Alice is an American
sitcomA situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...
television series that ran from August 31, 1976 to July 2, 1985 on
CBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
. The series was based on the 1974 film
Alice Doesn't Live Here AnymoreAlice Doesn't Live Here Anymore is a 1974 American drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Robert Getchell. It stars Ellen Burstyn as a widow who travels with her preteen son across the American Southwest in search of a better life, along with Alfred Lutter as her son and Kris...
. The show stars
Linda LavinLinda Lavin is an American singer and actress. She is best known for playing the title character in the sitcom Alice and for her Broadway performances.After acting as a child, Lavin joined the Compass Players in the late 1950s...
in the title role, a widow who moves with her young son to start her life over again, and finds a job working at a roadside diner on the outskirts of
PhoenixPhoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
,
ArizonaArizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
. Most of the episodes revolve around events at
Mel's DinerMel's Diner was the setting for the 1976-1985 American TV Series Alice. It was a roadside diner on the outskirts of Phoenix, Arizona that served locals and truckers alike. It had a counter, two large booths, and a couple of tables...
.
Plot
Alice Hyatt (
Linda LavinLinda Lavin is an American singer and actress. She is best known for playing the title character in the sitcom Alice and for her Broadway performances.After acting as a child, Lavin joined the Compass Players in the late 1950s...
) is an unemployed widow after her husband, Donald, is killed in a trucking accident, and with her young son Tommy (played by
Alfred LutterAlfred Lutter is an American child actor who starred along with Ellen Burstyn in the Martin Scorsese film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore...
in the
pilot episodeA "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...
, reprising his role from the movie, but played by
Philip McKeonPhilip McKeon is an American actor. He is known for playing the role of Tommy Hyatt, the son of the title character, in the long-running sitcom Alice, from 1976 to 1985.-Life and career:...
thereafter) heads from their
New JerseyNew Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
home to
Los AngelesLos Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
so that she can pursue a singing career. Her car breaks down on the way in Phoenix (from a presumed engine fire, as seen in the opening credits), and we meet her soon after she has taken a job as a waitress at Mel's Diner, on the outskirts of Phoenix. (The later seasons' exterior shots were of a real diner, named Mel's, still in operation in Phoenix.) Alice works alongside Mel Sharples (
Vic TaybackVictor "Vic" Tayback was an American actor.-Life and career:Tayback was born in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, the son of Helen and Najeeb James Tayback. His parents were immigrants from Aleppo, Syria. Tayback moved with his family to Burbank, California, during his teenage years and attended...
), the grouchy, stingy owner and cook of the greasy spoon, and fellow waitresses and friends, sassy, man-hungry Florence Jean "Flo" Castleberry (Polly Holliday), and neurotic, scatterbrained Vera Louise Gorman (
Beth HowlandElizabeth "Beth" Howland , is an American actress who has worked extensively on stage and television. Howland is best known for playing Vera on the sitcom Alice, inspired by the popular Martin Scorsese film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore...
).
Each episode invariably started inside the diner, and most if not all subsequent scenes took place there as well. A frequent set for non-diner scenes was Alice's one-bedroom apartment in the Desert Sun apartments. (Tommy used the bedroom and Alice slept on the couch.) Vera and Mel's studio apartments and Flo's trailer were occasionally seen.
The diner had its share of regular customers through the years, such as Tommy's basketball coach, Earl Hicks (
Dave MaddenDave Madden is a Canadian-born American actor. He was born in Sarnia, Ontario, but was raised in Terre Haute, Indiana. His most famous role came in the 1970s sitcom The Partridge Family in which he played the group's manager, Reuben Kincaid.- Career :Madden first gained notice as a milk-drinking,...
), and Henry Beesmeyer (
Marvin KaplanMarvin Kaplan is an American character actor and voice artist. Kaplan is probably best known for his recurring role on the sitcom Alice where he portrayed a phone company employee named Henry Beesmeyer who frequented Mel's diner. He was a part of the cast from 1977 to the series end in 1985...
), a telephone repairman who always made jokes about Mel's cooking. Henry's oft-mentioned wife Chloe was seen in one episode, played by
Ruth BuzziRuth Ann Buzzi is an American comedienne and actress of theatre, film, and television. She is especially known for her performances on the comedy-variety show Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In from 1968 to 1973.-Early life:...
. Celebrities playing either themselves or other characters were a hallmark of the show.
As the series progressed, it focused more on character development, such as the hasty courtship and marriage of Vera and lovable cop Elliot (
Charles LevinCharles Levin is an American actor who has appeared in television and movies and on stage. He is best known for the role of Elliot Novak on the series Alice having become a regular in the show's 9th season and the recurring role of Eddie Gregg on Hill Street Blues from 1982 to 1986.-Life and...
