The Official Thread of the TV Series "Alice"

Hated this show but I would like to see the movie it was spun from. I find Ellen Burstyn far superior to Linda Lavin.

Why did Alice Hyatt enjoy having BOILING HOT WATER FROM A TEAKETTLE poured over her feet, and why didn't it cause second-degree burns?

If you'd ever seen her cloven hooves up close you wouldn't need to ask, r2.

If nothing else, I gave you ungrateful bitches variety with those jazzy updates to the theme song every season.

Was this ever funny? The audience actually clap for it.

Hey, it was "racy" for the '70s.

I loved this show as a kid. Flo was the STAR! But I have really grown to appreciate Linda Lavin in my later years.

Flo puts out an APB on Santa Claus

I suspect the hot/grotesque Mel was packing major sizemeat.

Verifacatia, anyone?

[quote]Why did Alice Hyatt enjoy having BOILING HOT WATER FROM A TEAKETTLE poured over her feet

Lavin must've had a foot fetish. Look at the original theme from the pilot episode. You see Linda Lavin worshipping Tommy's feet, (played by Alfred Lutter in the pilot)

Did the creators of the show sue Susan Harris for stealing the three primary characters of The Golden Girls from the three female leads on Alice? Alice/Dorothy: New York Jewish woman playing non-Jewish woman/sarcastic primary protagonist with dubious singing ability. Flo/Blanche: Older/Southern/Unnattractive/Slut. Vera/Rose: Idiot/Issues with straws.

Where were they supposed to be living?

Pretty sure somewhere outside of Phoenix?

The show was set in Phoenix, which in the 70s was about half the size it is today.

In the movie "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore," which the TV show is loosely based, the show was set in Tucson.

Vic Tayback reprised his role from the movie. Alfred Lutter reprised his role as Tommy but was booted out after the pilot and replaced by Jo's brother.

Diane Ladd played Flo in the movie. When Polly Holliday left Alice, Ladd replaced Holliday as a similar character Belle. Ladd left after one season and was replaced by a totally different character Jolene was was niece to the Dukes of Hazzard's Boss Hogg.

Phoenix

Eeek, r10. Glad they switched Tommys. Philip McKeon was my very first celebrity crush. I was a little gayling of about 10 years old & watched Alice every day after school in syndication. At the time, it was still a bit of a mystery why any on-screen appearance by Tommy made me feel extra warm & special.

Linda Lavin liked Beth because she stayed out of Linda's way.

Polly and Vic became very good friends.

[quote] Why did Alice where a fanny pack but the others didn't?

Oh *vomp vomp vomp vomp vo-o-ommmp* dear.

Flo's best line ....

"I'm still waitin' for Mister Right, but I've had a helluva good time with all the wrong ones."

I know we're corn syrup fed cows these days but I remember as a kid thinking that Vera was so skinny she'd soon go the way of Karen Carpenter.

Does anyone think Flo and Mel hooked up every now and then?

Why did Henry still work for the phone company when he the residuals from all those raisin commercials?

I could suck Vic Tayback's balls straight through a 24-hour Alice marathon.

[quote]Does anyone think Flo and Mel hooked up every now and then?

I think Flo hooked up with every male in Phoenix and half the females .

[quote] I think Flo hooked up with every male in Phoenix and half the females .

There is no way Flo ever touched another woman, except to shove her out of the way to get to a man.

When I was little I thought that Vera was throwing dry spaghetti noodles in the air and not straws.

[quote] When I was little I thought that Vera was throwing dry spaghetti noodles in the air and not straws.

I really want to make fun of you, but all I feel is pity.

It was made really clear that Mel and Flo had a past. On one episode they fucked.

why the fuck did mel have 3 waitresses on call at all times when his diner seated about five people.

I wonder if Tommy ever wore his mom's waitress uniform.

Stow it dinghy!

Hey Asshole/R27. I was THREE.

[quote] Hey Asshole/[R27]. I was THREE.

And you still couldn't tell the diff between straws and spaghetti? Did your mom make you wear a football helmet when you left the house?

I remember an episode when Flo told Mel to kiss my honeydew. So funnier than kiss my grits. Obviously honeydew code for ass.

R34, interesting, Wikipedia confirms that the saying started out the way then changed to grits.

Remember Belle?

I only saw her do it in the opening theme song. I've never even seen the episode in which she does it. It happens so quickly, I wasn't sure of what it was. Why am I arguing with some dumb asshole online???

[quote]There is no way Flo ever touched another woman,

Please with the way she showed her camel toe? Flo liked men but you can bet that bitch would take whatever anyone offered.

Someone on another thread suggested that Linda Lavin and Bonnie Franklin should have switched roles. That could have been interesting.

[quote] I only saw her do it in the opening theme song. I've never even seen the episode in which she does it. It happens so quickly, I wasn't sure of what it was. Why am I arguing with some dumb asshole online???

Because you can't tell the difference between spaghetti and straws is my guess.

[quote]Remember Belle?

I liked Belle. The nice thing was, Belle, Flo and Jolene were all different. Belle was similar to Flo but different enough. It was a good thing they went with Jolene as it helped the show in a way having a younger non sex starved slut as #3.

It's funny how Philip McKeon went from second billing in season one to billing after Vera later on. What a blow that must've been.

Early to rise, early to bed........

[quote]why the fuck did mel have 3 waitresses on call at all times when his diner seated about five people.

They staggered the shifts. You would see two waitresses there and the third would come in and change. That way Vera may open and Alice comes in an hour or two later then Flo comes in at 11am. So you only see the three of them together when they are waiting for the lunch rush at noon or 1pm.

