Was Lou Grant (the spinoff) any good?

It had a good run. Five seasons. Some episodes are on YouTube. The show has never been shown on any "retro TV" digital cable stations.

No. But Lou Graham's music is fantastic. 🎶🎶If the word gets out-That's alright🎶🎶

It was grittier than the MTM show, my dad used to watch it but I was too young to appreciate it

It was an unusual premise to spin off a sitcom character into an hour long drama, but they seemed to have found a way to make it work.

I mean what if instead of Frasier, they had taken the character and placed him in some gritty mental hospital drama. It's easy to see why it isn't that common.

It had Nancy Marchand, who was really good—and she later played Momma Soprano ti the hilt. Great actress.

*to.

Ed Asner is the only (?) actor to win Emmys in two categories for playing the same character, Supporting Actor in a Comedy (The MTM Show) and Lead Actor in a Drama (Lou Grant).

Donna Mills has a daytime Emmy.

It was kind of like how they turned Trapper John from MASH into a drama series. Pernell Roberts and Gregory Harrison—yum! Wouldn’t have minded a hot three way with those two!

I want a *real* Emmy! I belong in prime-time! Maybe I'll get one for the upcoming Knots Landing reboot.

That's odd r9. It was a different actor playing Trapper John. Why didn't they just make it a new show? Was the character from MASH really enough of a draw to bring in viewers?

Ed Asner could be a real shit disturber. He was fighting with Charlton Heston and Jerry Falwell while his show was in progress and he blamed them, among others, for the cancellation of his series after 5 years. He was too outspoken and make more than a few enemies along the way.

The show was the first I watched that featured "Ripped From The Headlines" plots.

In fact, it was probably too contemporary to age well in syndication.

It was also proconsumer and progressive - something that died out with Alan Alda's drawn-out m*a*s*h* dramedy.

The premise for a real drama was already lurking in the Grant character. He was a hard boiled journalist from way back and more than one ep of MTM focused on his journalistic ideals.

The show was very well done — well acted and a forum for interesting drama about timely subjects. It wasn’t all intense drama though, and the quirks of the characters could be fun. In some ways it was a mirror image of MTM — that show was a comedy with dramatic overtones, whereas LG was a drama with comic overtones.

The show was a consistent ratings earner. But the network killed the show because Asner spoke out against the humanitarian crisis being perpetrated in Central America by the Reagan administration. This was the Reagan 80s and it was sacrilege for an entertainer to take a position that seemed to criticize American foreign policy.

It hurt Asner’s personal life too. He has developed a very strong relationship with Ted Knight during MTM but Knight was a very conservative person and he publicly criticized Asner for his comments about Central America. Asner was very hurt and didn’t speak to Knight again until Knight was on his deathbed.

The ratings for the beginning of the first season were terrible (it was beaten in its time slot by DL fave Family). CBS saved it by moving it to Mondays, where it took off.

The ratings for the last season had slipped a bit. They weren't awful. But the show had been doing the same thing with the same characters for five years and it was feeling tired. They should've added some new (younger) faces to the newsroom.

Still, many were surprised when CBS canceled it, and Asner blamed his political activism.

It's a great show—I remember seeing reruns on local stations well into the '90s. All the episodes are on YouTube.

A contemporary article about the cancellation:

Ed Asner is 91 years of age and still alive and well. I guess his crankiness has helped to keep him alive.

It was a very good show. It made Linda Kelsey famous for a brief while. The stand-out in the cast, though, was Nancy Marchand as Mrs. Pynchon, the Katherine Graham-like patrician publisher of the newspaper Grant worked for in LA.

It was weird in that it was supposed to be the same character from the Mary Tyler Moore Show--they mentioned he used to be a TV station manager in Minneapolis, and that he had an ex-wife named Edie and several grown daughters--but even so he never once mentioned Mary or Ted or Murray, and he was almost completely without a sense of humor now.

r7, Asner is likely the only actor to win in different genres (comedy and drama) for playing the same character, which may be what you meant, but a few others have won in different categories for playing the same character--Valerie Harper for Supporting Actress for MTM and Lead Actress for Rhoda; Allison Janney for Supporting and Lead as CJ on The West Wing; Carol Kane for Lead and Supporting as Simka on Taxi...

That was the one thing that bothered me about the show, r18 — it made me feel like they were erasing these people from the grant character’s life, which, after the closeness he felt to all of them, and especially Mary, was sad.

Finally they had ONE character from MTM on. Unsurprisingly it was Eileen Heckart, who played another hard boiled journalist, Mary’s “aunt” Flo.

