Why is Linda Lavin hated?

Was she as big a bitch as they say?

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by Anonymousreply 600July 13, 2022 1:23 AM

Have you heard her “sing”?

by Anonymousreply 2July 4, 2022 7:18 AM

She was apparently unpleasant and demanding. That might mean she was unpleasant and demanding, or it might mean she refused to suck a cock. It was the seventies.

by Anonymousreply 3July 4, 2022 7:19 AM

Didn't she drive Polly Holiday and whoever replaced her from Alice due to her cuntiness?

by Anonymousreply 4July 4, 2022 7:21 AM

I for one like her, even her singing voice, it’s very soothing. Back when Napster was a thing, I actually downloaded the Alice theme song!

by Anonymousreply 5July 4, 2022 7:24 AM

Funniest thing -- the saddest part -- is, I never knew why.

by Anonymousreply 6July 4, 2022 7:30 AM

Her real secret to aging well is endless plastic surgery

by Anonymousreply 7July 4, 2022 7:36 AM

She was stellar on her episode of Rhoda.

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by Anonymousreply 8July 4, 2022 7:40 AM

I thought Holliday left Alice because of the mania for spinoffs of successful sitcoms in that era. That golden-goose mentality led to the dilution of some strong ensemble casts, and many of the spinoffs were forgettable and didn't last.

Diane Ladd (who'd been Oscar-nominated for originating Flo in the Scorsese movie) was the initial replacement as a new waitress named Belle, but she only lasted a season. Ladd was painted as the villain in most accounts, for clashing with everyone. Then Celia Weston was brought on as still another new waitress, and she remained for the rest of the run.

I guess it's possible that Lavin and Holliday feuded, though. It would explain why Holliday never guest starred, nor did she return when there was an opening post-Ladd. If they didn't get along, they prefigured SJP and Kim Cattrall. Ensemble female-led show with a main character who's first among equals. Co-star who plays the "saucy," quotable character and gets a lot of attention. Resentment ensues. Holliday was definitely the breakout star of Alice, and it wasn't as good once she left.

by Anonymousreply 10July 4, 2022 7:53 AM

I'm more popular than that cunt!

by Anonymousreply 12July 4, 2022 1:43 PM

At least Ron was able to trade up to Jessica Walter.

That was some recompense from the "Lavin Years."

by Anonymousreply 13July 4, 2022 1:49 PM

Andrea Martin’s Linda Lavin is one of the best celebrity impressions ever

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by Anonymousreply 14July 4, 2022 1:51 PM

Because her perceived arrogance and cunty-ness far exceed her talent.

by Anonymousreply 16July 4, 2022 2:06 PM

Because her coffee was worse than Mel's

by Anonymousreply 18July 4, 2022 2:09 PM

R14- Second City should have been called THIRD Rate City- It was never 👎 a funny show.

by Anonymousreply 19July 4, 2022 2:10 PM

Alice was such a weird movie-to-TV-show transition. Even though both versions had Vic Tayback (and ultimately Diane Ladd, for a while), the tone was so different. I still don't see how anyone watched that movie and thought, "This has potential as a sitcom!" It's like if someone today made a sitcom out of Nomadland, with a laugh track while the character searches her van for the shitting bucket.

But it ran for nine seasons, so what do I know?

Ellen Burstyn and Linda Lavin were completely different in the main role. The big plot thread running through both versions was that the character wants so badly to realize her dream of being a singer, and she's still holding on to that dream while doing other things like waitressing. Burstyn was very poignant, because she was just a fairly attractive woman who could "get through" a song. There was nothing special about her as a musical performer. With Lavin, even though she's not to my taste, I never forgot I was watching a Broadway veteran. (Still, I recall one episode in which she performed in a show and was crushed when the local reviewer described her as "adequate.")

by Anonymousreply 20July 4, 2022 2:18 PM

R20- Say what you will about Linda Lavin but she has FAR MORE talent than that red haired woman with the Nicholas Bradford hairstyle on that other CBS sitcom.

by Anonymousreply 21July 4, 2022 2:23 PM

I'm thinking Bonnie Franklin, with the reference to a Nicholas Bradford hairstyle.

by Anonymousreply 23July 4, 2022 3:09 PM

Perhaps Linda should have went bra-less under her waitress uniform.

God knows, Howland went commando under her's.

by Anonymousreply 24July 4, 2022 3:27 PM

Polly Holliday and Fannie Flagg do [italic]Match Game '77.[/italic] Poor Polly is positively recoiling from Gene Rayburn.

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by Anonymousreply 25July 4, 2022 3:28 PM

I wonder if Linda got a case of the giggles when Polly's spin off flopped. I wonder if she called up Polly and asked her to return to the show.

by Anonymousreply 26July 4, 2022 3:31 PM

Wasn't Polly also thought to be "difficult'?

What was the premise of her spinoff?

by Anonymousreply 27July 4, 2022 3:42 PM

R27, the premise was Flo moving back to Texas to open her own country-and-western bar, Flo's Yellow Rose.

Polly Holliday has had a love–hate relationship with Flo. The character made her famous, but as a stage actress she could reportedly come across snooty on set. According to friends and acquaintances who've met her (she graduated from my alma mater), she's come to resent fans who think she's just like Flo in real life. (She's actually a rather chilly Southern-belle type.)

by Anonymousreply 29July 4, 2022 4:03 PM

I get a LESBIAN vibe from her in spite of her being married to a man.

by Anonymousreply 30July 4, 2022 4:11 PM

I had that hussy's number from the outset.

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by Anonymousreply 32July 4, 2022 4:12 PM

the best parody that I think tells the story of what she might be really like.....

