Alice is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from August 31, 1976, to March 19, 1985. The series is based on the 1974 film Alice Does not Stay Here Again Only . The show features Linda Lavin's role in the title, a widow who moves with her young son to start her life again, and finds a job working in a sidewalk restaurant on the outskirts of Phoenix, Arizona. Most of the episodes revolve around the show at Mel's Diner, where Alice works.
Video Alice (TV series)
Series summary
Alice Hyatt (Lavin) is an unemployed widow after her husband, Donald, was killed in a truck accident, and with her son Tommy (played by Alfred Lutter in the pilot episode, repeating his role from the movie but played by Philip McKeon afterwards) head of the New home Jersey them to Los Angeles so he can pursue a singing career. His car broke down on a trip in Phoenix (from a suspected machine fire, as seen in the opening credits), and we met him as soon as he took a job as a waiter at Mel's Diner, in Phoenix suburb. (The exterior photos of the season then are from an actual restaurant, named Mel's, still operating in Phoenix.) Alice works with Mel Sharples (Vic Tayback), the annoyed, stingy owner and chef of an oily spoon, and fellow waitress and friends , sassy, ​​man-hungry Florence Jean "Flo" Castleberry (Polly Holliday), and the neurotic, fragmented Vera Louise Gorman (Beth Howland).
Every episode always starts inside the restaurant, and most if not all the next scenes happen there too. Often the non-diner scene is Alice's one-room apartment in Desert Sun's apartment. (Tommy uses the bedroom and Alice sleeps on the sleeper sofa in the living room.) The Vera and Mel studio apartments and the Flo trailers are sometimes seen. Two of the biggest competitors of the restaurant, Barney's Burger Barn and Vinnie House of Veal, are sometimes mentioned.
The restaurant has a regular customer section over the years, such as Tommy basketball coach, Earl Hicks (Dave Madden), local trucker Chuck (Duane R. Campbell), and Henry Beesmeyer (Marvin Kaplan), a telephone repairman who always makes jokes about cuisine Mel. Henry's wife, often called Chloe, is seen in one episode, played by Ruth Buzzi. Celebrities playing either themselves or other characters (including Martha Raye, George Burns, Robert Goulet, Desi Arnaz, and Jerry Reed) are typical of the show.
Polly Holliday left the show to star in her own spin-off series, Flo . In an episode that aired February 24, 1980, Flo went to take a job in Houston. On the way to Houston, Flo stops at his hometown of Fort Worth, Texas (which he calls his "Cowtown" moniker). Flo decides to buy and run the failed roadblock there, which he calls Flo's Yellow Rose. Polly Holliday never made a guest appearance on Alice after starting Flo , although flashbacks included Flo are shown in the last episode of Alice . Vic Tayback made one guest appearance on Flo .
Diane Ladd, who received an Academy Award nomination for her role as Flo in a movie version joined the cast in 1980 as Isabelle "Belle" Dupree, a stubborn but kind woman. She had been Mel's servant in the past, and both had romantic relationships during that time. Regardless of the performance of Golden Globe-winning Ladd as Belle, the character was not maintained during the series and was replaced early in 1981, the character made one last appearance in which he called the restaurant to inform everyone that he had taken a job as a backup singer in Nashville, Tennessee. It is said that Ladd clashed with his opponent, and no flashbacks included Belle shown during the last episode of the series.
Theater actress Celia Weston later joined the cast as a friendly and boisterous truck driver, Jolene Hunnicutt, who is from Myrtle Point, South Carolina. Jolene came as she and her male colleague who was driving were in the midst of a quarrel over her undesirable progress, in which she threw and solved many of Mel's dishes. Mel agrees to hire her "temporarily" to complete the cost of the dish, but she stays until the end of the series. Jolene often calls her grandmother, "Granny Gums", who has only three or four teeth. Jolene also calls himself a distant relative of Jefferson Davis's "Boss" Hogg, a character from the CBS series concurrently The Dukes of Hazzard. In an episode of Sorrell Booke guest stars in this role, along with fellow Dukes Enos characters (Sonny Shroyer).
