Lou Grant (TV series)

Summary and setting

Lou Grant works as city editor of the fictional Los Angeles Tribune daily newspaper, a job he takes after being fired from the WJM television station at the end of the sitcom The Mary Tyler Moore Show. (Grant mentions several times on Mary Tyler Moore that he began his career as a print journalist.) Given the shift from comedy to drama in this show, the nature of Grant's interactions with others is toned down. References to Grant's oftentimes excessive drinking, which had been an ongoing comedic theme on Mary Tyler Moore, were deemphasized on the new show.

The rest of the main cast includes: general-assignment reporters Joe Rossi (Robert Walden) and Billie Newman (Linda Kelsey) (Kelsey joined the show in the fourth episode, replacing Rebecca Balding, who had portrayed reporter Carla Mardigian); managing editor Charles Hume (Mason Adams), an old friend of Lou's who has convinced him to move from Minneapolis to Los Angeles; assistant city editor Art Donovan (Jack Bannon); photographer Dennis Price (Daryl Anderson), usually referred to as "Animal," and widowed, patrician publisher Margaret Jones Pynchon (Nancy Marchand), a character loosely based on a composite of real-life newspaper executives Dorothy Chandler of the Los Angeles Times and Katharine Graham of The Washington Post. Recurring actors who played editors of various departments included Gordon Jump and Emilio Delgado; Peggy McCay had a recurring role as Charlie Hume's wife, Marion.

Despite the show's connection with The Mary Tyler Moore Show, none of that series's other regular characters ever appeared (and were not referred to onscreen); the only other "crossover" character was MTM recurring character Flo Meredith (Eileen Heckart) (Mary Richards' aunt), a churlish veteran journalist with whom Lou had had a brief fling while in Minneapolis, and who appeared on a single episode of Lou Grant. However, lead actors from other MTM shows did appear in guest roles as other characters, including Jane Rose, Richard Schaal and Julie Kavner.

The episodes often had Grant assigning Rossi and Billie to cover news stories, with the episode's plots revealing problems of the people covered in the stories as well as frustrations and challenges reporters experienced to get the stories. The younger reporters are frequently seen turning to Lou for guidance and mentorship over some of the hard questions and moral dilemmas they experience as they work on their stories. The series frequently delved into serious societal issues, such as nuclear proliferation, mental illness, prostitution, gay rights, capital punishment, child abuse, rape and chemical pollution, in addition to demonstrating coverage of breaking news stories such as fires, earthquakes, and accidents of all kinds. The series also took serious examination of ethical questions in journalism, including plagiarism, checkbook journalism, entrapment of sources, staging news photos, and conflicts of interest that journalists encounter in their work. There were also glimpses into the personal lives of the Tribune staff.

Production

Lou Grant was a spin-off from The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Unlike The Mary Tyler Moore Show, which was a 30-minute sitcom, Lou Grant was a one-hour drama.

When The Mary Tyler Moore Show ended its run, that series' co-creators and producers, James L. Brooks and Allan Burns, had a commitment to create a new show starring Ed Asner. They decided that it was easier to retain the popular Lou Grant character and make it a spinoff series. And Mary Tyler Moore had already established that the character had a previous newspaper career. Brooks and Burns' decision to make the spinoff series a one-hour realistic drama instead of another situation comedy was influenced by the 1976 film All the President's Men, and how that movie depicted the operation of a major newspaper.

Gene Reynolds, who was producing the TV show M*A*S*M*A*S*H at the same time, was also brought on as a co-creator and executive producer. Gary David Goldberg was a producer for the series. The theme music Lou Grant was composed by Patrick Williams.

Broadcast history

Lou Grant aired on CBS from September 1977 to September 1982. A total of 114 episodes were produced.

Awards

Lou Grant won several critical honors during its run, including 13 Primetime Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, a Peabody Award, and two Humanitas Prizes.

Asner won two Emmys for his portrayal of Grant; Marchand won an Emmy for "Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series" four of the five years the series ran; Walden, Kelsey, and Adams all received multiple nominations for supporting Emmys.

Cancellation

Ed Asner served two terms as president of the Screen Actors Guild, in which capacity during the 1980s he opposed U.S. policy in Central America, working closely with Medical Aid for El Salvador. The sudden cancellation of Lou Grant in 1982 was the subject of much controversy. The show had high ratings, the level of which should have justified its ongoing presence in primetime (it was in the ACNielsen top ten throughout its final month on the air). However, the CBS television network declined to renew it. It has been Asner's consistent position that his political views, as well as the publicity surrounding them, were the actual root causes for the show's cancellation.

DVD releases

On May 24, 2016, Shout! Factory released the complete first season on DVD in Region 1. The second season was released on August 16, 2016. The third season was released on November 22, 2016 The fourth season was released on February 21, 2017 The fifth season will be released on May 9, 2017