Asner must have forgiven Knight. On the commetary track for one of the DVD's he gushes about how great Ted was.

Although who knows what he says in private. He gushed when MTM died but I found an article online recently where he complains that Mary has changed and is now a republican who likes Sarah Palin and he doesn't talk to her because of that.

Who'd have thought fat Lou Grant whom they are always worrying about his poor eating habits and drinking would outlive Mary and Rhoda.

I see your point r20.

They should have had him at least mention Mary or his old job from time to time.

Although the spinoffs didn't do that much. I think Mary is on the first season of Rhoda twice and then on an MTM Mary calls Rhoda once. Then they stop mentioning each other.

I've only just started watching Phyllis. Mary has made one appearance in a phone call from her new apartment after receiving a letter from Phyllis who proclamis how much she misses Mary and then tells Mary she can't talk right now because she is busy when Mary calls.

To be honest with you, r22, that would have been enough. Even five minutes of one ep in which Mary’s in LA and has lunch with Lou to catch up. It could have been played as drama.

But the show runners (as we would call them today) didn’t want that. In fact they wanted to do a show about journalism after loving the movie All the President’s Men, and wanted to do it with Asner. Instead of developing a new character for him, it was handier to just port him over. But they didn’t want to do MTM 2.0.

I think that’s is all pretty consistent, r21. He was definitely irritated by the conservatism of his ex-MTM colleagues but we’ve all been there.

Although interestingly, MTM rather disliked Asner when she first met him, and took a while to warm to him.

R22, Mary visits Phyllis in a later episode. Also in a later episode, DL fave Linda Lavin! :)

[quote] It had Nancy Marchand, who was really good

She was, indeed.

It was like a cop show only with journalists. I stopped watching when Lou and his friends started showing up with hot young girlfriends. Clearly the guys writing the show had been in Hollywood too long.

[quote]Ed Asner could be a real shit disturber.

Pics please.

R28 = Erna

Ed Asner had (at least) two short-lived series: Off the Rack (sitcom with Eileen Brennan) and The Bronx Zoo (public school drama). Yes, I watched both (well, I watched everything in the '80s).

Circa early MTM years....I would have taken Ed Asner's spunk.

Funny that both Frasier and Nancy Marchand are mentioned upthread.

Nancy played Frasier’s mother who, upon meeting Diane Chambers for the first time, threatened to kill her when Frasier was out of earshot.

I must have stopped watching it before everyone got hot girlfriends. I really enjoyed it as a kid but I have to say that I was a bigger fan of Goodnight, Beantown, which had a similar premise but was much lighter.

I remember a few episodes but I was like 9, 10 years old when it started, so staying up till 10 PM to see it was not in the cards for me.

Public Service Announcement: MTM's short-lived 1985 sitcom "Mary" is on YouTube, co-starring James Farentino and Katey Sagal.

So weird that after starring in two of the most acclaimed and successful sitcoms of the '70s and '80s, MTM failed in show after show. Her movies didn't do well, either (with the exception of Ordinary People). It was as if America suddenly grew tired of her all at once.

Once “Lou Grant” was on I always thought an interesting backstory would be why he never spoke about Minneapolis. Perhaps he had lost one job or a series of jobs and had to work on television news in a smallish, remote market — his punishment for being a drunk or something else. That’s why he never talked about it once he got to Los Angeles.

And Linda Kelsey was great in that series

I meant '60s and '70s.

[quote]Mary visits Phyllis in a later episode. Also in a later episode, DL fave Linda Lavin! :)

La Lavin was also on "Rhoda."

[quote] It was as if America suddenly grew tired of her all at once.

I think after Dick Van Dyke and her show, ESPECIALLY her show, she was just so typecast. Or beyond typecast. Mary Richards was an icon to many.

Like Carol Burnett, she did have some success in a few dramatic roles, but ironically, any time she tried to venture closer to what she'd done before, it failed - much like Carol did. They either wanted Original Recipe Mary or none at all, I guess.

r37 The cast was great, terrific ensemble: all the aforementioned plus Robert Walden, Mason Adams( he of innumerable television commercial voiceovers) and even Bea Benaderet's kid Jack Bannon.

And yes, the hotness that was Lou Grant in Minneapolis transferred very well to Los Angeles.

I remember the controversy about Asner's ultra-liberal politics, and all the people he called out and toes he trod on. Like him or not, he certainly had the courage of his convictions.

