History Series / NewsRadio

-->'''Beth:''' Matthew, I think you mispronounced that guy's name a few times.
-->'''Matthew:''' What? It's Joey [[CurseCutShort Buttaf--]]
-->'''Dave:''' No it isn't, Matthew. It's "Buttafuoco". "Butta-''foo''-co".
-->'''Matthew:''' What did I say?
-->'''Dave:''' Well, Matthew, of all the possible mispronunciations of that name, you seem to have stumbled upon absolutely the worst one.

-->'''Dave:''' Any questions?\\

--->'''Lisa:''' So did I, your on your own Matthew.

* ExplodingCloset: Matthew and Dave discus the tendency of ''Radio/FibberMcGeeAndMolly'' to use this trope after Mr. James gives Matthew the tapes [[spoiler:and rights]] to the series as a Christmas gift. Matthew tries to relate a part from the show to Dave, but Dave easily guesses that the closet's contents spill out onto Fibber [=McGee=]. It turns out that Matthew thought that something else happens, but admits the trope happening is funnier.

* HistoricalCharacterConfusion:

-->'''Dave:''' I wanted to let you know that I understand now that what you put me through was a test.
-->'''Jimmy:''' Could be. Or it could be that I'm just making it all up as I go along.
-->'''Dave:''' Well, which is it?
-->'''Jimmy:''' You'll never know.

* TooDumbToLive: Matthew Matthew Matthew. While the first few episodes showed him as overly sensitive and a bit of a goof, he still seemed able to do his job. [[{{Flanderization}} This quickly changed]] to Matthew becoming so stupid that not only is he completely unable to do his job on the few occasions he can be bothered to even try to do it, but he is near constantly tripping over tables or messing something up. One particular noteworthy case is when Matthew racks up over ten thousand dollars in debt with Joe from gambling (see EpicFail).
** Lampshaded by Lisa when she and Dave were discusing Matthew getting fired:
-->'''Lisa''': Matthew couldn't go to the bathroom by himself.
-->'''Dave''': Yes he could.
-->'''Lisa''': No he couldn't.
-->'''Dave''': He couldn't?

* TwistingTheWords: Bill’s failure to vet his editorials through Dave before going on-air ends up biting him again in “French Diplomacy”, thanks to listeners taking his words too seriously. In his ''Real Deal'' editorial, Bill, in suggesting foreign diplomats be held accountable for violating parking laws like everyone else, facetiously suggests they be ''dragged out of their cars and beaten'' as punishment, much to the dismay of Dave and Lisa. This forces Bill to issue an on-air apology after receiving word that a listener savagely beat a French diplomat for that reason, in which he rails against vigilantism by suggesting “a certain element of our society named Joe Vigilante” be “dragged out and beaten.” Bizarrely, his use of what he thought was a metaphorical name makes things worse after a man actually named [[LiteralMetaphor Joe Vigilante]] is [[NotHyperbole assaulted]] by another listener, prompting Lisa to have Bill read another editorial/apology she wrote for him that concludes by asking people that “instead of listening to our radio, [we should] listen to our heart.” Soon after, Bill reads a story on-air about a mental hospital patient who [[TooDumbToLive inadvertently killed himself by taking the written sentiment to heart]] (pun intended), much to his and Lisa’s horror.

-->'''Dave:''' Any questions?
-->'''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...

--->'''Matthew:''' Hey, what part of Africa are you from?
--->'''Catherine:''' Shut up.
--->'''Matthew:''' No, seriously! Say something in African.
--->'''Catherine:''' Shut the f- (''show cuts to the next scene'')

* FatalMethodActing: The final scene of of "Sinking Ship", where the actors as themselves address the audience, has Andy Dick claim that Dave Foley drowned filming the last scene. (He didn't, obviously.)

* AbortedArc: Nearly all forced on the writers by the network.
* ACappella: The episode where Dave was visited by the other three members of his A capella group.

* AmbulanceCut: Seen in a few episodes but featured most prominently in “Smoking”.

* BadBadActing: Mr. James, when he knows he's being filmed by documentary crew.

* TwistingTheWords: Bill’s failure to vet his editorials through Dave before going on-air ends up biting him again in “French Diplomacy”, thanks to listeners taking his words too seriously. In his ''Real Deal'' editorial, Bill, in suggesting foreign diplomats be held accountable for violating parking laws like everyone else, facetiously suggests they be ''dragged out of their cars and beaten'' as punishment, much to the dismay of Dave and Lisa. This forces Bill to issue an on-air apology after receiving word that a listener savagely beat a French diplomat for that reason, in which he rails against vigilantism by suggesting “a certain element of our society named Joe Vigilante” be “dragged out and beaten.” Bizarrely, his use of what he thought was a metaphorical name makes things worse after a man actually named [[LiteralMetaphor Joe Vigilante]] is [[NotHyperbole assaulted]] by another listener, prompting Lisa to have Bill read a written editorial/apology she wrote for him that concludes by asking people that “instead of listening to our radio, [we should] listen to our heart.” Soon after, Bill reads a story on-air about a mental hospital patient who [[TooDumbToLive inadvertently killed himself by taking the written sentiment to heart]] (pun intended), much to his and Lisa’s horror.

