I'm curious as to everybody's take on the whole Billie/Donovan
thing... they introduced it in Heroes, but then hardly addressed it
after that (to my recollection) except for when she got married. It's
like the writers were saying "Yeah, this is an important part of these
characters - mmm, just kidding".
[deleted]
I know it's 8 years later now, but... they addressed it within "Heroes" in terms of not wanting the same thing, so they stopped seeing each other. I did like the subtlety with which they handled it after that: just an extra moment of warmth or a look, letting us know they have a special history together, but nothing verbal. Really nice acting from both of them. And as you say, when she got married, the memory was there for viewers who remembered.
shareI always thought there was something a bit creepy about Donovan (although Jack Bannon the actor was probably a lovely guy). Billie certainly had eclectic tastes in men. Nobody ever had relationships on Lou Grant that lasted very long or were ever explained. Rossi was with that reporter Sharon for like one episode in the fifth season and I wondered what I'd missed since there was never any build up to it.
shareI asked Jack Bannon about that. He said he would have been all in favor of Billie and Donovan having an ongoing relationship, but after "Heroes," it was something that was never written into the series again, and Jack said he never mentioned reviving the subplot to the producers.
As a practical matter, "Lou Grant" was a work-based show, and giving characters relationship subplots that don't reinforce the working relationships that are fundamental to the series would weaken the finished product. In general, viewers were not in favor of the relationships that were shown, such as Billie getting married in the 5th season, and also Rossi dating a co-worker that same season. Lou's girlfriend was only seen briefly twice in the second season. Since the importance of the Lou Grant character was to show him as the leader of the newsroom, it would take the series sideways to have to spend time in every episode at home with his girlfriend and discussing what happened that day at the Trib.
You're right, and I agree with everything you said. The one thing I liked best about Lou Grant was its realism. They didn't go throwing everyone into relationships with each other like some kind of soap opera melodrama. No one's personality changed that much, but what they did was show us things that made us warm to them, like Rossi's alcoholic father. Robert Walden did an amazing job of making Rossi likable even when he was being a pr1ck.
I've been catching up with LG on Youtube. In the episode where Mrs. Pynchon gives Rossi a bit too much power and he starts exposing all his co-workers' flaws. Billie goes to eat her lunch on the grass and Donovan gives her two little potted trees because she's been protesting about trees being cut down outside her house. I thought that was such a sweet thing for Art to do.