Mel's was open from 7am-7pm in most episodes and closed on Sunday.

[quote]Why did Alice not wear a cap but Flo, Vera, Jolene and Belle did?

I'm sure Mr Lavin thought her hairdo was to perfect to be mucked up with a waitress cap on it. But really shouldn't the waitresses wear hairnets or pull their hair back or up?

[quote] Did your mom make you wear a football helmet when you left the house?

Apparently not often enough.

Vic Tayback was HOF sitcom status

[quote]Why did Alice not wear a cap but Flo, Vera, Jolene and Belle did?

I'm sure it wasn't "Alice" who didn't want to wear a cap so much as it was Linda Lavin who didn't.

There was an episode where someone else took over the diner from Mel and make the waitresses wear hairnuts. Alice was pissed! She had a big speech about it. Man what a dumb show.

She isn't given enough credit for reinventing herself and crossing over from porn to network tv

They would have gotten a few more years out of the show had they replaced Flo with a fat, sassy black lady. Was Nell Carter busy or dead by this time? "Kiss my collard greens Mel"

[quote] There was an episode where someone else took over the diner from Mel and make the waitresses wear hairnuts.

Sexist pigs. How humiliating.

I got fired from my job making burgers in the back kitchen at Burgerland when a lot of the customers complained about hair in their burgers. What was I supposed to do, wear a shower cap to work?

I loved the episode where Flo had to bunk with Alice awhile, in particular the scene where she set out all her products for her nightly beauty ritual: Avocado Face Cream, Strawberry Body Lotion, Almond Elbow Paste, and Cucumber Foot Cream. Tommy mistook the moisturizer for chip dip and hilarity ensued.

It was said that Beth Howland used to carry around a box of straws with her in her purse for years just to give her fans a treat. Apparently she did this well into the 2000s and her marriage to Jim Dial of Murphy Brown.

R53: that is the most pathetic thing I have read on DL today

Remember Beth's "As You've Never Seen Her Before!" turn in the ABC Afterschool Special [italic]Terrible Things My Mother Told Me,[/italic] about an emotionally abusive single mom?

Remember the episode where the waitresses got mad because Mel made them punch a time clock. How dare he keep track of their hours.

Howland's quite good in the above link, I wonder why that didn't open more doors for her. One would think with this, a hit sitcom and Sondheim on her resume she would've at least gotten a significant role on a show like ER or I'll Fly Away.

Was the diner a front for the mob or Mel's hooker operation?

More Beth Howland:

Howland was sidelined by TPTB after she was discovered behind Vic's trailer huffing his speed stick, fingering her hole, and humming 'I gotta be me'

Howland has that carved down nose favored by so many actresses in the 50s and 60s (Nanette Fabray, Natalie Schafer, Ann Miller.) Is there a name for that particular nose job?

The first FLO on the TV show got fired. I know that she and Lavin didn't get along and Lavin publicly dissed her a lot, but what was the story of her being fired?

She wasn't fired. Holliday and Lavin didn't get along, mostly due to Lavin's big ego. Holliday stole every scene and was taking over the show. So CBS offered her a chance to do her own show and she grabbed it. It wasn't a Delta Burke or Valerie Harper type thing.

The short first season of Flo was a hit, a timeslot one, and the second season crashed. Probably because of Joyce Bulifant, who ruined everything she was in.

R11 If ANYTHING The Golden Girls ripped off the Facts of Life for their female characters. Jo/Dorothy- sarcastic and tough, blue collar and mannish

Blair/Blanche- stuck on her looks, very vain and shallow. Dates a lot. Has the best wardrobe of the girls

Natalie/Sophia- says whatever is on her mind, very matter of fact. Natalie was the "every girl" audiences can relate to. Sophia was the "every grandma".

Tootie/Rose- sweet and naive. Always wanting a happy ending

Oh, I googled Joyce Bulifant and I hate her too! You know she has had 5 husbands, don't you? America's sweetheart, my ass!

This show will always be dear to me as it was the first television show I ever saw live being taped. In 1978, we were in Los Angeles for Thanksgiving. I saw an Alice episode and a Tonight Show episode with Gabriel Kaplan ("Welcome Back, Kotter") as the host.

I'm still waiting on "Clutching at Straws: the Autobiography of Beth Howland" to be published.

Forget about caps-- did Mel, Tommy and Henry wear CUPS?

W&W for R67.

So why did Philip McKean's career go nowhere after Alice?

R70: he had no talent

It's said that the inspiration for the song "Wind Beneath My Wings" came, in part, from Lavin and Howland's working relationship.

I read R72 as "It's sad that the inspiration for the song..."

I love Vera Louise Gorman!

If there was ever a guy who looked like he had a big ol cock, it had to be Tommy.

Has this been posted yet?

The first season of "Alice" the hairdressers found a ratty, old, synthetic, beehive wig for Polly Holliday to wear, because they weren't sure the series would be picked up. After the show's success, a brand new one-- made out of real human hair-- was designed, and she wore that one for the duration of the series.

She'd rerecord the theme song every year, and it always got worse, with her comically trying too hard to sell it. She apparently had no idea how bad she sounded?

[quote]She'd rerecord the theme song every year, and it always got worse, with her comically trying too hard to sell it. She apparently had no idea how bad she sounded?

For your reading pleasure ...

The only show more claustrophobic than Alice as Archie Bunker's Place. Horrible show.

Joyce Bulifant's unending stupidity ruined Match Game for me.

The McKean kid reminds of Prince William

Tommy has HADF

HUGE ASS DICK FACE

His long face is comical

R83 post a picture?