NewsRadio Cast: Where The Actors Are Today

Although there were plenty of '90s sitcoms set in the workplace, "NewsRadio" stands out as one of the best and most underrated of these. It revolved around the team at a second-rate AM radio station in New York City, with an anything-goes approach that saw the show embrace everything from broad physical comedy and rapid-fire quipping to satire and more outlandish surrealism. "NewsRadio" ran for five seasons, airing on NBC from 1995 to 1999 and surviving even the tragic death of one of its main cast members. 

Unlike many other workplace sitcoms, there's remarkably little turnover from an ensemble perspective — "NewsRadio" had a small group of actors that made up its news station, and the majority of them stuck with the show for its entire runtime. That speaks to both the quality of "NewsRadio" and what a positive working experience it fostered. Although it isn't the most widely known television show from the '90s, it has an all-star cast, most of whom are still working in Hollywood today. Ever wondered what happened to the quirky staff of WNYX? Read on to find out where they are now.

"NewsRadio" begins as Dave Nelson takes command of the station as its newest news director, a role that he's suited for on paper, even if his colleagues don't necessarily give him the respect he deserves. Dave was played by none other than Dave Foley, who started his career as one of the comedians on the groundbreaking Canadian sketch comedy series "The Kids in the Hall," a group that he left to join "NewsRadio."

In the years since "NewsRadio" has been off the air, Foley has had no shortage of roles. He starred as the perennially misunderstood ant Flik in the underrated Pixar animated film "A Bug's Life," and made additional film appearances in "Blast From the Past," the superhero coming-of-age comedy "Sky High," and "Monsters University." But the lion's share of his work has been in television — he had major recurring roles in "Hot in Cleveland," "Spun Out," "Dr. Ken," and was a main cast member on the fifth season of "Fargo." You'll also recognize him from shorter character arcs in shows like "How I Met Your Mother," "Scrubs," "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia," and "Young Sheldon." And in recent years, he's returned to his roots, appearing with the gang from "Kids in the Hall," acting in "The Kids in the Hall: Death Comes to Town" and the 2022 revival series.

Every '90s office needs a quirky owner whose methods are full of madness that act in contrast to the stereotypical image of a wealthy businessman, and in "NewsRadio," that's Jimmy James, played by Stephen Root. What do you know Stephen Root from? Well, it probably depends on how old you are. He played Milton, the beleaguered office employee obsessed with his cherry red Swingline stapler in the cult classic "Office Space," as well as voicing both Bill and Buck Strickland on "King of the Hill." So that's the '90s covered. Among his other comedic roles were Gordon Pibb in "Dodgeball" and Judge Hank "The Hangman" BMW in the eerily prescient "Idiocracy." But what's so remarkable about Root is that although he tends to be remembered for his comedic turns, he's also an incredibly talented dramatic actor. 

On the big screen, he appeared in acclaimed films like "O Brother, Where Art Thou?," "No Country For Old Men," "Selma," "Trumbo," "Get Out," "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs," and "The Tragedy of Macbeth." So, you know ... range. And on television, his career's arguably even more impressive, with recurring appearances on "Pushing Daisies," "The West Wing," "Justified," "Turn: Washington's Spies," "Succession," and "The Man in the High Castle." But in addition to those roles, he played Monroe Fuches, a manipulative "friend" of Barry (Bill Hader) who plays the temperamental hitman like a fiddle on HBO's megahit "Barry." For his work as Fuches, he earned his first Emmy nomination for Best Supporting Actor in 2019.

Woof. What can we say about Andy Dick? He plays Matthew Brock in "NewsRadio," a news reporter who brings the show's least sophisticated humor to life. A member of the Second City comedy troupe in Chicago, Dick got his start in television on "The Ben Stiller Show" before landing "NewsRadio" in 1995. In the 1990s and 2000s, he made a career for himself with bit roles in films like "In the Army Now," "Reality Bites," "The Cable Guy," "Loser," "Road Trip," and "Zoolander." After "NewsRadio" went off the air, Dick continued to work in television, spearheading "The Andy Dick Show," which ran for 21 episodes on MTV from 2001 to 2002, as well as playing Owen Kronsky on "Less Than Perfect," a comedy series about employees at a television network, which earned four seasons on ABC.

