The Mary Tyler Moore and Pixar UP actor has passed away.

His family posted on his Twitter, "We are sorry to say that our beloved patriarch passed away this morning peacefully. Words cannot express the sadness we feel. With a kiss on your head- Goodnight dad. We love you."

Variety tweeted (among many): "Emmy-winning actor Ed Asner, who starred as Lou Grant on both sitcom The Mary Tyler Moore Show and hourlong drama Lou Grant before a late-career rejuvenation through his poignant voicework in 2009 animated film Up, has died. He was 91."

Pixar released a trailer to a new animated series starring Asner's Mr. Fredrickson's character, Dug Days, which will be a collection of shorts that follows the adventures of Dug. Russell and a SQUIRREL! will also be in the shorts. It premieres on Disney+ September 1, 2021. I'm assuming Asner reprised his role as Carl.

[Edited 8/29/21 12:38pm]

R.I.P

Huge sitcom junkie growing up here. Modern gen. is really missing out with their dearth of sitcoms. Everyone deluding themselves into thinking it's so much better with these stonefaced hour-drama binge series and wooden shaky cam "comedies" sans laugh track... plz. Nothing better than a great classic sitcom, and the legendary MTM show was truly a cut above the rest.

Revered more contemporary masterworks like Seinfeld and Arrested Development are forever indebted to what Mary Tyler Moore did for the concept of a true ensemble comedy. Previous sitcoms had memorable/beloved ancillary characters, sure, but there was always an emphasis on star or main character until MTM showed everyone how to create a balancing act where every character and arc had equal relevance to the main character. There were episodes where Mary barely featured, like the classic Rhoda/Lou Grant hookup episode. Lou Grant, Rhoda, Ted Baxter, Murray, Phyllis, Sue Ann Nivens... all had equal relevance as Mary.

Ed Asner was a highlight in his role as Lou Grant in MTM. Always wanted to check out the spin-off... a testament to his greatness that Mr. Asner could slide from comedy to drama with ease, within the same character no less.

R.I.P. Ed Asner and the rest of the passed MTM station crew.

[Edited 8/29/21 17:50pm]

WhisperingDandelions said:

Huge sitcom junkie growing up here. Modern gen. is really missing out with their dearth of sitcoms. Everyone deluding themselves into thinking it's so much better with these stonefaced hour-drama binge series and shaky cam "comedies" sans laugh track... plz. Nothing better than a great classic sitcom, and the legendary MTM show was truly a cut above the rest.....

R.I.P. Ed Asner and the rest of the passed MTM station crew.

My friend/roommate is a huge Mary and Lucy fan. He's watched those shows sooooooo much, he can quote every episode. Not even kidding. I've seen a few here and there over the years, but I don't think I could sit and watch every single one. He was sorta bummed today about Asner, but goddamn - they live forever on video, not in real life.

I sorta think maybe Betty White is murdering everyone. She's outlived all the Golden Girls cast, and most all of the MTM cast. Gavin MacLeod, Mary Tyler Moore, Georgia Engel, Valerie Harper, and Cloris Leachman have all passed in more recent years. The cast of Hot In Cleveland better watch their backs!

Yeah Betty's OG.

TrivialPursuit said:

they live forever on video, not in real life.

Big on this, always big on the preservation and rebirth capable through archiving old media... Used to VHS record everything, DVD era changed everything, now you can easily stream the whole series (through Hulu still maybe?) You bring up Lucy, that's a great example, the concept of a "rerun" didn't even exist until I Love Lucy, TV execs were like "uhhhmm..... why would anybody want to watch shit that already aired, Desi?" but it evolved and manifested to the easy-access binge age enjoyed now.

Then on the flipside you got all the lost TV, decades of Carson's Tonight Show taped over so studios could save 10 sheckles "recycling" tape. Ugh.

[Edited 8/29/21 18:15pm]

WhisperingDandelions said:

Yeah Betty's OG.

TrivialPursuit said:

they live forever on video, not in real life.

Big on this, always big on the preservation and rebirth capable through archiving old media... Used to VHS record everything, DVD era changed everything, now you can easily stream the whole series (through Hulu still maybe?) You bring up Lucy, that's a great example, the concept of a "rerun" didn't even exist until I Love Lucy, TV execs were like "uhhhmm..... why would anybody want to watch shit that already aired, Desi?" but it evolved and manifested to the easy-access binge age enjoyed now.

Then on the flipside you got all the lost TV, decades of Carson's Tonight Show taped over so studios could save 10 sheckles "recycling" tape. Ugh.

Reminds me of that scene in Back To The Future, when Marty is at the dinner table and says, "Oh, this is a rerun, I've seen this." And the other kid says, "what's a rerun?"

A huge majority of Hollywood Squares with Paul Lynne, etc was taped over to save those few sheckles.

MeTV remembers Ed Asner with some of Lou Grant's best Mary Tyler Moore Show episodes

In tribute to Asner, MeTV will be running four episodes of The Mary Tyler Moore Show on Sunday, September 5, highlighing some of Asner's best performances as Grant. Episodes include:

• "Love is All Around" — Lou Grant hires Mary Richards to WJM-TV in the premiere episode!
• "Once I Had a Secret Love" — After a few too many drinks, Lou has a fling with Sue Ann and asks Mary to keep it a secret.
• "Lou Dates Mary" — After another disappointing date, Georgette suggests Mary date Lou.
• "The Last Show" — There isn't a dry eye to be found in this emotional final episode.

The two-hour tribute will air on Sunday, September 5, at 2PM | 1C.

In addition, MeTV will run Asner's 1963 episode of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, "To Kill a Butterfly" the same night at 1AM | 12C.