I really like Ed Asner and he seems genuinely nice, and I remember being appalled that Dennis Miller would just start randomly raving about how he was a terrible human being in stand ups and when he was hosting events. Out of nowhere he'd start screaming, "Loveable Eddie Asner? He doesn't believe in the death penalty! What an asshole!"

Asner never got upset at people for pointless things, it was always because others were suffering and he wanted people to care.

La Lavin was also on "Family" (season 3)!

Linda Lavin was a slutty wanna-be homewrecker!

I've always liked bears and always wanted him near to me, deeply.

Another actor who won Emmys for playing the same character on different shows is Robert Guillaume, for Soap (1979) as Supporting Actor and Benson (1985) for Leading Actor.

I won TWO Emmys for "Family". Love me.

This was one of my favorite shows (it premiered when I was 11),but I don't think I watched the later seasons. I always enjoyed Nancy Marchand with her wigs and little dog. That character couldn't have been more different to her role as Livia Soprano.

Looking up what became of the cast. Jack Bannon was the son of Bea Benaderet of Petticoat Junction and Datalounge fame. He died in Coer d'Alene, Idaho in 2017, so he may have been a right-winger since they all like it around there. I had no idea he was married to Ellen Travolta, and thus John Travolta's brother-in-law. Linda Kelsey returned to Minnesota and ran an acting school. Robert Walden never married or had any kids.

What night of the week was Lou Grant on? I was probably watching Chips or BJ and the Bear then.

Monday at 10pm Eastern

Wikipedia doesn't mention a wife for Robert Walden, but this article from 2012 does.

My mother loved Lou Grant and Trapper John, MD. Like many other DLers, Gregory Harrison emerging from the shower in the Trapper opening was a weekly wake-up call that I was gay.

Jack Bannon was the actor I always thought looked like G Gordon Liddy, I had no idea he was Bea Benederet's son, or that he'd died somewhat recently.

His wife Ellen Travolta is 15 years older than her brother John. She played Horschach's mother!

Quincy ME also had the "ripped from the headlines" stuff and Klugman (the star) could be a bit much. Lou Grant could be excessively earnest as a show, but Asner was not as annoying as Klugman and the show had a strong supporting cast that carried episodes to varying degrees. Both Quincy MS and Lou Grant turn up on nostalgia channels from time to time. I've seen both show up on cable schedules in the past year.

Thanks r51. IMDB and Wiki didn't mention a wife. Interesting that he was living in Arkansas, of all places. Looks like he later moved to and still lives in Austin, TX. His Twitter posts are very anti-Trump, anti-DeSatan, etc., so he's a good guy in my book.

Allison Janney won an Emmy as Supporting/Comedy for "Mom" and this year she's nominated in the Lead/Comedy category for the same role, so if she wins, she will have two Emmys in different categories for the same role. This would match her Supporting and Lead/Drama Emmys for "West Wing."

I remember it. The show was extremely well-written, and it was widely publicized that CBS killed it over Asner's vocal objections to Reagan's Central American policies.

And YES - it was always strange that this was the same Lou Grant character and the presumably the same universe in which the MTM Show existed and yet they were so wildly different in tone. This version of Lou Grant had no sense of humor and laughs in general were hard to come by. The MTM world was optimistic and sunny; the "Lou Grant" world was somber.

I would imagine the writers did not want to have MTM guest because they would have to explain whatever happened to Mary Richards, and that was too fraught. But it's not at all realistic that Lou would never have casually mentioned any of his old friends and colleagues in passing.

[quote]So weird that after starring in two of the most acclaimed and successful sitcoms of the '70s and '80s, MTM failed in show after show.

Her variety show that flopped was a cornucopia of cringe.

r52 Plus that he emerges in front of Trapper John and says how good his dick is (in code) was great

R36 MTM aged badly, She took on a very cold look that turned off people

I watched it, but there weren’t a lot of choices in those days.

Ted Knight didn’t mind going to China on ABC’s dime for this promotional music video.

I thought Mary was pretty good in Annie McGuire which was a quirky show that debuted on CBS in the fall of 1988. It didn't get much attention, but it was a nice dramedy.

And didn't she try going the Joan Collins route with a role in a primetime soap opera in the 90's?

I was too young and the show on too late during its original run. It was shown on A&E a few years ago and I loved the show.

R62, pretty sure that’s San Francisco’s Chinatown, since TCFC was set there.

Oh and not sure if anyone answered the question as to why a different actor played Trapper John MD: MASH was set in the 50s. Trapper John was set in the 80s. They needed someone 30 years older.

