# Lou Grant season 1

This is a list of episodes for the first season of Lou Grant.

## Episodes

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Prod. code |
| 1 | 1 | "Cophouse" | Gene Reynolds | Leon Tokatyan | September 20, 1977 (1977-09-20) | 7501 |
| Lou Grant is hired as an editor for the Los Angeles Tribune and gets involved with an allegation that the police reporter for the paper is covering up a scandal. |||||||
| 2 | 2 | "Hostages" | Charles Dubin | Seth Freeman | September 27, 1977 (1977-09-27) | 7510 |
| A gunman (John Rubinstein) takes hostages in the newsroom after reading about how his brother was supposedly killed during a robbery. |||||||
| 3 | 3 | "Hoax" | Jay Sandrich | Gordon Dawson | October 4, 1977 (1977-10-04) | 7503 |
| A maverick journalist (Eugene Roche) gives Lou a tip regarding the disappearance of a rich Angelo. Note: Final appearance of Rebecca Balding as Carla Mardigian |||||||
| 4 | 4 | "Henhouse" | Richard Crenna | Leonora Thuna | October 11, 1977 (1977-10-11) | 7509 |
| Lou gets into a turf war with the editor of the "women's section" (Claudette Nevins) over a story. Note: First appearance of Linda Kelsey as Billie Newman |||||||
| 5 | 5 | "Nazi" | Alexander Singer | Robert Schlitt | October 18, 1977 (1977-10-18) | 7505 |
| Billie discovers the subject of her story about a neo-Nazi (Peter Weller) is an Orthodox Jew. |||||||
| 6 | 6 | "Aftershock" | Jud Taylor | Del Reisman | October 25, 1977 (1977-10-25) | 7506 |
| In addition to dealing with his earthquake, Lou has the widow (Joyce Van Patten) of a deceased reporter constantly depending on him, all while the Tribune does a story about a man (Clyde Kusatsu) claiming his insects can predict earthquakes. |||||||
| 7 | 7 | "Barrio" | Mel Damski | Seth Freeman | November 1, 1977 (1977-11-01) | 7504 |
| Billie is assigned to do a story about the shooting of a young mother and discovers rival gangs on the east side of Los Angeles, which leads to her involvement with a teenager facing the consequences of being a gang member. |||||||
| 8 | 8 | "Scoop" | Harry Falk | Gene Kearney | November 8, 1977 (1977-11-08) | 7502 |
| Billie tries to get a bigger story out of a kidnapping, while Rossi discovers something that could be big as well when he's sent to report an unimportant photo opportunity. |||||||
| 9 | 9 | "Judge" | Irving Moore | Leon Tokatyan | November 15, 1977 (1977-11-15) | 7508 |
| Lou is held in contempt of court when he goes to confirm a judge (Barnard Hughes)'s erratic behavior. |||||||
| 10 | 10 | "Psych-Out" | Alexander Singer | Seth Freeman | November 22, 1977 (1977-11-22) | 7515 |
| Rossi checks into a mental hospital after Lou encourages him to get more involved in the stories he finds, but getting out will not be easy. |||||||
| 11 | 11 | "Housewarming" | Mel Damski | Leonora Thuna | November 29, 1977 (1977-11-29) | 7512 |
| While Lou holds a housewarming party, Rossi goes on a ride-along with the police that leads to a battered wife (Julie Kavner) and Billie finds another batterer (Edward Winter) close to home. |||||||
| 12 | 12 | "Takeover" | Gene Reynolds | Leon Tokatyan | December 6, 1977 (1977-12-06) | 7513 |
| A media mogul (John Anderson) tries to persuade Mrs. Pynchon to sell the Tribune, but Lou and Charlie have their suspicions. |||||||
| 13 | 13 | "Christmas" | James Burrows | David Lloyd | December 13, 1977 (1977-12-13) | 7507 |
| The public sends a lot of money to the Tribune at Christmastime thanks to Billie's story about a homeless family. |||||||
| 14 | 14 | "Airliner" | Mel Damski | Charles Einstein | January 3, 1978 (1978-01-03) | 7514 |
| The Tribune prepares for a big story as a plane bound for Los Angeles faces potential catastrophe, which gets personal upon the revelation of a connection between someone in the city room and one of the endangered airline passengers. |||||||
| 15 | 15 | "Sports" | Harvey Laidman | Bud Freeman | January 10, 1978 (1978-01-10) | 7516 |
| Lou is accused of personal criticism due to the city room's aggressive coverage by the athletic department of a local college. |||||||
| 16 | 16 | "Hero" | Mel Damski | Seth Freeman | January 17, 1978 (1978-01-17) | 7518 |
| The Tribune identifies the man who thwarted an assassination attempt on a judge, but the alleged hero turns out to be an ex-offender who never told anyone about his past. |||||||
| 17 | 17 | "Renewal" | Gene Reynolds | Ken Travey | January 30, 1978 (1978-01-30) | 7511 |
| An urban renewal project in the ghetto could destroy the murals an old man painted by which to remember his deceased wife. |||||||
| 18 | 18 | "Sect" | Alexander Singer | Michele Gallery | February 6, 1978 (1978-02-06) | 7517 |
| Charlie and Marian (Peggy McCay) consider taking extreme measures to reverse their son's conversion into Hare Krishna. |||||||
| 19 | 19 | "Scandal" | Mel Damski | Seth Freeman | February 13, 1978 (1978-02-13) | 7520 |
| Rossi is replaced in the covering of a political campaign by a new reporter (Gail Strickland), who's involved in a nursing-home scandal with the politician (James Olson). |||||||
| 20 | 20 | "Spies" | Charles Dubin | Leon Tokatyan | February 27, 1978 (1978-02-27) | 7519 |
| The editors of the city room suspect someone of being a paid informant for the CIA. |||||||
| 21 | 21 | "Poison" | Gene Reynolds | Michele Gallery | March 6, 1978 (1978-03-06) | 7521 |
| Rossi continues an investigation started by a friend of his (Guy Boyd) involving the safety of the nuclear power industry. |||||||
| 22 | 22 | "Physical" | Charles Dubin | David Lloyd | March 20, 1978 (1978-03-20) | 7522 |
| A routine medical exam reveals that Lou has a serious condition which requires immediate surgery. |||||||

## Ratings

The show ranked 41st out of 104 shows airing during the 1977-78 season, with an average 18.7 rating.