). Tommy eventually goes to college and is seen less frequently. In the final season, the character of Alice was absent several times due to Lavin's directing a number of episodes and playing the character of Mrs. Walden. The storyline began its end in the early summer of 1985, when country singer Travis Marsh (played by Lavin's real-life husband Kip Niven), discovering that he's falling for Alice, "kidnaps" her to take her to Nashville, telling her it's time to follow her dream there. Bewildered at the thought of her dreams finally coming true, Alice agrees, but not without extracting a promise from Travis to drive her back to Phoenix so she can get her affairs in order, including ending her current relationship with a writer.
In the
last episodeA series finale refers to the last installment of a series with a narrative presented through mediums such as television, film and literature. In many Commonwealth countries, the term final episode is commonly used in regards to a television series...
, airing July 2, 1985, typical of sitcoms of the era, news of several life-changing events is revealed within a matter of minutes. Alice finally got a recording contract (after nine years of trying) and was moving to Nashville. Vera had become pregnant and decided to be a full-time mother, after Elliott had been promoted from officer to detective. Jolene's "Granny Gums" finally dies and leaves her enough money to open her own beauty parlor in her hometown. Besides all three waitresses suddenly leaving simultaneously, by an amazing coincidence Mel had just sold the diner for a large amount of money to a real estate developer who wants to use the land of the diner to open a
strip mallA strip mall is an open-area shopping center where the stores are arranged in a row, with a sidewalk in front. Strip malls are typically developed as a unit and have large parking lots in front...
and must close within days. He surprisingly gives each of his waitresses a $5,000 farewell bonus. Much of the remainder of the episode shows flashbacks to humorous and major events, and many of the big stars who had appeared on the show, including Polly Holliday. Finally, when cleaning out her things, Alice finds the "Waitress Wanted" sign that drew her to the diner nine years earlier. The series' regular customers, such as Henry, say their emotional farewells, followed by Elliot, and finally the principal characters Tommy, Jolene, Vera, and Alice giving theirs. The last thing we see is Mel putting up the "Closed" sign and locking up.
Cast changes
Polly Holliday left the show to star in her own
spin-offIn media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
series,
FloFlo is an American sitcom which aired on CBS from 1980 to 1981. The series is a spin-off for Polly Holliday who portrayed the sassy and street-smart waitress Florence Jean "Flo" Castleberry on the sitcom Alice...
. In the episode airing February 24, 1980, Flo leaves to take a hostess job in Houston. On the way to Houston, Flo stops at her hometown
Fort Worth, TexasFort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...
(which she calls "Cowtown"). Flo decides to buy and run a failing road house bar there, which she renames Flo's Yellow Rose. Polly Holliday never made a guest appearance on
Alice after beginning
Flo, although flashbacks including Flo were shown in the final episode of
Alice. Vic Tayback made one guest appearance on
Flo.
Diane LaddDiane Ladd is an American actress, film director, producer and published author. She has appeared in over 120 roles, on television, and in miniseries and feature films, including Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore , Wild at Heart , Rambling Rose , Ghosts of Mississippi, Primary Colors, 28 Days , and...
, who received an Academy Award nomination for her portrayal of Flo in the film version (she lost to
Ingrid BergmanIngrid Bergman was a Swedish actress who starred in a variety of European and American films. She won three Academy Awards, two Emmy Awards, and the Tony Award for Best Actress. She is ranked as the fourth greatest female star of American cinema of all time by the American Film Institute...
), joined the cast as Isabelle "Belle" Dupree, a hard-edged but kind-hearted woman. She had been a waitress of Mel's in the past, and the two had had a romantic relationship during that time. In spite of Ladd's Golden Globe-
winning performance as Belle, the character was not retained for the duration of the series and replaced early in 1981, the character making one last appearance in which she telephones the diner to inform everyone that she had taken a job as a backup singer in
NashvilleNashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
,
TennesseeTennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
. It has been said that Ladd clashed with her co-stars, and no flashbacks including Belle were shown during the final episode of the series.