I suppose a hospital drama set in 1955 could have been interesting with all the cases of polio and TB, but not that much.

Yea.....Robert Waldon who played the gay son in "Bloody Mama" and Jack Bannon were the reasons I watched the show.....sexy guys for those attracted to their types.

R54, Quincy ME was on COZI-TV, but well over a year ago (NOT this year). What channel was Lou Grant on? LIAR!

Wayne Rogers was on the TV version of [italic]House Calls[/italic] around the same time.

The last season of this show literally went missing from the 20th Century Fox archives after they bought MTM Enterprises. Shout! Factory had to create a DVD set out of home recordings. They literally had nothing else to work with.

I wish other studios would have worked with collectors to re-create uncut versions of episodes of other shows for which they had to settle for cut versions.

Robert Walden has one Broadway credit...as understudy...in a shitty show.

Ed Asner is such a hot daddy bear.

I get Robert Walden and Michael Brandon mixed up. Same era, same roles. Which one played Fran's father on Happily Divorced?

Rebecca Balding was the initial female reporter but they got rid of her three episodes in and got someone named Linda Kelsey instead.

It’s funny how none of Alan Alda’s political activism never soured CBS on [italic]M*A*S*H[/italic], nor did they let the fact that Carroll O’Connor was basically the opposite of Archie Bunker in real life stop them from keeping his show on past its sell-by date.

Of course, neither of them were Jewish.

[quote] [R62], pretty sure that’s San Francisco’s Chinatown, since TCFC was set there.

NBC could afford to foot the bill to send Big Bird to China around the same time.

[quote]Ed Asner could be a real shit disturber. He was fighting with Charlton Heston and Jerry Falwell while his show was in progress and he blamed them, among others, for the cancellation of his series after 5 years. He was too outspoken and make more than a few enemies along the way.

Anyone who would make enemies of NRA goon Charlton Heston and snake oil salesman Jerry Falwell is okay in my book.

The story goes that Ronald Reagan had both SOAP and Lou Grant cancelled.

My guncle who worked on the MTM/CBS lot always claimed that Bobby Walden is gay.

[quote] The story goes that Ronald Reagan had both SOAP and Lou Grant cancelled.

Yet he allowed both [italic]Who’s the Boss[/italic] and [italic]Growing Pains[/italic] to do actual, measurable, real world damage. So much for letting the market decide.

Idiot at R75 - do you really think anti-Semitism had anything to do with this? Have you ever been to Los Angeles? Have you ever met a network executive? It's an industry dominated by Jews, historically and today.

LOU GRANT was most assuredly NOT the ratings powerhouse that MASH and AITF were. Ed Asner did not have the clout Carroll O'Connor and Alan Alda had. Trust and believe that if LOU GRANT had been a smash hit, CBS would never have caved to political pressure.

As it happened, cancelling a low-performing show was simply easier for CBS to do than to deal with controversy.

R81, FU and kiss my grits!

Nixon sounds like he would be more likely to try and get a TV show canceled.

If they’re prejudiced against anybody, it’s gay people. They fired Jim Nabors and Nancy Kulp and replaced them with a bunch of preachin’ and speechifyin’ str8 white males. That is not my idea of progress.

I think Kelsey Grammar holds the record for being nominated for 3 Emmys for playing the same character -- as Frasier on Cheers, Wings, and Frasier. He won all of his awards for Frasier (series).

I remember reading years ago that Robert Walden was gay, and I always enjoyed his character on Lou Grant.

Lou Grant rocked. The storyline with Mrs Pynchon having a stroke was fucking brilliant.

[quote]I remember reading years ago that Robert Walden was gay, and I always enjoyed his character on Lou Grant.

Robert Walden starred in "Brothers," an early gay-themed sitcom that aired on Showtime from 1984 to 1989. He played one of the straight brothers. Years later he appeared on Fran Drescher's gay-themed "Happily Divorced" as the father of Drescher's character.

Maybe slightly off topic, but Yul Brynner won a best featured [supporting] actor Tony for The King and I on Broadway but won the Best Actor Oscar when he repeated the same role onscreen.

Yul Brynner was an icon that glowed in every medium, r89.

Like Dolly, he can be added to any thread.

It showed journalists pursing the truth wherever it took them, without a political agenda.

It was not believable.

I thought it was very good. But why would he mention his former work colleagues at his new job? I can see mentioning his family but people who worked for him?

What I can't believe is that this is the same man who justified making jokes about the death of a clown.

