If tonight's episode turns out to be the last one "NewsRadio" ever produces, the programmers at NBC won't have to go far to see why the show never became a big hit.
Only as far as the nearest mirror."NewsRadio" (7:30 p.m., Ch. 5) could have been a contender with shows like "Friends," "Frasier" and "Seinfeld" for the best sitcom on TV over the past five seasons. But it never got the kind of attention, the kind of nurturing, the kind of respect -- the time slots -- that those shows got.
What "NewsRadio" got was nine different time slots on five different nights. Nine! How in the world can you build an audience for a show when even its fans aren't quite sure where to find it.
You can't, of course. Which is why "NewsRadio" isn't in the "Friends"-"Frasier" league as it winds up its fifth season.
It got to the point that even the stars of the show acquired a sort of morbid sense of humor about their repeated time-slot changes.
"I was startled to hear that we hadn't been canceled," said Dave Foley, who stars as Dave Nelson. "I mean, I thought we were canceled a couple of years ago."
"NewsRadio" hasn't always been perfect by any means. The workplace comedy about an all-news radio station in New York City has benefited from a wonderful ensemble, but the presence of the ever-annoying Andy Dick (as Matthew) was more often than not a dead weight that dragged the show down.
And it certainly hasn't been easy for the sitcom to weather this season, what with the death of Phil Hartman a year ago. His character, pompous anchorman Bill McNeil, was the comedy center of the series -- perhaps more than most of us realized. As delivered by Hartman, the lines written for Bill could always be counted on for a laugh.
But even at its worst, "NewsRadio" was still in the top 5 percent of TV comedies. Even this season, it was certainly better than dreck like "Jesse" and "Veronica's Closet." And, had it been moved just one more time -- to one of those two shows' Thursday-night time slots -- "NewsRadio" would be near the top of the ratings.
And it would certainly deserve it more than "Jesse" or "Veronica."
If tonight's episode does turn out to be the last, it's a good way to go out. Last week, wacky millionaire Jimmy (Stephen Root) announced that he was retiring to New Hampshire and selling the station. While Dave refused to believe he was serious, it turns out that Jimmy actually did what he promised for once.
This week, he's back in New York. But not to stay -- he's only there because he's lonely. Jimmy has bought himself a small radio station up in the wilds of New Hampshire (well, it's wilderness compared to Manhattan) and he's trying to convince various members of Dave's staff to come and join him there.
(Indeed, if there is a sixth season the producers promise that it will be set in New Hampshire.)
The ending is a bit of a surprise and entirely appropriate. It could be either a nice exclamation point on "NewsRadio's" five-year run, or a good jumping off point for a sixth season.
We probably won't know for sure until NBC announces its fall schedule in a couple of weeks.