I remember it. It was instrumental in making me a better writer–much to my parents’ dismay, as while they had no problems with me becoming a better writer (“he will do well on school essays”), they didn’t really think that writing was any kind of career. Meh, I ended up writing for a living anyway, and proved them wrong.
Anyway “Lou Grant” has been released on DVD. I’ve been binging on it, and having a great time. Does anybody else remember it?
Two things do I have to say about Lou Grant.
I was confused as to why it wasn’t a sitcom. Spin-offs to sitcoms should also be sitcoms. I am talking to you too, Trapper John MD.
I am amazed that Ed Asner has outlived Mary Tyler Moore.
Absolutely, I remember they took on some serious women’s topics, and I, for one, thought Asner’s shift from comedy to gravitas was awesome.
I haven’t seen it since it originally aired, so I have no idea how it aged, but I loved it as a kid. I wanted to be war correspondent when I was a kid and I remember there was a photographer on the show with that background.
I remember it well. It was one of the better shows on network television when I was in college (I think Hill Street Blues was the other really good one at the time).
I remember it. Nancy Marchand, who played the publisher, later became Tony Soprano’s mother. I’m waiting for MeTV or Cozi TV or one of those retro networks to start airing it. That goes for a few other shows like Hill Street Blues, St. Elsewhere, and 21 Jump Street, too.
Hill Street Blues is (or at least was) on H&I, one of the x.3 sub-channels I get locally.
I remember Lou Grant - generally favorable memories but can’t remember any episode (was there one where they went on strike? I vaguely remember that)
Brian
I remember it well. I liked the weird photographer character.
I remember a couple episodes, one where the photographer was accused of arson and another where one of the reporters was raped.
I remember watching it when it was current, have not seen it since.
The photographer’s nickname was ‘Animal’. I also remember Robert Walden (Rossi) being so good as Segretti in All the President’s Men.
mmm
And Mason Adams became the voice of Smuckers’.
I loved the show. It illustrated a time when newspapers had ethics and strict procedures.
It’s mind-boggling that they could put out several paper editions every day WITHOUT COMPUTERS! EEK!
It’s streaming on Hulu.
The episode I remember was when there was a old-dog reporter who was too cozy with the local police and helped them to cover up misconduct. Then there was an event where it was brought home to him that he was helping corruption and he came in to the newsroom, drunk, and steadily typed out an exposé of the misconduct, fully acknowledging his own role in it.
Sure, I remember Lou Grant. I don’t remember specific episodes, but I did watch and enjoy it. Ed Asner, politics aside, was one of my favorite actors.
I remember the episode about illegal dogfights. The owner’s dog, a Yorkie, was stolen to act as a bait dog, to get the fighting dogs used to killing. Expose ensues. Grant gets a Yorkie puppy for the publisher, to be a replacement for her beloved pet, but she doesn’t take it. There’s a scene of the dog in Grant’s place, newspapers all over the floor. Owner shows up and takes the dog after all. I call the end bittersweet. A happy ending would have been finding the original dog, but that wasn’t going to happen, that poor doggy was long dead.
This for me, too. At the time, I liked Billie, driving around “in the toolies” in her cute little beige VW and Art Someone-or-Other, who’s schtick I forget.
I also remember that I was watching it when it was interrupted with the news that John Lennon had been shot. 
Loved the show. Can’t forget the episode where Mason Adams’ character had flashbacks to being a prisoner of war in Vietnam. I also thought the opening was clever.
He was the voice of Smuckers first.
I was a big fan of the show, which dealt with some major topics in its run.
These are pretty easy to find on Youtube. We are big fans around here.
ThelmaLou - they actually do use computers – if you look closely, they are typing on old fashioned monitors, not typewriters. I was a typesetter (including at the Wall St. Journal) in the 70s and 80s and we were already working on (rudimentary) computers. Of course when programs like Quark Express came out, that’s when a lot of us started to get laid off.
Art was Art Donovan.
And uncovering the scandal of “Capricorn One,” and promptly disappearing.
I loved Lou Grant. That show had spunk!
Seriously, I watched it from the beginning, but I only remember a handful of episodes. The police beat cop and the corruption (which is also the pilot) and the one with the senile judge.
I love Lou offering a word for Mrs Pynchon’s crossword puzzle, and how she wanted a different word. “It won’t fit”, Lou says. “Ill MAKE it fit” she retorts!