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by Anonymousreply 35July 4, 2022 4:46 PM

squinty eyeballs and over singing.

by Anonymousreply 36July 4, 2022 4:53 PM

That SCTV is really funny.

by Anonymousreply 37July 4, 2022 5:17 PM

Broadway grooms divas. Look at Betty Buckley and Patti Lupone, both of whom feel that television work is beneath them and expect to be treated like royalty on the set. Linda Lavin is the same way.

by Anonymousreply 38July 4, 2022 6:42 PM

I preferred her when she used to be sad... used to be shy.

by Anonymousreply 39July 4, 2022 6:45 PM

I wonder if the ghost of Phillip McKeon ever haunts her while she's sleeping.

by Anonymousreply 40July 4, 2022 6:50 PM

I have firsthand knowledge of what a bitch she is.

I saw her in The Lyons on Broadway and we were both eating at the same restaurant after the show. She walked by my table and I told her I enjoyed the show. She could not have been more dismissive, basically waving me off like some grand lady who was annoyed to be acknowledged by a nobody.

I have hated her ever since.

by Anonymousreply 42July 4, 2022 6:54 PM

She made me clean her dressing room toilet.

by Anonymousreply 43July 4, 2022 6:56 PM

[quote]She walked by my table and I told her I enjoyed the show. She could not have been more dismissive.

I would have told her to get me another coffee and the dessert menu.

by Anonymousreply 44July 4, 2022 6:57 PM

Not even a simple Thank You. That's pretty bad.

by Anonymousreply 45July 4, 2022 7:05 PM

[quote] [R20]- Say what you will about Linda Lavin but she has FAR MORE talent than that red haired woman with the Nicholas Bradford hairstyle on that other CBS sitcom.

I was waiting to see how many posts until there would be a reference to Bonnie Franklin. Answer: 21. On DataLounge, every Linda Lavin thread must mention Bonnie Franklin, and every Bonnie Franklin thread must mention Linda Lavin. The two are inseparable.

by Anonymousreply 46July 4, 2022 7:09 PM

R27. Polly Holliday is a massive CUNT

by Anonymousreply 48July 4, 2022 7:13 PM

Yes, but Polly is a good actress. Linda is a cunt and she stinks.

by Anonymousreply 50July 4, 2022 7:15 PM

Helloooooooooo! Remember me? It's me, Linda Lavin. I think you forgot to invite me to Sondheim's birthday extravaganza. I'm available to do a song. Please add me to the list.

by Anonymousreply 51July 4, 2022 7:16 PM

The Celia Weston years are when the show becomes a glorified ego trip for Lavin. She started that grotesque sitcom trope of playing a dual character, with that awful Russian lady. And poor Vera's wedding, where more time is spent on Linda's number (in a huge close up) than Vera's nuptials.

[quote]I thought Holliday left Alice because of the mania for spinoffs of successful sitcoms in that era. That golden-goose mentality led to the dilution of some strong ensemble casts, and many of the spinoffs were forgettable and didn't last.

It was both. Flo was a huge audience favorite, and the tension with Linda and Polly was making it a difficult environment. Linda was not happy with Polly's success.

When Linda won the Golden Globe (around the time that Polly left to do her own show) Linda and Beth are sitting up front, while Polly and Vic (who were very good friends off camera) were sitting in the back. Not the usual seating for the Globes, where TV casts sit together.

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by Anonymousreply 53July 4, 2022 7:19 PM

Doctors have now revealed that Ron Liebman & Jessica Walter's recent deaths can both be attributed to the rare, but toxic and contagious, Lavinpox that spread through Hollywood in the 1970s.

by Anonymousreply 54July 4, 2022 7:20 PM

she and Tyne Daily are heavily overrated

by Anonymousreply 55July 4, 2022 7:21 PM

No way. Tyne Daly is a terrific actress. There is no comparison.

by Anonymousreply 57July 4, 2022 7:25 PM

Linda Lavin was really really good as Alice Hyatt. I cannot imagine anyone else in that role. Forget about the movie, okay? It’s too different for comparison. I liked Linda in dual roles as Vera’s landlady. Funny shit!

Diane Ladd paled in comparison to Polly Holiday as Belle and Flo. I didn’t like the character Belle.

Celia Weston was good as Jolene Hunnicutt. Jump back!

Beth Howland was Vera Gorman. Great acting and casting.

Vic Tayback was Mel Sharples. Great acting and casting. Martha Raye was hysterical as his mom Carrie!

by Anonymousreply 58July 4, 2022 7:32 PM

Apparently Beth BHowalnd left behind a memoir entitled "Mel, That Bitch, & Me," but her estate dares not publish it until everyone from "Alice" is dead.

by Anonymousreply 59July 4, 2022 7:33 PM

On June 27th, Linda celebrated her most recent solo album, "Love Notes," in a concert at Manhattan's Birdland Jazz Club. She was joined by her longtime collaborator, pianist and singer Billy Stritch, who led a band including Aaron Weinstein on violin and mandolin.

Who wants to hear this 84-year-old attempt to sing?

by Anonymousreply 60July 4, 2022 7:33 PM

Some theatre types think she’s a good actress. They also like Sutton Foster and that actress who stunk up Designing Women for its last season.

by Anonymousreply 61July 4, 2022 7:33 PM

R55 As an actress everything Tyne Daly does is the same. She plays herself. I know when she's about to pause in a sentence.

On a positive side, when her father (James Daly) died and left everything to his male partner, she would not take sides with her mother, divorced from Dad, who thought she was entitled to the money. Mom last the case.

by Anonymousreply 62July 4, 2022 7:43 PM

She isn’t hated by me. Alice was one of my favorite sitcoms growing up.

by Anonymousreply 63July 4, 2022 7:44 PM

Fuck, she looks like Voldemort in that picture!

by Anonymousreply 64July 4, 2022 7:45 PM

R63 here. I typed too quickly, should have been "Mom LOST the case."

by Anonymousreply 65July 4, 2022 7:46 PM

Someone who used to work on the set of Alice once told me that Martha Raye couldn't stand Linda. Every time Martha would guest star disagreements would erupt into shouting matches between the two.

by Anonymousreply 66July 4, 2022 7:58 PM

[quote] Martha Raye couldn't stand Linda. Every time Martha would guest star disagreements would erupt into shouting matches between the two.

