A greasy-spoon diner in Phoenix, Arizona is the setting for this long-running series. The title character, Alice Hyatt, is an aspiring singer who arrives in Phoenix with her teen-age son Tommy, after the death of her truck-driver husband. Alice is hired at a diner owned by Mel Sharples, a gravel-voiced, male-chauvinist fry cook. She waitresses at Mel's Diner while awaiting her big break. Her fellow waitresses are raucous redhead Flo and naïve Vera. Flo is later replaced by Southern blonde Belle, who is soon replaced by spunky curly-haired Jolene. Alice and her friends experience several interesting years together at Mel's Diner, which is frequented by quirky truckers, repairmen, and other blue-collar types, and by several Hollywood celebrities who appear as themselves. Written by Kevin McCorry <mmccorry@nb.sympatico.ca>
I used to watch this show when I was a kid. Since then, I've rarely seen it in re-runs, even though my cable system has over a hundred channels. Anyway, "Alice" was a nice, enjoyable little show that lost a lot of steam after Polly Holiday (Flo) left to pursue her own sitcom. I really think Flo was the most interesting character. The producers of "Alice" replaced her with similar characters, but none were as good.