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

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.

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.