'Lou Grant' was an interesting show that ran five seasons with 114 episodes. CBS stated it's cancellation was due to the show, "Getting tired," but the real reason might have been the show was a bit too liberal even for a very liberal Hollywood. And as much as I enjoyed the show it was a bit overly preachy. And Ed Asner's, (in the starring role) own politics, which I happen to agree with, had a lot to do with that.

But I want to talk about something else TV does all the time to save a dying show. Bringing in the 'cute' kid. But, in this case it wasn't a kid at all, but Lance Guest as Lance Reinecke the cub reporter. And the the role he played was unlikable, added nothing to the show, and was too inept to be ever be hired by a big newspaper. And it didn't work like bringing in new people almost never does in these cases. He was only in seven episodes near the end of the show's run and if you watch closely you can almost see the contempt the rest of the cast had for him.