[quote]it was widely publicized that CBS killed it over Asner's vocal objections to Reagan's Central American policies

Ed Asner plays himself, sort of, in the Richard Dreyfuss movie Moon Over Parador. He has a cameo where he spoofs the whole blow-up about his left-wing politics a few years earlier.

[quote]Rebecca Balding was the initial female reporter but they got rid of her three episodes in and got someone named Linda Kelsey

I like them both, Rebecca Balding was a guest star on almost everything in the 1980s, plus she was on "Makin' It" and "SOAP." Linda Kelsey was also good but she never really caught on after "Lou Grant," she didn't have a lot of range.

Linda Kelsey was later on the sitcom "Day by Day" with Elaine Benes, Ben of Knots Landing, a tiny Thora Birch, and the wife of According to Jim.

That show proved Peggy Gravel had a point about daycare centers being communist.

The show was an Emmy favorite, winning Best Drama Series twice, Ed Asner winning twice and Nancy Marchand winning four Emmys (her last three were back-to-back-to-back). In modern drama TV, Barbara Bain won three Emmys in a row for Mission: Impossible, Tyne Daly for Cagney & Lacey and Bryan Cranston for Breaking Bad.

On "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," Linda Kelsey played the seemingly naive young fan of Sue Ann Nivens who ends up taking over her show in a funny takeoff on "All About Eve."

r96 Don't forget faux Greg Brady!

I used to get Linda Kelsey mixed up with Swoosie Kurtz of "Love, Sidney" (1981-1983). Same '80s frizzy hair look, I guess. Shelley Fabares of DL fave The Bonnie Franklin Show had that look, too!

I used to get Linda Kelsey mixed up with Swoosie Kurtz of "Love, Sidney" (1981-1983). Same '80s frizzy hair look, I guess. Shelley Fabares of DL fave The Bonnie Franklin Show had that look, too!

I used to get Linda Kelsey mixed up with Swoosie Kurtz of "Love, Sidney" (1981-1983). Same '80s frizzy hair look, I guess. Shelley Fabares of DL fave The Bonnie Franklin Show had that look, too!

^^OMFG, triple post! My all-time record!!!!

It was nice to see my name in so many posts, R104.

Shelley Fabares probably has been in more sitcoms than anyone.

The evolution of JLD's hairline has been a wonder to behold.

Doug Sheehan was a hot fucker! Has he aged well?

R108 BDF Doug, we called him.

R59 What did he say?

Didn't Ed Asner also win Emmys for playing villains in ROOTS and RICH MAN, POOR MAN? Only a beloved actor like him could accomplish that without ruining his popularity.

Reports of his death have been greatly exaggerated.

Ed was not tolerant of people who did not totally agree with him. He and Morgan and Britney were very close and then during the Reagan years suddenly Ed completely ghosted her. She was at a mutual party and she approached Ed and asked him what happened and he said “I’m not friends with conservatives who love Reagan.” That hurt her deeply

Morgan Brittney …. And I met her and what a nice , gorgeous lady

It was a great show.

Asner would have been one of my fantasy dinner dates, if only just to talk politics with.

Then afterwards he could fuck me raw. I'll bet his cock wasn't long but was plenty thick.

R60, she was too thin and probably had mood issues .

I thought Linda Kelsey was good and radiated a warmth and kindness on screen . My only objection was she was too thin and Linda was a pretty lady

Looks like nearly all the episodes on YouTube.

Ed was the voice of Granny Goodness in DC Animated Movies.

I saw this as Young Lou Grant...now there’s a series waiting to happen!

Asner even bad mouthed MTM because she became a republican in later years. (Yet gushed over her when she died.)

[quote]Asner even bad mouthed MTM because she became a republican in later years.

Strikes me as perfectly understandable.

Mary's change of politics was kind of understandable. The democrats especially the feminists gave her a real hard time for not being a visible fighter for the ERA. Gloria Steinham and that crowd hurt her feelings and so she turned on them.

Was Linda Kelsey cool in real life ?

I have not seen the show since it was on and I was pretty young then, but I suspect the earlier poster who sa id it would seem a bit dated is correct, partially due to the topical nature of the show. Plus, I think it might have gotten a little too preachy at the end. Quincy really did this - went from a procedural mystery with a likable but slightly cranky lead to Jack Klugman screaming about the issue of the week.

I always had bit of a hard time reconciling how Frasier's mom was talked about as some revered saint on the show and how she was when Nancy played her on Cheers. Although Fraiser was probably seen as a one season spoiler character at that time, and it is not like they were thinking, we need to create a character that will work with his background when we do a largely successful spin-off in 7 or 8 years from now.