Theatre actress
Celia WestonCelia Weston is an American actress of stage, film and television, and a character actress. Professionally, she may be best known for her role as Jolene Hunnicutt on Alice.-Life and career:...
then joined the cast as good-natured, boisterous Georgian truck driver Jolene Hunnicutt. Jolene arrives as she and her male driving partner are in the midst of an argument over his unwelcome advances, during which she throws and breaks many of Mel's dishes. Mel agrees to hire her "temporarily" to work off the cost of the dishes, but she stays until the series ends more than four years later. Jolene frequently mentions her grandmother, "Granny Gums," who had only three or four teeth. Jolene also mentions her distant relative
Jefferson Davis "Boss" HoggJefferson Davis "J.D." Hogg, better known as "Boss" Hogg, is a fictional character featured in the American television series The Dukes of Hazzard. He was the greedy, unethical commissioner of Hazzard County. A stereotypical villainous glutton, Boss Hogg always wore an all-white suit with a white...
, a character from the concurrent CBS series
The Dukes of HazzardThe Dukes of Hazzard is an American television series that aired on the CBS television network from 1979 to 1985.The series was inspired by the 1975 film Moonrunners, which was also created by Gy Waldron and had many identical or similar character names and concepts.- Overview :The Dukes of Hazzard...
. In one episode
Sorrell BookeSorrell Booke was an American actor who performed on stage, screen, and television. He is best known for his role as the heavyset, corrupt politician "Boss" Hogg in the television show The Dukes of Hazzard....
guest stars in this role, along with fellow
Dukes character, Enos (
Sonny ShroyerOtis Burt "Sonny" Shroyer, Jr. is an American actor who has appeared in various television and movie roles. He is best known for his role as Deputy Sheriff Enos Strate in the television series The Dukes of Hazzard. He also starred in a spin-off called Enos based on his Dukes of Hazzard character...
).
Ongoing gags and catchphrases
Flo's catchphrase, "Kiss my grits!" enjoyed widespread popularity at the time the character appeared on Alice. According to Polly Holliday, the line was originally written as "Kiss my honeydew!", but did not get any laughs. (In the original film, Flo, as played by Diane Ladd, tells Mel in one scene to "kiss me where the sun don't shine.") Another of Flo's catchphrases was "When donkeys fly!" Since her portrayal of Flo, Polly Holliday has refused to repeat her famous "grits" line.
Mel would snipe, "Stow it!" at anyone he had qualms with, especially his waitstaff. "Stow it!" was usually followed by either "Alice", "Vera", "Flo", or "Blondie" (in reference to Jolene). He would also bark, "Bag it, Blondie!" to Jolene. Whenever Vera would make one of her dumb remarks, someone was bound to say sarcastically, "Good, Vera". He eventually gave Vera the nickname "Dinghy". Belle had a catchphrase in "My little voice", which called her "Isabelle", which she usually used when starting to tell others what she thinks is best.
In a handful of episodes, Alice put on a double-breasted suit and fedora to assume the character of husky-voiced "Sam Butler", a mobster she made up as a ruse to fool her intended target. Linda Lavin also played the role of Mrs. Walden, Vera's wizened and abrasive landlady of arbitrary foreign origin in the last season, once even playing both Alice and Mrs. Walden in a split-screen dual role.
Part of Mel's Diner was often destroyed, such as by Flo's crashing a truck through the front, Mel's chopping down a tree, which landed in the diner, Mel's accidentally having the building targeted for demolition, and the waitresses' crashing a hot air balloon through the roof. Upon crashing through the roof with the
hot air balloonThe hot air balloon is the oldest successful human-carrying flight technology. It is in a class of aircraft known as balloon aircraft. On November 21, 1783, in Paris, France, the first untethered manned flight was made by Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent d'Arlandes in a hot air...
, Jolene cries, "We went to the bad place and it looks just like Mel's!"
Mel was a stickler for punctuality. In the fourth season, Mel installs a time clock, which ends up working to the waitresses' advantage due to significant overtime, and he finally throws it into the trash. Mel also had a strict rule against moonlighting, often leading to one or more waitresses getting fired. But of course Mel always rehired them before the end of each episode.
Mel's food and cooking were constantly criticized by his waitresses and customers alike, especially Henry, who always blamed it for his indigestion. However, Mel's
chiliChili con carne is a spicy stew. The name of the dish derives from the Spanish chile con carne, "chili pepper with meat". Traditional versions are made, minimally, from chili peppers, garlic, onions, and cumin, along with chopped or ground beef. Beans and tomatoes are frequently included...
was popular and became a
plot pointIn television and film, a plot point is a significant event within a plot that digs into the action and spins it around in another direction. It can also be an object of significant importance, around which the plot revolves. It can be anything from an event to an item to the discovery of a...
of several episodes. During the first season, a newspaper food critic (played by
Victor BuonoCharles Victor Buono was an American actor and comic.-Early life and career:Buono was born in San Diego, California, the son of Myrtle Belle and Victor Francis Buono . His maternal grandmother, Myrtle Glied , was a Vaudeville performer on the Orpheum Circuit...