In addition to his work as an actor, however, Andy Dick has spent the past few decades surrounded by a tornado of controversy. We don't have time to go through all his indiscretions, but suffice it to say his "controversies" tab on Wikipedia reads like "War & Peace." Among a litany of drug, assault, and burglary charges, Dick has been arrested for indecent exposure and sexual abuse multiple times over the course of his time in the spotlight. 

Although the cast of "NewsRadio" seemed to get along fairly well, there was notable tension between Dick and his co-star Jon Lovitz. This resulted in an on-set argument that reportedly culminated in Lovitz's claim that Dick was responsible for procuring cocaine for Phil Hartman's wife, Brynn, which led to her relapse and, ultimately, to Hartman's death. In 2007, they got into an altercation at a Los Angeles restaurant, where Dick allegedly told Lovitz, "I put the Phil Hartman hex on you — you're the next to die."

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

As Lisa, a high-achieving news reporter in "NewsRadio," Maura Tierney plays more of a straight woman on the show, armed with a sarcastic quip rather than a pratfall. Tierney was on the show for all five seasons of its run, and although she began her acting career in 1987 with a role in the television film "Student Exchange," "NewsRadio" was her biggest credit to date. 

After "NewsRadio" went off the air, she quickly found a home on another television heavyweight, starring as E.R. nurse Abby Lockhart in 189 episodes of "E.R." Her other major television credits include "Rescue Me," "The Whole Truth," "The Affair," and "American Rust." She is currently playing Lieutenant Jessica Brady on "Law & Order," a role she took on in 2024. On the big screen, she's best known for her work in "Liar Liar" as Fletcher's (Jim Carrey) ex-wife Audrey, Timothee Chalamet's stepmother in "Beautiful Boy," a black site operator in "The Report," Von Erich family matriarch Doris in "The Iron Claw," and Kate's (Daisy Edgar-Jones) mother in "Twisters."

Tierney has received two Emmy nominations over the course of her career: Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for "E.R." in 2001 and "The Affair" in 2016. In addition to her work in film and television, she made her Broadway debut in 2013, acting in the Nora Ephron-penned play "Lucky Guy."

This may come as a shock to many readers, especially the younglings among us, but Joe Rogan used to be an actor. He got his start playing Frank Vallente, a cocky baseball star, in "Hardball," a short-lived sitcom that aired for one season on Fox in 1994. After that, he transferred to "NewsRadio," where he starred as Joe Garrelli, the station's salt-of-the-earth handyman, a role that he played for the entire series run. When "NewsRadio" went off the air, he switched gears from traditional acting, marketing himself as a reality TV host instead. 

He hosted the first seven seasons of "Fear Factor," "The Man Show," "Last Comic Standing," and several other reality shows, and combat sports fans may know him best as a color commentator for UFC events. And of course, nowadays he's famous (or infamous, depending on who you ask) for his podcast "The Joe Rogan Experience," which has become one of the most streamed on the planet. Since he began hosting the show in 2009, Rogan has courted controversy for using his platform to promote questionable pseudoscience and misinformation, as well as featuring what some critics consider to be bad-faith actors as guests.

For all five seasons of "NewsRadio," Vicki Lewis played Beth, secretary to news director Dave. But the show was just a small piece of her prolific career in television. Although Lewis worked sporadically in film — with appearances in movies like "Mousehunt," "Pushing Tin," "Finding Nemo," and "Finding Dory" — she's better known for her performances on the small screen. Lewis turned up on "Seinfeld," "Home Improvement," "Grey's Anatomy," "Bones," "Curb Your Enthusiasm," "The Middle," "How I Met Your Mother," "The Blacklist," and "Modern Family," amongst many other shows, so chances are you've seen her somewhere before. 

In addition to her work on film and television, she's had a fairly prolific career on stage — she made her Broadway debut back in 1982 with "Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up?" and followed that show up with appearances in "Wind in the Willows" in 1985, "Damn Yankees" in 1994, "Chicago" in 2000, and "Anastasia" in 2017. Her last screen role was in a 2021 episode of "The Goldbergs," and it seems like she's more focused on theater at the moment. In 2024, she played famed opera singer Maria Callas (yes, the same Maria Callas that Angelina Jolie brought to life in "Maria") in a production of Terrence McNally's "Masterclass" at the Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor, Long Island.

