The Newz
Encyclopedia
The Newz was a half-hour syndicated
sketch comedy
television series
that aired in 1994
and 1995
. 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
.
The show was notable for being nightly, rather than weekly as are most sketch comedies; the show would air five nights a week, plus a repeat episode on Saturdays.
Recurring segments included:
According to Blaze, the show was canceled after "the Executive Producer - not Michael Wilson - had misplaced about 1.5 million dollars."
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
sketch comedy
Sketch comedy
A sketch comedy consists of a series of short comedy scenes or vignettes, called "sketches," commonly between one and ten minutes long. Such sketches are performed by a group of comic actors or comedians, either on stage or through an audio and/or visual medium such as broadcasting...
television series
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
that aired in 1994
1994 in television
The year 1994 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1994.For the American TV schedule, see: 1994-95 United States network television schedule.-Events:-Debuts:-Miniseries:...
and 1995
1995 in television
The year 1995 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1995.For the American TV schedule, see: 1995-96 United States network television schedule.-Events:-Debuts:-1950s:...
. It starred Tommy Blaze, Mystro Clark
Mystro Clark
Mystro Clark was the American host of the syndicated version of the series Soul Train from 1997 until 1999. From there, he went on to become a film and television actor, and a writer for the show Cousin Skeeter....
, Deborah Magdalena, Dan O'Connor, Stan Quash, Brad Sherwood
Brad Sherwood
Bradley "Brad" Sherwood is an American actor and comedian. He has worked in entertainment as an actor, comedian, singer, writer, and producer.- Early life and career:...
, Nancy Sullivan
Nancy Sullivan
Nancy Sullivan is an American actress, TV host and screenwriter. She is a comedy actress and received improv training as a member of The Groundlings in San Jose. She also played Audrey Parker-Nichols on the hit Nickelodeon series Drake & Josh and The Amanda Show. On The Amanda Show, she played...
, Shawn Alex Thompson
Shawn Alex Thompson
Shawn Alex Thompson is a Canadian actor, writer and television director, and one of the producers of Puppets Who Kill, which aired on Canada's The Comedy Network....
, 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
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
. The series was aired from Universal Studios
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
in Orlando, Florida
Orlando, Florida
Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...
.
The show was notable for being nightly, rather than weekly as are most sketch comedies; the show would air five nights a week, plus a repeat episode on Saturdays.
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 sexistSexismSexism, also known as gender discrimination or sex discrimination, is the application of the belief or attitude that there are characteristics implicit to one's gender that indirectly affect one's abilities in unrelated areas...
) 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 "ElfElfAn elf is a being of Germanic mythology. The elves were originally thought of as a race of divine beings endowed with magical powers, which they use both for the benefit and the injury of mankind...
Boy" who hated working for Santa ClausSanta ClausSanta Claus is a folklore figure in various cultures who distributes gifts to children, normally on Christmas Eve. Each name is a variation of Saint Nicholas, but refers to Santa Claus...
, or as "CaddyCaddyIn golf, a caddy is the person who carries a player's bag and clubs, and gives insightful advice and moral support. A good caddy is aware of the challenges and obstacles of the golf course being played, along with the best strategy in playing it. This includes knowing overall yardage, pin...
Boy" who was sick and tired of putting up with bad golfGolfGolf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
ers. - Malcolm XMalcolm XMalcolm X , born Malcolm Little and also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz , was an African American Muslim minister and human rights activist. To his admirers he was a courageous advocate for the rights of African Americans, a man who indicted white America in the harshest terms for its...
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 biographyMalcolm X (film)Malcolm X is a 1992 biographical motion picture about the Muslim-American figure Malcolm X . It was co-written, co-produced, and directed by Spike Lee. It stars Denzel Washington as the titular character. It co-stars Angela Bassett, Albert Hall, Al Freeman, Jr., and Delroy Lindo...
), for example "Malcolm FedEx", after the companyFedExFedEx Corporation , originally known as FDX Corporation, is a logistics services company, based in the United States with headquarters in Memphis, Tennessee...
.
According to Blaze, the show was canceled after "the Executive Producer - not Michael Wilson - had misplaced about 1.5 million dollars."