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MEMORIES:
KPac remembers...I totally loved this show. I think I got in trouble for telling someone to Kiss My Grits once though. More »
Posted on 11/13/08
PHOTOS:
CATCH PHRASE:
"Kiss my grits!"
Cast:
Alice Hyatt... Linda Lavin
Mel Sharples... Vic Tayback
Mike (1979-80)... Michael Ballard
Vera Louise Gorman/Novak... Beth Howland
Tommy Hyatt... Philip McKeon
Raleigh (1979-81)... Raleigh Bond
Florence Jean Castleberry (1976-80)... Polly Holliday
Chuck (1978-85)... Duane R. Campbell
Belle Dupree (1980-81)... Diane Ladd
Marie (1978-80)... Victoria Carroll
Jolene Hunnicutt (1981-85)... Celia Weston
Andy (1976-78)... Patrick Cranshaw
Elliot Novak (1983-85)... Charles Levin
Nicholas Stone (1984-85)... Michael Durrell
Jason (1978-79)...Patrick Cronin
Charlie (1979-81)... Ted Gehring
Ralph (1979-81)... Michael Alldredge
Brian (1979-80)... Alan Haufrect
Henry (1977-85)... Marvin Kaplan
Artie (1982-85)... Tony Longo
Earl Hicks (1978-85)... Dave Madden
Cecil (1978-79)... Bob McClurg
Jerry (1981-82)... Jerry Potter
Mitch Aames (1981-82)...Phillip R. Allen
Carrie (1982)... Martha Raye
Danny (1984-85) ...Jonathan Prince
Doug (1984-85)...Doug Robinson
Mel Sharples... Vic Tayback
Mike (1979-80)... Michael Ballard
Vera Louise Gorman/Novak... Beth Howland
Tommy Hyatt... Philip McKeon
Raleigh (1979-81)... Raleigh Bond
Florence Jean Castleberry (1976-80)... Polly Holliday
Chuck (1978-85)... Duane R. Campbell
Belle Dupree (1980-81)... Diane Ladd
Marie (1978-80)... Victoria Carroll
Jolene Hunnicutt (1981-85)... Celia Weston
Andy (1976-78)... Patrick Cranshaw
Elliot Novak (1983-85)... Charles Levin
Nicholas Stone (1984-85)... Michael Durrell
Jason (1978-79)...Patrick Cronin
Charlie (1979-81)... Ted Gehring
Ralph (1979-81)... Michael Alldredge
Brian (1979-80)... Alan Haufrect
Henry (1977-85)... Marvin Kaplan
Artie (1982-85)... Tony Longo
Earl Hicks (1978-85)... Dave Madden
Cecil (1978-79)... Bob McClurg
Jerry (1981-82)... Jerry Potter
Mitch Aames (1981-82)...Phillip R. Allen
Carrie (1982)... Martha Raye
Danny (1984-85) ...Jonathan Prince
Doug (1984-85)...Doug Robinson
Studio:
Warner Bros.
Network:
CBS
Release History:
9/29/76 - 11/10/82 CBS
1/9/83 - 3/19/85 CBS
6/18/85 - 7/2/85 CBS
1/9/83 - 3/19/85 CBS
6/18/85 - 7/2/85 CBS
Alice was one of the most successful sitcoms of the ‘70’s and ‘80’s, and it had a pretty good pedigree. It was developed from the 1974 Martin Scorses film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, starring Ellen Burstyn, who won a Oscar for her performance. The TV show took the premise of the movie and introduced television audiences to Alice, played by Linda Lavin, a New Jersey single mother with dreams of being a singer, who moves to Phoenix and gets a job in a diner.
Alice worked at Mel’s Diner to make a living for herself and her 12 year old son Tommy. Mel was played by Vic Tayback, who was the only actor from the original film to also appear in the sitcom. Mel was a great cook, but a sarcastic tightwad who often gave the girls grief. The girls were Alice’s fellow waitresses. Flo was a Southern redhead with lots of sass and clever put-downs, whose key phrase of “kiss my grits” became the show’s most famous line. She was joined by shy and klutzy Vera, whose naïve ways earned the brunt of Mel’s ill humor.
The show’s action took place right in the diner, where the staff was joined by regulars Andy, Henry, Chuck and Ralph. The clever workplace banter made Alice a hit for CBS, and in 1980 they spun Flo off into her own series, appropriately called Flo. Her spot on Alice was taken by Diane Ladd, who had played Flo in the movie version. This time, her character’s name was Belle Dupree.
The new cast was just as popular and Alice continued to be one of the top 10 shows on television. Ladd left after one season, replaced by a new waitress, Jolene. For the 1982 season, Mel’s mother Carrie moved in with him, and her bossy ways made the diner even more hectic and crazy. Vera met and married cop Elliot Novak, and Alice continued her on again-off again relationship with Tommy’s basketball coach, Earl Hicks.
In 1985, Alice closed the door of the diner for good, after nine seasons on the air. Mel sold the diner, Vera got pregnant and decide to retire, Jolene made plans to open a beauty shop, and Alice finally decided to go after that dream of becoming a singer. She was off to Nashville, and Alice was off to sitcom history.
