Hoopers and Bloopers (Or: Did Jon Lovitz Ruin Newsradio?)

Lately, here and there, in my very spare time, I’ve been watching episodes of The Critic, the short lived animated show created by Al Jean and Mike Reiss in the wake of their legendary time as showrunners for The Simpsons. The Critic never achieved similar status, ending after two seasons (indeed, the show’s longest legacy is the appearance of its main character on a crossover episode of The Simpsons, an act apparently so outrageous it prompted series creator Matt Groening to do something he’s never done again over 20+ subsequent seasons full of turkeys: take his name off the episode). But so far (4ish episodes in) it’s a solid show doing some interesting things, one with a charming, vintage New Yorker aesthetic.


When I started planning this post, I wanted to write about one aspect of the show’s comedy, it’s tendency — now commonplace, but pretty rare at the time — to engage in cutaway jokes. As I started thinking through my ideas, though, another plan slowly took over and since this blog is a place for ridiculous ideas, I’m rolling with it. I still plan to post a follow up exploring the show’s use of cutaway jokes in the near future, so think of this post as a sort of cutaway post from that one — back to regularly scheduled programming soon.

The major reason it has taken me so long to get around to The Critic, despite my abiding love for the Jean/Reiss Simpsons run, is a simple one: I have a strong distaste for Jon Lovitz, the voice at the center of it all. In The Critic Lovitz voices Jay Sherman, the titular film critic who balances his film snob’s distaste for the cinema he must sit through with his sad sack demeanor in all aspects of personal life. It’s a perfect role for Lovitz in many ways, but that can’t erase for me Lovitz’s great sin: he ruined Newsradio, the greatest live action 90s sitcom (sit down, riled up Seinfeld dirtbags. Relax and sip a nice glass of Gewürztraminer for your nerves, Frasier stans).

Now, that’s a little unfair as a blanket statement. Following the tragic murder of Phil Hartman after Season 4 of the show, there’s little chance that Newsradio would have ever gotten back to the heights it reached in its third and fourth seasons. Indeed, even the departure of Khandi Alexander partway through Season 4 threw off the perfect balance of the show (more on that later). It’s also hard to fault Lovitz for wanting to step up and honor the memory of Hartman, one of his closest friends. But in the end it’s hard to deny that Lovitz wrecks good chunks of Season 5, and that the show would have been better off with no replacement for Hartman rather than Lovitz. It’s not just that no one could replace Hartman; it’s that Lovitz has the sort of comic persona absolutely at odds with what made Newsradio work. I’ve thought a lot about why this is the case, and I think I’ve finally come up with the perfect way to explain: via the NBA.

Because I spent 9 years of my life in Tulsa, Oklahoma just as the Oklahoma City Thunder were getting off the ground, and because that time coincided with my childhood team, the Detroit Pistons, sliding into infuriating mediocrity (hastened along by LeBron James ripping out their hearts in the playoffs), mature Asher is a fan of the Thunder. As such, I spent most of my adult life cheering on Russell Westbrook through the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. I LOVE Russell Westbrook. Love. Full stop. Cannot convince me otherwise and I will fight you if you hate on him love him. But I also know, viewed sub specie aeternitatis, that his game has proved highly divisive. People love to hate him for what he’s not, and at times it becomes easy to do so because, for all his wonderful traits, he’s not a flexible player: it’s his way or the highway. This is a comment many smart people have made since he’s been on the move to other teams. You really have to build your team around Russ’ strengths, or otherwise he’s just sort of dead weight out there, because he’s electric at the things he does well, but he can’t just slot into other roles.

My Russ fandom has helped me grapple with Jon Lovitz, because I think, in the end, they are similar in this regard, even if polar opposites in other ways (body types, fashion sense, etc). In the right role (say, as a schlubby, snobbish film critic) he’s incredible, his large personality and distinctive (yeah, let’s go with that) voice absolutely bringing the laughs. But he’s not a flexible comic presence - he’s too large and grandiose for that. Like Russ, he’s a bit of a black hole, sucking all others toward him. Again, in a Lovitz-centric vehicle like The Critic, that really works. But it’s death in a context like Newsradio, which at its best was exquisite as an ensemble comedy.

