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Ted Baxter tricks Lou Grant into giving him an exclusive contract as newscaster, and suddenly starts appearing in commercials on several local stations. Lou calls a halt to Ted’s extracurricular activities, however, when he does a commercial on his own news show. Lou gives Ted a choice: give up doing commercials in exchange for a small salary increase, or take a punch in the nose. Ted takes the salary increase.

After 30 years have passed, Lou Grant’s old flame, Veronica, comes back into his life. Veronica was bad news three decades ago when she wrote Lou a “Dear John” letter, and she’s bad news now. Once more, he intends to tell her so, and even better yet, show her.

Newsroom boss Lou Grant places Mary Richards in charge of his television station’s news coverage of a local election. A blizzard breaks down the teletype and telephone communications and suddenly Mary finds herself faced with a rebellious crew and a voting toteboard that refuses to function. Ted Baxter is forced into a situation, for the first time, where he must ad lib. The newscaster grimly plods through his entire routine of amateurish impressions of famous personalities, his life history, and then a string of recipes. With no election return to quote, Mary decides to fill in with guests who stop by the station, and even her friend, Rhoda Morgenstern, has an opportunity to get on the air. One of the guests turns out to be the local priest arriving to deliver the sermonette. After several hours the priest and Baxter finish just in time for Chuckles the Clown to show up for his morning show. Fortunately for all, Chuckles brings along a newspaper.

Mary Richards allows her friend Phyllis to talk her into getting television newsman Ted Baxter to be a guest speaker at her group meeting of ladies. Phyllis doesn’t realize that Ted is totally incapable of ad lib discussion and can only recite what is put before him. Once Ted finishes the prepared material written by Murray Slaughter, the meeting turns into a fiasco when the ladies ask Ted his personal opinions on a number of subjects. The befuddled newsman, unable to respond, goes into a state of shock with a glazed expression on his face. When Phyllis brings him to Mary’s apartment, he locks himself in the bathroom and refuses to come out. Mary calls newsroom boss Lou Grant who takes Ted home with him. For the next several days Ted’s confidence is shattered and he bobbles practically every line on his news broadcasts.

Ted Baxter has auditioned to host a game show in New York, something the WJM-TV news staff treats very lightly until he gets the job and they find their pompous anchorman is really going to leave. Ted drives everyone up the wall with his impatience, wondering if he will be known as a New York quiz show host. But when he wins the job, a melancholy wave flows through the newsroom.

Rhoda Morgenstern meets Bob Pedersen in her speed-reading class, brings him home and introduces him to her best friend, Mary Richards. Before the two girls realize what has happened they find that the three of them are constantly together for dates, lunches and dinners. It becomes increasingly apparent that Bob’s interest has switched from Rhoda to Mary. When Rhoda forces a showdown, Bob admits her prefers Mary. Rhoda, naturally, is deeply hurt and the girls stop seeing each other although both soon drop Bob. Later, when Mary’s television news program is nominated for an award, she invites Rhoda to attend the luncheon with her. Rhoda is reluctant but finally agrees to go along. When the award is announced, the microphone goes dead. Rhoda, sure Mary has won, tells her to stand up. This proves to be a mistake, and now Mary is the one who is deeply hurt.

Mary Richards is distressed when a report on the demographics of the television news program for which she works makes her realize she is no longer in her 20’s. After a discussion with her friend, Rhoda Morgenstern, the two decide that the time has come to involve themselves socially. They each phone an old boyfriend, whom they have not seen for four or five years, and arrange a get-together for drinks at Mary’s apartment. Rhoda’s old flame, Armand, arrives with his new wife Nancy on his arm. Mary’s old flame, Howard, is still single but is a camera bug and insists on taking pictures of everyone. The girls are further distressed when they realize their guests think they were invited for dinner; the only thing in Mary’s refrigerator is a raw carrot.

Ted Baxter’s successful brother, Hal, arrives in Minneapolis and drops by the station for a surprise visit. The brothers have always been very competitive, so Ted, wanting to impress Hal, introduces Mary Richards as his girlfriend. The game of one-upmanship is renewed with vigor when Mary and Rhoda double date the two brothers.