Alice (TV series)

Series summary

Alice Hyatt (Lavin) is an unemployed widow after her husband, Donald, is killed in a trucking accident, and with her young son Tommy (played by Alfred Lutter in the pilot episode, reprising his role from the film, but played by Philip McKeon thereafter) heads from their New Jersey home to Los Angeles 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 Tayback), 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 Howland).

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 a sleeper sofa in the living room.) Vera and Mel's studio apartments and Flo's trailer were occasionally seen. Two of the diner's biggest competitors, Barney's Burger Barn and Vinnie's House of Veal, were sometimes mentioned.

The diner had its share of regular customers through the years, such as Tommy's basketball coach, Earl Hicks (Dave Madden), local trucker Chuck (Duane R. Campbell), and Henry Beesmeyer (Marvin Kaplan), 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 Buzzi. Celebrities playing either themselves or other characters (including Martha Raye, George Burns, Robert Goulet, Desi Arnaz, and Jerry Reed) were a hallmark of the show.

Polly Holliday left the show to star in her own spin-off series, Flo. 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, Texas (which she refers to by its moniker "Cowtown"). Flo decides to buy and run a failing roadhouse 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 Ladd, who received an Academy Award nomination for her portrayal of Flo in the film version joined the cast in 1980 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 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 was 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 Nashville, Tennessee. 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 Weston then joined the cast as the good-natured, boisterous truck driver Jolene Hunnicutt, who came from Myrtle Point, South Carolina. 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 end of the series. Jolene frequently mentions her grandmother, "Granny Gums", who had only three or four teeth. Jolene also mentions her distant relative Jefferson Davis "Boss" Hogg, a character from the concurrent CBS series The Dukes of Hazzard. In one episode Sorrell Booke guest stars in this role, along with fellow Dukes character, Enos (Sonny Shroyer).

The latter years of the show focused on some character development, such as the hasty courtship and marriage of Vera and lovable cop Elliot (Charles Levin). 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, Vera's wizened and abrasive landlady of arbitrary foreign origin. The final story arc began in the 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 series finale, which aired March 19, 1985, typical of sitcoms of the era, news of several life-changing events is revealed within a matter of minutes. Alice, after nine years of trying, finally gets a recording contract and is moving to Nashville with Travis Marsh. Vera announces she is pregnant and decides to be a full-time mother, Elliott having been promoted from officer to detective. Jolene's "Granny Gums" has died and leaves her granddaughter enough money to open her own beauty parlor in her hometown. Besides all three waitresses suddenly leaving simultaneously, by an amazing coincidence Mel has just sold the diner for a large amount of money to a real estate developer, and must close within days. On closing day, he surprisingly gives each waitress a $5,000 farewell bonus. 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, while cleaning out her locker, Alice finds the "Waitress Wanted" sign that first drew her to the diner. The series' regular customers, including Henry, Chuck and Earl say their emotional farewells, followed by Elliot, and finally the principal characters Tommy, Jolene, Vera, and Alice. The last thing we see is Mel putting up the "Closed" sign and locking up.

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.

In an attempt to duplicate the success of Flo's "Kiss my grits!", Belle began using a new put-down: "Butter my biscuits!". Belle often used the phrase, "My little voice", who called her "Isabelle", which she usually used when starting to tell others what she thinks is best.

Mel would snipe, "Stow it!" at anyone he had qualms with, especially his waitstaff. "Stow it!" was usually followed by either "Alice", "Vera", "Flo" "Belle", 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" and would occasionally bellow "Stow it, Dinghy" at her. Jolene would sometimes say, "When pigs wear perfume."

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 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 which Jolene cries, "We went to the bad place and it looks just like Mel's!"). In one episode,a wrecking ball destroyed the front of the diner because someone couldn't read Mel's handwriting.

Mel was a stickler for punctuality. In the fourth season, he 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.

Although he had a fairly loyal clientele, 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 chili was popular and became a plot point of several episodes. During the first season, a newspaper food critic (played by Victor Buono) dropped dead while eating Mel's chili, but it turned out that tainted Peking Duck from a Chinese restaurant was to blame. Guest star Art Carney 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 Shore's talk show, which led to some bickering among the waitresses because Mel could take only one person along, but of course everyone ended up going. Mel refused to reveal his "secret ingredient" to Dinah and her TV audience during the cooking demonstration.

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:

Other recurring cast members:

Other notable guest stars: Eve Arden, Desi Arnaz, Brice Beckham, Fred Berry, Joan Blondell, George Burns (as himself), Ruth Buzzi (as Chloe Beesmeyer, Henry's wife), Art Carney (as himself), Corey Feldman, Robert Goulet, Joel Grey (as himself), Florence Halop, Eileen Heckart (as Rose Hyatt, Alice's interfering mother in-law), Florence Henderson, Jay Leno, Nancy McKeon (Philip's sister, appeared twice in different roles), Frank Nelson, Donald O'Connor (as himself), Kelly Parsons, Jerry Reed (as himself), Debbie Reynolds, Kim Richards, Telly Savalas (as himself), and Jerry Stiller.

Production information

The show's theme was called "There's a New Girl in Town", with music by David Shire, lyrics by Alan Bergman and Marilyn Bergman; 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 the set featured an even shinier stainless steel refrigerator and better appliances. The rest of the set, however, remained the same.

The men's and ladies' restrooms were confined to one room in the pilot and during the first season. From 1977–85, 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 1976–77 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.

The giant "14-ounce coffee cup" sign used in later seasons was seen by a producer scouting Phoenix for an establishing shot for the show's later seasons. It was at "Chris’ Diner" and the owner agreed to change the name to Mel’s for the show.

Alice's apartment remained more or less unchanged during most of the show's run; the apartments of Mel and Vera 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 City in Hollywood, California. After this, the series was taped at The Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California.

Differences in premise between film and television series

Alice had many contrasts with the film on which it was based, Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore.

Syndication

Alice was seen in reruns:

Home media releases

DVD 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:

Season releases Warner Home Video has released the first four seasons on DVD in Region 1 via their Warner Archive Collection. These are manufacture-on-demand (MOD) releases, available through Warner's online store Warner Archives Collection (only sold in the USA), and also through Oldies.com (which distributes and sells worldwide), and through Amazon and eBay.

Streaming

Alice Seasons 1 to 4 are available from Apple iTunes Store and Amazon Video for downloading. In addition, a holiday episode for Season 3 is also available from Amazon.

Awards

The "Tommy's Lost Weekend" episode, written by Bob Bendetson, Howard Bendetson, and Robert Getchell, based on a story by Arnold Anthony Schmidt, received an Emmy nomination in 1984.