) dropped dead while eating Mel's chili, but it turned out that
Peking DuckPeking Duck, or Peking Roast Duck is a famous duck dish from Beijing that has been prepared since the imperial era, and is now considered one of China's national foods....
from a
Chinese restaurantAmerican Chinese cuisine refers to the style of food served by many Chinese restaurants in the United States. This type of cooking typically caters to Western tastes, and differs significantly from the original Chinese cuisine.-History:...
was to blame. Guest star
Art CarneyArthur William Matthew “Art” Carney was an American actor in film, stage, television and radio. He is best known for playing Ed Norton, opposite Jackie Gleason's Ralph Kramden in the situation comedy The Honeymooners....
in one episode was to be the spokesperson for retail distribution of Mel's Chili ("Chili con Carney") but backed out when he discovered Vera was a distant relative with part ownership in the venture. The popularity of Mel's Chili also led to an appearance on
Dinah ShoreDinah Shore was an American singer, actress, and television personality...
's talk show, which led to some bickering among the waitresses because Mel could take only one person along, but of course all ended up going. Mel refused to reveal his "
secret ingredientA secret ingredient is a component of a product that is closely guarded from public disclosure for competitive advantage. Sometimes the ingredient makes a noticeable difference in the way a product performs, looks or tastes; other times it is used for advertising puffery...
" to Dinah and her TV audience during the cooking demonstration.
Flo was supposed to be in her mid-to-late 40s when the show premiered, but Polly Holliday was only 39. Alice was supposed to be 35, but Linda Lavin is just three months younger than Holliday. Vera was occasionally referred to as a "kid", presumed to be in her late 20s, but Beth Howland was 35.
The shot of Vera with the "exploding straws" was the only one used during the opening credits for the entire run of the series, with the exception of the pilot episode, which had no scenes from Mel's Diner in the opening.
Cast
Opening titles cast members:
- Linda Lavin
Linda Lavin is an American singer and actress. She is best known for playing the title character in the sitcom Alice and for her Broadway performances.After acting as a child, Lavin joined the Compass Players in the late 1950s...
as Alice HyattAlice Hyatt is a fictional character in the movie Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore and in the subsequent television remake Alice. In the movie, she was played by Ellen Burstyn, who won an Academy Award for the role...
- Vic Tayback
Victor "Vic" Tayback was an American actor.-Life and career:Tayback was born in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, the son of Helen and Najeeb James Tayback. His parents were immigrants from Aleppo, Syria. Tayback moved with his family to Burbank, California, during his teenage years and attended...
as Mel SharplesMelvin Emory Sharples is a fictional character in the 1974 film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore and the television sitcom series, Alice. The character was played by the late Vic Tayback, who reprised his movie role for the television show.- The man with the Spatula :Melvin Emory Sharples was born...
(Tayback reprised his role from the movie)
- Philip McKeon
Philip McKeon is an American actor. He is known for playing the role of Tommy Hyatt, the son of the title character, in the long-running sitcom Alice, from 1976 to 1985.-Life and career:...
as Tommy HyattTommy Hyatt is a fictional character in the film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore and the television sitcom Alice. Tommy was played by Alfred Lutter in the movie and the television series pilot. Throughout the rest of the series, he was played by Philip McKeon.-Alice's pride and joy:Tommy was the...
(Alfred LutterAlfred Lutter is an American child actor who starred along with Ellen Burstyn in the Martin Scorsese film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore...
briefly reprised his role from the movie but was replaced after the pilot episode)
- Polly Holliday as Florence Jean "Flo" Castleberry
Florence Jean Castleberry , better known to all as "Flo", is a fictional character in the movie Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, the subsequent television series, Alice, and that show's spinoff, Flo...
(Seasons 1-4: 1976-1980)
- Beth Howland
Elizabeth "Beth" Howland , is an American actress who has worked extensively on stage and television. Howland is best known for playing Vera on the sitcom Alice, inspired by the popular Martin Scorsese film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore...
as Vera Louise GormanVera Novak was a fictional character in the long-running television series Alice. She was played by actress Beth Howland.-The "Dingy":Vera was the only original waitress besides Alice who lasted all of the show's run...
- Diane Ladd
Diane Ladd is an American actress, film director, producer and published author. She has appeared in over 120 roles, on television, and in miniseries and feature films, including Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore , Wild at Heart , Rambling Rose , Ghosts of Mississippi, Primary Colors, 28 Days , and...
as Isabelle "Belle" DupreeIsabelle Amanda Dupree better known as Belle, was a fictional character in the television series Alice. She was played by actress Diane Ladd who, incidentally, played the character of Flo in the movie Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, on which the television show was based.-She "moves like the waves...
