Lou Grant gets shafted in critical lists about Best Shows of the 70s or Best Shows of the 80s because it bridged those decades (1977-82). It also is unfairly judged as a spinoff when it was very much its own show, with Asner as the only holdover actor from The MTM Show and reshaped as a very different character. Aside from the antiquated technology and the general disappearance of the big city newspaper newsrooms, LG holds up well as the only real show about JOURNALISM. You're probably right on that the Reagan Era killed it, but it did help create a platform for narrative drama .... Hill Street Blues, for example, emerged from what Lou Grant started.
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