The Kid Stays On The Radio: An Interview With Actor Dave Foley

Judge Patrick Naugle

March 20th, 2006

Actor/comedian Dave Foley has been a man of many faces. Viewers may recognize him from his stint as one of the "Kids in the Hall" on the long running TV sketch show produced by Lorne Michaels (Saturday Night Live). Others may be familiar with his film work in movies like Blast from the Past and A Bug's Life. Then there's Foley's stint on TV's NewsRadio, which ran for five years (1995-1999) and weathered numerous time slot changes, a fickle viewing audience, and the sad death of one of its biggest stars, Phil Hartman. To coincide with the release of NewsRadio on DVD, Patrick Naugle sat down with the show's star to discuss his involvement with the series, what it was like to be on an "almost" hit sitcom, and his encounter with a young, budding Ray Romano...

PN: How did you get involved with NewsRadio?

DF: I got involved with it because [creator] Paul Simms wrote the character of Dave with me in mind. Although he forgot to tell me about it, and I'd already taken another gig. However, I got fired from that job -- and there you have it.

PN: Were you disappointed when the show was cancelled?

DF: Yeah, it would have been fun to be a hit show. We really loved doing the show. I think that's the main reason we were so sad, that and not seeing each other daily.

PN: Did you end up having any creative control on the show?

DF: The cast all had a lot of input. We all got to play around with the script, and everyone was encouraged to be creative. We definitely tried different things during the rehearsal with Paul and the writing staff.

PN: Why do you think the show never found a larger audience?

DF: It just wasn't good enough, I guess. Yes, I think that's got to be the problem. (laughs) I think part of it was the fact that we had scheduling problems at NBC. They kept moving us around a lot. Some people involved with the scheduling didn't like the show. And a couple of times the show got into the top 20.

PN: How did Phil Hartman's death affect NewsRadio?

DF: Well, it took a long time for us to find out if we were going to come back that year, for one thing. Obviously Phil was a big part of the show and a great character. He was a very important member of the family. It definitely felt different without him there.

PN: Did Jon Lovitz have a hard time filling in for Hartman after his death?

DF: I'm sure he did. I think it was a really emotional thing for him to come and do. He and Phil were best friends, and I think that's part of why he probably wanted to be there; it was a place where Phil had spent so much time, and Jon was able to be around Phil's friends. It was definitely difficult for him to step into his shoes.

PN: Rumor has it that Ray Romano was originally up for Joe Rogan's role.

DF: He was. Ray was actually hired and got fired in the first week of rehearsals for the pilot. He was really funny then, but I guess they just thought he wasn't working out as the character. He got along great with everyone -- he was a really nice guy and we all liked him.

PN: All of the executives must have done a collective hand slap to their foreheads after Everybody Loves Raymond premiered and became a hit.

DF: Oh is that what happened? I never heard that part of the story. He got a show? I'm glad he made some money.

PN: Do you keep in touch with your NewsRadio co-stars?

DF: Yeah, we try to stay in touch. I actually just worked on a movie with Vicki Lewis. I see Stephen Root fairly often. And I just saw Joe Rogan up in San Francisco.

PN: Has Joe ever called you up to be on Fear Factor?

DF: No, no. I think even if I asked him he'd tell me no. I think he'd want to protect my dignity. (laughs)

PN: Do you have any plans to come back to TV?

DF: I don't have any plans to do it. I would like to do it if I could find a good show to be on.

PN: Do you enjoy film or TV more?

DF: I like them both. Doing a sitcom is fun because your week is focused and you are going to do a show at the end of the week, which is really nice. And I love being on a film set. I love that lifestyle.

PN: You're pretty well known for your work on Kids In The Hall.

DF: I just did a show with the "Kids In The Hall" last night. We decided we were going to get together and write an entirely new show. We wrote the whole show in a week and started performing it the other night, just for fun. We hadn't done that in about twenty years. We used to do our regular club shows and perform a new show every week. And we wanted to see if we could still do that. So we're doing that this week in a small theater in L.A.

PN: Are you still close with all those guys?

DF: Yeah, oh yeah...we stay in touch. Mark [McKinney] and Scott [Thompson] live in Toronto, so we don't see them as much. But Bruce [McCulloch] and Kevin [McDonald] live in Los Angeles.

PN: Let's play a little association game. Tell me the first word that pops into your head when I say each movie.

DF: Okay...

PN: Monkeybone.

DF: Horrible.

PN: A Bug's Life.

DF: Wonderful.

PN: Sky High

DF: Fun.

PN: It's Pat: The Movie.

DF: Umm...Funny?

PN: Finally Dave, what are you working on now?

DF: Right now I just finished a movie called Out of Omaha. I'm working on a play that I co-wrote with my wife. We're actually performing that around town.

The Second and Third Seasons of NewsRadio are now available on DVD.