• Re: R.I.P. Linda Lavin (US sitcom "Alice", stage show, etc.)

    From super70s@21:1/5 to Your Name on Mon Dec 30 07:26:21 2024
    On 2024-12-30 06:54:35 +0000, Your Name said:

    Lavin established herself as a beloved character actor with her
    decade-long stint on "Alice," the CBS comedy series adapted fromá
    Martin Scorsese's 1974 film "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore,"
    with Ellen Burstyn in the title role.

    I was always curious why the series, unlike the movie, didn't get into
    Alice's personal and home life, it seemed to center exclusively on
    happenings at the diner. That must have tested better.

    The series, which ran from
    1976-85, starred Lavin as Alice Hyatt, a widow with a young son
    (played by Philip McKeon) who starts life again in Arizona,
    where she works at Mel's Diner (whose eponymous owner was played
    by Vic Tayback), alongside fellow waitresses Flo (Polly Holliday)

    "Kiss my grits" was always funny no matter how many times you heard it.
    Wonder if she's still around.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Your Name@21:1/5 to All on Tue Dec 31 09:46:38 2024
    On 2024-12-30 13:26:21 +0000, super70s said:

    On 2024-12-30 06:54:35 +0000, Your Name said:

    Lavin established herself as a beloved character actor with her
    decade-long stint on "Alice," the CBS comedy series adapted fromá
    Martin Scorsese's 1974 film "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore,"
    with Ellen Burstyn in the title role.

    I was always curious why the series, unlike the movie, didn't get into Alice's personal and home life, it seemed to center exclusively on
    happenings at the diner. That must have tested better.

    A single set makes it much cheaper.

    I only saw a few episodes (the usual loud and unfunny American
    "comedy"), but I seem to recall occasional scenes at her home. They
    certainly spent almost the entire time at the diner discussing and
    dealing with their personal life rather than actually serving customers.



    The series, which ran from
    1976-85, starred Lavin as Alice Hyatt, a widow with a young son
    (played by Philip McKeon) who starts life again in Arizona,
    where she works at Mel's Diner (whose eponymous owner was played
    by Vic Tayback), alongside fellow waitresses Flo (Polly Holliday)

    "Kiss my grits" was always funny no matter how many times you heard it. Wonder if she's still around.

    Polly Holliday is still alive. She has done quite a few roles, mainly
    small ones, since "Alice" and her own short-lived spin-off series
    "Flo". "Fair Game" in 2010 is her most recent role according to
    IMDB.com.
    <https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0391072/>

    Vic Tayback died in 1990.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From super70s@21:1/5 to Your Name on Mon Dec 30 16:56:19 2024
    On 2024-12-30 20:46:38 +0000, Your Name said:

    On 2024-12-30 13:26:21 +0000, super70s said:

    On 2024-12-30 06:54:35 +0000, Your Name said:

    Lavin established herself as a beloved character actor with her
    decade-long stint on "Alice," the CBS comedy series adapted fromá
    Martin Scorsese's 1974 film "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore,"
    with Ellen Burstyn in the title role.

    I was always curious why the series, unlike the movie, didn't get into
    Alice's personal and home life, it seemed to center exclusively on
    happenings at the diner. That must have tested better.

    A single set makes it much cheaper.

    Yeah that's what I was thinking after I made the post. But other
    sitcoms filmed before a live audience like "All In The Family" seemed
    to have a lot more varied locations. "Alice" must have been done on a
    much smaller budget, not being one of Norman Lear's slam dunk series
    which probably all had a blank check.

    I only saw a few episodes (the usual loud and unfunny American
    "comedy"), but I seem to recall occasional scenes at her home. They
    certainly spent almost the entire time at the diner discussing and
    dealing with their personal life rather than actually serving customers.

    It's been so long since I've seen it the main thing that stuck with me
    was the diner. I don't think it's been shown on channels like TVLand or
    MeTV in ages (if it ever was), but it looks as though CBS ran reruns in
    the morning from June 1980 until Sept. 1982.

    Vic Tayback died in 1990.

    Tayback was the only one who transitioned his character from the movie
    to the series. Diane Ladd was in the movie also and turned up on the
    series in the third season, but as a different character.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Your Name@21:1/5 to All on Tue Dec 31 13:20:44 2024
    On 2024-12-30 22:56:19 +0000, super70s said:

    On 2024-12-30 20:46:38 +0000, Your Name said:

    On 2024-12-30 13:26:21 +0000, super70s said:

    On 2024-12-30 06:54:35 +0000, Your Name said:

    Lavin established herself as a beloved character actor with her
    decade-long stint on "Alice," the CBS comedy series adapted fromá
    Martin Scorsese's 1974 film "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore,"
    with Ellen Burstyn in the title role.

    I was always curious why the series, unlike the movie, didn't get into
    Alice's personal and home life, it seemed to center exclusively on
    happenings at the diner. That must have tested better.

