The Newz

... at least for us in Greece. As I see from the previous reviewer, the same gags and sketches were done on Saturday Night Live and Kids In The Hall. Guess what, here we haven't seen a single episode of these. So it was an extremely fresh and original comic series! I also thought the actors were very talented!

Taking a cue from Saturday Night Live, "The Newz" tried to break out as the only big sketch comedy show in syndication. Unfortunately, it totally lacks the innovation of the much more successful "Kids in the Hall". The fact that is was really low tech didn't help either. In the end, the facts that it tried too hard to be like SNL and that it just wasn't funny put this sketch-based show on the shelf beside "Chevy Chase". Good to see regular Whose Liner Brad Sherwood has moved on to better things.

I used to stay up at night and tape this show on a VCR that even at the time was old and decrepit. I would sit on the floor in front of the TV ignoring the pain in my knees so I could press the pause button when the commercials came on and have uninterrupted copies of all the episodes.

This aired in that era just before Mad TV began and slightly longer before it started to suck and when SNL was pretty much relying on a ceaseless parade of prop comedy. Like most sketch shows it was hit and miss as far as the comedy went. There were always the bits that dragged on, like the cop who could speak baby or those sketches that were obviously written so Stan Quash could scream at someone. But it was well worth sitting through to hear Tommy Blaze tell you what it was all about or when Shawn Alex Thompson made one of his hilarious films. And I always looked forward to the advice portion of the show with Abby and Andy.

As a sketch show it was pretty well done and it was rather a pity it didn't get a longer run. It was also a pity that most of the cast faded into obscurity because they were all quite talented, though I think Dan O'Connor and Brad Sherwood went on to do a few other things of note.

All in all it was a good show for the time and if you can find any bits on YouTube it's probably worth the three minutes of your life to watch.

This was one of the funniest sketch comedy shows ever. It's truly a shame that it was on so late at night and very few people ever even caught it or remember it. It's also a shame that it didn't last. It was always laugh out loud funny. Especially the "scratchy post" skit. I can't wait until someone puts this onto DVD!! Shaun Alex Thompson should seriously have went on to do SNL after the Newz was canceled. I will also never forget when he said that he had lyrics to the theme song, so he started to sing them and all they were was "It's theee Neeewz with Shaun Alex Thompsooon!!! It's the Newz with Shaaaun Aleex Thompsoon!!!...". All of the cast-members started walking up to him and complaining that the theme lyrics only mentioned him alone. That was hysterical. Oh yeah then there was this sketch where this guy had to do a stereotypical accent whenever he talked to people. What a great show!! Let's bring it back!! All the best shows die young!! "The News", "The Edge", "Late World with Zach", "Arrested Devolpment", "The George Carlin Show",and so on, and so on.

I've seen the other shows like this, SNL, MadTV, etc, but this was the best while it lasted. I check YouTube weekly to see if anyone has upload an new clips from it. My favorite feature was Tommy Blaze doing the news, and my favorite skit was the Sesame Street muppet political skit. I think Bert had received the nomination and Ernie was begging him for a job in his administration, but Bert had since distanced himself from the cookie and milk addict and was trying to brush him off. It was truly hilarious.

I don't know why the producers don't put the shows on a DVD. I'd pay 20 bucks for it, and I'm cheap.