Alice

Series summary

After her husband Donald is killed in a trucking accident, Alice Spivak Hyatt (Lavin) and her young son Tommy (played by Alfred Lutter in the television pilot, reprising his role from the film, but portrayed by Philip McKeon thereafter) head from their New Jersey home to Los Angeles so Alice can pursue a singing career. Her car breaks down in Phoenix, and viewers meet her soon after she has taken a job as a waitress at Mel's Diner. (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).

Most scenes took place inside the diner, or less often in Alice's one-bedroom apartment in the Desert Sun apartment complex. 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 regular customers through the years, such as Tommy's basketball coach Earl Hicks (Dave Madden), local trucker Chuck (played by Duane R. Campbell), and Henry Beesmeyer (Marvin Kaplan), a telephone repairman who always joked 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 as Mel's free-spirited mother, George Burns, Robert Goulet, Art Carney, Desi Arnaz, Jerry Reed, and Telly Savalas) 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 (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, during which the two had a romantic relationship. Despite 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. Ladd left the $400,000 yearly job, saying it was an amicable and mutual decision, because her character hadn't developed the way she had hoped it would.

Running gags and catchphrases

Flo's catchphrase, "kiss my grits!" (typically directed at her boss, Mel), 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!"

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. He eventually gave Vera the nickname "Dingy" and would occasionally bellow "stow it, Dingy" 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 (and in at least one episode, Vera also dresses up to become one of "Sam's" henchmen). 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.

Parts of Mel's Diner were often destroyed, such as Flo's crashing a truck through the front, Mel chopping down a tree which landed on the diner, Mel 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 could not read Mel's handwriting. In another, a group of men literally hoisted up the entire front of the diner with their bare hands.

Mel was a stickler for punctuality. In the fourth season, he installed a time clock, which ended up working to the waitresses' advantage due to significant overtime (since before then they were forced to clean the storage room on Sundays without extra pay), and he finally smashed it onto the floor. Mel also had a strict rule against moonlighting, often leading to one or more waitresses getting fired, but he always rehired them before the end of each episode.

Cast of characters

Main characters

Opening title cast members:

Linda Lavin as Alice Hyatt, an aspiring singer who becomes a waitress at Mel's diner.

Vic Tayback as Melvin Emory "Mel" Sharples, the stingy and grouchy owner of Mel's Diner. He would often bark orders at the waitresses and come up with money-making schemes. Mel is often a terrible cook with his cooking criticized by the other characters as mentioned above. Tayback reprised his role from the film.

Philip McKeon as Tommy Hyatt, the son of Alice. Alfred Lutter had reprised his role from the film, but was replaced by McKeon after the pilot episode

Polly Holliday as Florence Jean "Flo" Castleberry, the boy-hungry waitress at Mel's diner (Seasons 1–4: 1976–1980)

Beth Howland as Vera Louise Gorman Novak, the scatterbrained waitress at Mel's diner

Diane Ladd as Isabelle "Belle" Dupree, an original waitress at Mel's diner who briefly returns to work there (Seasons 4–5: 1980–1981). Ladd played the role of Flo in the film.

Celia Weston as Jolene Hunnicutt, a former truck driver who becomes a waitress at Mel's diner (Seasons 5–9: 1981–1985)

Charles Levin as Elliot Novak, a police officer who Vera gets engaged to (Season 8 recurring, Season 9 regular: 1983–85)

Recurring characters

Other recurring cast members are listed in order of appearance:

Pat Cranshaw as Andy, a diner regular (1976–1978)

Tom Mahoney as Travis (1977)

Robert Hogan as Greg Stemple (1977–1982)

Marvin Kaplan as Henry Beesmeyer, a diner regular who worked for the phone company (1977–1985)

Dave Madden as Earl Hicks, a basketball coach to Tommy, date to Flo, and a diner customer (1978–1985)

Victoria Carroll as Marie Massey, Mel's girlfriend (1978–1984)

Martha Raye as Carrie Sharples, Mel's free-spirited mother (1978–1984)

Duane R. Campbell as Chuck, a diner regular (1978–1985)

Ted Gehring as Charlie, a diner regular (1979–1982)

Alan Haufrect as Brian, a diner regular (1978–1980)

Patrick J. Cronin as Jason, a diner regular (1976–1980)

Doris Roberts as Mona Spivak, Alice's mother and Tommy's grandmother (1981–1982)

Kip Niven as Steve Marsh, a country singer who briefly falls in love with Alice (1981–1985)

Tony Longo as Artie, a security guard and diner regular who is not very bright (1981–1984)

Notable guest stars

Notable guest stars include:

Eve Arden

Desi Arnaz

Brice Beckham

Fred Berry

Sorrell Booke as Boss Hogg from The Dukes of Hazzard, he is depicted as a distant relative of Jolene.

