Lou Grant
Unthinkable
TV Flash files “Unthinkable” as hour 110 of 114 in the TV Flash guide — Lou Grant (1977–1982) on CBS, season 5, episode 20, aired 1982-05-03, 60 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S05E20: listed hour 110 of 114 in the Lou Grant guide, hour 20 of 24 in season 5. It aired 1982-05-03 (60 min). The listed hour before it is “Fireworks” (S05E19). Next is “Suspect” (S05E21).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Tensions in the tiny Middle Eastern country Kular awakens the fear of nuclear war into a lot of people. Billie covers the recovery of a burn victim following the crash of a school bus.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Unthinkable sit in the Lou Grant guide?
S05E20 is listed hour 110 of 114 — hour 20 of 24 in season 5, season 5 episode 20.
When did Lou Grant S05E20 air?
Unthinkable aired 1982-05-03 and is listed at 60 minutes.
Do I need The Mary Tyler Moore Show first?
Helpful for the face, not required for the hour. This is a drama about a Los Angeles city editor, not a sitcom continuation.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Ed Asner leaves Mary's Minneapolis newsroom for a Los Angeles city desk and trades multi-cam laughs for hour-long journalism. Rare sitcom-to-drama spin-off that earned serious awards, then ended in a fog of activism-and-cancellation argument. Ink-stained prestige before prestige was a brand.
So about the group chat that showed up for Mary's boss and found an hour-long city desk: Lou Grant left Minneapolis laughs for Los Angeles and traded multi-cam for journalism drama. (I said spoiler-free. The cancellation politics are extra-textual weather. The paper is the show.) Edward Asner's CBS Lou Grant (1977–1982), from James L. Brooks, Allan Burns, and Gene Reynolds, ran five seasons, 114 episodes, with Robert Walden's Joe Rossi, Linda Kelsey's Billie Newman, Mason Adams's Charlie Hume, and Nancy…
Filed against
- Ed Asner as Lou Grant
Ed Asner played Lou Grant on The Mary Tyler Moore Show — newsroom bark as affection, Minneapolis wool, a boss who could file a grievance with a growl. TV Flash files him as the ensemble's gravel center, the man who made competence look…
- Robert Walden as Joe Rossi
Robert Walden's Joe Rossi kept Lou Grant inky after Ed Asner left Mary's Minneapolis newsroom for a Los Angeles city desk — sitcom-to-drama spin-off, hour-long journalism, activism-and-cancellation fog at the end. TV Flash files him as…
- Linda Kelsey as Billie Newman
Linda Kelsey reported the hour as Billie Newman on Lou Grant — Ed Asner’s city-desk drama after the Minneapolis laughs, journalism as weekly stakes instead of a punchline. Ink-stained prestige before cable named the category. TV Flash…
- Mason Adams as Charlie Hume
Mason Adams edited the hour as Charlie Hume on Lou Grant — Ed Asner’s Los Angeles city desk after the Minneapolis laughs, journalism as weekly stakes, a rare sitcom-to-drama spin-off that wanted to be taken seriously. Ink-stained prestige…
- Nancy Marchand as Margaret Pynchon
Nancy Marchand’s Margaret Pynchon ran Lou Grant’s Los Angeles city desk like ink-stained prestige before the word — Ed Asner leaving Mary’s Minneapolis newsroom for hour-long journalism, 1970s sitcom-to-drama rare as a unicorn. TV Flash…