* TwistingTheWords: Bill’s failure to vet his editorials through Dave before going on-air end up biting him in “French Diplomacy”, thanks to listeners taking his words too seriously. In his ''Real Deal'' editorial, Bill, in suggesting foreign diplomats be held accountable for violating parking laws like everyone else, facetiously suggests they be ''dragged out of their cars and beaten'' as punishment, much to the dismay of Dave and Lisa. This forces Bill to issue an on-air apology after receiving word that a listener savagely beat a French diplomat for that reason, in which he rails against vigilantism by suggesting “a certain element of our society named Joe Vigilante” be “dragged out and beaten.” Bizarrely, his use of what he thought was a metaphorical name makes things worse after a man actually named [[LiteralMetaphor Joe Vigilante]] is [[NotHyperbole assaulted]] by another listener, prompting Lisa to have Bill read a written editorial/apology she wrote for him that concludes by asking people that “instead of listening to our radio, [we should] listen to our heart.” Soon after, Bill reads a story on-air about a mental hospital patient who [[TooDumbToLive inadvertently killed himself by taking the written sentiment to heart]] (pun intended), much to his and Lisa’s horror.

* TwistingTheWords: Bill’s failure to vet his editorials through Dave before going on-air end up biting him in “French Diplomacy”, thanks to listeners taking his words too seriously. In his ''Real Deal'' editorial, Bill, in suggesting foreign diplomats be held accountable for parking violations like everyone else, facetiously suggests diplomats be ''dragged out of their cars and beaten'' as punishment, much to the horror of Dave and Lisa. This forces Bill to issue an on-air apology after receiving word that a listener savagely beat a French diplomat for that reason, in which he rails against vigilantism by suggesting “a certain element of our society named Joe Vigilante” be “dragged out and beaten.” Bizarrely, his use of what he thought was a metaphorical name makes things worse after a man actually named [[LiteralMetaphor Joe Vigilante]] is [[NotHyperbole assaulted]] by another listener, prompting Lisa to have Bill read a written editorial/apology she wrote for him that concludes by asking people that “instead of listening to our radio, [we should] listen to our heart.” Soon after, Bill reads a story on-air about a mental hospital patient who inadvertently killed himself by taking the sentiment of the written statement to heart (pun intended), to his and Lisa’s dismay.

* TwistingTheWords: Bill’s failure to vet his editorials through Dave before going on-air end up biting him in “French Diplomacy”, thanks to listeners taking his words too seriously. In his ''Real Deal'' editorial, Bill, in suggesting foreign diplomats be held accountable for parking violations like everyone else, facetiously suggests diplomats be ''dragged out of their cars and beaten'' as punishment, much to the horror of Dave and Lisa. This forces Bill to issue an on-air apology after receiving word that a listener savagely beat a French diplomat for that reason, in which he rails against vigilantism by suggesting “a certain element of our society named Joe Vigilante” be “dragged out and beaten.” Bizarrely, his use of what he thought was a metaphorical name makes things worse after a man actually named [[NotHyperbole Joe Vigilante]] is assaulted by another listener, prompting Lisa to have Bill read a written editorial/apology she wrote for him that concludes by asking people that “instead of listening to our radio, [we should] listen to our heart.” Soon after, Bill reads a story on-air about a mental hospital patient who inadvertently killed himself by taking the sentiment of the written statement to heart (pun intended), to his and Lisa’s dismay.

* TwistingTheWords: Bill’s failure to vet his editorials through Dave before going on-air end up biting him in “French Diplomacy”, thanks to listeners taking his words too seriously. In his ''Real Deal'' editorial, Bill, in suggesting foreign diplomats be held accountable for parking violations like everyone else, facetiously suggests diplomats be ''dragged out of their cars and beaten'' as punishment, much to the horror of Dave and Lisa. This forces Bill to issue an on-air apology after receiving word that a listener savagely beat a French diplomat for that reason, in which he rails against vigilantism by suggesting “a certain element of our society named Joe Vigilante” be “dragged out and beaten.” Bizarrely, his use of what he thought was a metaphorical name makes things worse after a man actually named Joe Vigilante is assaulted by another listener, prompting Lisa to have Bill read a written editorial/apology she wrote for him that concludes by asking people that “instead of listening to our radio, [we should] listen to our heart.” Soon after, Bill reads a story on-air about a mental hospital patient who inadvertently killed himself by taking the sentiment of the written statement to heart (pun intended), to his and Lisa’s dismay.

* TwistingTheWords: Bill’s editorial and his attempts to clean up the mess caused by it in “French Diplomacy” result from this. In his ''Real Deal'' editorial, Bill, in suggesting foreign diplomats be held accountable for parking violations as everyone else, facetiously suggests diplomats be ''dragged out of their vehicles and beaten'' as punishment, much to the horror of Dave and Lisa. This prompts Bill to issue an on-air apology after a listener beats a French diplomat, in which he rails against vigilantism by suggesting “beating Joe Vigilante.” Bizarrely, a man by what he thought was a metaphorical name is assaulted by another listener, prompting Lisa to have Bill read a written editorial asking people to “stop listening to the radio and start listening to their heart.” Soon after, Bill reads a story on-air about a mental hospital patient who inadvertently killed himself by taking the sentiment of the written statement to heart (pun intended), to his and Lisa’s dismay.