That’s the secret sauce of the great run Newsradio had. It’s not just that it had great characters, which can be said of all great sitcoms. It’s that the characters all played off of each other in particular ways, such that the show was always building to great moments of chaotic climax. Every cast member had an important role in that balancing act; Dave Foley as Dave Nelson kept the energy tamped down as long as possible, Stephen Root as Jimmy James would come in at key moments and punctuate the proceedings with an upping of the chaos stakes, and so on down the line. Even the weaker actors on the show, those with more limited range (looking at you, now infamous Joe Rogan) fit perfectly into their roles (in Joe’s case, the role of physical precarity, as the meathead electrician who made every part of the set wobble with uncertainty thanks to his DIY fixes). That’s why losing Khandi Alexander (an impeccable physical comedian, as well as an archly dry balancing presence for Hartman) altered the chemistry enough to make the episodes without her just not quite as good.

But Alexander played a smaller role in Newsradio than Hartman (that is, in fact, why she left — she was unsatisfied with the material she was given, a sometimes fair criticism given her incredible talent). Hartman, as arrogant news anchor Bill McNeal, made the whole ensemble click. He was, most of the time, the primary chaos agent, conspiring against station manager Dave, winding up pathetic lackey Matthew (Andy Dick), and just generally stirring the pot. As good as Hartman was an an individual comic presence — that voice! those eyebrows! that strut! — his real value lay in his ability to act as a connecting piece between the various other members of the ensemble. He, in fact, made those around him better, and could shimmy himself into whatever tight comic space was required.

In that way, Phil Hartman was somewhat like the Kevin Durant to Lovitz’s Westbrook — a mind-bending talent who was content to take what was given, and to slot himself in wherever needed. For all the interplay between Russ and KD, the Thunder were always Russ’ team in fundamental makeup, with KD there to fill gaps. You can’t imagine Russ moving seamlessly onto the Golden State Warriors the way KD did (largely, and at least on the court). Hartman had something of that chameleon quality about him, even as you never forgot who he was. He kept the ball moving, comedically.

Lovitz is not like that. He drains the energy when he’s onscreen in Season 5. The zippy give and take grinds to a halt so that Lovitz can do his schtick. It’s not that he’s not talented, it’s that he doesn’t make sense in that context. Again, imagine putting Russ, who has to have the ball in his hands, in the midst of the “beautiful game” Warriors, constantly making that extra pass. Oddly enough, Lovitz’s stubborn comic persona explains why he works pretty well as a guest star in his two Newsradio appearances before Season 5 (playing different characters each time). In Season 4 opener “Jumper” he fits especially well, because, as a man who threatens to jump from the WNYX building ledge, he’s literally playing a character who negatively affects the gravity of the show. The whole episode is about the struggle between his singular will and the elasticity of the Newsradio cast members. With that struggle foregrounded, he’s able to do his thing while the others go about their business unimpeded. But folded into the DNA of the show, he just deflates what makes the ensemble special.

Let’s take another angle. Lovitz has something of a “look at me” quality that’s similar to Russ. With Westbrook, every rebound, every drive brings home to you the existential agony of human existence; you’re seeing him engaged in a Sisyphean struggle against the world. With Durant, you frequently forget he’s even on the court, only to glance up and see he’s poured in 30 points. It’s the same with Lovitz and Hartman. Between Lovitz’s looks and his voice, he takes up space on screen, and his whole demeanor is built around his onscreen “neediness”. He’s also of the “flop sweat” school of comedy, such that you never forget how hard he’s working to get a laugh. While you never quite forget that Hartman’s there, and he carries something of that same smarmy bravado from role to role (to put it in Simpsons terms, Lionel Hutz and Troy McClure are distinct characters, but definitely cousins), he manages to make his comedy feel effortless, or perhaps rather detached, a greatness existing outside himself.

I’m glad, then, that I’ve been watching The Critic, because it has revealed to me just what a great comic presence Lovitz can be. As a Russ fan, I know nothing is more irritating than people who jump at any opportunity to trash his game, to chime in loudly with a “well actually” anytime someone dares praise him. And Lovitz really is great anchoring his own show, where his quirks are thoroughly explored and he can ham it up to his heart’s content. But I also know I’ll never quite get over his role in adding insult to injury by taking one of the great sitcoms, already rocked by tragedy, and making me wince as I watch it, like I’m witnessing Russ launch up a 3 pointer with 20 seconds left on the shot clock.