'LOU GRANT' on HULU

Most journalists and writers would admit that they were fans of the '70s TV drama "Lou Grant." It was the one (if not only) TV show that nailed the nuances of working in an inner-city newsroom and the trials and tribulations that go along with the profession. Annoyingly, though, the famed TV series isn't out on DVD -- Amazon has an interest page with several requests. Television rerun rights are held by the AmericanLife TV Network. While it's available for download on Amazon.com's Unbox service and on Apple's iTunes Store, the first season can be watched for free on Hulu.



A quick primer: Lou Grant was the city editor of the fictional Los Angeles Tribune, a job he took after his firing from the TV station WJM. (Though "Mary Tyler Moore" Show viewers were introduced to the character as a television news producer, the character noted many times that he'd begun his career as a print journalist.) The rest of the main cast were Robert Walden and Linda Kelsey, who played general-assignment reporters Joe Rossi and Billie Newman, respectively (Kelsey joined the show in the fourth episode, replacing Rebecca Balding, who'd played reporter Carla Mardigian during the show's first three episodes); Mason Adams, who played managing editor Charles Hume; Jack Bannon, who played assistant city editor Art Donovan; Daryl Anderson, who played photographer Dennis Price, usually referred to as "Animal"; and Nancy Marchand, who played the patrician publisher Margaret Pynchon.

Recurring actors who played editors of various departments included Gordon Jump, who later starred on WKRP in Cincinnati and Emilio Delgado, who simultaneously played Luis Rodriguez on Sesame Street. Asner won two Emmys for his portrayal of Lou; Marchand won Emmy Awards for "Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series" four of the five years the series ran; Walden, Kelsey, and Adams were all nominated for supporting Emmys multiple times.

The format of the episodes generally consisted of Lou assigning Rossi and Billie to cover news stories, and the episodes revealed the problems of the people covered in the stories as well as the frustrations and challenges the reporters went through to get the stories. The series frequently delved into serious societal issues, such as nuclear proliferation, mental illness, prostitution, and chemical waste, in addition to demonstrating coverage of breaking news stories, such as fires, earthquakes, and accidents of all kind. 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.

The series won 13 Emmy Awards, including "Outstanding Drama Series". Asner won the Emmy Award for "Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series" in 1978 and 1980. The series also won two Golden Globe awards, a Peabody award, an Eddie award, three awards from the Directors Guild of America, and two Humanitas prizes.

The cancellation of "Lou Grant" in 1982 was the subject of much controversy. Reportedly the series had significant enough ratings in its last season to be renewed (it was in the ACNielsen top ten throughout its final month on the air), but the network declined to renew it because of controversies created by Asner in using both the series and his presidency of the Screen Actors Guild as political soapboxes. Asner's outspokenness in opposing U.S. intervention in El Salvador created a problem for the series and the network with advertisers. Asner also gave one press conference not long before the show was cancelled in which he was asked whether he would support free elections in El Salvador even if those elected were communists; Asner responded that if that was what the voters chose, he would have to support it.