-->'''Dave:''' No it isn't, Matthew. It's "Buttafuoco". "Butta-''foo-co''".

** One of the plotlines for the episode "Inappropriate" involves Matthew worrying about getting fired and landing WNYX in trouble with the FCC after committing this, ''repeatedly'', during an on-air "Where are They Now" segment about Joey Buttafuoco [[labelnote:explanation]] [[MoralGuardians For obvious reasons]], it is not said completely aloud, but it's implied that Matthew mispronounced his name as "[[FreudianSlip Butt-a-fuck-o]]", instead of "Butt-a-foo-co"[[/labelnote]]. Dave informs him of this blunder in this exchange:

-->'''Dave:''' No it isn't, Matthew. It's "Buttafuoco". "''Buttafuoco''".

%%* SeriesFauxnale

Characterized by its fast-paced plotting, quick-witted dialogue, heavy amounts of {{Slapstick}}, and occasionally surreal, outlandish plotlines. Episodes were generally self-contained, with the few [[StoryArc arcs]] that were present generally being [[ExecutiveMeddling forced upon by NBC]] and only lasting a few episodes before being quietly dropped. Infamously, the writer's reaction to be asked to do a WillTheyOrWontThey storyline was to have the main characters hook up in the ''second episode''.

Characterized its fast-paced plotting, quick-witted dialogue, heavy amounts of {{Slapstick}}, and occasionally surreal, outlandish plotlines. Episodes were generally self-contained, with the few [[StoryArc arcs]] that were present generally being [[ExecutiveMeddling forced upon by NBC]] and only lasting a few episodes before being quietly dropped. Infamously, the writer's reaction to be asked to do a WillTheyOrWontThey storyline was to have the main characters hook up in the ''second episode''.

* FriendOrIdolDecision: Not quite a straight example, as Mr. James is already a billionaire, but when an excellent offer for the new station is made (it's at least ten times what Dave thought was a fair price), James is caught between how much he enjoys the station and its people, and his business principles.

* MagicFeather: 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.

** Matthew quits over Dave's refusal to let him do a report on ''ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}}'' to go to work at the coffee shop downstairs. After being fired in a later episode, Matthew is revealed to be a qualified, rather talented dentist -- but his first love is radio.

* EpicFail: Matthew does this three times in one episode:
** After losing a couple bets with Joe, Matthew asks to bet on the boxing match in the newspaper. Since Matthew knowns nothing about boxing, he doesn't realize it is an ad for a rerun of the legendary George Foreman vs Muhammad Ali which happened 20 years earlier and as a result, he instantly lose by betting on George Foreman.
** Next, Matthew (who has racked up over 5,000 dollars' worth of debt with Joe because he didn't understand what double or nothing meant) is trying to throw a wad of paper into a waste basket across the office. When he actual bets with Joe, he succeeds, but he was in such a hurry to do it, he didn't realize Joe bet that he could do it.
** Finally, with Matthew's debt at over 10,000, Liza convinces Joe to throw a bet by having Matthew guess which of Joe's hands a pencil is in. Despite Joe making it as easy as possible (the pencil was sticking straight of his hand), Matthew still picks the wrong hand.
--->'''Joe:''' Well, I tried.
--->'''Lisa:''' Me too, your on your own Matthew.

* EpicFail: In one episode Matthew racks up 2000 dollars worth of gambling debt to Joe (Matthew didn't understand what double or nothing means). Liza convinces Joe to throw a bet by have Matthew guess which of Joe's hands a pencil is in. Despite Joe making it as easy as possible (the pencil was sticking strait of his hand), Matthew still picks the wrong hand.

* TooDumbToLive: Matthew Matthew Matthew. While the first few episodes showed him as overly sensitive and a bit of a goof, he still seemed able to do his job. [[{{Flanderization}} This quickly changed]] to Matthew becoming so stupid that not only is he completely unable to do his job on the few occasions he can be bothered to even try to do it, but he is near constantly tripping over tables or messing something up. One particular noteworthy case is when Matthew racks up over two thousand dollars in debt with Joe from gambling (see EpicFail).

* TooDumbToLive: Matthew Matthew Matthew. While the first few episodes showed as overly sensitive and a bit of a goof, he still seemed able to do his job. [[{{Flanderization}} This quickly changed]] to Matthew becoming so stupid that not only is he completely unable to do his job on the few occasions he can be bothered to try to do it, but he is near constantly trip over tables or messing something up. One particular noteworthy case is when Matthew racks up over two thousand dollars in debt with Joe from gambling. Liza convinces Joe to throw a bet by have Matthew guess which hand a pencil is in, and despite the pencil sticking strait out, Matthew still picks the wrong hand.

* SomethingCompletelyDifferent: "Sinking Ship", "Space".