In 2011, this episode was ranked #4 on the AV Club's list of "24 Accidental TV Finales That Worked As Series-Enders."
Dave's line to Joe--"Be afraid. Be very afraid."--is also the infamous line of dialogue from, and the tagline for, the movie "The Fly" (1986).
The last shot of this final episode of "NewsRadio" is a close-up shot of Dave. In retrospect, the very first shot of the first episode of the series ("Pilot") is a shot of Dave.
The series had not been officially canceled when the Season 5 finale aired, and the plot idea (Jimmy James buys a small radio station in New Hampshire and everyone but Dave, and later Matthew, quit their WNYX jobs to follow him there) is how the show would have continued if NBC had renewed it. However, the network cancelled the show only a few days after this episode aired in May 1999.
Paul Simms never seriously expected or intended for the show to really move all the characters to New Hampshire for a sixth season. He was so sure that NBC would cancel the series after its fifth season finale (which is what happened) that he deliberately wrote a final episode that blew up the entire series. He thus demonstrated how TV series finales can frequently have ridiculous conclusions that didn't fit in any way with what had made the show successful.
If it had been unexpectedly picked up, Dave and Matthew would've also decided to move along with the WNYX staff to join the retired Jimmy James at a small AM radio station in New Hampshire.
If it had been unexpectedly picked up, Dave and Matthew would've also decided to move along with the WNYX staff to join the retired Jimmy James at a small AM radio station in New Hampshire.