Linda and Martha may not have gotten along, but together they gave us 2 of the finest minutes ever to air on television.

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by Anonymousreply 68July 4, 2022 8:04 PM

Martha Raye used to scare me on this show.

She always looked so sinister and then she hooked up with that kooky queen who was always going on about fucking her.

by Anonymousreply 69July 4, 2022 8:04 PM

Martha would take out her dentures and give the crew guys on "Alice" gumjobs. They always looked forward to her guest appearances.

by Anonymousreply 70July 4, 2022 8:04 PM

Marta was Carrie Sharples.

She wore dentures and was an old loudmouth bitch

by Anonymousreply 71July 4, 2022 8:06 PM

I heard Linda flashes her beaver when she sings these days!

by Anonymousreply 73July 4, 2022 8:33 PM

I used to hear that Raye was a splendid jazz singer, but I was skeptical until I listened to her early records. She was terrific.

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by Anonymousreply 74July 4, 2022 8:36 PM

That clip posted at R68 is everything that was wrong with 1970s sitcoms.

by Anonymousreply 75July 4, 2022 8:37 PM

I wonder if Linda Lavin ever slapped anyone on set. I could totally see that happening.

by Anonymousreply 76July 4, 2022 9:00 PM

That blows me away R74 ! I only ever knew her as a loud,fat old lady. She sounds perfect for that era,and she was quite lovely . Color me shocked !

by Anonymousreply 77July 4, 2022 9:01 PM

I’m watching season 2 of Alice now!

by Anonymousreply 78July 4, 2022 9:02 PM

[quote] I heard Linda flashes her beaver when she sings these days!

Linda and Martha practically WERE flashing beaver in the clip at R68. My God!

by Anonymousreply 79July 4, 2022 9:04 PM

That SCTV skit was no funnier the second time it was in this thread than it was the first time. I don't think I've ever seen an SCTV skit that is as funny as people claim it is.

by Anonymousreply 81July 4, 2022 9:17 PM

R58 & R63 -- thanks for providing some counterpoint. I heartily agree.

That being said, I relish every LL thread that comes along, even though she gets ripped to shreds.

by Anonymousreply 82July 4, 2022 9:21 PM

Yeah,I loved Alice too. Tommy mostly,but Flo was a kick.

by Anonymousreply 83July 4, 2022 9:26 PM

I’m watching the Christmas episode in season 2! They’re all in a semi

by Anonymousreply 84July 4, 2022 9:31 PM

Linda never gave anyone a semi.

by Anonymousreply 85July 4, 2022 9:34 PM

[quote] Polly Holliday is a massive CUNT

She just grew tired of fans yelling "Kiss my grits!", or repeatedly asking her to say the catchphrase. Who wouldn't be a cunt to these people?

by Anonymousreply 86July 4, 2022 9:35 PM

R85 Flo just asked Alice to switch seats with her in the semi cab because her fanny was asleep.

by Anonymousreply 87July 4, 2022 9:36 PM

The first season theme was THE best.

They could revive the series and just hire back the FIRST Tommy.

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by Anonymousreply 88July 4, 2022 9:37 PM

Is there a sitcom in history, except maybe Lucy, where one of the supporting players didn't become the breakout hit and pissed off the star?

by Anonymousreply 89July 4, 2022 9:38 PM

Our Alice Hyatt was good as Meadow's shrink on The Sopranos.

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by Anonymousreply 90July 4, 2022 9:39 PM

I never warmed to Jolene, even though Celia is a great character actress, and has more than made her mark in the years since Alice. Diane was a perfect replacement for Polly, who was for all practical purposes, was irreplaceable. Even Diane couldn’t stand to be on little more than one season. Linda started pulling her diva bullshit with her, so she left. Polly warned Diane with an ominous good luck and Diane found out real quick what that meant. Vic, Beth and Celia when she joined, learned not to steal Linda’s thunder, and that’s why they were on the show for so long. I liked Lavin on the show, but everyone knew it was hell behind the scenes.

by Anonymousreply 91July 4, 2022 9:42 PM

A rather prominent chin area.

by Anonymousreply 92July 4, 2022 9:44 PM

[quote] I wonder if Linda Lavin ever slapped anyone on set. I could totally see that happening.

That was my trick, bitch!

by Anonymousreply 93July 4, 2022 9:44 PM

Jolene Hunnicutt was a fave. She often spoke about Granny Gums.

by Anonymousreply 94July 4, 2022 9:46 PM

Mel went to Alice’s house for brunch and hurt his back changing her water cooler bottle. He wore his Farrah Fawcett t-shirt. Now he’s schlepping on her foldaway couch until he can walk.

by Anonymousreply 95July 4, 2022 9:59 PM

Every third episode, the writers were forced to conjure up a scenario so Linda could show off her singing and dancing talents.

by Anonymousreply 96July 4, 2022 10:00 PM

I think Beth Howland was just happy to have a steady gig and a nice paycheck, so she stayed out of Linda's way.

by Anonymousreply 97July 4, 2022 10:02 PM

After the cancellation of Flo, Polly went blind and begged her sister Rose to come take care of her.

by Anonymousreply 99July 4, 2022 10:56 PM

^ and she did it in the worst imitation of a Minnesota accent you ever heard in your life!

by Anonymousreply 100July 4, 2022 11:20 PM

Alice was the Barbra Streisand of Mel’s Diner

by Anonymousreply 101July 4, 2022 11:23 PM

^ I don't know about that...but somebody sure stole a lot of my tips while I was working with her.

by Anonymousreply 102July 4, 2022 11:27 PM

I know about that r102 because that was a line from the script I read in 1977.

