Editing Lou Grant (section)

==Fictional biography==

===Pre-WJM-TV===
Although the setting of ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' might have implied that he was a native [[Minnesota]]n, ''Lou Grant'' in fact established that he was born in the fictional rural town of Goshen, [[Michigan]]<ref name=Hometown>{{cite episode|title=Hometown|series=[[Lou Grant (TV series)|Lou Grant]]|credits=Writer ([[Michele Gallery]]), Director ([[Gene Reynolds]])|network=[[CBS]]|airdate=1981-11-23}}</ref> in 1925. <ref name=Birthday>{{cite episode|title=Happy Birthday, Lou!|series=[[The Mary Tyler Moore Show]]|credits=Writer ([[David Lloyd (writer)|David Lloyd]]), Director ([[George Tyne]])|network=[[CBS]]|airdate=1973-12-22}}</ref> He was the son of John Simpson Grant and Ellen Hammersmith Grant; his grandfather was a pharmacist. At some point in his youth and early adulthood he developed a lifelong affection for [[westerns]], particularly those starring [[John Wayne]].<ref name=Six/><ref name=Baby>{{cite episode|title=Baby Sit-Com|series=[[The Mary Tyler Moore Show]]|credits=Writer ([[Treva Silverman]]), Director ([[Jay Sandrich]])|network=[[CBS]]|airdate=1972-01-22}}</ref> In high school, he was a [[One-platoon system|tackle]] for his school's [[American football|football]] team.<ref name=Boss>{{cite episode|title=What Do You Do When the Boss Says 'I Love You'|series=[[The Mary Tyler Moore Show]]|credits=Writer ([[Elias Davis]] & [[David Pollock (screenwriter)|David Pollock]]), Director ([[Jay Sandrich]])|network=[[CBS]]|airdate=1973-02-03}}</ref>  Soon after high school, he married [[List of other characters on The Mary Tyler Moore Show|Edie MacKenzie]] ([[Priscilla Morrill]]), at an age young enough to have four grandchildren before he turned 50.<ref name=Boss/>

After marriage he became a [[combatant]] in World War II.<ref name=Six/>  He served in both the [[Pacific War|Pacific]] and [[European Theatre of Operations|European Theatres]].  At one point, he was a [[sergeant]] in the Pacific-based [[2nd Marine Division (United States)|2nd Marine Division]].<ref name=Friend>{{cite episode|title=A Friend in Deed|series=[[The Mary Tyler Moore Show]]|credits=Writer ([[Susan Silver]]), Director ([[Jay Sandrich]])|network=[[CBS]]|airdate=1971-02-20}}</ref>  During another phase of his wartime service he was injured by a [[grenade]] in France, the last remnants of which were removed only in his late 40s.<ref name=Operation>{{cite episode|title=Operation: Lou|series=[[The Mary Tyler Moore Show]]|credits=Writer ([[Elias Davis]] & [[David Pollock (screenwriter)|David Pollock]]), Director ([[Jay Sandrich]])|network=[[CBS]]|airdate=1972-12-09}}</ref>  He was also part of a unit that liberated an unknown town in Germany.<ref name=Six/>  During the war he met and befriended [[Walter Cronkite]].<ref name=Cronkite>{{cite episode|title=Ted Baxter Meets Walter Cronkite|series=[[The Mary Tyler Moore Show]]|credits=Writer ([[Ed. Weinberger]]), Director ([[Jay Sandrich]])|network=[[CBS]]|airdate=1974-02-09}}</ref>