(Seasons 4 & 5: 1980-1981) (Ladd played the role of Flo in the movie)
- Celia Weston
Celia Weston is an American actress of stage, film and television, and a character actress. Professionally, she may be best known for her role as Jolene Hunnicutt on Alice.-Life and career:...
as Jolene HunnicuttJolene Hunnicutt was a fictional character in the television series Alice. She was played, through the show's end in 1985, by theater actress, Celia Weston.- Pride of Myrtle Point :...
(Seasons 5-9: 1981-1985)
- Charles Levin
Charles Levin is an American actor who has appeared in television and movies and on stage. He is best known for the role of Elliot Novak on the series Alice having become a regular in the show's 9th season and the recurring role of Eddie Gregg on Hill Street Blues from 1982 to 1986.-Life and...
as Elliot Novak (Season 8 Recurring & Season 9 Regular: 1983-1985)
Other recurring cast members:
- Marvin Kaplan
Marvin Kaplan is an American character actor and voice artist. Kaplan is probably best known for his recurring role on the sitcom Alice where he portrayed a phone company employee named Henry Beesmeyer who frequented Mel's diner. He was a part of the cast from 1977 to the series end in 1985...
as Henry Beesmeyer (1977–1985)
- Dave Madden
Dave Madden is a Canadian-born American actor. He was born in Sarnia, Ontario, but was raised in Terre Haute, Indiana. His most famous role came in the 1970s sitcom The Partridge Family in which he played the group's manager, Reuben Kincaid.- Career :Madden first gained notice as a milk-drinking,...
as Earl Hicks
- Victoria Carroll as Marie Massey (Mel's girlfriend) (1978–1984)
- Martha Raye
Martha Raye was an American comic actress and standards singer who performed in movies, and later on television....
as Carrie SharplesCarrie Sharples was a fictional character in the television series Alice. She was played, in typically loud-mouthed fashion, by the late Martha Raye.-Mel's boisterous mother:...
(Mel's mother) (1978–1985)
- Doris Roberts
Doris Roberts is an American character actress of film, stage and television. She has received five Emmy Awards. She began her career in 1952, and may be best-known as Marie Barone on Everybody Loves Raymond from 1996–2005....
as Mona Spivak (Alice's mother) (1981–1982)
- Robert Picardo
Robert Picardo is an American actor. He is best known for his portrayals of Dr. Dick Richards on ABC's China Beach, the Emergency Medical Hologram , also known as The Doctor, on UPN's Star Trek: Voyager, The Cowboy in Innerspace, Coach Cutlip on The Wonder Years , Ben Wheeler in Wagons East, and as...
as Officer Maxwell, Elliott's partner (1983–1984)
- Pat Cranshaw
Joseph Patrick Cranshaw was an American film and television actor known for his distinctive look and deadpan humor. He is best known for one of his last roles, that of Joseph "Blue" Pulaski, a fraternity brother in the 2003 hit comedy Old School...
as Andy (diner regular) (1976–1978)
Other notable guest stars:
Eve ArdenEve Arden was an American actress. Her almost 60-year career crossed most media frontiers with supporting and leading roles, but she may be best-remembered for playing the sardonic but engaging title character, a high school teacher, on Our Miss Brooks, and as the Rydell High School principal in...
,
Desi ArnazDesi Arnaz was a Cuban-born American musician, actor and television producer. While he gained international renown for leading a Latin music band, the Desi Arnaz Orchestra, he is probably best known for his role as Ricky Ricardo on the American TV series I Love Lucy, starring with Lucille Ball, to...
,
Fred BerryFred "Rerun" Berry was an American actor best known for the role of Fred "Rerun" Stubbs on the popular 1970s television show What's Happening!!.-Career:Berry was born in St. Louis, Missouri...
,
Joan BlondellRose Joan Blondell was an American actress who performed in movies and on television for five decades as Joan Blondell.After winning a beauty pageant, Blondell embarked upon a film career...
,
George BurnsGeorge Burns , born Nathan Birnbaum, was an American comedian, actor, and writer.He was one of the few entertainers whose career successfully spanned vaudeville, film, radio, television and movies, with and without his wife, Gracie Allen. His arched eyebrow and cigar smoke punctuation became...
(as himself),
Ruth BuzziRuth Ann Buzzi is an American comedienne and actress of theatre, film, and television. She is especially known for her performances on the comedy-variety show Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In from 1968 to 1973.-Early life:...