    A single set makes it much cheaper.

    Yeah that's what I was thinking after I made the post. But other
    sitcoms filmed before a live audience like "All In The Family" seemed
    to have a lot more varied locations. "Alice" must have been done on a
    much smaller budget, not being one of Norman Lear's slam dunk series
    which probably all had a blank check.

    I only saw a few episodes (the usual loud and unfunny American
    "comedy"), but I seem to recall occasional scenes at her home. They
    certainly spent almost the entire time at the diner discussing and
    dealing with their personal life rather than actually serving customers.

    It's been so long since I've seen it the main thing that stuck with me
    was the diner. I don't think it's been shown on channels like TVLand or
    MeTV in ages (if it ever was), but it looks as though CBS ran reruns in
    the morning from June 1980 until Sept. 1982.

    The series is currently playing here in New Zealand on the Sky TV
    channel "Jones!", which re-runs lots of old US and UK shows. They are
    playing in blocks of four episodes on Monday mornings.


    One of the episode blurbs says:
    "Alice takes her new boyfriend's four children trick-or-treating.
    However, the trick is on Alice when she discovers she's brought
    home the wrong masked child."

    Possibly that is one not set in the diner.



    Vic Tayback died in 1990.

    Tayback was the only one who transitioned his character from the movie
    to the series. Diane Ladd was in the movie also and turned up on the
    series in the third season, but as a different character.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Adam H. Kerman@21:1/5 to super70s@super70s.invalid on Tue Dec 31 05:52:31 2024
    super70s <super70s@super70s.invalid> wrote:
    On 2024-12-30 20:46:38 +0000, Your Name said:

    Vic Tayback died in 1990.

    Tayback was the only one who transitioned his character from the movie
    to the series. Diane Ladd was in the movie also and turned up on the
    series in the third season, but as a different character.

    Alfred Lutter played Tommy in the pilot. I don't know why Philip
    McKeon played him in the rest of the series.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From super70s@21:1/5 to Your Name on Tue Dec 31 08:24:52 2024
    On 2024-12-31 00:20:44 +0000, Your Name said:

    On 2024-12-30 22:56:19 +0000, super70s said:

    On 2024-12-30 20:46:38 +0000, Your Name said:

    On 2024-12-30 13:26:21 +0000, super70s said:

    On 2024-12-30 06:54:35 +0000, Your Name said:

    Lavin established herself as a beloved character actor with her
    decade-long stint on "Alice," the CBS comedy series adapted fromá
    Martin Scorsese's 1974 film "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore,"
    with Ellen Burstyn in the title role.

    I was always curious why the series, unlike the movie, didn't get into >>>> Alice's personal and home life, it seemed to center exclusively on
    happenings at the diner. That must have tested better.

    A single set makes it much cheaper.

    Yeah that's what I was thinking after I made the post. But other
    sitcoms filmed before a live audience like "All In The Family" seemed
    to have a lot more varied locations. "Alice" must have been done on a
    much smaller budget, not being one of Norman Lear's slam dunk series
    which probably all had a blank check.

    I only saw a few episodes (the usual loud and unfunny American
    "comedy"), but I seem to recall occasional scenes at her home. They
    certainly spent almost the entire time at the diner discussing and
    dealing with their personal life rather than actually serving customers.

    It's been so long since I've seen it the main thing that stuck with me
    was the diner. I don't think it's been shown on channels like TVLand or
    MeTV in ages (if it ever was), but it looks as though CBS ran reruns in
    the morning from June 1980 until Sept. 1982.

    The series is currently playing here in New Zealand on the Sky TV
    channel "Jones!", which re-runs lots of old US and UK shows. They are
    playing in blocks of four episodes on Monday mornings.

    Roku has the Sky News app which I've installed but it looks like Jones!
    is a little too esoteric for them (which is hard to believe considering
    all the esoteric junk they have on there).

    Alice could be available on one of the several other classic TV apps I
    have like Filmrise but I wasn't particularly looking for it when I
    scanned over it.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Ubiquitous@21:1/5 to super70s@super70s.invalid on Thu Jan 2 04:30:42 2025
    In article <vku71t$1l6a1$1@dont-email.me>, super70s@super70s.invalid wrote:
    On 2024-12-30 06:54:35 +0000, Your Name said:

    Lavin established herself as a beloved character actor with her
    decade-long stint on "Alice," the CBS comedy series adapted fromá
    Martin Scorsese's 1974 film "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore,"
    with Ellen Burstyn in the title role.

    I was always curious why the series, unlike the movie, didn't get into >Alice's personal and home life, it seemed to center exclusively on
    happenings at the diner. That must have tested better.

    No, there were several that occurred outside the diner.

