The Crisis

"The Crisis" is the fourth episode of the first season of NewsRadio.

Synopsis
Dave tries to rally the staff to action after the Transit Police report a disabled subway train due to a fire. The fire has been put out, but many commuters are still stranded. He proposes having a reporter give an eyewitness account, and has sent Matthew to try to gain tunnel access while putting Lisa in charge of handling the story on air. But when he signs off on a new desk delivery for Matthew, the rest of the staff immediately takes notice and neglect their duties.

Dave continues to make calls to the Transit Commissioner's office to get full access for Matthew while being constantly distracted. Jimmy, always keen to be around during a crisis, drops in with his friend Bob, while most of the staff ask for new desks. Matthew returns after having been denied access, only to deal with the jealousy of his coworkers. They call Dave out on his apparent favoritism of Matthew, which is not helped by his admittance that they had also been out to dinner. Lisa tries to stay focused on the train story by herself, but admits that she and Dave have been out to dinner more often, adding fuel to the fire.

Dave plans to head down to Transit Commissioner's office in person, and asks Lisa to be careful about revealing too much of their extracurricular activities to the rest of the staff. Before he leaves, Jimmy warns him about not letting his employees push him around. Upon his return, Dave presents Matthew with a stolen tunnel pass, but he finds out Jimmy has purchased new desks for the rest of the staff on his behalf. Dave expresses his anger to Jimmy about having his authority undermined by his boss. Matthew suggests that he and Dave should start a fight to dismiss concerns about favoritism, but Dave grows impatient with him for not heading to the tunnel immediately. He then announces that all the new desks will be returned.

Later, as the staff listen to the on-air broadcast from the production booth, Matthew admits over the phone that there is little to see from his vantage point, making for rather unexciting radio. Bill tries to make amends with Dave over the desk issue, but inquires as to when the staff will be getting their old desks back. The office floor has been cleared out, along with the conference table and Dave's own desk. At the end of the day, Beth institutes a schedule for Dave to have dinner with all the employees and departments to avoid favoritism.

Meanwhile, Matthew remains in the tunnel alone, still unable to see much, and standing in a few feet of water. He drops his cell phone in the water, losing contact with Beth, and then calls out for help.

Quotes
"I applaud your misguided enthusiasm, Dave, but for now, let's focus on something within our grasp... like lunch!"

-Jimmy

"No desks, no dinner... Land of Opportunity my ass."

-Bill

Main Cast
Dave Foley as Dave Nelson

Stephen Root as Jimmy James

Andy Dick as Matthew Brock

Maura Tierney as Lisa Miller

Vicki Lewis as Beth

Joe Rogan as Joe Garelli

Khandi Alexander as Catherine Duke

Phil Hartman as Bill McNeal

Guest Stars
Steeve Arlen as Bob

Mark Davenport as Delivery Man

In-Universe
At this early point in the series, Matthew and Dave appear to have a decent working relationship, even spending time together outside of work. Of course, Matthew is not yet the totally inept man-child that he would become in later seasons, but he does occasionally still manage to get Dave annoyed with him.

Dave mentions having been the news director for a couple of weeks at the time of this episode.

Production
Final appearance of the production booth, which would become the break room starting in Season 2.

This is the second episode to have a tag scene.