(as Chloe Beesmeyer, Henry's wife),
Robert GouletRobert Gerard Goulet was a Canadian American entertainer as a singer and actor. He played the role of Lancelot in the Broadway musical Camelot of 1960.-Early life:...
,
Joel GreyJoel Grey is an American stage and screen actor, singer, and dancer, best known for his role as the Master of Ceremonies in both the stage and film adaptation of the Kander & Ebb musical Cabaret. He has won the Academy Award, Tony Award and Golden Globe Award...
(as himself),
Florence HendersonFlorence Agnes Henderson is an American actress and singer. She is perhaps best known for her role of Carol Brady on the ABC sitcom The Brady Bunch from 1969 to 1974...
,
Jay LenoJames Douglas Muir "Jay" Leno is an American stand-up comedian and television host.From 1992 to 2009, Leno was the host of NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Beginning in September 2009, Leno started a primetime talk show, titled The Jay Leno Show, which aired weeknights at 10:00 p.m. ,...
,
Nancy McKeonNancy Justine McKeon is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Jo Polniaczek on the NBC sitcom The Facts of Life.-Early life & career:...
(Philip's sister, appeared twice in different roles), Frank Nelson, Donald O'Conner (as himself),
Jerry ReedJerry Reed Hubbard , known professionally as Jerry Reed, was an American country music singer, innovative guitarist, songwriter, and actor who appeared in more than a dozen films...
,
Debbie ReynoldsDebbie Reynolds is an American actress, singer, and dancer.She was initially signed at age 16 by Warner Bros., but her career got off to a slow start. When her contract was not renewed, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer gave her a small, but significant part in the film Three Little Words , then signed her to...
,
Telly SavalasAristotelis "Telly" Savalas was an American film and television actor and singer, whose career spanned four decades. Best known for playing the title role in the 1970s crime drama Kojak, Savalas was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Birdman of Alcatraz...
(as himself), and
Jerry StillerGerald Isaac "Jerry" Stiller is an American comedian and actor.He spent many years in the comedy team Stiller and Meara with his wife Anne Meara...
.
Production information
"There's a New Girl in Town", music by
David ShireDavid Lee Shire is an American songwriter and the composer of stage musicals, film and television scores. The soundtrack to the movie The Taking of Pelham 123 and parts of the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack such as Night on Disco Mountain, an adaptation of Modest Mussorgsky's Night on Bald...
, lyrics by
Alan BergmanAlan Bergman is an American lyricist and songwriter.-Life & career:Born in Brooklyn, New York, he studied at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and UCLA. His involvement in the entertainment industry began in the early 1950s as a director of children's television shows...
and
Marilyn BergmanMarilyn Bergman is a composer, songwriter and author.She was born Marilyn Keith in Brooklyn, New York and studied psychology and English at New York University...
; performed by Linda Lavin. Several different arrangements of this tune were used throughout the series' run.
The Mel's Diner set made changes over the years; in the pilot the diner contained a blue refrigerator, but in the series the refrigerator was a dirty stainless steel, then later was changed to clean and shiny stainless steel in 1979-81 and much later an even shinier stainless steel refrigerator and better appliances. However, the rest of the sets remained the same.
The men's and ladies' restrooms were confined to one room in the pilot and during the first season. From 1977-1985, there were separate restrooms with "Ladies" and "Men" written on them.
The storeroom was inside the diner where the Men's restroom would later be and said "Private" on it during the 1976-1977 season. The storeroom from 1977 to 1985 was confined to the back of the diner. Here, the waitresses took their breaks, had their lockers, and stored their uniforms. Mel also conducted his business from this space.
The payphone was a touch tone and was located on the left of the "Restrooms" door in the pilot episode. For the first season, it was moved to the right of the doors that led to the kitchen section of the diner. For the second season, it was moved to the wall between the two doors that became two separate restrooms and was replaced by a phone with a rotary dial. From 1978 to 1985, the phone was a touch tone and was located at a section that was a few steps away from the entrance to the diner.
In the first season, the diner was decorated in an Aztec and Cowboy motif to accommodate the feel of Arizona. For the second season, the walls had pink wallpaper with red lines on it. For the third season, the walls had wallpaper with orange leaves on it.
Alice's apartment remained more or less unchanged during most of the show's run; Vera's apartment and Flo's trailer were occasionally seen. (The set for Flo's trailer was also used on the spinoff
Flo.)
The pilot episode was taped at
CBS Television CityCBS Television City is a television studio complex located in the Fairfax District of Los Angeles at 7800 Beverly Boulevard, at the corner of North Fairfax Avenue...
in Hollywood, California. After this, the series was taped at The
Warner Bros. StudiosWarner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
in Burbank, California.
