Mrs. Pynchon, the widowed owner of the fictional Los Angeles Tribune, was based on Katherine Graham, the real widowed owner of the Washington Post, and on Dorothy "Dolly" Schiff, owner and publisher of the New York Post. Schiff, for example, always carried her small dog with her, like Mrs. Pynchon.
The producers of the show wanted to air a final episode that dealt with the paper going out of business. They actually interviewed reporters from real newspapers that closed in order to prepare for this episode. The show was taken off the air before that episode could be filmed.
When the series aired on CBS on Monday nights, journalism classes would dismiss early, so that the faculty and students could watch the new episodes, and discuss them in class.
A spin-off of the sitcom The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970), this is one of only two dramatic series in American television history to originate from a comedy series. The other was Trapper John, M.D. (1979), which was a spin-off of M.A.S.H. (1972).
During the primetime run of the show (1977-1982), Edward Asner became increasingly vocal on behalf of various liberal political causes. Although the series had slipped in ratings by 1982, many critics speculated that the actor's politics played a major role in the show's cancellation.