Stupid fucker

by Anonymousreply 103July 4, 2022 11:29 PM

Linda and Beth Howland lived near each other, and carpooled to the set together for the first several seasons. But Beth was a chainsmoker, and eventually Linda couldn’t stand showing up to work reeking of ciggies. And Valerie Harper told me that she and Beth were roommates in Hollywood when they were dancing in the movie version of “L’il Abner” in 1959, and would take the bus down Melrose Avenue at the crack of dawn every morning to get to the Paramount Lot. And that Beth was just as lovably neurotic as she was as Vera on Alice and Amy in Company in real life. Every morning, she would be in a panic that they’d be late, while Valerie, who was as laid back and funny as Rhoda, would have to calm BH down. That same conversation, VH told that she introduced the word “Feeb” to Jim Brooks, as it was a term she and her friends used growing up in NJ. Hence, The “Feeb” episode of MTM.

by Anonymousreply 104July 4, 2022 11:31 PM

^ Don't believe everything you read in a script R103

by Anonymousreply 105July 4, 2022 11:32 PM

I don't know if it was because those polyester uniforms held a lot of odors or what...

but Alice Hyatt didn't smell so fresh...if you know what I mean.

by Anonymousreply 106July 4, 2022 11:35 PM

Per IMDB:

Why did Flo leave Mel's diner?

Allegedly Linda Lavin had trouble getting along with her co-stars, which is why Polly Holliday and Diane Ladd left the show.

by Anonymousreply 107July 4, 2022 11:38 PM

^^^ ALSO Diane Ladd wasn’t popular with fans of the show as Belle.

by Anonymousreply 108July 5, 2022 12:17 AM

[quote]But Beth was a chainsmoker, and eventually Linda couldn’t stand showing up to work reeking of ciggies.

Linda also smoked back then.

by Anonymousreply 109July 5, 2022 12:42 AM

R108 the show ranked number 7 for Ladds full season. That’s higher than more than half of Hollidays four seasons. Belle wasn’t as entertaining as Flo, but they would’ve kept Diane if she agreed to stay.

by Anonymousreply 110July 5, 2022 1:00 AM

At what age is she too old to sing that she's a new girl in town?

by Anonymousreply 111July 5, 2022 1:21 AM

Did the details of the death of the actor who played Tommy ever come to light?

by Anonymousreply 112July 5, 2022 1:44 AM

Maybe it was that turtle's beak of a mouth?

She is one ugly and unpleasant looking bitch.

by Anonymousreply 113July 5, 2022 1:46 AM

I wonder how Linda was not nice on the set? Was she Cybil crazy or Roseanne crazy? She's worked steady for all these years, so someone must like her.

by Anonymousreply 114July 5, 2022 1:53 AM

That is a publclity photo. Linda Lavin will be starring as Lady Elaine Fairchild in the live action movie of "Mr. Roger's Neigborhood"

by Anonymousreply 115July 5, 2022 1:55 AM

She was on B Positive wich sadly got canceled. I liked it a lot. They always cancel shows i like.

by Anonymousreply 116July 5, 2022 2:01 AM

R120 your shit numbers do not reflect how the fans of the show felt. It’s common knowledge that Belle was unpopular. She was completely overlooked during flashbacks during the season 9 finale.

by Anonymousreply 117July 5, 2022 2:03 AM

The Flo series initially was a big hit as a spring replacement series, but CBS may have overestimated the audience's devotion to the character. In Flo's first full season, they moved it to Saturdays, first at 8:30, then at 9, and Saturday was a strong ABC night at the time. The Love Boat, one of Flo's direct competitors, was in the top 5. Flo did a fast fade and wasn't renewed.

Another popular supporting character with the same name, Florence, the maid on The Jeffersons, had an unsuccessful spinoff at the same time. Florence left George and Weezy's employment to manage a hotel. But Marla Gibbs just returned to the parent series when Checking In flopped after four episodes.

Sometimes characters who are amusing in support lose something as the main attraction, and networks never learn that lesson. Joey Tribbiani is a more recent example.

by Anonymousreply 118July 5, 2022 2:20 AM

I wanted Geoffrey Lewis on Flo to do bad things to me.

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by Anonymousreply 119July 5, 2022 2:25 AM

Like most smart actors, Marla had it negotiated into her contract that if Checking In didn't make it, she should be brought back to the mothership. The same thing happened with Joanie and Chachi spin-off of Happy Days and the Sandra Clark spin off of 227. I guess Polly's agent didn't negotiate that for her.

by Anonymousreply 120July 5, 2022 2:27 AM

R119 I had a thing for Geoffrey Lewis too ! We must have been some hard up baby gaylings !

by Anonymousreply 121July 5, 2022 2:29 AM

[quote] Another popular supporting character with the same name, Florence, the maid on The Jeffersons, had an unsuccessful spinoff at the same time. ... Sometimes characters who are amusing in support lose something as the main attraction, and networks never learn that lesson.

"The Ropers" was yet another example of this, also around the same time. There was a whole slew of failed spinoffs in the late '70s and early '80s, but the networks never learned.

by Anonymousreply 122July 5, 2022 2:29 AM

OMG ! I had NO idea he was Juliette Lewis father !!!!

by Anonymousreply 123July 5, 2022 2:29 AM

The Ropers got screwed, but Mr. Furley was just so great. There was just no way to integrate them back into the regular show.

by Anonymousreply 124July 5, 2022 2:32 AM

At least Polly got to be in Gremlins post-Alice.

Many people who grew up in the '80s and '90s probably know her better as the mean Mrs. Deagle from Gremlins. She was perfect in the role.

by Anonymousreply 125July 5, 2022 2:49 AM

[quote] That SCTV skit was no funnier the second time it was in this thread than it was the first time. I don't think I've ever seen an SCTV skit that is as funny as people claim it is.

I didn't post that clip, but I think it and SCTV in general are hilarious.

