Lou Grant

As a child/teenager of the 70s, I grew up watching the popular shows of the time like the Mary Tyler Moore Show, the Bob Newhart Show, etc......but it was never the main character that won me over. In the case of the Mary Tyler Moore Show, I was taken by the character of Lou Grant. For Career Day in Grade 8, I got to visit Toronto's CFTO station because I wanted to run a TV News show. Well, after The Mary Tyler Show ended it's run, I was excited to hear that "Lou Grant" was moving to California and getting his own TV station (or so I thought). You can imagine how disappointed I was watching that first Lou Grant episode and realizing he is no longer in competition with Les Nessman at WKRP, but rather Tom Bradford at the Sacramento Register (Eight Is Enough) . As a 14 year old, I couldn't understand why one would leave television for print...even I knew back in the late 70s that print was dead, but Lou didn't know.

I watched the show anyway and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was nice getting to know the whole persona of Lou, as opposed the gruff boss on the MTM show. The entire cast worked well together and 14 year old me thought Linda Kelsey was cute. Some of the content was tough to swallow at the time (the child on a bike episode for example) but they tried to be real about it.

The real crime today is that you can't find this show anywhere on any streaming services (at least not in Canada). My kids and grandkids have all seen the MTM show, but none have seen any episodes of Lou Grant, and it's Must See TV in my opinion.

So, streaming services....where you at?

An earlier reviewer's "bleeding heart" references suggest a right-wing orientation. Perhaps this explains his sweeping but unsubstantiated comments concerning how this show's episodes were developed. "Lou Grant" was created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns, the writer-producers behind "Mary Tyler Moore," and Gene Reynolds, the force behind the TV incarnation of "M*A*S*H," who became the sole Executive Producer in the second year. Younger producers under Reynolds included Seth Freeman from "The Waltons" and Gary David Goldberg. However convenient it may be for people with an agenda to think otherwise the producers, not the star, dictated the content. There's no evidence Edward Asner ever suggested a single storyline, and plenty of testimony crediting others.

The entire MTM library was sold several times after Grant Tinker divested himself in order to run NBC. The likelihood of ever again seeing this fine show, which won 16 Emmys, two Humanitas prizes, and the Peabody Award, is absolutely zilch. Write to 20th Century Fox Television if you'd like the chance to see it, but don't expect to get anywhere.

Great iconic actors, writing of the highest caliber. Just good TV!

James L. Brooks (As Good as it Gets, Terms of Endearment) was one of the producers and acted as executive producer of the fabulous series. Edward Asner (Mary Tyler Moore Show, Down on the Waterfront) played Lou Grant in a spin off of the Mary Tyler Moore Show. The editor of the L.A. Tribune. Nancy Marchand (Dear God ) Margaret Pynchon was the big boss and owner of the newspaper. She would show up occasionally with her good advice, a walking cane, and wearing a very expensive suit. Although she was the head, she was very nice. Mason Adams (From the Earth to the Moon) was Charlie Hume, Managing Editor. Robert Walden (All the President's Men) Joe Rossi, was a reporter. Linda Kelsey (The Midnight Man) played Billie Newman McCovey who was a very smart reporter. The most interesting thing about this show was the serious journalism they engaged in providing for the audience. The issues raised on the show were very current. It raised some controversy which might have affected the future existence of the show. It was an outstanding series. It was nice to see Lou Grant more mature in his carrier as a journalist. The series was nominated for and won the most prestigious awards in the U.S. such as: Emmy, Golden Globe, American Cinema Editors, USA, Directors Guild of America, USA, Human Family Educational & Cultural Institute, USA, Won Humanitas. The series was done by very intelligent people and demonstrated that television can be good when the people doing the show are bright. Unfortunately this is not always the case. Good shows like Lou Grants are not readily available.

In the final episode of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show"(CBS-TV:1970-1977),when everyone but idiotic anchorman Ted Baxter was fired from station WJM-TV in Minneapolis in 1977,Mary Richards and her fellow casualties were left reeling. It was a bittersweet finale for the beloved series after seven seasons. Then Mary's old crusty boss,station news director Lou Grant,made a smooth transition. Within weeks,he had blown Minneapolis and snagged a good job in Los Angeles as the city editor of The Tribune. That's right:Lou Grant went from the glamour and glitz of TV news(such as it was at bumbling WJM) to embrace print journalism. At The Tribune,the formerly comic Lou(still played by Edward Asner)got serious about news. What resulted was "Lou Grant," a superlative drama series that became one of the greatest dramatic shows ever to embrace the mid-1970's. This was a grand series that arrived in the blazing afterglow of Watergate coverage and the rehealing from the aftermath of the Vietnam War. The bracing message of that era: Two dogged reporters(and a newspaper that backed them up)could change the world-and earn the public's adoration.

Anti-press fulminations from the Nixon administration were largely nullified by scandals and disgrace in the White House. It was only later that an anti-media crusade took hold,drawing the battle lines between the press and the government,and breeding suspicion among much of the citizenry. It was later,as well,that newspapers were obliged to adapt to emerging,unimagined challenges:new media platforms,"citizen journalists",and information-dispersing gadgets with global reach that anyone could buy. The Trib reporters were spared these distractions and identity crises. For them,news still took the form of ink on paper,preferably with comics,crosswords puzzles,and horoscopes were part of the deal. The zeitgeist of "Lou Grant" was set forth in the clever opening sequence and this show celebrated it. Sure it may seem primitive that,in its first season,Trib reports were getting information and their sources with pencil and paper and banging out their stories on the typewriters. But "Lou Grant" was breaking ground from its debut on September 20,1977 producing 114 episodes for CBS-TV until the series finale on September 13,1982. Produced under Mary Tyler Moore's production company,MTM Productions.

Reconfiguring a half-hour sitcom into a hour long drama was risky. The show dared to populate "Lou Grant" with a full-out ensemble cast which not only included Ed Asner,but also Robert Walden who played driven young investigate reporter Joe Rossi;Mason Adams as Managing Editor Charlie Hume;Linda Kelsey as reporter Billie Newman determined to make good in what was at the time a male-domination profession along with another ambitious young girl reporter Carla Mardigian portrayed by Rebecca Balding(who lasted one season). Also on board was the glorious Nancy Marchand(later,of course Tony's craven mother on "The Sopranos")was Mrs. Pynchon,who was the genteel owner of the Trib. Taking full advantage of its news-oriented setting,this was a brilliant series that dealt with issues ranging from nuclear accidents to religious freedom,media ethics and civil and social rights. This was a big-hearted series that won 13 Emmys,two Humanita Prizes and a Peabody award among many honors. This was drama-comedy hybrid that emerged from the series creators:James L. Brooks and Allan Burns(the writers-producers from "Mary Tyler Moore"),along with Gene Reynolds(who was not only the principal behind the TV incarnation of "M*A*S*H",but also was the producer of such shows as "Room 222"). This was a series that broke ground in the way television dramas are depicted and to this day it still holds the title some 30 years later.