Differences between the movie and show's premise
Alice had many contrasts with the film on which it was based,
Alice Doesn't Live Here AnymoreAlice Doesn't Live Here Anymore is a 1974 American drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Robert Getchell. It stars Ellen Burstyn as a widow who travels with her preteen son across the American Southwest in search of a better life, along with Alfred Lutter as her son and Kris...
.
| Movie |
TV series |
| Alice's maiden name was Graham. |
Alice's maiden name was Spivak. |
Alice and Tommy had previously lived in Socorro, New MexicoSocorro is a city in Socorro County in the U.S. state of New Mexico. It stands in the Rio Grande Valley at an elevation of . The population was 9,051 at the 2010 census...
. |
Alice and Tommy had previously lived in northern New JerseyNew Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
. |
| Alice's late husband Donald was portrayed as abusive. |
Alice's relationship with Donald is never described, but she kept a photo of him displayed on the wall of her apartment for years after his death. |
Alice's original plans were to move back to her hometown of Monterey, CaliforniaThe City of Monterey in Monterey County is located on Monterey Bay along the Pacific coast in Central California. Monterey lies at an elevation of 26 feet above sea level. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 27,810. Monterey is of historical importance because it was the capital of...
to restart her singing career. |
Alice's original plans were to move to Los AngelesLos Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
to restart her singing career. |
The restaurant where Alice becomes a waitress was called Mel & Ruby's Cafe and located in TucsonTucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States. The city is located 118 miles southeast of Phoenix and 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The 2010 United States Census puts the city's population at 520,116 with a metropolitan area population at 1,020,200...
. |
The restaurant where Alice becomes a waitress was called Mel's Diner and located in Phoenix. |
| Alice and Flo do not initially like each other and do not become friends until well into the "Tucson" segment of the movie. |
Flo takes on the role of "big sister" to the other waitresses, and she and Alice were best friends from the beginning of the series. |
| Alice's car never broke down; she ran out of money, and took the job at Mel and Ruby's temporarily to earn enough money to get them the rest of the way to Monterey. |
Alice took a job at Mel's because her car broke down when she and Tommy reached Phoenix on the way to Los Angeles. |
| Mel was a widower, having been married to a woman named Ruby; hence the restaurant's name, "Mel & Ruby's Cafe." |
Mel was a middle-aged bachelor. |
| Alice and Tommy live in a nearby motel while she works at Mel's. |
Alice and Tommy move to the Phoenix Palms Apartments; the distance between her apartment and Mel's Diner is never revealed, but is presumably within walking distance, as it is mentioned that Alice and/or Tommy occasionally walk between the diner and home. |
| Alice meets and falls in love with a divorced rancher named David, whose wife left him and took their children; David becomes Tommy's guitar teacher. |
Alice does not get involved in a serious relationship until the last season. |
| Alice and Flo were around the same age. |
Flo was roughly ten years older than Alice (despite the fact that in reality Holiday and Lavin were approximately the same age, having both been born in 1937). |
| Flo had blonde hair. She was in a crumbling marriage and her husband was not speaking to her. She had a daughter to support and flirted with and accepted passes from her male customers, but never dated any of them. She had a number of one-liners, including "You can kiss me where the sun don't shine." |
Flo had red hair, was divorced three times and had no children. She lived by herself in a trailer park, dated many men, and her usual catchphrases were "Kiss my grits!" and "When donkeys fly!" |
| Vera had a low, quiet voice; she was taken to and from work by her father; she was shy and somewhat awkward, but was not "dumb". |
Vera had a high voice that was fairly loud; she lived alone in an apartment that was located at an unknown distance from the diner; she was extremely clumsy, and rather slow-witted. |
Ratings
1976-'77: #30
1977-'78: #8
1978-'79: #13
1979-'80: #4
1980-'81: #7
1981-'82: #5
1982-'83: Not in Top 30
1983-'84: #27
1984-'85: #51
Syndication
Alice was seen in reruns:
- from June 2, 1980 to September 17, 1982 on CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
daytime replacing Whew!Whew! is an American game show that aired on CBS from April 23, 1979, until May 30, 1980. It was hosted by Tom Kennedy and announced by Rod Roddy.The game was created by Jay Wolpert...
(before being replaced with Child's PlayChild's Play is an American television game show in which adult contestants tried to guess words based on definitions given by children. The Mark Goodson-produced series debuted on CBS from September 20, 1982 at 10:30 AM Eastern/9:30 AM Central...