You, on the other hand, are a sour bitch.

by Anonymousreply 126July 5, 2022 2:55 AM

R125- Let's not forget her pivotal role as Gloria Chaney in Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)

by Anonymousreply 127July 5, 2022 3:06 AM

R117 then how do you explain the ratings mastermind? I’m not making these up they are Nielsen numbers. Anyone cast was going to be less than what Holliday brought to the character of Flo. With Weston the ratings got progressively worse. Ladd was a bigger name than the unknown Weston at the time and had the cache of being in the film. There was no reason to change yet another waitress in a little over one year if Ladd had stayed.

by Anonymousreply 128July 5, 2022 3:08 AM

Isn’t the real question Why is Sada Thompson hated?

by Anonymousreply 129July 5, 2022 3:14 AM

I don’t think so r125. I’m in the generation you mentioned and I don’t remember her being in Gremlins. Flo was her namesake role

by Anonymousreply 130July 5, 2022 3:15 AM

And another pressing question…how did someone as stupid as Geoffrey Lewis have a career? Nice rug, Geoffrey.

by Anonymousreply 131July 5, 2022 3:16 AM

If I had a gun with two bullets and was in a room with Joyce Bulifant and Saddam Hussein, I’d shoot Joyce twice.

by Anonymousreply 132July 5, 2022 3:18 AM

Beth Howland “lovably neurotic”? More like insufferable.

by Anonymousreply 133July 5, 2022 3:20 AM

^^No that’s you, insufferable

by Anonymousreply 134July 5, 2022 3:23 AM

Linda Lavin in Broadway Bound, one of the greatest performances I've ever seen.

by Anonymousreply 136July 5, 2022 3:34 AM

"Linda Lavin is a hateful and talentless cunt" is one of those Datalounge canards that exhausts me.

"Cunt" I'll believe. But I've rarely seen attacks on her talent from people who have seen her onstage.

Having seen her in THE TALE OF THE ALLERGIST'S WIFE (twice), COLLECTED STORIES, THE NEW CENTURY, the D.C. tryout of the FOLLIES revival, OTHER DESERT CITIES (Off-Broadway) and THE LYONS, I'm here to tell you that she's a fantastic stage actress. Not only does she have razor-sharp comic timing, but she can be mesmerizing in a serious vein. (The Act 1 curtain of OTHER DESERT CITIES was riveting in her hands -- but much less so on Broadway with the talented but overpraised Judith Light.)

by Anonymousreply 137July 5, 2022 3:59 AM

Whether she is or isn’t a cunt is besides the point I guess. She’s worked non stop on tv, including other series, and Broadway for 37 years after Alice ended. So whatever she’s doing is clearly working for her. With Alice, she might’ve been cunt extraordinare because she really felt it was the Linda Lavin show, but I’ve heard no horror stories of her beyond Alice.

by Anonymousreply 138July 5, 2022 4:19 AM

R139 Linda looks constipated

by Anonymousreply 140July 5, 2022 4:27 AM

Bonnie slapped me moments before that picture was taken.

by Anonymousreply 141July 5, 2022 4:31 AM

Can any man watch that clip at r68 and not become gay?

by Anonymousreply 142July 5, 2022 4:38 AM

Whenever Linda Lavin tries to REALLY act, she rolls up her tongue and over-enunciates and starts talking with a weird Irish accent!

I believe she's a nice Jewish girl from the Bronx, yet when she basically had to fucking PLAY HERSELF in Neil Simon's vastly overpraised "Broadway Bound" she had a weird Irish accent!

Naturally she won a Tony. She was awful, trust me.

by Anonymousreply 143July 5, 2022 5:33 AM

R109, Linda may have been a casual smoker back then (many actors were, with notable exceptions of Cloris Leachman and Tony Randall,) but nowhere as near as rabidly as Beth Howland. They wrote it into a episode of “Alice,” and her death from lung cancer says it all. Four packs a day for sixty years. And R143, the Bronx? Linda’s from Portland, ME. I distinctly remember her doing the Irish brogue in Gypsy, but never in Broadway Bound, and I saw it many times, because my friend, the late, great Phil Sterling played her husband. You want to talk about lousy in Bway Bound, let’s discuss Joan Rivers, who laughed at her own punchlines.

by Anonymousreply 144July 5, 2022 5:47 AM

Linda was still smoking in the late 90s. She talked about it in interviews.

by Anonymousreply 145July 5, 2022 5:50 AM

Joan got good notices in BB, r144.

by Anonymousreply 146July 5, 2022 5:56 AM

Linda is still smoking ... HOT!

by Anonymousreply 147July 5, 2022 6:02 AM

[quote]Linda looks constipated

That's weird, because I remember her sharting a lot on the set of "Alice".

We were always having to replace her waitress uniform.

by Anonymousreply 148July 5, 2022 6:06 AM

Would Linda have made a better Ann Romano?

by Anonymousreply 149July 5, 2022 6:14 AM

Hitler would have made a better Ann Romano.

by Anonymousreply 150July 5, 2022 6:15 AM

Linda may have been a cunt years ago, but friends who know her now adore her.

Polly Holliday is a goddess, and I don't care how chilly she really is.. Flo is an iconic Texas character on-par with JR Ewing.

And this thread is everything I fucking love about DL.

by Anonymousreply 151July 5, 2022 6:16 AM

Even the gremlins treated me better than Linda!

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by Anonymousreply 152July 5, 2022 6:16 AM

And don't tell me Alice Hyatt didn't steal tips...

I worked at that diner for years - and my tips never went missing until that gal from New Jersey showed up!

I had to ride the bus!

by Anonymousreply 153July 5, 2022 6:19 AM

[quote]She just grew tired of fans yelling "Kiss my grits!", or repeatedly asking her to say the catchphrase. Who wouldn't be a cunt to these people?