    The series, which ran from
    1976-85, starred Lavin as Alice Hyatt, a widow with a young son
    (played by Philip McKeon) who starts life again in Arizona,
    where she works at Mel's Diner (whose eponymous owner was played
    by Vic Tayback), alongside fellow waitresses Flo (Polly Holliday)

    "Kiss my grits" was always funny no matter how many times you heard it. >Wonder if she's still around.

    I never understood what that meant, exactly.
    Is she incontinent? Is there some weird discharge?
    Does her butt have a lumpy consistancy?

    --
    Not a joke! Don't jump!

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Alan Smithee@21:1/5 to Your Name on Fri Jan 3 17:50:39 2025
    On 2024-12-30 08:20 PM, Your Name wrote:
    On 2024-12-30 22:56:19 +0000, super70s said:

    On 2024-12-30 20:46:38 +0000, Your Name said:

    On 2024-12-30 13:26:21 +0000, super70s said:

    On 2024-12-30 06:54:35 +0000, Your Name said:

    Lavin established herself as a beloved character actor with her
    decade-long stint on "Alice," the CBS comedy series adapted from
    Martin Scorsese's 1974 film "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore,"
    with Ellen Burstyn in the title role.

    I was always curious why the series, unlike the movie, didn't get
    into Alice's personal and home life, it seemed to center exclusively
    on happenings at the diner. That must have tested better.

    A single set makes it much cheaper.

    Yeah that's what I was thinking after I made the post. But other
    sitcoms filmed before a live audience like "All In The Family" seemed
    to have a lot more varied locations. "Alice" must have been done on a
    much smaller budget, not being one of Norman Lear's slam dunk series
    which probably all had a blank check.

    I only saw a few episodes (the usual loud and unfunny American
    "comedy"), but I seem to recall occasional scenes at her home. They
    certainly spent almost the entire time at the diner discussing and
    dealing with their personal life rather than actually serving customers.

    It's been so long since I've seen it the main thing that stuck with me
    was the diner. I don't think it's been shown on channels like TVLand
    or MeTV in ages (if it ever was), but it looks as though CBS ran
    reruns in the morning from June 1980 until Sept. 1982.

    The series is currently playing here in New Zealand on the Sky TV
    channel "Jones!", which re-runs lots of old US and UK shows. They are
    playing in blocks of four episodes on Monday mornings.


    One of the episode blurbs says:
    "Alice takes her new boyfriend's four children trick-or-treating.
    However, the trick is on Alice when she discovers she's brought
    home the wrong masked child."

    Possibly that is one not set in the diner.


    "Facts of Life" ripped-off that joke. It was Blair's relative who was
    left behind and a Latina kid who was brought back by mistake.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Your Name@21:1/5 to Alan Smithee on Sat Jan 4 12:25:41 2025
    On 2025-01-03 21:50:39 +0000, Alan Smithee said:
    On 2024-12-30 08:20 PM, Your Name wrote:
    On 2024-12-30 22:56:19 +0000, super70s said:
    On 2024-12-30 20:46:38 +0000, Your Name said:
    On 2024-12-30 13:26:21 +0000, super70s said:
    On 2024-12-30 06:54:35 +0000, Your Name said:

    Lavin established herself as a beloved character actor with her
    decade-long stint on "Alice," the CBS comedy series adapted from
    Martin Scorsese's 1974 film "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore,"
    with Ellen Burstyn in the title role.

    I was always curious why the series, unlike the movie, didn't get
    into Alice's personal and home life, it seemed to center exclusively >>>>> on happenings at the diner. That must have tested better.

    A single set makes it much cheaper.

    Yeah that's what I was thinking after I made the post. But other
    sitcoms filmed before a live audience like "All In The Family" seemed
    to have a lot more varied locations. "Alice" must have been done on a
    much smaller budget, not being one of Norman Lear's slam dunk series
    which probably all had a blank check.

    I only saw a few episodes (the usual loud and unfunny American
    "comedy"), but I seem to recall occasional scenes at her home. They
    certainly spent almost the entire time at the diner discussing and
    dealing with their personal life rather than actually serving customers. >>>
    It's been so long since I've seen it the main thing that stuck with me
    was the diner. I don't think it's been shown on channels like TVLand
    or MeTV in ages (if it ever was), but it looks as though CBS ran
    reruns in the morning from June 1980 until Sept. 1982.

    The series is currently playing here in New Zealand on the Sky TV
    channel "Jones!", which re-runs lots of old US and UK shows. They are
    playing in blocks of four episodes on Monday mornings.


    One of the episode blurbs says:
    "Alice takes her new boyfriend's four children trick-or-treating.
    However, the trick is on Alice when she discovers she's brought
    home the wrong masked child."

    Possibly that is one not set in the diner.

    "Facts of Life" ripped-off that joke. It was Blair's relative who was
    left behind and a Latina kid who was brought back by mistake.

    That idea has probably been used on quite a few shows over the years.
    :-) Sometimes it is a kid in a mask / costume, other times it is simply
    a different baby in an identical-looking pram / buggy.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)