We are ending our blog series of “One-Named Sitcoms.” Alice is up today, and it’s the only series we talked about this month that lasted more than two seasons and could really be considered a hit.

Debuting in 1976 on CBS, Alice was based on a film from 1974 called Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Ellen Burstyn played the lead in the movie, but the television series went with Linda Lavin.

The plot is that Alice is a widow who moves from New Jersey to Arizona with her son Tommy (Philip McKeon) after her husband passes away. She thought she was on her way to LA to pursue a singing career till her car breaks down in Phoenix. She gets a job at Mel’s Diner run by Mel (Vic Tayback). She becomes best friends with the other waitresses, Vera (Beth Howland) and Flo (Polly Holliday). Rounding out the cast were a few regular customers including Earl (Dave Madden) and Henry (Marvin Kaplan). Mel was always worried about losing customers to Barney’s Burger Barn or Vinnie’s House of Veal.

In 1980 Flo left the show to star in her own spinoff, and things were never the same after that. Diane Ladd took her place for a bit as Belle. (Ladd had played Flo in the original movie version.) She had worked at Mel’s before the other waitresses and had a relationship with Mel. Apparently, Ladd did not have any chemistry with the cast off-screen and she was gone within the season, replaced by Celia Weston as Jolene. However, I also read on imdb that Linda Lavin had trouble getting along with some of the regulars which is what led to not only Ladd but Holliday leaving the show.

With three women in lead roles, the show often tackled issues like the role of females, resolving unfair and demanding workplace issues, the way men treated women, and societal changes that were happening in the mid to late seventies.

While I complain about shows not getting finales, this one was a little too perfectly wrapped up. Alice and her new boyfriend go to Nashville where she gets a recording contract, Vera is married and pregnant and quitting, Jolene is left money by her grandmother and decides to open her own salon, and, surprise, Mel sells the restaurant to a real estate developer for a boatload of money. What the regular customers will do is about the only thing left unknown.

There were two well-known catchphrases that remind us of this show. Flo used to say, often to Mel but others as well, “Kiss my grits.” Mel’s popular comment was “Stow it.”

The show got a coveted spot on the television schedule on Saturday nights after The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Bob Newhart Show, and All in the Family. It finished its first season in the top thirty. Season two both All in the Family and Alice got moved to Sunday nights, which was a good change, because they both finished in the top ten that year. It bounced around from top ten to top thirty for several seasons. In 1982 when it fell out of the top thirty, it was moved to Mondays and then back to Sundays. The next season it started off in the top 30 but then ratings declined. It was on Sunday nights, but it only stayed in that spot part of the year. Six different shows were on during this time slot for the next-to-the-last season. For the final season, it was moved from Sunday to Tuesdays but never made the top thirty again and was canceled for the 1985 season.

The show’s theme was composed by David Shire with lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman. With 157 composing credits and 45 music department credits, Shire worked on a lot of television series and big-screen films, winning two Oscars. Linda Lavin performed it so well before she got her Nashville contract, we knew she could sing.

The exterior shot for the show was a restaurant located at 1747 NW Grand Ave. in Phoenix. From 1976-1985 it went by Mel’s Diner, but now it’s called Pat’s Family Restaurant. If this show was one of your favorites (to be honest, it never was one of mine), you can visit Pat’s and experience a bit of nostalgia. Maybe they’ll let you sing the theme song on your way to a table.