problem, you assume that it's one of us? What about them? What if it was... that guy whose name I don't know? Or the guy who sits by him? Or-
'''Dave:''' Because ''somebody'' gave those people the impression they're not allowed ''in'' the break room.
'''Bill:''' Well, Dave, I consider that room to be a private sanctuary where I can escape from all those horrid little people whose names I don't know!
▲* [[Magic Feather]]: An interesting variation: When Matthew becomes smart enough to realize the drug he took was a placebo, the effect immediately wears off and he becomes a spaz again.
* [[A Man Is Not a Virgin]]: When Matthew reveals in "The Real Deal" that he is a virgin, the rest of the staff refuses to believe him.
* [[Must Have Caffeine]]: Dave.▼
* [[New Job Episode]]: Matthew at the coffee shop.▼
▲* [[Must Have Caffeine]]: Dave
▲* [[New Job Episode]]: Matthew at the coffee shop
* [[New York Subway]]: "Crisis" - Dave struggles to get Matthew an access pass to a subway tunnel during a transit emergency.
* [[No Name Given]]: Beth's last name is never revealed; in "Freaky Friday", she claims not to even have one.
* [[Nose Tapping]]
* [[Only One Name]]: Beth. See [[No Name Given]].
* [[Only Sane Employee]]: Dave Nelson often plays the [[Straight Man]].
* [[Oral Fixation Fixation]]: Beth's perpetual gum chewing was a running gag throughout the show's run. Bill's fondness for cigarettes also came up quite a bit.
* [[Parody Episode]]: "Sinking Ship".
* [[Personality Swap]]
* [[Plucky Office Girl]]: Matthew Brock, played by Andy Dick. A very, very, ''very'' rare male example.
* [[Popular Saying, But...]]: When life gives you lemons, make lemonade, and then throw it in the face of the person who gave you the lemons until they give you the oranges you originally asked for.
* [[Put
** [[The Bus Came Back]]: Khandi Alexander returned for "Bill Moves On", the Phil Hartman tribute episode.
* [[The Rashomon]]: "Catherine Moves On".
* [[Real Life Writes the Plot]]: After Hartman was murdered, his character Bill was made to suffer a fatal heart attack.
* [[Recursive Translation]]: Mr. James' biography sold so well in Japan, he had it translated ''back'' into English ''from'' the Japanese. The result? "Jimmy James, Capitalist Lion Tamer" became "Jimmy James, Macho Business Donkey Wrestler":
{{quote|
''(later)''
...Glorious sunset of my heart was fading. Soon the super karate monkey death car would park in my space. But Jimmy has fancy plans... and pants to match. The monkey clown horrible karate round and yummy like cute small baby chick would beat the donkey.
* [[Repetitive Name]]: James James: the man so nice, they named him twice.
* [[A Riddle Wrapped in
* [[Risky Business Dance]]: Jimmy James does it at Dave's parent's house, where he is hiding from the police.
* [[Running Gag]]: Whenever Joe's last name is mentioned, someone (usually Bill) looks perplexed and says "Your last name is Garrelli?"
** Joe's close personal relationship with the [
** Jimmy's attraction to Dave's mother could also be considered a running gag.
*** Jimmy having a heated argument in Dave's office, wherein Dave asks if it's a tough business deal, to which Jimmy responds with something innocuous like 'No that was your mother, lovely lady,' or 'Nah, wrong number'.
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** And Joe's fondness for conspiracy theories.
** The phrase "Super Karate Monkey Death Car" comes up a few times in different contexts.
* [[Sassy Secretary]]: Beth.
* [[Secret Relationship]]: Dave and Lisa.▼
▲* [[Secret Relationship]]: Dave and Lisa
* [[Secret Test of Character]] Jimmy is a fan of these. At one point, Lisa asks Jimmy if something is "one of your dumbass lessons".
* [[Series Fauxnale]]
* [[Shoo Out the New Guy]]: Andrea, the meddling, overly perky efficiency expert played by Lauren Graham. When the character met with an extremely tepid reception from fans, she was quietly and hastily dropped from the show.
* [[Shout
* [[Show Within a Show]]: Multiple radio segments, including "The Real Deal with Bill McNeal" and "This Day in History".
* [[Sitcom Arch Nemesis]]: Jimmy has off-screen rivalries with [[Bill Gates]] and [[Rupert Murdoch]], among others, and an onscreen rivalry with Johnny Johnson.▼
▲* [[Sitcom Arch Nemesis]]: Jimmy has off-screen rivalries with Bill Gates and Rupert Murdoch, among others, and an onscreen rivalry with Johnny Johnson.
