"Alice" (1976) TV series 1976-1985

Creator:

Robert Getchell

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9

Release Date:

31 August 1976 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

A greasy-spoon diner in Phoenix, Arizona is the setting for this long-running series. The title character...

Plot Keywords:

Diner | Aspiring Singer | Spunky | Phoenix Arizona | Waitress

Awards:

Won 8 Golden Globes. Another 1 win & 22 nominations

Cast

Linda Lavin	...	Alice Hyatt (202 episodes, 1976-1985)
Beth Howland	...	Vera Louise Gorman (202 episodes, 1976-1985)
Vic Tayback	...	Mel Sharples (200 episodes, 1976-1985)
Philip McKeon	...	Tommy Hyatt (107 episodes, 1976-1985)
Polly Holliday	...	Florence Jean 'Flo' Castleberry (90 episodes, 1976-1980)
Celia Weston	...	Jolene Hunnicutt (90 episodes, 1981-1985)
Marvin Kaplan	...	Henry (82 episodes, 1977-1985)

Runtime:

30 min (202 episodes) | West Germany:30 min (113 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:TV-PG

Filming Locations:

Phoenix, Arizona, USA

Company:

Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS)

Trivia:

Henry's wife Chloe was talked about for years before she was finally seen. In her only appearance she was played by Ruth Buzzi.

Quotes:

Vera Louise Gorman: [Repeated Line]
[about five seconds after realizing she's in a situation involving her and a motorized vehicle]
Vera Louise Gorman: Wait a minute. I don't know how to drive.

Movie Connections:

Featured in CBS at 75 (2003) (TV)

This is the reason why I use an alias...

All right! All right already! I admit it! I used to watch this show because I had a crush on Linda Lavin as a kid! There, the world knows it now! Satisfied!? Now, I watch the reruns because I think the show provides humour that is light and clean and that doesn't make you think too much. Based on the movie "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore," Alice Hyatt (Lavin) plays a broke, recently widowed mother of Tommy (Philip McKeon). Her car broke down in Phoenix en route to Hollywood, leaving her stranded in Phoenix. Working for Mel (Vic Tayback) the penurious tubby tyrannical proprietor of Mel's Diner, she befriends fellow waitresses Vera (Beth Howland), an innocent simpleton, and Flo (Polly Holliday), a high octane nymphomaniac whose homespun Texas manner provides the perfect foil for the street tough, New Jersey-bred "new girl in town." Flo is an even better foil for Mel, and never hesitates to retort him with some valuable advice..."Kiss my grits!" The show definitely had a split personality: funny until 1980 when Flo left, and then it went straight downhill for the next five years. Cameo players such as Andy (Pat Crenshaw), Travis (Tom Mahoney), and Henry (Marvin Kaplan) were valuable to the show, as were George Burns, Telly Savalas, Art Carney, and Martha Raye. Equally memorable were some of the one-liners, including "Can you read lips? [Raspberry!]," "Don't be rational when I'm hysterical," and "If we get out of this alive, I'm going to kill you!" One of my favourite episodes revolved around an ex-gangster wanted by the FBI and the mob, coupled with a whiny truckdriver whose rig full of peaches broke down outside the diner. Not the basis of a James Joyce or a Henry Roth novel, but entertaining nonetheless. At least the early episodes were.