Television series
Lou Grant
Lou Grant is the rare spinoff that swapped genres entirely: Ed Asner's blustery sitcom editor leaves Minneapolis for a serious, hour-long drama about the Los Angeles Tribune. It's issue-of-the-week journalism drama played straight — corruption, censorship, abuse — anchored by a strong ensemble and Asner's gruff decency. Thoughtful, slow-building, occasionally preachy, but it treats its audience like adults. Good for anyone nostalgic for newsroom dramas made before cable sped everything up.
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All the President's Men1976
The gold standard of journalism drama — Woodward and Bernstein's Watergate investigation rendered as tense procedural thriller, all phone calls, typewriters and slowly dawning dread.
But No action, no explosions — just meticulous fact-checking. If procedural patience bores you, this will test it hard.
Spotlight2015
Modern heir to the newsroom drama — the Boston Globe's investigation into clergy abuse told with the same unglamorous rigor and moral seriousness Lou Grant aimed for weekly.
But Heavy subject matter handled soberly; there's little levity to relieve the grimness of what it's investigating.
Broadcast News1987
James L. Brooks, who created Lou Grant, turns his eye to TV news — sharp, funny and unexpectedly moving about ambition, ethics and unrequited love in a newsroom.
But It's more romantic triangle than issue drama; if you wanted straight journalism ethics, this leans domestic.
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Deadline - U.S.A.1952
Same editor-as-last-line-of-defense story Lou Grant told twenty-five years later — Bogart's crusading editor fights to print the truth before his paper is sold and shuttered.
Bogart at his most morally furious, defending the free press in crackling black-and-white — this is where the 'principled editor' archetype got its voice.
But Dated pacing and melodrama by modern standards; it wears its message on its sleeve more openly than Lou Grant ever did.
More like this (8)
The Paper1994no page yet
Ron Howard's ensemble comedy-drama about one frantic day at a New York tabloid captures the same newsroom chaos and moral scrambling, just faster and funnier.
But Compressed into 24 hours, it trades Lou Grant's slow-burn seriousness for screwball energy and a tidier resolution.
Network1976
A furious, prophetic satire of television news chasing ratings over truth — everything Lou Grant's Tribune tried to resist, shown at its most cynical extreme.
But It's satire, not character study — broader and angrier, and less interested in individual people than institutions.
Shattered Glass2003no page yet
The true story of a young journalist who fabricated stories, told from inside a newsroom slowly realizing it's been conned — gripping and quietly devastating about trust.
But Colder than Lou Grant's warmth — this is about betrayal, not mentorship, and it stings rather than reassures.
Good Night, and Good Luck.2005
Edward R. Murrow takes on McCarthy in this crisp, black-and-white drama about journalists risking everything to tell the truth on air.
But Stylised and restrained — smoky rooms, clipped dialogue — it's more mood piece than newsroom ensemble.
The Newsroom2012
Aaron Sorkin's cable-news drama has the same walk-and-talk moral urgency, with an idealistic staff finding their spine story by story.
But Sorkin's dialogue is stylised and speechy where Lou Grant is plain-spoken; it can feel lecture-y rather than lived-in.
State of Play2003
The original BBC series, before the Hollywood remake, is a tense, slow-building conspiracy thriller anchored by journalists chasing a story that keeps getting more dangerous.
But British pacing and politics may feel unfamiliar; it's less about daily newsroom life than one sprawling investigation.
Page One: Inside the New York Times2011
The real version of what Lou Grant only dramatized — an actual newsroom, decades later, wrestling with the same questions about journalism's purpose, this time for real.
A documentary with remarkable access to the Times' media desk as print journalism fights for its life against the internet — funny, anxious and unexpectedly moving.
But No plot, no resolution — just real people arguing about an industry in crisis. Might frustrate anyone wanting narrative closure.
WKRP in Cincinnati1978
Same era, same media-workplace ensemble structure — mismatched staff, a boss trying to hold chaos together — just filed under farce instead of drama.
A ragtag radio station full of oddballs and disasters, played for pure laughs — the sitcom cousin to Lou Grant's serious newsroom, proof the format works either way.
But If you want the moral weight and issue-driven plots of Lou Grant, this offers none of that — it's silly on purpose.
People
Cast
Writing
- Allan BurnsCreator
- Gene ReynoldsCreator
- James L. BrooksCreator
Production
- Gene ReynoldsExecutive Producer