Original artwork, not a still
You can't take something off the Internet. It's like taking pee out of a swimming pool.
— NewsRadio · 1995
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
Joe's deadpan gross-out image became the neatest way to say that anything posted online is permanent. It was said in 1996, before social media or search engines made it true for everyone, and it was already being repeated on Usenet within a month. People still quote it, in slightly different wordings, whenever someone asks for a post, photo or leak to be taken down.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for NewsRadioShow the scene
The line comes from "Physical Graffiti", a second-season episode of the NBC newsroom sitcom NewsRadio, first aired on 24 March 1996. Joe, the station's building maintenance man, delivers it as a flat piece of advice about the Internet, which was still new to most viewers. The episode's official summary covers the war of practical jokes between Bill and Catherine and Dave's irritation over Lisa's ex-boyfriend; the exact scene around the line is not in the sources we could fetch. Within weeks, a Usenet poster in April 1996 quoted it as 'what they said on News Radio'.
Sources (2)
- Barry Popik: 'You can't take something off the Internet'main entryReference checked
- Wikipedia: List of NewsRadio episodes'Physical Graffiti' rowReference checked
Context reviewed
