The Newz

The Newz was a half-hour syndicated sketch comedy television series that aired in 1994 and 1995.[1] It starred Tommy Blaze, Mystro Clark, Deborah Magdalena, Dan O'Connor, Stan Quash, Brad Sherwood, Nancy Sullivan, Shawn Alex Thompson, and Lou Thornton. In addition to the main cast, regular guest stars included Melissa Savage, Mark Fenlon, Justin Cambridge, and Tim Watters as Bill Clinton. The series was aired from Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida.[2]

The Newz
Genre	Sketch comedy Parody
Developed by	Michael Wilson & Wayne Page
Written by	Wayne Page, Jeff McCarthy, Jon Ezrine, Michael Price, David Litt, Andrew Ornstein, Micheal Globerman, JoJo Liblier, Terry Ward, Shang Forbes and Micheal Wilson
Directed by	Tony Morina, Richie Namm (multi-camera) & Wayne Page (single camera)
Starring	Tommy Blaze Mystro Clark Deborah Magdalena Dan O'Connor Stan Quash Brad Sherwood Nancy Sullivan Shawn Alex Thompson Lou Thornton
Theme music composer	Jed Leiber & Wayne Page
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	61
Production
Executive producer	Michael Wilson
Producers	Wayne Page, Jon Ezrine
Running time	30 minutes
Production companies	Celebrity Entertainment Columbia Pictures Television Distribution
Distributor	Columbia Pictures Television Distribution
Release
Original network	First-run syndication
Original release	September 12, 1994 – March 1995

The show was notable for being the first ever nightly scripted sketch comedy show, and was conceived and created by Executive Producer Michael Wilson. Rather than weekly as are most sketch comedies; the show aired five nights a week, plus a repeat episode on Saturdays. The writers were: Wayne Page (Producer / Head Writer), Jeff McCarthy, Jon Ezrine, Michael Price, David Litt, Andrew Ornstein, Micheal Globerman, JoJo Liblier, Terry Ward, Shang Forbes and Micheal Wilson (Executive Producer)

Recurring segments included:

• Tommy Blaze and the Newz, in which Blaze would deliver what was basically a monologue on recent news events. In this piece, Tommy would be seated in a chair modeled after Captain Kirk's command chair from the original Enterprise. Behind him was a wall of televisions. Tagline, "I'm not finished yet!"
• Ask Abby and Andy, a relationship advice segment in which Abby (Sullivan) would give caring, insightful advice in response to the mailed-in problems, after which Andy (Blaze) would give his outrageous (and usually sexist) point of view on the subject.
• Short humorous films by Thompson.
• Quash as someone who was extremely disgruntled because of his job; e.g., as "Bag Boy" who hates bagging groceries, conceived and written by Wayne Page & Jeff McCarthy as a vehicle for Quash. "Elf Boy" who hated working for Santa Claus, or as "Caddie Boy" who was sick and tired of putting up with bad golfers.[3]
• Malcolm X in various situations where he would deliver some of his famed speeches. The title of the sketch was always a play on his name (and self-titled biography), for example "Malcolm FedEx", after the company.
• Tom Slack, segments starring Sherwood as a narcoleptic in high-stress jobs such as Airline Pilot, Heart Surgeon and Zepplin Pilot on the Hindenburg.[3] conceived and written by Wayne Page & Jeff McCarthy.

According to Blaze, the show was canceled when it "had mysteriously and inexplicably run out of money" because "the Executive Producer - not Michael Wilson - had misplaced about 1.5 million dollars."[4]

References

1. Everett, Todd. (1994-09-15). "The Newz". Variety. Retrieved 2009-11-07.
2. The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946-Present. Ballantine Books. 2003. p. 854. ISBN 0-345-45542-8.
3. Hinman, Catherine (September 12, 1994). "'The Newz' - Laughs At 11". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
4. Blaze, Tommy. "Tommy Blaze FAQ". Archived from the original on February 21, 2008. Retrieved 2007-05-27.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)

External links

• The Newz at IMDb