The BEST episodes of Lou Grant

#1 - Hostages

Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/27/1977

A gunman, upset with a story about his brother who was wrongfully shot by a store-owner during a robbery, holds the newspaper staff hostage demanding a new story.

#2 - Nazi

Season 1 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/18/1977

While investigating a group of Nazis, Billie comes upon information that one of their leaders used to be Jewish.

#3 - Judge

Season 1 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/15/1977

When Lou goes to a courthouse to look into a report of inappropriate behavior by a senior judge, he angers the judge by trying to leave in the middle of a trial and is put in jail. Upset by this treatment, he gets the newspaper staff to further investigate the judge's erratic behavior.

#4 - Pack

Season 4 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/27/1980

Billie is given a tough time when she tours with a political candidate to conduct an investigation.

#5 - Charlie

Season 5 - Episode 24 - Aired 9/13/1982

A bad day for Charlie involves firing misfits and dealing with static from reporters over their assignments; meanwhile, Donovan suspects his girlfriend is pregnant.

#6 - Hoax

Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/4/1977

When Lou gets a tip from a friend who claims to know the whereabouts of a missing millionaire, members of the staff initially have doubts about following it and dismiss it as a hoax. The man begins to gain credibility when he is able to retrieve information that only the missing man would know.

#7 - Henhouse

Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/11/1977

#8 - Scoop

Season 1 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/8/1977

Pressured to get the latest scoop at any cost, Lou ends up in hot water after running two of Rossi's exclusive stories which turn out to be false. So when Billie has information about a possible fake kidnapping, Lou is reluctant to run the story.

#9 - Psychout

Season 1 - Episode 10 - Aired 11/22/1977

After Lou tells him that his stories are missing first-hand experience, Rossi checks into a mental institution as a patient under a made-up name to investigate reports of abuse. Lou clashes with a lawyer at the paper because he feels that censorship and fear of possible lawsuits are limiting what the paper can publish.

#10 - Murder

Season 2 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/30/1978

Billie is upset because her story, about a courageous black woman who is slain in her own apartment, is relegated to the back pages while Rossi's story, about an elderly white woman who fights off burglars, makes the front page.

#11 - Schools

Season 2 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/20/1978

Lou, Charlie, and Donovan interview students from an inner city school for the purpose of awarding a college scholarship to a journalism major. While Charlie and Donovan recommend a straight-A student, Lou pushes for a student who kicked a drug habit and got tutoring to improve his grades. Rossi and Billie uncover disturbing trends of violence at the same inner city school.

#12 - Housewarming

Season 1 - Episode 11 - Aired 11/29/1977

Billie uses a battered woman as a source for a story on spousal abuse but has trouble following through with it when the women's husband finds out. She later finds out that a co-worker has a problem with spousal abuse.

#13 - Cophouse

Season 1 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/20/1977

After landing the city editor job at the Los Angeles Tribune, Lou Grant's first major story is a sex scandal concerning the LAPD and underage girls. However, in order to get it published he must deal with a reporter that is reluctant to bring down the police and Mrs. Pynchon who has a difference of opinion with him.

#14 - Pills

Season 2 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/25/1978

Rossi is handed records which prove that a doctor is illegally prescribing drugs. When the story runs and it is suspected that the records may have been obtained by illegal means, Rossi is told to either reveal his source or go to jail.

#15 - Spies

Season 1 - Episode 20 - Aired 2/27/1978

When the paper finds out about the son of a wealthy businessman being secretly detained by authorities, Lou decides to have Rossi investigate. However, when a CIA agent thwarts the investigation before it begins, everyone begins to suspect there is a CIA informant working at the paper.

#16 - Poison

Season 1 - Episode 21 - Aired 3/6/1978

After Rossi's friend reveals that he has damaging information about the unsafe conditions at a nuclear plant, he is "accidentally" struck and killed by a car. Eager to prove that it was no accident, Rossi continues the investigation into the nuclear plant.

#17 - Physical

Season 1 - Episode 22 - Aired 3/20/1978

Lou reluctantly goes for a physical and finds out that he has a thyroid condition that requires surgery. At the paper, he offers advice to an intern who wants to become a reporter. Rossi learns that he has a good chance at a Pulitzer prize for his story on mental hospitals.

#18 - Hooker

Season 2 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/16/1978

After a homicide occurs in the city, Billie finds out that the victim was a prostitute who worked at a "spa" business. While investigating, she strikes up an unlikely friendship with the victim's co-worker who does not seem to fit the stereotypical profile of a hooker.

#19 - Slaughter

Season 2 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/27/1978

Lou visits his home town while on vacation and meets his old boss who now runs the town's newspaper. While there, an outbreak of an unknown cattle disease gets Lou's attention when it's suggested the disease could be transmitted to humans.

#20 - Denial

Season 2 - Episode 12 - Aired 1/1/1979

Lou's little grandson is hard of hearing, but the boy's mother can't accept it. While Lou is absorbed by his family, Rossi gets in trouble over a construction company scandal.

#21 - Conflict

Season 2 - Episode 11 - Aired 12/18/1978

Rossi uncovers conflicts of interest on the staff, including Lou, and writes a story that sets off fireworks in the city room. Mrs. Pynchon tells Rossi to keep an eye out for mistakes in the Tribune but doesn't realize just how far he'll go until he takes on a campaign by her pet charity.

#22 - Singles

Season 2 - Episode 9 - Aired 12/4/1978

Lou clashes with the new media consultant who believes that the paper should do more trashy stories to cater to the younger crowds. One of those stories has Billie and Rossi investigating the "singles" scene by going out on dates through a computer service. While Rossi has trouble finding time with his date, Billie has trouble getting rid of her date.

#23 - Prisoner

Season 2 - Episode 2 - Aired 10/2/1978

When Mrs. Pynchon plays host to the wife of the leader of a controversial Latin American country known for its torturing practices, Charlie Hume is anything but inviting to her.

#24 - Sect

Season 1 - Episode 18 - Aired 2/6/1978

Charlie is devastated when his son joins a cult.

#25 - Airliner

Season 1 - Episode 14 - Aired 1/3/1978

News breaks of an airplane carrying over 300 people that is unable to land. Members of the staff scour the list of passengers aboard and find out that Charlie's daughter is on that flight.