The final years of the show focused on some character development, such as the hasty dating and marriage of Vera and his beloved police Elliot (Charles Levin). Tommy was finally in college and less often seen. In the last season, Alice's character has been sidelined several times because Lavin directs a number of episodes and portrays Ny's character. Walden, a vera wrinkled woman and abrasive arbitrary foreign origin. The last story begins in the spring of 1985, when country singer Travis Marsh (played by real husband Kip Niven), finds that he is in love with Alice, "kidnaps" him to take him to Nashville, telling him it is time to follow his dream there. Puzzled over his dreams finally coming true, Alice agrees, but not without issuing a promise from Travis to drive her back to Phoenix so she can finish her business, including ending her current relationship with a writer.
In the last series, aired March 19, 1985, typical of today's sitcoms, news of life-altering events is revealed in minutes. Alice, after nine years of effort, finally got a record deal and moved to Nashville with Travis Marsh. Vera announced she was pregnant and decided to become a full-time mother, Elliott had been promoted from officer to detective. Jolene's "Granny Gums" has died and left his grandson enough money to open his own beauty salon in his hometown. In addition to these three waiters suddenly go simultaneously, Mel's amazing coincidence just sold the restaurant for a large sum of money to the real estate developer, and had to close within a few days. On the closing day, he surprisingly gave each waiter a $ 5,000 farewell bonus. The rest of the episodes show flashbacks to cute and great shows, and many of the big stars appearing on the show, including Polly Holliday. Finally, as she cleans her locker, Alice finds the first "Waiter Look" sign dragging her to the diner. Regular customers of the series, including Henry, Chuck and Earl, said their emotional separation, followed by Elliot, and finally Tommy, Jolene, Vera and Alice. The last thing we see is Mel put a "Closed" sign and lock.
Maps Alice (TV series)
Hangouts and slogans running
Flo's slogan, "Kiss my grit!", Enjoys widespread popularity when characters appear in Alice. According to Polly Holliday, the line was originally written as, "Kiss my buoy!", But no one laughs. (In the original film, Flo, as played by Diane Ladd, tells Mel in one scene, "Kiss me in the sun does not shine.") Another slogan from Flo is, "When the donkey flies!" Since his role as Flo, Polly Holliday refused to repeat his famous "grit" line.
In an effort to duplicate Flo's success "Kiss my grits!", Belle begins to use a new way: "Butter my biscuits!". Belle often uses the phrase, "My little voice," which calls her "Isabelle," which she usually uses when she starts telling others what she thinks is best.
Mel will shoot, "Stow it!" on whomever he has doubts with, especially his maid. "Save it!" usually followed by "Alice", "Vera", "Flo" "Belle", or "Blondie" (referring to Jolene). He will also bark, "Pocket, Blondie!" to Jolene. He finally gave Vera a nickname "Dinghy" and sometimes under "Stow it, Dinghy" to him. Jolene sometimes says, "When pigs wear perfume."
In some episodes, Alice wears a double-breasted suit and a fedora to take on a hoarse "Sam Butler" character, a mafia that she creates as a ruse to trick her target. Linda Lavin also plays the role of Ny. Walden last season, even played Alice and Mrs. Walden in multiple double-screen roles.
Part of Mel's Diner is often destroyed, as Flo crashed the truck through the front, Mel chopped down a tree that landed in the restaurant, Mel accidentally had a building targeted for dismantling, and the maids hit a hot air balloon through the roof (when Jolene cried, to a bad place and it looks like Mel's! "). In one episode, a destructive ball destroys the front of the tavern because one can not read Mel's handwriting.
Mel is a stickler for punctuality. In the fourth season, he put up a time clock, which eventually worked for the waiter's profits due to significant overtime, and finally he smashed it to the floor. Mel also has strict rules on side jobs, often causing one or more waiters to be fired, but he always rehired them before the end of each episode.
Although he has a fairly loyal clientele, Mel's food and cuisine are constantly being criticized by servants and customers - especially Henry, who always blames him for his digestive disorder. However, Chili Mel is very popular and becomes a multiple episode plot point. During the first season, newspaper food critics (played by Victor Buono) fell dead while eating Chili Mel, but it turns out the polluted Peking Duck from a Chinese restaurant is to blame. Art Carney's guest guest in one episode was to be the spokesperson for Mel's Chili retail distribution ("Chile con Carney") but retreated when she found Vera was a distant relative with some ownership in the venture. Mel's Chilean popularity also made an appearance on the talk show of Dinah Shore, which caused some quarreling amongst the waiters because Mel could only take one person, but everyone finally left. Mel refused to reveal her "secret ingredients" to Dinah and her TV audiences during a cooking demonstration.