He attended college (although on several occasions he stated he never had the chance to attend), likely after the war.<ref name=Cooper>{{cite episode|title=I Am Curious Cooper|series=[[The Mary Tyler Moore Show]]|credits=Writer ([[Lorenzo Music]] & [[David Davis (TV producer)|David Davis]]), Director ([[Jay Sandrich]])|network=[[CBS]]|airdate=1971-09-25}}</ref>  He started his career in print journalism as a copy boy<ref name=Hostages>{{cite episode|title=Hostages|series=[[Lou Grant (TV series)|Lou Grant]]|credits=Writer ([[Seth Freeman]]), Director ([[Charles S. Dubin]])|network=[[CBS]]|airdate=1977-09-27}}</ref> but it is unclear whether this was in Detroit,<ref name=Pun>{{cite episode|title=Better Late . . . That's a Pun . . . Than Never|series=[[The Mary Tyler Moore Show]]|credits=Writer ([[Treva Silverman]]), Director ([[John C. Chulay]])|network=[[CBS]]|airdate=1974-02-02}}</ref><ref name=Cophouse/> [[Minneapolis]] or San Francisco<ref name=Cophouse/> as he worked for papers in all three cities.  In this period of his life, he met and worked with Charlie Hume ([[Mason Adams]]) for the first time at the ''[[San Francisco Call-Bulletin]]'', and worked with Jack Riley ([[Eugene Roche]]).<ref name=Cophouse>{{cite episode|title=Cophouse|series=[[Lou Grant (TV series)|Lou Grant]]|credits=Writer ([[Leon Tokatyan]]), Director ([[Gene Reynolds]])|network=[[CBS]]|airdate=1977-09-20}}</ref>

===WJM-TV===
At some point in his late 30s he made the transition to broadcast journalism, and by the time of the 1966 elections he was working on a radio news show, as he explained to [[Mary Richards]] on the occasion of her producing her first news show all by herself at WJM-TV. He eventually became the head of the WJM news department.  He worked in that capacity for 11 years.<ref name=Hostages/>  For most of that period, Mary Richards served as his associate producer (later producer, with Lou having the title of executive producer, and she reported to him), [[Ted Baxter]] as his [[news anchor]] and [[Murray Slaughter]] as his head writer.

Of these relationships, the one with Richards was likely the closest. Except for one abortive attempt at romance, his general attitude towards Mary was [[paternalistic]]. A typical display of his affection for Richards came when his nephew, Allen, tried to put the moves on Mary.  Lou became infuriated and said  "Listen you, let me remind you of something, and remember this forever. I think of this girl here as if she were my own daughter and that means she is your cousin, you get my drift?"<ref name=Yours>{{cite episode|title=He's All Yours|series=[[The Mary Tyler Moore Show]]|credits=Writer (Bob Rodgers), Director ([[Jay Sandrich]])|network=[[CBS]]|airdate=1970-12-12}}</ref>
[[File:Lou and Sue Ann 1976.JPG|thumb|180px|Lou delivers the news to Sue Ann that her program has been cancelled.]]

He was a heavy drinker, with a penchant for hiding whole bottles of scotch in his desk drawers.<ref name="Love" /> His personality was outwardly that of a tough loner and a workaholic man's man. The real Lou Grant was somewhat more complicated. He was quick to anger and had a violent streak, at times threatening the barely competent Ted Baxter and once causing him physical injury. However, those who understood him best, like Mary Richards, knew he was also painfully shy, with a particular awkwardness around women. With those few people he trusted, Lou was protective and could at times confide his emotional vulnerability. When he learned that Ted considered him his "best friend", he took pity on him, at least until Ted infuriated him again.