Linda Kelsey really did seem to disappear after the Day by Day was cancelled. I remember hoping "Ben" would show up on Knots when it got cancelled. He seemed to disappear after that as well. I am probably over-simplifying, but Linda's character reminded me a little bit of how Mary Richards would be if part of the Lou Grant show.

Now I kind of want to find the show and see how it has aged. While it is probably dated, there was some good acting and it probably had more depth than most work place dramas at the time (hospital and cop shows pre-Hill Street Blues and St. Elsewhere).

Wasn't Linda Kelsey a replacement for some other redhead who got fired for some reason?

I liked "Lou Grant" but it was weird that Mr. Grant in that new setting seemed to almost totally lose his sense of humor.

I always get Lou Grant and Lee Grant confused.

R128, and his energy and charisma

Did he ever say which show he enjoyed doing more? If I were betting money I would assume he is most “proud” of Lou Grant, since he probably considered it a more “personal” project and he could promote his pet causes week by week.

Incidentally, I’ve never seen a single episode - or even part of one, I couldn’t even tell you what the theme song is.

Opening theme:

Grant won and Lee lost, r129.

Robert Walden I believe is nude along with Robert DeNiro in a bath scene in "Bloody Mama" (possibly both full-frontal).

I liked Linda Kelsey on "LouGrant". She reminded me a of tv news reporter, Magee Hickey, a redhead who used to be on local news in Rhode Island years ago, then moved on to NYC on one of the networks. Just happened to turn to PIXTV one day last week and who should be reporting from the field, but same Magee Hickey! Which reminded me of Linda Kelsey. Ah, the circle of life!

r131 he spoke a lot about how MTM was the best years of his life professionally.

That may also be because MTM is remembered and he was forever asked about it. Lou Grant has kind of been forgotten.

Rebecca Balding of Soap was on the first three episodes and then replaced with Kelsey. Anyone know why?

Linda Kelsey has good energy

Thanks r132 well now I know why. I didn’t think bland sax TV intros became popular until the 80. Reminds me of the opening for that John Ritter show Hooperman.

These opening credits were more fun.

Ed In interviews is excruciating to sit through . He’s completely wooden with no animation.

He was in a Broadway show a few years ago and on The View. This was pre-#metoo. He was rather annoyingly sexual with the women. Dirty old man he seemed like.

Bump

As much as I loved the MTM Show, I never watched Lou Grant.

I always got Ed Asner and Bob Hoskins mixed up.

Bump

I was a fan of Mason Adams and that voice: "With a name like Smucker's, it has to be good!"

I loved the theme song:

Who can turn the world off with his sneer?

Who can take a nothing day, and suddenly fill it up with fear?

Well it's you man, and you should know it

With each growl and every sudden outburst you show it

Love is all around yet you're in a funk

You should lighten up but you just hate spunk

You need some seltzer down your pants!

You need some seltzer down your pants!

Why was Rebecca Baldwin canned after three episodes?

Jack Bannon was a hot daddy.

From what I've read Rebecca Baldwin was considered too mild-mannered and the producers wanted to cast a female with a tougher personality.

Sad she passed away

Both Robert Walden and Linda Kelsey were excellent Pyramid players and appeared on the show often over the years. Pyramid was great about bringing back stars who were good players over and over, no matter how their careers were going.

Daryl "Animal" Anderson appeared on Match Game now and then in its last years. He didn't add much to the proceedings.

Ed Asner must not have been a fan of the game shows, but he was good when he made his occasional appearances. He appeared once or twice on Pyramid, Match Game, and Hollywood Squares.

Lou Grant was a critically-favorite totally PC series leading to the dragging anchor of serf-righteouness. Fortunately viewers could turn to Police Woman.

Bump for thread.

Linda Kelsey, Julia Louis Dreyfus, Christopher Daniels Barnes, Courtney Thorne Smith, and Doug Sheehan were in a late 80s sitcom called Day by Day.

[quote] I watched Lou Grant a few years ago. It’s so good. I don’t think I ever saw any of it in its original run, but I found it to be as good as I had heard.

Adam Williams was a really cute guy, good hair and I crushed on him, but also Jack Bannon. Robert Walden took a great part, and I always feared they would do a cutesy-poo romance for he and Billie, thank God they didn't.

Lou Grant really showed a lot about L.A. - I loved the stories of old Los Angeles, and they obviously had no problem doing location work.

Is it on DVD?

R157 -yes, it’s on dvd.