With the staff short-handed, Lou decides to work the night shift.With the staff short-handed, Lou decides to work the night shift.With the staff short-handed, Lou decides to work the night shift.
Photos
Robert Walden
- Joe Rossi
- (credit only)
Al Beaudine
- Reporter
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThis episode and Pack (1980) do not feature Robert Walden as reporter Joe Rossi, except in the opening credits. Walden was holding out for a salary raise (he told an interviewer that the initials of the production company, MTM, really stood for "Mighty Tight Money"). With a Screen Actors' Guild strike looming, the company went ahead and filmed the two completed scripts without using him - or paying him. Walden returned to the set, along with the rest of the cast, when the strike ended. After the two shows were in the can and Walden was sidelined without any income at all (except for rerun payments), one of the producers said of Walden: "Bobby is a hell of an actor, but a lousy poker player. He just overplayed his hand."
Featured review
Good season opener with a serious flaw
LOU GRANT kicked off the fourth season with a slightly revised opening theme, and an unusual story called "Nightside."
In some respects, it's one of the best episodes. It doesn't hang on a current social issue like many other story lines. It's a procedural, showing what goes on at the Trib at night. A news story starts small, then grows into a significant event as more and more pieces fall into place.
But there's a big flaw: after three seasons, we're suddenly introduced to a completely different cast, the people who supposedly work on the "nightside." (These include a very young David Paymer.) For three years, the NORMAL cast has seemed to be on duty 24 hours a day - no matter when a story breaks or develops, Lou, Billie, Joe, Art, etc. are the ones in the office. But now we find out that other people use the desks after hours; in fact, they seem to practically stand in line to get at "their" desks when the regular cast leaves. Why have we never seen these people before (or ever again)? We only see the regulars briefly, and Lou gets to remain at the center because he's supposedly filling in for the night editor who has called in sick.
So...a good grade for a good story. But a big question mark for throwing a continuity curve ball at the audience.
In some respects, it's one of the best episodes. It doesn't hang on a current social issue like many other story lines. It's a procedural, showing what goes on at the Trib at night. A news story starts small, then grows into a significant event as more and more pieces fall into place.
But there's a big flaw: after three seasons, we're suddenly introduced to a completely different cast, the people who supposedly work on the "nightside." (These include a very young David Paymer.) For three years, the NORMAL cast has seemed to be on duty 24 hours a day - no matter when a story breaks or develops, Lou, Billie, Joe, Art, etc. are the ones in the office. But now we find out that other people use the desks after hours; in fact, they seem to practically stand in line to get at "their" desks when the regular cast leaves. Why have we never seen these people before (or ever again)? We only see the regulars briefly, and Lou gets to remain at the center because he's supposedly filling in for the night editor who has called in sick.
So...a good grade for a good story. But a big question mark for throwing a continuity curve ball at the audience.
- LCShackley
- Apr 29, 2010
- Permalink
Details
- Runtime47 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
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