Alice (TV Series) - Ongoing Gags and Catchphrases

Ongoing Gags and Catchphrases

Flo's catchphrase, "Kiss my grits!" enjoyed widespread popularity at the time the character appeared on Alice. According to Polly Holliday, the line was originally written as "Kiss my honeydew!", but did not get any laughs. (In the original film, Flo, as played by Diane Ladd, tells Mel in one scene to "kiss me where the sun don't shine.") Another of Flo's catchphrases was "When donkeys fly!" Since her portrayal of Flo, Polly Holliday has refused to repeat her famous "grits" line.

In an attempt to duplicate the success of Flo's "Kiss my grits!" Belle expressed a new put-down: "Butter my biscuits!" Belle often used the phrase, "My little voice", who called her "Isabelle", which she usually used when starting to tell others what she thinks is best.

Mel would snipe, "Stow it!" at anyone he had qualms with, especially his waitstaff. "Stow it!" was usually followed by either "Alice", "Vera", "Flo", or "Blondie" (in reference to Jolene). He would also bark, "Bag it, Blondie!" to Jolene. Whenever Vera would make one of her dumb remarks, someone was bound to say sarcastically, "Good, Vera". He eventually gave Vera the nickname "Dinghy".

In a handful of episodes, Alice put on a double-breasted suit and fedora to assume the character of husky-voiced "Sam Butler", a mobster she made up as a ruse to fool her intended target. Linda Lavin also played the role of Mrs. Walden, Vera's wizened and abrasive landlady of arbitrary foreign origin in the last season, once even playing both Alice and Mrs. Walden in a split-screen dual role.

Part of Mel's Diner was often destroyed, such as by Flo's crashing a truck through the front, Mel's chopping down a tree, which landed in the diner, Mel's accidentally having the building targeted for demolition, and the waitresses' crashing a hot air balloon through the roof. Upon crashing through the roof with the hot air balloon, Jolene cries, "We went to the bad place and it looks just like Mel's!"

Mel was a stickler for punctuality. In the fourth season, Mel installs a time clock, which ends up working to the waitresses' advantage due to significant overtime, and he finally throws it into the trash. Mel also had a strict rule against moonlighting, often leading to one or more waitresses getting fired. But of course Mel always rehired them before the end of each episode.

Mel's food and cooking were constantly criticized by his waitresses and customers alike, especially Henry, who always blamed it for his indigestion. However, Mel's chili was popular and became a plot point of several episodes. During the first season, a newspaper food critic (played by Victor Buono) dropped dead while eating Mel's chili, but it turned out that Peking Duck from a Chinese restaurant was to blame. Guest star Art Carney in one episode was to be the spokesperson for retail distribution of Mel's Chili ("Chili con Carney") but backed out when he discovered Vera was a distant relative with part ownership in the venture. The popularity of Mel's Chili also led to an appearance on Dinah Shore's talk show, which led to some bickering among the waitresses because Mel could take only one person along, but of course all ended up going. Mel refused to reveal his "secret ingredient" to Dinah and her TV audience during the cooking demonstration.

Flo was supposed to be in her mid-to-late 40s when the show premiered, but Polly Holliday was only 39. Alice was supposed to be 35, but Linda Lavin is just three months younger than Holliday. Vera was occasionally referred to as a "kid", presumed to be in her late 20s, but Beth Howland was 35.

The shot of Vera with the "exploding straws" was the only one used during the opening credits for the entire run of the series, with the exception of the pilot episode, which had no scenes from Mel's Diner in the opening.