Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, November 21, 1995 TAG: 9511220003
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MIKE DUFFY KNIGHT-RIDDER/TRIBUNE
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
And Vicki Lewis, who plays the sardonic spitfire of an office assistant on ``NewsRadio,'' said she tapped into her own neurotic tendencies in creating her oddball alter ego.
``It is my voice coming across,'' Lewis said. ``I get trapped in my own brain. I overthink things and mentalize.''
And so does Beth, who's an eccentric, slightly bohemian delight on the superb ensemble comedy about the literate, smart-aleck employees of all-news radio station WNYX in New York City.
After debuting last spring to favorable reviews, ``NewsRadio'' has quietly become one of the wittiest, most engaging workplace sitcoms since ``Taxi'' and ``The Mary Tyler Moore Show.'' It also has been too often overlooked.
``NewsRadio'' - created by Paul Simms (``The Garry Shandling Show'') - has a cast headed by ex-``Kids in the Hall'' player Dave Foley as WNYX news director Dave Nelson and former ``Saturday Night Live'' joker Phil Hartman as droll, know-it-all news anchor Bill McNeal.
``The writing is a step above and beyond anything else on TV,'' said Lewis, citing ``Seinfeld'' and ``Cybill'' as the only two network shows she thinks share the smart bite and dizzy tickle of ``NewsRadio.''
Beth isn't the first sitcom secretary Lewis has portrayed.
There was also Ada, the anal-retentive secretary to Jason Alexander's George Costanza on ``Seinfeld.'' But Beth is a more complex creature than Ada.
``She's a great secretary,'' Lewis said. ``But the reason she's sitting around all the time and hanging out is that she's so overqualified.'' There's a loose cannon aspect to Beth, to be sure. She has apparently had a succession of wacky boyfriends, including one guy who was a prison inmate.
``Beth looks zany, but she's the most together person in that office. That's the irony,'' Lewis said.
In fact, she's the office love shrink. Especially when it comes to the not-so-secret office romance between her boss, Dave Nelson (Foley), and reporter Lisa Miller (Maura Tierney).
For a long time, Beth was the only one privy to the affair. ``I'm their live-in therapist,'' Lewis said. Also, their constant source of tart relationship wisdom.
When Lewis auditioned for the role of Beth, she was one of 40 actresses up for the part.
``I knew the way [the producers] wanted to go was dumb and ditsy,'' recalled Lewis. ``But I don't have blond hair, so I just went in there and read every line as if my life depended on it. I did what I do in my own life. I have a tendency to take it quite seriously.''
So 39 actresses did Beth as a stereotyped secretarial dim bulb, but Vicki Lewis offered her uniquely quirky interpretation of an anti-perky office assistant. And she got the job.
Growing up in Cincinnati, taking singing and dancing lessons, becoming a math major in college, Lewis developed a decidedly non-Midwestern comic sensibility.
``Comedy is what Woody Allen said, `Pain plus time,' '' Lewis said.
``My own humor developed out of an ugly-duckling need to fit in,'' she added. ``You hear the same thing from everybody else who has red hair and a big nose.''
These days, Lewis said she remains a bundle of neurotic tics. ``I always think I'm dying,'' she joked. Her bonkers bleakness is shared by fellow ``NewsRadio'' nutcase and sick-humor aficionado Andy Dick (``The Ben Stiller Show''), who portrays manic Matthew, a perpetually uptight WNYX street reporter.
``We're both insane,'' Lewis said. ``But there's no limit with Andy.''
by CNB