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Jon Lovitz to "NewsRadio"?

Will it be a Saturday Night Live alum to step in for a fallen funnyman comrade?

Jon Lovitz is the top choice of producers to replace the late Phil Hartman in the cast of NBC sitcom NewsRadio, reports say.

Today, a Lovitz spokeswoman called such casting talk "way too premature."

Lovitz and Hartman worked together on SNL for four seasons in the late 1980s.

Lovitz is said to be undecided as to whether to take the NewsRadio gig. He reportedly has wrestled with the idea of taking a job created by the death of a friend. Hartman was murdered at the hands of his wife last month. He was 49.

No word on what character Lovitz (or whoever) would play on the critically acclaimed, but ratings-challenged, series. Hartman played pompous news anchor Bill McNeal.

USA Today says actor Patrick Warburton is also on the short list to sub for Hartman.

Warburton is best known for a recurring role on Seinfeld. He played David Puddy, Elaine's auto-mechanic beau.

Lovitz, 40, is perhaps best known for smooth-talking, flim-flam man Tommy Flanagan, the liar character he created for SNL.

His post-SNL career has faltered--plagued by failed movies (High School High, Trapped in Paradise, etc.) and a failed TV series, the animated comedy series, The Critic.

Earlier this month, NewsRadio producers huddled and decided that the "show must go on," despite the Hartman tragedy.

(ORIGINALLY POSTED at 8:05 a.m. on 6/24/98)

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