Vera's shot with "exploding straw" was the only one used during the opening credits for the entire series, with the exception of a pilot episode, which did not have a scene from Mel's Diner at the opening.
Cast
Opening the cast:
- Linda Lavin as Alice Hyatt
- Vic Tayback as Mel Sharples (Tayback repeats his role from the movie)
- Philip McKeon as Tommy Hyatt (Alfred Lutter took his role from the film but was replaced after the trial episode)
- Polly Holliday as Florence Jean "Flo" Castleberry (Seasons 1-4: 1976-1980)
- Beth Howland as Vera Louise Gorman Novak
- Diane Ladd as Isabelle "Belle" Dupree (Seasons 4-5: 1980-1981) (Ladd plays the role of Flo in the movie)
- Celia Weston as Jolene Hunnicutt (Seasons 5-9: 1981-1985)
- Charles Levin as Elliot Novak (Season 8 recurring, Season 9 regular: 1983-85)
Other recurring cast members:
- Marvin Kaplan as Henry Beesmeyer (a regular diner working for a telephone company) (1977-1985)
- Dave Madden as Earl Hicks, a basketball coach, came from Flo and restaurant customers (1978-1985)
- Victoria Carroll as Marie Massey (girlfriend Mel) (1978-1984)
- Martha Raye as Carrie Sharples (Mel mother) (1978-1984)
- Doris Roberts as Mona Spivak (Alice's mother) (1981-1982)
- Robert Picardo as Officer Maxwell, a police officer and Elliott's partner (1982-1984)
- Pat Cranshaw as Andy (regular diner) (1976-78)
- Tony Longo as Artie (1981-1984)
- Patrick J. Cronin as Jason (regular diner) (1976-1980)
- Duane R. Campbell as Chuck (regular diner) (1978-1985)
Other famous guests: Eve Arden, Desi Arnaz, Brice Beckham, Fred Berry, George Burns (as himself), Ruth Buzzi (as Chloe Beesmeyer, Henry's wife), Art Carney (like herself), Corey Feldman, Robert Goulet, Joel Gray (as herself), Florence Halop, Eileen Heckart (as Rose Hyatt, Alice's mother-in-law), Florence Henderson, Jay Leno, Bill Maher, Nancy McKeon (Philip's sister, appearing twice in different roles), Frank Nelson, Donald O 'Connor (like himself), Kelly Parsons, Jerry Reed (as himself), Debbie Reynolds, Kim Richards, Telly Savalas (as himself), and Jerry Stiller.
Production information
The theme of the show is called "There's a New Girl in the City", with music by David Shire, lyrics by Alan Bergman and Marilyn Bergman; done by Linda Lavin. Several different settings of this song are used throughout the run series; the lyrics changed after the second season.
The set of Mel's Diner made a change over the years; in the restaurant pilot containing a blue fridge, but in the refrigerator series it was dirty stainless steel, then converted into clean and shiny stainless steel in 1979-81 and then the set featured a more radiant and better stainless steel refrigerator. equipment. The rest of the set, however, remains the same.
Male and female toilets are limited to one room in the pilot and during the first season. From 1977-85, there was a separate toilet with the words "Ladies" and "Men" on it.
The warehouse was inside the dining room where the men's toilet would be and said "Private" on it during the 1976-77 season. The warehouse from 1977 to 1985 is limited to the rear of the restaurant. Here, the waiters rested, installed lockers, and kept their uniforms. Mel also runs her business from this space.
A public phone is a touch tone and is located to the left of the "Toilet" door in the pilot episode. For the first season, move right to the door leading to the restaurant's kitchen. For the second season, he was transferred to a wall between two doors into two separate toilets and replaced by a rotary telephone. From 1978 to 1985, the phone is a touch tone and is located in a section that is steps from the entrance to the restaurant.
