NewsRadio

- Season 5

(1998)

After Bill's funeral, the staff deals with their grief. Catherine comes back to read some private messages as part of Bill's last will. Matthew wants to believe Bill is still alive and traveling the world.

Dave thinks it's time to hire Bill's replacement. When the staff resists, he considers going with a longtime friend of Bill's, Max Louis. As it turns out, Max is a horrible radio personality and gets fired from every job he has. Joe needs to fix all the computers in preparation for Y2K. Electronics around the office randomly explode.

Matthew does what he can to get Max fired. Lisa goes undercover to investigate a fast food restaurant.

Dave is more stressed than usual, so Joe decides to make him a white-noise machine for relaxation. Dave loves it and eventually becomes so mellow he refuses to work. Max infringes on Lisa's special show "This Day in History," broadcasting ridiculous "live" interviews with historical figures and twisting historical facts.

Matthew becomes brilliant after drinking Joes Brain milkshake.

Mr. James is arrested and held for possibly being the legendary bank robber D.B. Cooper. Johnny Johnson arrives to fill his place, much to Mr. James' dismay; Johnson quickly makes positive impressions on the staff. Afraid Lisa is uncovering to much damning evidence on Mr. James, he assigns Matthew to the story.

With Mr. James on the loose after breaking out of prison, Dave and Lisa must try to get the green duffel bag away from Johnny Johnson, which is made harder since Lisa has the hots for Johnny. The rest of the staff refuses to believe Johnny is evil.

After beating the D.B. Cooper case in court, Mr. James returns to the station to find he cannot get rid of Johnny Johnson, who was made CEO in Mr. James' absence. Now the staff and Mr. James must find a way to win back Jimmy's empire.

Max tries to help Lisa with a supposed speech impediment, but accidentally uncovers her hidden Boston accent. Dave offers to do an inspiring video message for an old teacher's students.

Beth and Mr. James clash over employee profit-sharing. After undergoing hypnosis, Matthew believes he endured Satanic ritual abuse from Lisa.

Joe and Beth paint a self-expression mural in the lobby. Max insists that Mr. James' security consultant is an impostor. Matthew wears the same outfit as Lisa to the office.

Dave and Lisa fight over a new apartment and, needing a required reference, they each immediately go to Mr. James, who opts to let the staff decide who should receive the reference. To spice up the "crappy" WNYX website, Joe sets up a webcam in the breakroom.

Wanting to leave a lasting legacy, Mr. James proposes to build a pair of 200-story buildings shaped like his initials. Freaking out over turning 30, Matthew shows up at work dressed and acting like a British punk rocker rebelling against society.

Mr James wants to do business with a computer billionaire, but he is shocked when he finds the man has casual clothing, a beard, and long hair. Joe takes Jimmy on a hypnotic psychoanalysis to find he's been terrified of hippies ever since a violent hippie encounter back in 1968.

Lisa discovers her contract allows her to have an assistant. When the new gal shows up looking hot and acting flirty, the boys go crazy and the women get irritated. Max is upset the women have a couch in their rest room and demands the same. Things get ugly when Jimmy overdoes the mens room and people cant agree to the rules of its use.

Matthew finds Mr. James' evil nemesis who almost put him away in Federal prison and stole his company, Johnny Johnson, a homeless wino living in a subway station. Johnny claims to no longer be evil and seeks to still marry Lisa.

During Lisa and Johnny's wedding, which Dave strongly opposes, Johnny is arrested for theft. Lisa must decide whether to stay married to him.

Max threatens to quit, but nobody takes him serious since Beth tells them it's just a ploy to get her to go out with him. Lisa wants to hybrid her last name with Johnny's last name, but most of the staff has different ideas.

Angry that the staff members do not even pretend to do their job and that they ignore him, Dave plans on firing somebody. Max and Matthew get Joe to teach them his special blended forms of karate, called Joe-Jitsu. Displeased with how Mother's Day cheapens motherhood, Mr. James goes on a mission to destroy Mother's Day.

Matthew and Mr. James switch jobs for a day, Dave bans Max from the kitchen, Beth tries to avoid debt collector.

Mr. James announces he's retiring and moving to a big cabin in New Hampshire. Matthew worries that Dave will fire him once Mr. James departs, and immediately becomes paranoid. Lisa plans a going-away party that Dave considers a waste of time, because he believes Mr. James' retirement and move are just another of his crazy schemes.

In the series finale, Jimmy James shock jocks WNYX by returning from his titanic retirement cabin. Homesick James adores his farm's pet sounds, but pines for the blue, flaming news zoo's beastly noise, and Dave's mom. To shed his two-tone mourning jacket, he begs Dave to run his new tiny, tinny New Hampshire radio station. But now, ex-cheese-head Dave loves the Big Apple, and gets an evil urge to unload cat-loving Matthew via bait and switch. Will other news crew kiss off the great escape artist's golden call of the wild to his green acres ? Is this an alien ...