Alice (TV Series) - Production Information

Production Information

"There's a New Girl in Town", music by David Shire, lyrics by Alan Bergman and Marilyn Bergman; performed by Linda Lavin. Several different arrangements of this tune were used throughout the series' run.

The Mel's Diner set made changes over the years; in the pilot the diner contained a blue refrigerator, but in the series the refrigerator was a dirty stainless steel, then later was changed to clean and shiny stainless steel in 1979-81 and much later an even shinier stainless steel refrigerator and better appliances. However, the rest of the sets remained the same.

The men's and ladies' restrooms were confined to one room in the pilot and during the first season. From 1977-1985, there were separate restrooms with "Ladies" and "Men" written on them.

The storeroom was inside the diner where the Men's restroom would later be and said "Private" on it during the 1976-1977 season. The storeroom from 1977 to 1985 was confined to the back of the diner. Here, the waitresses took their breaks, had their lockers, and stored their uniforms. Mel also conducted his business from this space.

The payphone was a touch tone and was located on the left of the "Restrooms" door in the pilot episode. For the first season, it was moved to the right of the doors that led to the kitchen section of the diner. For the second season, it was moved to the wall between the two doors that became two separate restrooms and was replaced by a phone with a rotary dial. From 1978 to 1985, the phone was a touch tone and was located at a section that was a few steps away from the entrance to the diner.

In the first season, the diner was decorated in an Aztec and Cowboy motif to accommodate the feel of Arizona. For the second season, the walls had pink wallpaper with red lines on it. For the third season, the walls had wallpaper with orange leaves on it.

Alice's apartment remained more or less unchanged during most of the show's run; Vera's apartment and Flo's trailer were occasionally seen. (The set for Flo's trailer was also used on the spinoff Flo.)

The pilot episode was taped at CBS Television City in Hollywood, California. After this, the series was taped at The Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California.