For two reasons. The obvious reason is because Phil Hartman isn't in the picture. Instead, we get Jon Lovitz, who pretty much made the last season of the show unwatchable (except for a couple of episodes). He was really out of place as a regular cast member on the show (though he was great in the guest roles he had earlier in the series), and his character was completely unlikable.
But the second reason I'm not thrilled with the pic is that the original artwork on the box actually had Phil Hartman on it (you can see it here). The cast was standing in front of a picture of Hartman. In the new version, the cast is standing in front of a picture of New York City. Yeah, Hartman wasn't in the last season, but wouldn't that have been a nice nod to Hartman in the final set? The first episode of the season is about Bill McNeal's death, after all.
The fifth season set will be released on March 20.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
1-14-2007 @ 4:38PM
Jen said...
As a big NewsRadio fan myself.. this news is just horrible. You're right, they should have kept the framed Phil photo in the background out of respect. Such a shame, I wonder why they opted for this look instead.
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1-14-2007 @ 5:15PM
Melanie said...
Heck, the framed Phil Hartman just LOOKED better. Stupid choice.
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1-14-2007 @ 8:21PM
bd said...
>Heck, the framed Phil Hartman just LOOKED better. Stupid choice.
It's the exact same picture except for the background.
The last season of NewsRadio isn't as bad as people make it out to be. Hell the Lucky Burger episode alone is worth the price of admission, add to that the "Johnny Johnson/Jimmy James in jail" story arch and the S'Matthew episode and you've got a solid season of comedy.
REVOLUTION!
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1-15-2007 @ 1:15AM
BillS said...
Ditto bd. Season 5 wasn't as good as the rest of the series, but it was still better than 95% of comedies on tv. I hated the Lisa/Johnny romance, and the loss of Phil Hartman hurt the quality of the show obviously, but if you take Lovitz for what he was rather than comparing him to Hartman, he was pretty good. And even if it didn't have some quality moments, I'd be picking this up just for completeness' sake.
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1-15-2007 @ 12:32PM
Lauren said...
What bothers me the most is that the face on the side of the box is Jon's face. I'll have to buy S5 to complete the collection, but now he will be staring into my living room forever. So gross.
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1-15-2007 @ 6:03PM
GhaleonQ said...
Hm. Except for the drop in quality, I see no reason to rag on the last season of "Newsradio."
Also, I certainly prefer the original artwork, too.
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1-18-2007 @ 7:53PM
Namvet said...
I hated Phil Hartman. I thought he was an idiot on SNL and was an idiot on this show. I am glad he is dead and we don't have to watch his idiocy.
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