As he developed the concept for the series, Reynolds drew on his experience researching the TV series M*A*S*H. He haunted Toronto newspaper offices to learn firsthand how they operate, how principals interact, procedures for processing news stories, what issues trouble professional news-gatherers, how they thrash out the daily agenda to be distributed to the mass public. From tape-recorded interviews came the seeds of storylines and snatches of dialogue to capture the flavor and cadences of news people in action.

     The series sought weekly to explore a knotty issue facing media people in contemporary society, focusing on how investigating and reporting those issues affect the layers of personalities populating a complex news­ paper publishing company. The program served as a vehicle for dramatic reflection, analyzing sometimes bold and sometimes tangential conflicts in business practices, government, media, and the professions. Topics treated dramatically included gun control, invasion of privacy, confidential sources, child abuse, Vietnamese refugees, and news reporting versus publishing economics. Mingled with each episode's issue was interplay of personalities, often lighthearted, among featured characters.

     Reynolds risked undercutting issue-oriented themes by importing Lou Grant (Ed Asner) from the long­ running comedy about a flaky TV newsroom to act as city editor of a daily newspaper. Asner not only effectively adapted the original comedic character to the serious role of Lou Grant; off-screen the actor spoke out increasingly about social and political issues, possibly causing some audience disaffection in its final years.

T.    he series (1977-82) received critical acclaim for exploring complicated challenges involving media and society. It received a Peabody Award in 1978, Emmy Awards in 1979 and 1980 for outstanding drama series, plus other Emmys for writing and acting during its five years on the air. Yet it never ended any season among the top 20 most popular prime-time programs. First scheduled the last hour of Tuesday evenings ( I0:00 P.M.), in the second and following seasons it was aired on Mondays at that time. It enjoyed strong lead-in shows M*A*S*H and One Day at a Time, but competing networks scheduled Monday night football (ABC) and theatrical movies (NBC), both at midpoint when Lou Grant came on. Scheduling was thus probably a "wash" as a factor; audiences were perhaps deterred more by the substantive issues explored, which called for attentive involvement, unlike more passive TV entertainment

     Lou Grant is also significant in the history of MTM Productions as the "bridge" program between comedies such as The Mary Tyler Moore Show and later, more complex dramas such as Hill Street Blues. Few independent production companies have had such visible success in crossing lines among television genres. The transformation of Asner's character, then, and the focus on serious social issues pointed new directions for the company and, ultimately, for the history of' American television.