Many episodes of LOU GRANT have held up well over time, but others now seem laughingly dated, no more so than "Unthinkable" (#5.20).
The plot revolves around an uprising in an imaginary Middle-Eastern country which may trigger a nuclear war between the USA and the USSR.
We're treated to all the usual discussions and lectures about the horrors of nuclear war, stories of how children around the world are having nightmares about bombs, and a sub- story about the results of radiation burns (which ties in to another burn story covered by Billie).
The biggest concern about the Mid-East is that "Marxists" might take over the country. Not a mention about radical jihadists, which we'd hear today. It's all about the evil Russians! This aired in April 1982. They would have been surprised to see that within a few years, the Cold War would be over (for the time being), and plots like this one would be obsolete. This episode could be put in a film festival along with those silly "duck and cover" Civil Defense movies from the 1950s.
As with many LOU GRANT episodes, this one ends unresolved. The sub-story has a sad ending (if you read between the lines of the final conversation) and the world is still at war. But as is typical in TV, by next week it will all have been forgotten!
The plot revolves around an uprising in an imaginary Middle-Eastern country which may trigger a nuclear war between the USA and the USSR.
We're treated to all the usual discussions and lectures about the horrors of nuclear war, stories of how children around the world are having nightmares about bombs, and a sub- story about the results of radiation burns (which ties in to another burn story covered by Billie).
The biggest concern about the Mid-East is that "Marxists" might take over the country. Not a mention about radical jihadists, which we'd hear today. It's all about the evil Russians! This aired in April 1982. They would have been surprised to see that within a few years, the Cold War would be over (for the time being), and plots like this one would be obsolete. This episode could be put in a film festival along with those silly "duck and cover" Civil Defense movies from the 1950s.
As with many LOU GRANT episodes, this one ends unresolved. The sub-story has a sad ending (if you read between the lines of the final conversation) and the world is still at war. But as is typical in TV, by next week it will all have been forgotten!