Lou's marriage began to slide as he and Edie both adjusted to life after parenthood.  They briefly separated for the first time almost immediately after their youngest daughter got married and left the house.<ref name=Dinner>{{cite episode|title=The Boss Isn't Coming to Dinner|series=[[The Mary Tyler Moore Show]]|credits=Writers ([[David Davis (TV producer)|David Davis]] & [[Lorenzo Music]]), Director ([[Jay Sandrich]])|network=[[CBS]]|airdate=1971-02-13}}</ref> Though they reconciled on this occasion, they would occasionally re-separate and seek marriage counseling over the next two years.<ref name=Story>{{cite episode|title=The Lou and Edie Story|series=[[The Mary Tyler Moore Show]]|credits=Writer ([[Treva Silverman]]), Director ([[Jay Sandrich]])|network=[[CBS]]|airdate=1973-10-06}}</ref>   In about 1973 he and Edie divorced, after which Edie promptly remarried. Lou, who had been consistently portrayed as a devoted husband,<ref name=Boss/><ref name=Six>{{cite episode|title=The Six-and-a-Half-Year Itch|series=[[The Mary Tyler Moore Show]]|credits=Writer ([[Treva Silverman]]), Director ([[Jay Sandrich]])|network=[[CBS]]|airdate=1971-11-27}}</ref><ref name=Love>{{cite episode|title=Love is All Around|series=[[The Mary Tyler Moore Show]]|credits=Writer ([[James L. Brooks]] & [[Allan Burns]]), Director ([[Jay Sandrich]])|network=[[CBS]]|airdate=1970-09-19}}</ref> tentatively began to date again. He went out with a woman named Charlene ([[Sheree North]]; [[Janis Paige]] in "Menage-a-Lou" of Season 6) in particularly Season 5; Mary's best friend [[Rhoda Morgenstern]] in Season 4; Mary's next-door neighbor, Paula Kovacks ([[Penny Marshall]]) in Season 6; Mary's [[List of other characters on The Mary Tyler Moore Show#Flo Meredith|Aunt Flo]] ([[Eileen Heckart]]) in Seasons 6 and 7; and even with Mary herself in the penultimate episode. He and [[Sue Ann Nivens]] had a drunken one-night-stand.

Professionally, his career with WJM-TV ended in the final episode.  Lou, along with Mary, Murray, and [[Sue Ann Nivens]], was fired due to low ratings.  Lou's sometime-nemesis, the vacuous Ted Baxter—the real cause for the ratings slide—was retained.<ref name="Last">{{cite episode|title=The Last Show|series=[[The Mary Tyler Moore Show]]|credits=Writers ([[Bob Ellison]], [[David Lloyd (writer)|David Lloyd]], [[Stan Daniels]], [[Ed. Weinberger]], [[James L. Brooks]], and [[Allan Burns]]), Director ([[Jay Sandrich]])|network=[[CBS]]|airdate=1977-03-19}}</ref>

===''Los Angeles Tribune''===
[[File:Lou Grant cast 1977.JPG|thumb|Grant with Mrs. Pynchon and Charlie Hume.]]
''Lou Grant'', a spin-off drama from the comedy show ''Mary Tyler Moore'', opens with Grant relocating to Los Angeles, to work with as City Editor with an old buddy, Charley Hume, who is managing editor of the fictitious ''Los Angeles Tribune'', His subordinates at that time included staff reporters Joe Rossi ([[Robert Walden]]); Billie Newman ([[Linda Kelsey]]); her predecessor, Carla Mardigian ([[Rebecca Balding]]); and photographer Dennis "Animal" Price ([[Daryl Anderson]]).  His assistant city editor was Art Donovan ([[Jack Bannon (American actor)|Jack Bannon]]). Charlie Hume was now his boss, who ultimately reported to publisher Margaret Jones Pynchon ([[Nancy Marchand]]).  They, like those back at WJM, became his family. In the last episode of season one it is revealed that he has just turned 50, a continuity error from ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show''; he would have turned 53 in 1978.<ref name="Birthday" /> There is one character on ''Lou Grant'', reporter Rosenthal, who is mentioned frequently but never seen.<ref>{{Cite web |title=DVD Talk |url=https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/70611 |access-date=2024-04-04 |website=www.dvdtalk.com}}</ref> ''Lou Grant'' was cancelled after the star, Ed Asner, publicly protested U.S. interventions into the politics of Latin American countries.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-10-22 |title=Edward Asner |url=https://interviews.televisionacademy.com/interviews/edward-asner |access-date=2024-04-04 |website=Television Academy Interviews |language=en}}</ref>