In the first season, the restaurant is decorated with Aztec and Cowboy motifs to accommodate the Arizona feel. For the second season, the wall has a pink wallpaper with a red line on it. For the third season, the wall has wallpaper with orange leaves on it.
The gigantic "14-ounce coffee cup" mark used in the later seasons is seen by the producer who plays Phoenix for shooting for the season's event. It was in "Chris' Diner" and the owner agreed to change the name to Mel for the show.
Alice's apartments remain more or less unchanged during most of the show; Mel and Vera's apartments and the Flo trailers are sometimes seen. (Device for trailer Flo is also used on spin-off Flo .)
The pilot episode was filmed on CBS Television City in Hollywood, California. After this, this series was recorded at The Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California.
The premise difference between a movie and a television series
Alice has a lot of contrast with the basics, Alice Does not Live Here Anymore . The tone and style of the series is very different from the film, and there are a number of factual differences regarding the characters and settings.
Episode
International syndication and broadcast
Alice seen in replays:
- from 2 June 1980 to 17 September 1982 on CBS noon at 10:30 am (EST), replacing Whew! (before replacing with Play Child i>);
- via syndication on many local broadcast stations beginning in the fall of 1982. Important stations that buy and air a rerun of Alice include WPIX in New York City; KTTV in Los Angeles; WGN-TV in Chicago; WTHR in Indianapolis; KOIN in Portland, Oregon, WPHL-TV in Philadelphia; KBHK-TV in San Francisco; KHTV in Houston; WSBK-TV in Boston; WTTG in Washington, D.C.; WUAB in Cleveland; KFMB-TV in San Diego; WXON in Detroit; WTMJ in Milwaukee; KWGN-TV in Denver and WFIE-TV in Evansville, Indiana, among others;
- in the late 1980s at the TBS superstation (WTBS) from Atlanta;
- sporadically from the mid-1990s to early 1998 on E! Television Entertainment;
- in TNN from late June 1999 to January 2001.
- The event returned to television on April 2, 2007, aired on the ION television network on 7:30 pm business day. until June 22, 2007. The event is heavily edited to provide time for additional advertising, with a few minutes of important plots often carelessly cut. The show returns to ION on November 24, 2007, with two back-to-back episodes at 7:00 pm EST Monday through Thursday, and continues until all series episodes have been aired. It was replaced by Family Feud on April 7, 2008.
- TV Logos started running in April 2017.
- The TV antenna started broadcasting episodes in January 2018.
International
Alice is shown in the UK by Channel 4, beginning on August 27, 1984. Initially, the series is shown every working day at 17:00, before moving to the slot twice a week later. No inter-season breaks were made and the last episode was shown in October 1986.
Home media releases
DVD On June 27, 2006, six episodes of Alice were released on DVD as part of Warner Bros.. 'Television Favorite Compilation. The episodes were selected by fans at SitcomsOnline.com and are as follows:
- "Alice Gets Pass", September 29, 1976 - First non-pilot episode.
- "Odd Couple", February 26, 1977 - When Flo's trailer is stolen, Alice allows Flo to stay with her. Alice finds Flo's habit difficult to handle.
- "Close Encounters of the Worst Kind", January 22, 1978 - The use of Alice's psychology causes tension among his co-workers.
- "Block Their Kicks", October 22, 1978 - The waiters decide to let go of their bad habits to encourage Mel to break the gambling habit.
- "Cabin Fever", December 2, 1979 - The waiters, Mel and his girlfriend unknowingly booked the same cabin over the same weekend.
- "Flo's Farewell", February 24, 1980 - Flo leaves Mel's Diner for a hosting job at a Texas restaurant.
Warning Home Release has released the first four seasons on DVD in Region 1 through their Warner Archive Collection. This is a build-on-demand (MOD) release, available through Warner Online Warner Archives Collection (sold only in the US), and also through Oldies.com (which distributes and sells worldwide), and through Amazon and eBay.
Season 5 was released on August 1, 2017. Season 6 was released on December 5, 2017.
Streaming
Alice the entire series is available from the Apple iTunes Store and Amazon Video for download. In addition, holiday episodes for Season 3 are also available from Amazon.
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.
References
External links
- Alice on IMDb
- Alice on TV.com
- Alice in TV Guide
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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