Plot

This sitcom spun off from the Martin Scorsese movie Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore deals with the misadventures and trials of aspiring singer Alice Hyatt, her son Tommy, and her co-workers at a greasy-spoon diner in Phoenix, Arizona.

A greasy-spoon diner in Phoenix, Arizona is the setting for this long-running series. The title character, Alice Hyatt, is an aspiring singer who arrives in Phoenix with her teen-age son Tommy, after the death of her truck-driver husband. Alice is hired at a diner owned by Mel Sharples, a gravel-voiced, male-chauvinist fry cook. She waitresses at Mel's Diner while awaiting her big break. Her fellow waitresses are raucous redhead Flo and naïve Vera. Flo is later replaced by Southern blonde Belle, who is soon replaced by spunky curly-haired Jolene. Alice and her friends experience several interesting years together at Mel's Diner, which is frequented by quirky truckers, repairmen, and other blue-collar types, and by several Hollywood celebrities who appear as themselves.—Kevin McCorry <mmccorry@nb.sympatico.ca>

After her husband Don's death, Alice Hyatt is on her way to Hollywood with son Tommy to become a singer when her car breaks down in Phoenix, Arizona. She has no money so she takes a job at Mel's Diner. Mel Sharples is a loud, cheap man who pays very little. Alice's co-workers are the man-hungry Florence (Flo) Jean Castlebury and the ditzy but lovable Vera Louise Gorman. Flo leaves for a hostess job and is replaced by Belle Dupree, another aspiring singer who only stays around for about a year before attaining her dream; she's replaced by sarcastic ex-truck-driver Jolene. Many interesting people were regular customers, such as Henry and Earl. In later seasons, Vera married to the lovable Elliot.—CODY