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

On 12/30/2024 12:46 PM, Your Name wrote:

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.
 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.
 

I don't remember the show very well any more, but I know I loved watching it when I was a kid, and they definitely had scenes outside of the diner.  It never occurred to me until now that shows like this filmed on a single set to save money.  I guess that was true of most sitcoms, even if they did have the occasional away from office/house episode.
If you ever get the chance take a studio tour.  Warners is probably the best.  You'll get to see some sitcom standing sets.

 

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/>
 

I just watched a video about Polly Holliday the other day and was surprised by how many movies I saw her in without realizing she was "Flo" from Alice.

Vic Tayback died in 1990.