Lovitz joins 'NewsRadio' to carry on comedic work of slain friend, Hartman

LOS ANGELES -- To Jon Lovitz, Phil Hartman was more than a longtime comedy partner on "Saturday Night Live" in the 1980s, more even than a friend so close they often spent Thanksgiving and other holidays together.

"He was like my older brother," Lovitz said, a sentiment he repeated many times in a choked voice during an interview.For Lovitz, the anguish of Hartman's death last May, when, according to the police, he was killed in his home by his wife, Brynn, who later shot herself to death, was compounded by an emotional conflict when he was asked to replace Hartman as the star of the NBC series "NewsRadio."

He joined the series Oct. 7 in its second episode of the season. The first episode dealt with the rest of the cast's reaction to the death of Hartman's character, Bill McNeal. Lovitz joined the staff of the fictional New York radio station WNYX as Max Lewis, who will be described as a close friend of Bill McNeal.

While Lovitz now says he believes his joining the show is "comforting to me and the rest of the cast," the decision did not come lightly.

"The day after Phil died I was at a friend's house," Lovitz said. "Everybody was devastated and really in shock." Somebody in the group noted that Hartman left behind some continuing roles, including his starring role in "NewsRadio." Lovitz turned to Brad Grey, his manager and one of the executive producers of "NewsRadio."

"I said to Brad: 'They better not come to me to replace Phil,' " Lovitz said. "The show wasn't doing that well, and I just thought me joining it would be manipulative. I thought I'd be profiting from his death. And I didn't want to face the fact that he was gone. So I said it to Brad, never thinking they would offer it to me in a million years. I didn't even think they should continue with the show."

But the offer did come, in a discussion with the show's creator, Paul Simms. "Paul just said to me: 'I don't know what to tell you. You're his friend. It feels right. Everybody in the cast wants you.' "

The harsh reality was that Lovitz was looking for a new television role. Only weeks earlier he had starred in a pilot for an ABC comedy, one in which Hartman showed up for his guest appearance a day after his father died despite Lovitz's assurances that he could be replaced. When ABC did not order a series from the pilot, Lovitz said he had decided to "hook up on a show on NBC."

This was hardly the way he wanted to join a show, he said. "At first I thought people are going to say he's only there because Phil got murdered -- and now let's be funny!"