George Burns as himself

Ruth Buzzi as Chloe Beesmeyer, Henry's wife who is often talked about in the series

Candace Cameron

Art Carney as himself

Corey Feldman

Robert Goulet as himself

Joel Grey as himself

Florence Halop

Eileen Heckart as Rose Hyatt, Alice's interfering mother in-law)

Florence Henderson

Jay Leno

Bill Maher

Helen Martin

Rue McClanahan

Nancy McKeon, who is Philip's real-life sister, appeared twice in different roles. She appeared as a girl orphan in "Who Ordered the Hot Turkey?" and as Kimberly in "Alice's Halloween Surprise" who is the daughter of Alice's boyfriend Mitch.

Frank Nelson

Donald O'Connor as himself

Production information

The show's theme was called "There's a New Girl in Town", performed by Linda Lavin with music by David Shire and lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman. Several arrangements of this tune were used throughout the series' run, including ones that were used only for a few episodes. The lyrics were altered after the second season.

In the opening credits Alice and Tommy pass under overhead road signs that say "Phoenix" and "El Paso". The only location this occurs in this configuration is at the northern end of Interstate 19 in Tucson.

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 to 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 1976–77 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.

Mel's Diner

Mel's Diner is the setting for the show. It is a fictional roadside diner on the outskirts of Phoenix, Arizona, that serves locals and truckers. It has a counter, two large booths and a couple of tables. Most scenes of the show take place in the diner.

Throughout the run of the series, Mel's Diner has a reputation, especially among its regular customers, for serving terrible food, though, more often than not, this is meant to be a joke. Mel's is noted for its gourmet chili, which is referred to as "Mel's Famous Chili". In the episode 'Sharples vs Sharples', Mel's mother, Carrie (Martha Raye), publishes a cookbook with Mel's chili recipe in it and the two fight about whose recipe it really is. Carrie takes it out of the book because Mel claims "it's mine, mine, mine".

The outside shot of the diner's sign with the giant coffee cup sometimes seen in the opening credits of Alice is of a real Mel's Diner (1747 NW Grand Avenue) in Phoenix. The sign was seen by a producer scouting Phoenix for an establishing shot. It had been "Chris' Diner" but the owner agreed to change the name to "Mel's" for the show and is called the same to this day.

In the "Mel Spins His Wheels" episode, Alice informs a customer that the diner's address is 2128 Bush Highway. However, in a subsequent episode ("Big Bad Mel"), the diner's address is given as 1130 Bush Highway. In the "Alice's Blind Date" episode, Alice states over the payphone that the address is 1030 Bush Highway when telling her date where to pick her up.

In Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, the movie on which the series Alice is based, the restaurant is called Mel & Ruby's Cafe, located in Tucson, Arizona.

Differences between the film and television series

Alice had many contrasts with the film on which it was based, Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. The tone and style of the series differed greatly from the film, and there were a number of factual differences concerning the characters and setting.

Home media

On June 27, 2006, six episodes of Alice were released on DVD by Warner Bros. Home Video as part of the Warner Bros.' Television Favorites compilation series. The episodes were hand-picked by fans at SitcomsOnline.com, 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 and 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.

Warner Home Video has released all nine seasons on DVD in Region 1 via their Warner Archive Collection. These manufacture-on-demand (MOD) releases, available through Warner's online store Warner Archives Collection, are sold only in the US. The complete ninth and final season was released on March 12, 2019.

Streaming availability

The entire series is available from Apple iTunes Store and Amazon Video for downloading. In addition, a holiday episode from Season 3 is available from Amazon.

Book

A book chronicling the development of the TV series, entitled Alice: Life Behind the Counter in Mel's Greasy Spoon (A Guide to the Feature Film, the TV Series, and More), was published by BearManor Media in September 2019.

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.