Lou Grant

Season 5

After everyone on the "Mary Tyler Moore Show" got fired, Lou Grant went to Los Angeles and became city editor of the L.A. Tribune, owned by Mrs. Pynchon, with whom Lou often has loud but sympathetic arguments. Lots of social causes and interpersonal relationships.

Where to Watch Lou Grant • Season 5

24 Episodes

Wedding
E1
WeddingBillie gets a marriage proposal from Baseball scout Ted McCovney. Lou meets up with his youngest daughter Janie, who feels he's always neglected her for work.
Execution
E2
ExecutionKitty Larsen, a young woman on death row, picks Rossi to tell her story. Although hesitant at first, he soon begins to like her. But Lou has personal feelings against her because she killed a reporter from the Trib.
Reckless
E3
RecklessLou is arrested for driving under the influence. His sentence includes attending a group meeting which culminates in a drunk driving test. Charlie sets up a 'Private Eye' hot-line at the Tribune for people to phone in crimes. Rossi is asked to write a success story about the initiative even though he is very skeptical about it's accuracy.
Hometown
E4
HometownWhen Lou goes back to his elderly home to settle his aunt's estate, he meets an old flame and gets his first story assignment in years from Charlie.
Risk
E5
RiskSharon McNeil gets a story about child pornography by promising not to reveal the names of her source. A promise her superiors at the Trib and the L.A. police department soon want her to break. Art goes out on a helicopter jump with some volunteer rescuers and young reporter Lance has big dreams involving dating Billie and becoming the first newsman in space.
Doublecross
E6
DoublecrossBillie suspects the gold cross found in a time capsule has been switched for a fake. Her investigations unearth the reasons behind an old family feud between the extremely rich side and the less rich side of the Matheson family.
Drifters
E7
DriftersCharlie's nephew Scott comes to stay with him, and turns out to have a mental condition. But the young man refuses to take his medication. The staff is busy tracking an escaped zoo bear called Ziggy.
Friends
E8
FriendsWhen his lawyer friend Burton Cary becomes a political candidate, Rossi finds learns he's not as clean-cut as he thought. Meanwhile the entire staff becomes a bit suspicious of Art after an argument with Jerry Hollister leads to the latter suing Art as well as the Tribune.
Jazz
E9
JazzRossi runs into a bass player that used to be in the famous Sonny Goodwin Quartet and sets about reuniting the four of them. Tribute reporters Crosley and Banks split up when Banks retires and Crosley soon falls behind on his assignment. This leads Lou to team him up with Billie.
Ghosts
E10
GhostsBillie investigates the death of a woman in a house that is said to be haunted. This leads her to attend a séance and search out the owners of a Ouija board.
Cameras
E11
CamerasA stick-up at a Mr. Ginty's fast-food restaurant turns into a hostage situation with a group of birthday party kids. The possible trauma caused by this becomes a big part of the subsequent trial. Billie thinks one mother in particular is telling her son how to react and feel, but when she writes it down Lou finds her story too soft and rewrites it.
Review
E12
ReviewCharlie becomes a member of a news council and finds one member who seems to have a grudge against him and the Tribune. Mrs. Pynchon asks Billie to help her write an autobiographical piece but refuses to talk about one important subject: her taking over from her late husbands at the newspaper.
Immigrants
E13
ImmigrantsThe Tribune hires an old acquaintance of Animal's from 'Nam: photographer Lee Van Tam. But Tam's domestic troubles interfere with his work. Lou tries to get out of meeting visiting relatives.
Hunger
E14
HungerRossi makes a bet with that he can get a story from anyone on the street. And the person he chooses is a woman who goes through the garbage who gets used by still viable food. He learns that she's a nun who runs a soup kitchen and feeds indigents. But he shifts the focus of the story to how people in a Third World country are starving which doesn't make the editors happy. And Mrs. Pynchon is instructing the staff to be less wasteful which makes them crazy.
Recovery
E15
RecoveryCharlie worries about Mrs. Pynchon's recovery after her stroke. Rossi delves into the Los Angeles archives to find evidence of profits made from land that Japanese-Americans were forced to sell right after Pearl Harbor.
Obituary
E16
ObituaryBillie is pulled from an assignment and the plane she was forced to leave crashes with no survivors. She and Lou research the lives of the three reporters for an obituary article. Rossi and Animal are searching for an endangered species of moth.
Blacklist
E17
BlacklistWhen one of the paper reporters' father comes to town to perform. It seems he was a folk singer in the 50's and he was blacklisted during the Communists Witch Hunts. They learn that one of the paper's reporters may have been involved with his blacklist.
Law
E18
LawThe proliferation of litigation on various fronts is pursued: Billie's story on a political recall movement leads to people she named in her story being sued by the target of the recall; Lou hires Animal's brother to represent him in legal action against a crooked plumber; meanwhile, the Tribune considers switching law firms.
Fireworks
E19
FireworksBillie covers a story about a fireworks bill from the Tribune's Sacramento bureau where she encounters her ex-husband, who is now an aggressive lobbyist on behalf of the fireworks industry. Meanwhile, Lou raises ethical questions about the sponsor of an award for which the Tribune is nominated.
Unthinkable
E20
UnthinkableAs the Tribune covers the fate of a girl being treated in a burn unit, the possibility arises that a confrontation in the Middle East will lead to a nuclear war between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, and the burn unit is mobilized.
Suspect
E21
SuspectLance stumbles onto a fatal biking accident and the more he learns about it, the more it doesn't seem like an accident any more. Lou is dating interior designer Jessica but finds out she's been keeping a secret from him.
Beachhead
E22
BeachheadThe Tribune is blamed for inflaming rivalries between surfer gangs. Billie and Ted differ on the place of a group home in their neighborhood.
Victims
E23
VictimsLou is shot by a robber, who is in turn killed by policeman Vince DeMayo. Both Vince and Lou have a difficult time getting their life back in order.
Charlie
E24
CharlieCharlie lets two incompetent staff members go, but Mrs. Pynchon rehires them. Rossi and Abby plan to move in but find it difficult sharing an assignment. Donovan speculates his stewardess girlfriend may be pregnant. Billie eyes a job in Sacremento but Lou tells Charlie he won't let her go. Secretary Cheryl is after Lance but he is more interested covering a stolen weapons story.