Mel's Diner Alice
First off, I've never seen this. Is the t.v. show alice loosely based on this?
1. Alice (of course)
2. Living in Arizona
3. Son named Tommy
Probably not, but the parallels are there.
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After seeing the diner in this movie compared to the T.V. show, it's painfully obvious that one was a set
shareI always thought it was painfully obvious anyway.
I think the TV "Alice" was filmed in front of a live studio audience. Apparently, Alfred Lutter III, who played Tommy in the film, also reprised the role in the TV pilot, but either left or was replaced for whatever reason. Maybe it clashed with the Bad News Bears movies.
Another obvious carryover was the great Vic Tayback, who played Mel. The use of "dingy" by Mel and "kiss my grits!" by Flo was unique to the TV show. Alice also was an aspiring singer in the show as well.
He was replaced not beause of the Bad News Bears movies but because he was just getting too old and too big to play the smartmouth little kid anymore.
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