The Trouble Behind the Scenes of TV's 'Alice' Between Linda Lavin & Polly Holiday & Then Diane Ladd

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In 1976, the Alice TV sitcom premiered on CBS. The series was based on the 1974 feature film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Robert Getchell.

Ellen Burstyn played a waitress named Alice Hyatt in the movie and won an Oscar for the part. In the TV adaptation, Linda Lavin played the character, an unemployed widow who travels from New Jersey to Los Angeles with her son Tommy (played by Alfred Lutter III in the pilot, and Philip McKeon afterward) to pursue a music career.

Plans Changed

However, Alice's plans changed when she was hired as a waitress at Mel’s Diner, run by Mel Sharples (played by Vic Tayback) after her car broke down during the cross-country trek.

The show also starred Beth Howland as Vera Louise Gorman, and Polly Holiday as Florence Jean Castleberry, a.k.a. Flo, Alice's sassy, man-hungry co-worker with big orange hair.

That's when the trouble began behind the scenes.

Not So Polly-Anna

Polly Holliday's scene-stealing winning interpretation of Flo, along with her signature catchphrase—"Kiss my grits!"—caused tensions between her and Linda Lavin, who was not pleased with all the attention Holiday received.

The actress earned Emmy nominations in 1978, 1979, and 1980, and she won successive Golden Globes for best supporting actress in 1979 and 1980.

In 1980, Holliday exited Alice to star in the spin-off, Flo, earning an Emmy nomination in 1980 and a Golden Globe nomination in 1981 for best actress.

Holliday also contributed to writing and producing the series, but it was all in vain. Flo failed miserably, and there was no going back to Alice for Holliday.

No Go With the Other Flo Either

Diane Ladd, who played Flo in the original 1974 Alice movie, was cast as Bell, an all-new waitress at Mel's Diner.

Sadly, Linda Lavin and Ladd did not get along either, and Celine Weston was hired to play Jolene Hunnicut, yet another new waitress at Mel's.

This time, there were no personality issues with Lavin, and Weston stayed with the show until its cancellation in 1985.