The bane of the sitcom star's existence. I read an interview with Susie Essman, who has played Susie Greene on Curb Your Enthusiasm for 22 years now. She said people are always coming up to her in the supermarket or on the street and asking her to be the character and call them a "fat fuck" or "four-eyed fuck" or otherwise curse them out. She seems to have a good attitude about it, but I'm sure it gets old. And Curb is a cable "niche" show with a modest audience, nothing like Alice had in the dark days of so few viewing options.

by Anonymousreply 154July 5, 2022 6:26 AM

Yeah it's kind of a double-edged sword. You get the fame, the big money and steady work from a series, but you're forever identified with your character and everywhere you go people treat you as if you're that character and want you to "act" for them. I'm sure it's frustrating and annoying when you just want to go about your day and every five minutes somebody is coming up to you and want you to do your whole character for them.

by Anonymousreply 155July 5, 2022 6:29 AM

[quote]And Curb is a cable "niche" show with a modest audience, nothing like Alice had in the dark days of so few viewing options.

The numbers that tv shows got back in the days when there were only three networks are astounding now. Even some crappy show on a random night could get as many as 30 million viewers. That is unheard of today.

by Anonymousreply 156July 5, 2022 6:32 AM

Linda Lavin = Kate Jackson. The star around whom the show was developed. Beth Howland = Jaclyn Smith. The one who kept her head down and did her thing for the whole run. Polly Holliday = Farrah Fawcett. The breakout star who made an early departure. Diane Ladd = Combination of Cheryl Ladd and Shelley Hack. Same last name, but gone after only one season. Celia Weston = Tanya Roberts. The one who showed up for the decline. Vic Tayback = David Doyle. The token male.

by Anonymousreply 157July 5, 2022 7:28 AM

Wouldn't Celia be Cheryl?

by Anonymousreply 158July 5, 2022 7:50 AM

Philip McKeon = John Forsythe. The puppet master.

by Anonymousreply 159July 5, 2022 7:50 AM

[quote] Beth Howland “lovably neurotic”? More like insufferable.

I couldn’t stand her. Even Linda was more tolerable. Thought she was awful in her two appearances on the MTM show too.

by Anonymousreply 160July 5, 2022 7:53 AM

Was Linda horrible on that cop show as well?

by Anonymousreply 161July 5, 2022 8:01 AM

Linda Lavin = John Ritter. The star around whom the show was developed. Beth Howland = Joyce DeWitt. The one who kept her head down and did her thing for the whole run. Polly Holliday = Suzanne Somers. The breakout star who made an early departure. Diane Ladd = Jenilee Harrison. Well liked by many but gone after a season and a half. Celia Weston = Priscilla Barnes. The one who showed up for the decline. Vic Tayback = Combination of Norman Fell and Don Knotts. The wisecracking foil for the main three.

by Anonymousreply 162July 5, 2022 8:01 AM

^ like John Ritter, there’s a scene in season 2 of Alice where Linda’s balls peek out from her shorts. It had to be edited out for syndication.

by Anonymousreply 163July 5, 2022 8:06 AM

R119, R121: I also thought Geoffrey Lewis was hot. Even in my middle school years, I wanted to see him, naked.

by Anonymousreply 164July 5, 2022 8:22 AM

Thankfully, r163, Playboy chose not to run Polly Holliday's pre-fame nude photo shoot.

by Anonymousreply 165July 5, 2022 8:28 AM

[Quote] Even in my middle school years, I wanted to see him, naked.

And what did you expect his reaction to be? I doubt he had any interest in naked children.

by Anonymousreply 166July 5, 2022 9:01 AM

And we still don't have the cause of death for Philip McKeon, a/k/a Tommy?

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by Anonymousreply 167July 5, 2022 9:19 AM

R167 All the free food he ate from Mel’s Diner finally caught up to him. Flo warned him.

by Anonymousreply 168July 5, 2022 9:22 AM

I bet it ate Linda up inside having to watch Howland's "moment" with the straws.

by Anonymousreply 169July 5, 2022 11:12 AM

[quote]And we still don't have the cause of death for Philip McKeon, a/k/a Tommy?

His dick was so big that when he got an erection, all the blood left his head and he passed out, hitting his head against the coffee table.

by Anonymousreply 170July 5, 2022 1:02 PM

Polly is 85. No "Personal Life" on Wiki. What do we know?

by Anonymousreply 171July 5, 2022 1:15 PM

Is Polly a lesbian?

Never married or linked to a man.

by Anonymousreply 172July 5, 2022 2:33 PM

This thread made me YouTube the Alice theme song. It's an earworm and now I can't get it out of my head. I couldn't sleep all last night as it kept playing on repeat in my head. I blame that bitch Linda Lavin.

by Anonymousreply 173July 5, 2022 3:11 PM

[quote]His dick was so big that when he got an erection

If Bubba Higgins and Albert Ingalls hadn't already turned me gay, that Bloopers and Practical Jokes with Philip McKeon would have.

by Anonymousreply 175July 5, 2022 5:09 PM

[quote] Is Polly a lesbian?

If she was she did a good job of convincing us otherwise with Flo who left her trailer door open for every blue collar man in Phoenix.

by Anonymousreply 176July 5, 2022 5:47 PM

And LL was a notorious scene stealer. James Coco yelled at her on stage once.

by Anonymousreply 177July 5, 2022 6:03 PM

She has a coterie of gays who cater to her, and act like her bitchiness is wisdom of some sort. These gays also cater to numerous other unpleasant "old broads" in the same way, and rabidly defend their narcissistic or abusive behavior. One wonders if they have mommie issues or were raised by alcoholics.

She's a good actress when well cast and her husband appears to be a nice guy. If I know she is going to sing I make an excuse to leave. Quickly.

by Anonymousreply 178July 5, 2022 6:03 PM

Upstaging. Fiddling with props etc.

by Anonymousreply 180July 5, 2022 6:07 PM

PS: I don't hate her, although I do avoid her. I find the whole bowing down to her by those around her to be tiresome.

by Anonymousreply 181July 5, 2022 7:33 PM

She’s obviously not a bad singer/performer but not to everyone’s tastes ( and definitely not to mine). I do recall DL creaming their pants at this performance when this aired during the early days of the pandemic.