);
- via syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
on many local broadcast stations beginning in the fall of 1982. Notable stations that purchased and aired reruns of Alice included WPIXWPIX, channel 11, is a television station in New York City built, signed on, and owned by the Tribune Company. WPIX also serves as the flagship station of The CW Television Network...
in New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
; KTTVKTTV, channel 11, is an owned-and-operated television station of the News Corporation-owned Fox Broadcasting Company, located in Los Angeles, California. Serving the vast Los Angeles metropolitan area, KTTV is a sister station to KCOP , Los Angeles' MyNetworkTV station...
in Los AngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
; WGN-TVWGN-TV, virtual channel 9 , is the CW-affiliated television station in Chicago, Illinois built, signed on, and owned by the Tribune Company. WGN-TV's studios and offices are located at 2501 W...
in ChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
; WTHRWTHR, channel 13, is a full-service television station serving the Indianapolis, Indiana metropolitan area. An affiliate of the NBC television network, its studios at 1000 N. Meridian Street anchor the south end of Indy's Television Row...
in IndianapolisIndianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
; WPHL-TVWPHL-TV, channel 17, is a television station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, owned by the Tribune Company and currently affiliated with the News Corporation-owned MyNetworkTV television network. This makes it the largest non-O&O station of the network...
in Philadelphia; KBHK-TV in San Francisco; KHTV in Houston; WSBK-TVWSBK-TV is a MyNetworkTV television station for eastern Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire that is licensed to Boston. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 39 from a transmitter along the Needham and Wellesley town line southwest of the MA 9 and I-95 / MA 128...
in BostonBoston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
; WTTGWTTG, channel 5, is an owned-and-operated television station of the Fox Broadcasting Company, located in the American capital city of Washington, D.C...
in Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
; WUABWUAB, identified on-air as "My43 The Block, WUAB", is the MyNetworkTV affiliate in Cleveland, Ohio. The station is licensed to the suburb of Lorain, and it shares a studio in downtown Cleveland with sister station WOIO, Cleveland's CBS affiliate. Its transmitter is located in Parma, Ohio...
in Cleveland; KFMB-TVKFMB-TV is the local CBS television affiliate in San Diego, California. Its studios are located on Engineer Road in the Kearny Mesa area of San Diego along with its sister radio stations, AM 760 and FM 100.7...
in San Diego; WXON in Detroit; and KWGN-TVKWGN-TV, virtual channel 2 , is a television station in Denver, Colorado, owned by the Tribune Company and affiliated with the CW Television Network...
in Denver, among others;
- in the late 1980s on then-superstation
Superstation in United States television can have several meanings. In its most precise meaning, a superstation is defined by the Federal Communications Commission as "A television broadcast station, other than a network station, licensed by the FCC that is secondarily transmitted by a satellite...
TBS (WTBS) from AtlantaAtlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
;
- sporadically from the mid-1990s until early 1998 on E! Entertainment Television;
- on TNN from late June 1999 to January 2001.
- The show returned to television on April 2, 2007, airing on the ION Television network weekdays at 7:30pm until June 22, 2007. The show was heavily edited to make time for additional commercials, with several minutes of important plot often haphazardly cut. The show returned to ION Television on November 24, 2007, with two back-to-back episodes at 7:00pm EST Monday through Thursday, and continued until the entire series' episodes had been aired. It was replaced by Family Feud
Family Feud is an American television game show created by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman. Two families compete against each other in a contest to name the most popular responses to a survey question posed to 100 people...
on April 7, 2008.
Commercial episode availability
On June 27, 2006, six episodes of
Alice were released on DVD as part of the Warner Bros.' Television Favorites Compilation. The episodes were hand picked by fans at SitcomsOnline.com and are as follows:
- "Alice Gets a Pass", September 29, 1976 - First non-pilot episode.
- "The Odd Couple", February 26, 1977 - When Flo's trailer is stolen, Alice allows Flo to move in with her. Alice finds Flo's habits difficult to handle.
- "Close Encounters of the Worst Kind", January 22, 1978 - Alice's use of psychology causes tension among her coworkers.
- "Block Those Kicks", October 22, 1978 - The waitresses decide to give up their bad habits in order to encourage Mel to give up his gambling habit.
- "Cabin Fever", December 2, 1979 - The waitresses, Mel and his girlfriend unknowingly book the same cabin during the same weekend.
- "Flo's Farewell", February 24, 1980 - Flo leaves Mel's Diner for a hosting job at a restaurant in Texas.
Alice Season 1 is available from Apple
iTunes StoreThe iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple. Opening as the iTunes Music Store on April 28, 2003, with over 200,000 items to purchase, it is, as of April 2008, the number-one music vendor in the United States...
and Amazon Instant Video for downloading.