NewsRadio
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50 free NewsRadio trivia questions with answers — trivia quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
NewsRadio ran for five seasons in the late 1990s and was never a hit in the ratings, yet it is remembered as one of the sharpest workplace comedies of its decade. Set in the newsroom of an all-news AM radio station, it threw a mild-mannered young news director in with a vain anchor, an overachieving reporter, an accident-prone correspondent, a secretary with a wardrobe all her own and a billionaire owner who could not stop meddling. This quiz covers the show from every angle: the characters and their quirks, the actors who played them and where you have seen them since, the famous faces who dropped by, the strangest episodes, and the stories from behind the scenes, including how the series carried on after losing one of its stars. Most questions can be answered by anyone who watched the gang at work, and a handful are saved for fans who know single episodes inside out. Every answer comes with a short explanation, so you pick something up even when you guess.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which actor, also the voice of Troy McClure on The Simpsons, played anchor Bill McNeal in NewsRadio?
Phil Hartman
Phil Hartman joined the sitcom after leaving Saturday Night Live in 1994. Between takes he often entertained the studio audience in his Troy McClure voice.
Q 02Which future podcast host played the conspiracy-minded station electrician in the sitcom NewsRadio?
Joe Rogan
Joe Rogan played handyman Joe Garrelli from the second episode onward. He later called the job a dream gig that let him earn money while working on his stand-up.
Q 03NewsRadio's fourth-season finale, 'Sinking Ship', puts the whole cast aboard which doomed ocean liner?
Titanic
Titanic is the setting for the surreal 'what if' episode, which the actor behind Bill McNeal introduces on screen. It turned out to be his final appearance in the series.
Q 04Which actor, later Milton in Office Space, played billionaire station owner Jimmy James in NewsRadio?
Stephen Root
Stephen Root made the eccentric tycoon a father figure to his staff. The writers even planned to have the character adopt secretary Beth as his daughter, but never found the right moment.
Q 05Which future Daily Show host guest-starred in NewsRadio as Andrew, 'identical twin' of Matthew Brock?
Jon Stewart
Jon Stewart played the visiting brother in the 1997 episode 'Twins', two years before he took over The Daily Show.
Q 06Late in its second season, NewsRadio titled every episode after an album by which British rock band?
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin albums supplied the titles from 'In Through the Out Door' to the season finale. The joke returned a year later with an episode called 'Led Zeppelin Boxed Set'.
Q 07Which sitcom star do Bill McNeal and Lisa Miller ambush in a restaurant for an interview in NewsRadio?
Jerry Seinfeld
Jerry Seinfeld plays himself in the third-season episode 'The Real Deal'. The pair corner him at his table in a desperate bid to save Bill's struggling interview show.
Q 08The actor who plays Dave Nelson in NewsRadio voiced Flik, the hero of which 1998 animated film?
A Bug's Life
A Bug's Life cast him as the would-be inventor ant Flik while the sitcom was still on air. Pixar filled its voice cast with television comedy stars of the day.
Q 09Which future Gilmore Girls star had a four-episode run in NewsRadio as efficiency expert Andrea?
Lauren Graham
Lauren Graham shook up the office as Andrea, firing Matthew, demoting Dave and promoting Lisa. A misheard remark about her being the owner's 'Plan B' earned her the nickname Planbee.
Q 10What are the call letters of the fictional all-news AM station where the staff of NewsRadio work?
WNYX
WNYX is the New York City station that young Dave Nelson arrives to run in the pilot. Its billionaire owner controls a vast corporate empire yet loves to meddle in the newsroom.
Q 11Which US network aired all five seasons of NewsRadio while moving its time slot eleven times?
NBC
NBC launched the show in March 1995 between Wings and Frasier, then kept shifting it around the schedule. One of its stars publicly criticised the constant moves.
Q 12Which actress played reporter Lisa Miller in NewsRadio before becoming nurse Abby Lockhart on ER?
Maura Tierney
Maura Tierney decided against another sitcom once the show was cancelled, feeling nothing like it would come her way again. She joined ER later that same year.
Q 13Which member of the Kids in the Hall troupe starred as the station's boyish new boss in NewsRadio?
Dave Foley
Q 21Which actor, later the voice of Disney's Kronk, played Lisa Miller's husband Johnny Johnson in NewsRadio?