The only thing I can recall ever liking her in was in a supporting role on The Good Wife. Her character was cold and all business…and Linda was perfectly cast.

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by Anonymousreply 182July 5, 2022 7:49 PM

I never understood how Linda Lavin and Bonnie Franklin - two very shrill, overbearing and overall unpleasant personalities without a funny bone in their bodies - each got the lead role in a sitcom.

by Anonymousreply 183July 5, 2022 7:51 PM

Although I agree with the above poster that Linda Lavin can be very good in the right dramatic role.

Bonnie Franklin was just fucking unbearable.

by Anonymousreply 184July 5, 2022 7:52 PM

R182 Linda invited herself to perform that at Sondheim’s virtual birthday celebration.

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by Anonymousreply 185July 5, 2022 8:04 PM

She's held up very well for a woman her age. You can't take that from her.

by Anonymousreply 186July 5, 2022 8:06 PM

This really is an all-time DL thread. I mean, there are some deep, gossipy dives here. Love it.

by Anonymousreply 187July 5, 2022 8:11 PM

I STILL say Lavin did her weird rolled-tongue Irish brogue in "Broadway Bound".

I didn't see her in "Gypsy" and she didn't have the affectation in "The Tale of the Allergist's Wife" in which she was excellent.

Those are the only two plays I've seen her in.

by Anonymousreply 189July 5, 2022 10:38 PM

I wonder if she holds the records for having a sitcom with the most variations of the intro theme. There are *16* different vocal takes of "There's A New Girl In Town". The show went completely downhill when she went from fa fa fa fa fa fa to boppity-bop.

by Anonymousreply 190July 5, 2022 10:47 PM

I’m a huge Vera Louise Gorman Navik fan.

by Anonymousreply 191July 5, 2022 11:13 PM

I didn't think Lavin was bad in Gypsy but that was so long ago and everyone hated her performance so I guess it was terrible.

Holliday was wonderful in the Kathleen Turner Cat but for some reason she wore a ridiculous costume.

by Anonymousreply 192July 5, 2022 11:16 PM

Liked Beth Howland in Company and Franklin in Applause. On TV they were unwatchable.

by Anonymousreply 193July 5, 2022 11:18 PM

Bonnie did Match Game, but I don't think Linda did.

by Anonymousreply 194July 5, 2022 11:21 PM

Linda's guest spot on Santa Clarita Diet was fun

by Anonymousreply 195July 5, 2022 11:21 PM

[quote] Was she as big a bitch as they say?

Yes, she was. I did my 15 episode sentence with her.

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by Anonymousreply 196July 5, 2022 11:21 PM

Dianne Lad pailed in comparson to Beth Holland.

by Anonymousreply 197July 5, 2022 11:27 PM

R197 And paled, as well!!

by Anonymousreply 198July 5, 2022 11:29 PM

[Quote]If Bubba Higgins and Albert Ingalls hadn't already turned me gay, that Bloopers and Practical Jokes with Philip McKeon would have.

12:56 for your trip down memory lane, r175!

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by Anonymousreply 199July 5, 2022 11:35 PM

Because she early to bed, early to rise- with scatting at the end.

by Anonymousreply 200July 5, 2022 11:37 PM

[quote](Still, I recall one episode in which she performed in a show and was crushed when the local reviewer described her as "adequate.")

Must have been on one of her better vocal days.

by Anonymousreply 201July 5, 2022 11:37 PM

Linda's spot as a tough (but Vulnerable!) NY lawyer who's hot for Doug on "Family" would have been greatly improved if she'd sung a couple of showtunes, maybe "Whatever Lola Wants" and "What I Did for Love"...

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by Anonymousreply 202July 5, 2022 11:45 PM

Ah used tah be sahy-uhdddd, ah used tah be shy-uhhhhh…

by Anonymousreply 203July 5, 2022 11:46 PM

Bubba Higgins really made me hot as a young gayling, too.

by Anonymousreply 204July 6, 2022 12:02 AM

I always loved the way she ended the theme song with that relaxing "ba -ba -ba-ba- baaaa..."

by Anonymousreply 205July 6, 2022 12:07 AM

Because this is Datalonge. We think Mother Theresa was a useless cunt who deserved to die in a grease fire.

by Anonymousreply 206July 6, 2022 12:17 AM

R206 Actually Mother Theresa WAS a horrid person

by Anonymousreply 207July 6, 2022 12:19 AM

Mel only knew how to cook with a grease fire!

by Anonymousreply 208July 6, 2022 12:23 AM

VERA LOUISE GORMAN NAVIK!

by Anonymousreply 209July 6, 2022 12:36 AM

She hit me in the head with a fondue pot.

by Anonymousreply 210July 6, 2022 12:37 AM

Did Linda bully Beth Howland because she was in the original production of Company and Linda was not? I always got that very distinct feeling watching the show. Howland wasn’t acting jittery so much as having nervous tics about Linda lashing out at her unexpectedly at any moment.

by Anonymousreply 211July 6, 2022 12:43 AM

“Best Friends For Life”

But their body language says different.

And I can tell Linda is secretly reaching for a knife.

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by Anonymousreply 213July 6, 2022 12:53 AM

It is curious that Linda Lavin has worked consistently in high-profile projects since Alice's cancellation, while Bonnie Franklin really did nothing significant and when she did perform it was mainly in the regions. Clearly some people must have liked Linda Lavin. Personally, I always found she had a much more likable and warmer presence than Franklin. God Rest her soul, but Bonnie Franklin so often came off as smug and strident. In truth she would probably have done better on Alice and Lavin on ODAAT, as I don't think Alice needed to be nearly as maternal as Ann Romano. Certainly, Burstyn's spin on Alice was that she was rather self-absorbed and not really the most motherly figure.

by Anonymousreply 214July 6, 2022 1:03 AM

r196 it's hard to tell which one of those bitches is wearing the most makeup

by Anonymousreply 215July 6, 2022 1:09 AM

R162, I bet Diane Ladd would be thrilled to be compared to that great thespian Jenilee Harrison!

by Anonymousreply 216July 6, 2022 1:11 AM

"it was mainly in the regions"

What, R214?

by Anonymousreply 217July 6, 2022 1:13 AM

Ever hear something described as sounding like a long tail cat in a room full of rockers?

