Skip to Content
News

Remember When Ed Asner Said KSTP News Was Better Than ‘Hemorrhoid Grease’?

The late actor filmed a series of ads in character as (essentially) Lou Grant in 2004.

Ed Asner in a 2004 KSTP News ad

Lou Grant doesn’t care about how pretty you look, WCCO.

Ed Asner, who died at age 91 yesterday, will always have a special connection to Minnesota because of his best-known role: Lou Grant, the gruff news director at fictional Minneapolis TV station WJM on The Mary Tyler Moore Show.

Asner was so strongly identified with the character, in fact, that in 2004, St. Paul TV station KSTP ran a series of commercials featuring the actor as... a gruff TV news director who was Lou Grant in all but name.

"It's not about how pretty we look or how many fancy awards we've won," not-Lou tells the staff in one of the ads. "It's about how much more news we can fit in 30 minutes."

In another commercial, Asner confronts the station's chief meteorologist, Dave Dahl, about parking in his spot. You can watch all three ads on the website of Ann Vorlicky, who produced the campaign for the local ad firm Kruskopf Olson.

Then, as now, KSTP's 5 Eyewitness News was a perennial third-place ratings finisher behind WCCO and KARE, and not even Lou Grant could pull them out of the basement.

Asner, who reprised his Mary Tyler Moore character on the spinoff Lou Grant and was a noted champion of labor unions and a member of the DSA since its inception, never did many commercials.

"I rarely get requested, so I enjoy the activity," Asner told UPI at the time. "And let's face it, the money's good. If it were hemorrhoid grease, I'd have had to think about it."

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Racket

Noooo: Last Call for Mold-A-Rama at Como Zoo

Plus the MN origins of 'MST3K,' cold incoming, and Annunciation's Sophia Forchas discharged from Gillette Children’s in today's Flyover news roundup.

October 23, 2025

Heists, Chainsaws, Monsters, and Rock Stars on the Big Screen This Week

Pretty much all the movies you can catch in the Twin Cities this week.

October 23, 2025

St. Paul to ‘Ban’ Assault Weapons?

Plus a big win for trans athletes, a 130-year-old biz moves to St. Paul, and an apartment is up for rent at the Union Depot in today's Flyover news roundup.

The Weirdest, Silliest, Milkiest Shows of This Week’s 10,000 Laughs Festival

Blind dates onstage, 'Truth or Dairy,' and the return of a popular podcast are some of the wackier highlights of this week's fest.

October 22, 2025

Meet the Volunteer Pilots Flying Patients From Red States to Reproductive Care

Removing barriers to bodily autonomy, one prop plane flight at a time.

October 22, 2025
See all posts