Alice (TV series)
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Alice was an American television sitcom series which ran from 1976 to 1985 on CBS.
The series was based on the movie Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974).
Alice Hyatt's husband, Donald, got killed in a truck accident. Finding herself an unemployed widow with a son (Tommy) to support, she and her son moved out of their home in New Jersey and began traveling to Los Angeles in hopes that she would find a singing career. Her car broke down in Phoenix, Arizona and she took a job as a waitress at Mel's Diner where she worked alongside Mel (the grouchy, stingy owner/cook) and fellow waitresses (and friends) sassy, man-hungry Flo and neurotic, scatterbrained Vera.
In the middle of the 1979-1980 season, Flo left (to go to her own spin-off series Flo; in the storyline of Alice, she left to take a hostess job in Houston but then decided to run her own restaurant), and Diane Ladd (who played Flo in the film version) joined the cast as Belle, a hard-edged but kind-hearted woman who had a past with Mel and had a failed catchphrase in "my little voice". In spite of Ladd's talents, the character never gelled with most of the fans and the ratings began to decline. In 1981, Ladd left the series and was replaced by theater actress Celia Weston as the good-natured, boisterous trucker Jolene. In the storyline of the show, Belle left to take a job as a backup singer in Nashville.
Jolene brought a softer edge to situations than Flo and Belle had, and with the changes, the program returned to the top 10 for several seasons. The series began to focus on character development, such as the courtship and marriage of Vera and loveable cop Elliott. By the 1984-1985 season, many of the situations had been exhausted and Lavin seemed disinterested in continuing the character of Alice (Alice was absent several times in the last year due to Lavin directing a number of episodes or playing another role as Alice's wizened landlady). The series was cancelled in 1985. In the last episode of the series, Mel sold the diner and (surprisingly) gave each of his waitresses a $5000 farewell bonus; Jolene opened a beauty parlor; Vera had become pregnant and planned to be a full-time mother; and Alice finally got a recording contract (after nine years of trying to get it) and moved to Nashville.
Vic Tayback (Mel Sharples) passed away in 1990, but most of the other cast members have continued to appear fairly regularly in theater, television, and the occasional film.
Flo's catch phrase, "Kiss my grits", was briefly popular at the time the show ran.
Cast:
- Linda Lavin - Alice Hyatt
- Philip McKeon - Tommy Hyatt (Alfred Lutter briefly reprised his role from the movie but was replaced after the pilot episode)
- Vic Tayback - Mel Sharples (Tayback reprised his role from the movie)
- Beth Howland - Vera Louise Gorman
- Polly Holliday - Florence Jean "Flo" Castleberry (1976-1980)
- Diane Ladd - Isabelle "Belle" Dupree (1980-1981) (Ladd played the role of Flo in the movie)
- Celia Weston - Jolene Hunnicutt (1981-1985)
- Martha Raye - Carrie Sharples (Mel's mother) (1982-1984)
- Charles Levin - Elliot Novak (1983-1985)