Catherine Duke was one of the two news anchors on WNYX, and she was brought to life by Khandi Alexander. A confident, intelligent woman who is unafraid to pursue her own ambitions, Duke left the station during the fourth season of "NewsRadio," taking a job at a news station in London. This made Alexander one of the few members of the main cast to leave the show before it ended in 1999, although she did come back for the fifth season episode honoring Bill. Alexander got her start on Broadway, where she appeared in a 1981 production of "Dreamgirls," before transitioning to film and television. 

At the same time that she was starring as Catherine on "NewsRadio," she also had a recurring role on "E.R." as Jackie Robbins, the sister of surgeon Peter Benton (Eriq La Salle), a character she played for 29 episodes from 1995 to 2001. She was a key part of the original cast of "CSI: Miami," playing Alexx Woods for 145 episodes before leaving the show in 2009. From there, she garnered critical praise for her work as LaDonna Batiste-Williams on the post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans drama "Treme." In 2015, she earned her first Emmy nomination for Best Guest Actress in a Drama Series for "Scandal," where she played Olivia Pope's (Kerry Washington) mother Maya. Her most recent screen credit came in 2021, when she played Countess Carmilla de Mornay in an episode of "What We Do In the Shadows."

The man who needs no introduction: Jon Lovitz. The famous '90s comedic actor joined "NewsRadio" as a series regular in the fifth season, playing Max Evans, Bill's replacement on the air, although he had appeared in two episodes in the third and fourth seasons. His reason for joining the cast of "NewsRadio" on a more permanent basis was simple: He was a close friend of Phil Hartman's, and after his sudden death, Lovitz was convinced by the show's creator, Paul Simms, that he was the only person who could take on the role. 

Although he was initially reluctant to step into Hartman's shoes, he came around to the idea. "Paul just said to me: 'I don't know what to tell you. You're his friend. It feels right. Everybody in the cast wants you,'" he explained in an interview via the Deseret News. He went on to say that his performance on the show was meant to be a tribute to the late actor. "I'd give up everything to have Phil back. It's like the most horrible thing. Now I want everybody to look at me in the show and just think it's him."

In addition to Lovitz's career-making work on "Saturday Night Live" – for which he was nominated for two Emmys for Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program — and the various characters he voiced as a frequent guest on "The Simpsons," he shifted to film work. He appeared in "A League of Their Own" as the cynical baseball scout who initially recruits Dottie (Geena Davis) and Kit (Lori Singer), and also starred in "Rat Race," "Happiness," "The Producers," "Hotel Transylvania," and many others. He's still going strong, with three projects in development at the time of writing.

Phil Hartman played Bill McNeal, the station's arrogant co-anchor, on "NewsRadio," and tragically, this was the show he was starring on when he died. A beloved comedic actor, Hartman had made his mark on "Saturday Night Live" as a foundational cast member for eight seasons of the sketch comedy show. He was a regular cast member on "The Simpsons," voicing Troy McClure and a variety of other characters (and was meant to voice Zapp Brannigan on Matt Groening's "Futurama"), in addition to making appearances on shows like "Tiny Toon Adventures," "Darkwing Duck," and "Third Rock From the Sun." Colleagues and viewers praised his comic ability; critic Ken Tucker described him aptly, writing in his memorial article for Entertainment Weekly, "He could momentarily fool audiences into thinking he was the straight man, but then he'd cock an eyebrow and give his voice an ironic lilt that delivered a punchline like a fast slider—you barely saw it coming until you started laughing."

In 1998, Hartman was shot and killed in the middle of the night by his wife, Brynn, who had struggled with substance abuse issues, after which she died by suicide. His sudden death came as a shock to friends and fans around the world, and there was an outpouring of support to honor his legacy. But how was "NewsRadio" supposed to handle the loss of one of its stars within the show's narrative? In one of the most devastating episodes of television ever, they chose to have the character of Bill die as well, rather than being written off. The fifth season premiere opens with the WNYX crew returning to work after Bill's memorial, the actors barely holding it together as, just four months after Hartman's death, they're all still clearly grieving. The strong emotions of the episode are a perfect tribute to Hartman, whose life and career were tragically cut short.

If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).