Patrick Warburton
Patrick Warburton played Jimmy James's nemesis in the final season. Johnny takes over the company while Jimmy is in jail, then wins Lisa's hand after coming back as a wino.
Q 22The actor behind NewsRadio's Jimmy James also voiced Bill Dauterive on which long-running animated series?
King of the Hill
King of the Hill debuted in 1997, midway through the sitcom's run. He voiced both Bill and Buck Strickland on the cartoon for well over a decade.
Q 23The actress behind NewsRadio anchor Catherine Duke was once tour choreographer for which pop superstar?
Whitney Houston
Dave Foley had the part written specifically for him by the show's creator, a huge fan of his sketch work. He left the writing of the troupe's film Brain Candy to take it.
Q 14Which former Saturday Night Live star joined NewsRadio's final season as Max Louis, replacing a late friend?
Jon Lovitz
Jon Lovitz took the part out of friendship with the actor he replaced, after hearing that the whole cast wanted him. He had already guest-starred twice as other characters.
Q 15NewsRadio's Dave Nelson arrives at the station as an out-of-place Midwesterner raised in which state?
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is where Dave grew up, though the character was born in Canada, like the actor who plays him. One Christmas he whisks Lisa back there before the holiday is over.
Q 16Which comedian, later Owen on Less than Perfect, played accident-prone reporter Matthew Brock in NewsRadio?
Andy Dick
Andy Dick was playing the son of Maxwell Smart in a Get Smart revival when the sitcom came along. He tried to escape that role so he could take the new job.
Q 17A surreal late third-season NewsRadio episode imagines the staff running their station in which unlikely setting?
Outer space
Outer space is where the episode 'Space' relocates the newsroom, far in the future. Joe is thawed out after more than 80 years of suspended animation to fix the reactor.
Q 18How does NewsRadio explain the death of anchor Bill McNeal at the start of its fifth season?
A heart attack
A heart attack is the cause given in 'Bill Moves On', which opens just after his death. The cast broke down in tears several times while filming the tribute.
Q 19Matthew Brock quits his job in NewsRadio when refused a story about which newspaper comic strip?
Dilbert
Dilbert obsesses Matthew in the third-season episode 'Review'. Its creator Scott Adams has a cameo as a customer, while another man pretends to be him.
Q 20NewsRadio's Dave Nelson is addicted to which drink, a quirk borrowed from the actor who plays him?
Coffee
Coffee fuels the character just as it fuelled the actor, whose own quirks shaped the part. Dave also keeps a picture of his mother on his desk and phones her constantly.
Whitney Houston made her tour choreographer after the two met backstage at an American Music Awards ceremony. Only later did the former dancer concentrate on film and television.
Q 24Which actress, later medical examiner Alexx Woods on CSI: Miami, played anchor Catherine Duke in NewsRadio?
Khandi Alexander
Khandi Alexander also had a recurring role on ER as Jackie Robbins while the sitcom was on air. After leaving, she came back to the newsroom once, for the fifth-season premiere.
Q 25Which actress, later the voice of Deb and Flo in Finding Nemo, played secretary Beth in NewsRadio?
Vicki Lewis
Vicki Lewis studied musical theatre and appeared on Broadway before the sitcom. Her character gets to sing at a charity talent show, with Bill accompanying her on piano.
Q 26NewsRadio's billionaire station owner Jimmy James takes his name from a song by which hip-hop group?
Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys released 'Jimmy James' as a single from their 1992 album Check Your Head. The track is built on samples of Jimi Hendrix recordings.
Q 27Beth, the gum-chewing secretary in NewsRadio, takes her first name from a ballad by which rock band?
Kiss
Kiss scored their biggest American hit with the 1976 ballad 'Beth'. The character insists that she has no last name at all.
Q 28In NewsRadio's series finale, Jimmy James sells the station and retires to which US state?
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is where Jimmy buys a small-town radio station and a newspaper for his so-called retirement. Most of his old staff end up following him there.
Q 29Catherine Duke leaves the station in NewsRadio's fourth season to take a job in which city?
London
London is her destination in 'Catherine Moves On', where each colleague gives Jimmy a different account of how she quit. Joe makes one last attempt to win her over.
Q 30Clumsy NewsRadio reporter Matthew Brock holds a degree in which field that has nothing to do with radio?
Dentistry
Dentistry is what Matthew trained for, yet he prefers radio journalism despite being inept at it. He idolises Bill, who bullies him in return.