* [[Slap Slap Kiss]]: Dave wryly mentions in one episode that rage is an aphrodisiac for Lisa.
* [[Small Name, Big Ego]]: Bill.
* [[Something Completely Different]]: "Sinking Ship", "Space".
* [[Strange Minds Think Alike]]: ''Bitchcakes''.
* [[Suck E.
* [[Surrounded
{{quote|
* [[Suspiciously Similar Substitute]]: Max Louis for Bill McNeal.
** To be fair, Jon Lovitz agreed to join the cast because he had been very close with Phil Hartman dating back into the early 80s and he wanted to pay tribute to his friend in what could be considered a real life [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming]].
* [[Talent Double]]: In "Mistake", that clearly isn't Dave Foley tap dancing (note that we don't see Dave's face).
* [[Team Dad]]: Jimmy.
* [[Team Mom]]: Dave, oddly enough.
* [[That's What She Said]]:
{{quote|
'''Lisa''': Give it to me, Dave. I'll take it.
'''Joe''': That's not the first time Dave's heard Lisa say that.
'''Dave''': Give it a rest.
'''Bill''': I'll bet that's not the first time Lisa's heard Dave say that.
'''Lisa''': Look you really don't want to get into this.
'''Catherine''': I bet Dave's never heard that one before.
'''Dave''': Seriously, this is a very sensitive area.
'''Beth''': That's what she said.
'''Lisa''': Okay, I'm telling them.
'''Bill''': And I'll bet that's not... Actually that doesn't really work, does it?
* [[Totally Radical]]:
** "Seriously, everyone is totally bitchcakes today..."
* [[True Companions]]: Sometimes less than obvious, sometimes almost brutally reinforced. Mr. James goes into a [[Heroic BSOD]] after he loses Bill in a poker game.
** Most notable in the episode where Mr. James gets an offer for the station. It's painfully obvious that James does not want to lose the station, or his friends, but it is against his principles to let his emotions guide his business. The end of the episode features the characters sitting around for hours trying to come up with excuses or alternative offers.
* [[Tsundere]]: On Khandi Alexander's last episode, it is revealed that her character Catherine is this towards Joe.
* [[Ultimate Job Security]]: One wonders just how Matthew manages to keep his job. He loses it at one point, but gets it back a few episodes later.
** While most characters are usually seen doing their job at some point in the episode, even if only slightly, it's incredibly easy to forget what Matthews job is. Be you don't know, eh?
*** In one episode, Matthew is asked what his job is and he doesn't even know. Ironically he was asking for the afternoon off because of how hard work is.
* [[Viewers Are Morons]] (Super Karate Monkey Death Car)▼
* [[Video Wills]]
* [[Wacky Marriage Proposal]]: Parodied in "Our 50th Episode", played straight in "Wino".
* [[Warrior Poet]]: Between his seventeen-page love letter to Lisa, and his knife throwing skills, Dave is the closest the show will ever get to one of these.
* [[Welcome Episode]]: The pilot (Dave). Lovitz gets one too when he joins the cast.
* [[What If]]: "Space" and "Sinking Ship".
* [[Will They or Won't They?]]: Subverted; see [[Writer Revolt]]
* [[Wondrous Ladies' Room]]: Jimmy turns the men's room into a luxe club after the guys find out how nice the ladies room is. {{spoiler|Matthew ruins it by going to the bathroom.}}
* [[You Look Familiar]]: David Cross, Brian Posehn, Bob Odenkirk all appeared as different characters in different seasons.
▲* [[You Look Familiar]]: David Cross, Brian Posehn, Bob Odenkirk all appeared as different characters in different seasons.
** So did Toby Huss, Dave "Gruber" Allen, and David Anthony Higgins. Not to mention Jon Lovitz- Max Louis was the ''third'' character he played on the show.
* [[Zany Scheme]]: [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] by Dave at one point: "Why is the solution to every problem around here some kind of covert plan?"
* [[Zero
** Although this may be true, he supposedly said this to make Lisa really mad, which is also one of his sexual fantasies.
* [[Zeroes and Ones]]: Joe claims to know how to read binary code.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:TV Series]]▼
[[Category:Work Com]]
[[Category:American Series]]
▲[[Category:News Radio]]
▲[[Category:Series]]
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