Here are the end credits with Linda caterwauling over the saxophone.

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by Anonymousreply 218July 6, 2022 1:14 AM

[quote] I bet Diane Ladd would be thrilled to be compared to that great thespian Jenilee Harrison!

Don't knock Jenilee Harrison's acting! Her performance in the "Infinite Dress" infomercial was stunning. And she did it all without a mirror.

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by Anonymousreply 219July 6, 2022 1:20 AM

R217 'in the regions'= regional theater, i.e. not Broadway or Off-Broadway...

by Anonymousreply 220July 6, 2022 1:25 AM

Well Linda's You've Got Possibilities is one of the great cuts from an obc. It really is sensational.

by Anonymousreply 221July 6, 2022 1:32 AM

Her real top tip for living well. Blame others. Deflect at any cost.

by Anonymousreply 222July 6, 2022 1:41 AM

I should be embarrassed by how much R218's post made me laugh.

by Anonymousreply 223July 6, 2022 2:32 AM

Now that you mention it, Lavin could have made a swell Joanne in COMPANY. And if you're mentioning great OBC cuts, let's add her The Boy From . . . from THE MAD SHOW. Not to be equaled.

FWIW it's worth, Annaleigh Ashford has said privately that she loved working with Lavin on that sitcom.

by Anonymousreply 224July 6, 2022 3:02 AM

I had a group business dinner with Ladd in the early '90s.

She loudly told the table (not a gay group, btw) that her good friends had found a cure for AIDS and it would be announced imminently.

Batshit.

Crazy.

by Anonymousreply 225July 6, 2022 3:26 AM

Why are there 16 recordings?

by Anonymousreply 226July 6, 2022 3:54 AM

Remember the episode of Alice where Art Carney dropped by Mel's Diner to sample the chili?

by Anonymousreply 227July 6, 2022 3:55 AM

There were no Asian people on Alice. I need an apology for the lack of diversity in 1978.

by Anonymousreply 228July 6, 2022 3:56 AM

It was Phoenix and there were no Mexicans. Well, except for the ones Flo sucked off behind Mel's Diner for a little pocket money.

by Anonymousreply 229July 6, 2022 4:07 AM

R226 ego, dear. Pure ego.

by Anonymousreply 230July 6, 2022 4:12 AM

[quote]She started that grotesque sitcom trope of playing a dual character, with that awful Russian lady.

I only have a dim memory of the awful Russian lady, but I do remember the times she would dress in male drag as a mobster named "Sam Butler," and other characters on the show would actually be fooled.

by Anonymousreply 231July 6, 2022 4:18 AM

TV stars back in those days had a lot of power over their shows, they could get away with ridiculous demands. It's not like today where even the biggest stars are told to fuck off and that they're replaceable when they get out of line. Roseanne learned that the hard way, she thought it was still the 90s and she could get away with anything. Times have really changed.

by Anonymousreply 232July 6, 2022 4:20 AM

I think I remember hearing that Lavin and Patricia Heaton did not get along at all on their 90s sitcom.

Lavin was grating on Alice. Surprisingly, they got a lot of old Hollywood talent to do the show. Alice had Lucy’s writers for much of the run, Madeleine Pugh and Bob Caroll jr. , I think. It plays very I Love Lucy, in an actors shouting at each other kind of way.

by Anonymousreply 233July 6, 2022 4:36 AM

How was she on the set of "Sean Saves the World?"

by Anonymousreply 234July 6, 2022 4:58 AM

R219, she's also wearing a half-bra. But you're right--no mirror!

by Anonymousreply 235July 6, 2022 6:00 AM

[quote]Wouldn't Celia be Cheryl?

Why? Did her pussy stink too?

by Anonymousreply 236July 6, 2022 8:45 PM

Who knew Linda Lavin could arise such passionate opinions?

by Anonymousreply 237July 7, 2022 3:38 AM

Linda seems like loads of fun.

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by Anonymousreply 238July 7, 2022 3:47 AM

Was Linda obsessed with re-recording this theme song again and again? The intro changes three times just within the one season of Diane Ladd.

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by Anonymousreply 240July 7, 2022 6:50 AM

Apparently they blew the show's budget on Lavin's studio (re)recording time because that show looked CHEAP all 9 seasons

by Anonymousreply 242July 7, 2022 7:28 AM

It's funny how Linda recorded eleventy hundred version of the them tune but couldn't even get an album out in the 1970s or 1980s. Even Lynda Carter got an album deal.

by Anonymousreply 243July 7, 2022 7:50 AM

R243 Record execs saved people’s ears.

by Anonymousreply 245July 7, 2022 7:56 AM

Did she have Alfred Lutter fired?

by Anonymousreply 246July 7, 2022 9:00 AM

The official story is that they were thinking of a long run and wanted to go younger on the kid so they could prolong a certain phase with him. Lutter was 13-14 at the time the pilot and first season were shot, and McKeon 11.

by Anonymousreply 247July 7, 2022 9:19 AM

How old was the new girl in town Alice Hyatt supposed to be?

by Anonymousreply 248July 7, 2022 9:40 AM

There was a 40th-birthday episode for Alice in season 6. Working backward, she would have been 35 in the first season, which is also the age Alice is said to be in the Burstyn/Scorsese movie.

Linda Lavin and Polly Holliday were both born in 1937, but they made a point of making Flo significantly older than Alice. A decade older, I think?

by Anonymousreply 249July 7, 2022 10:40 AM

[quote]Did she have Alfred Lutter fired?

She wanted a better-looking actor to play Tawhmee.

She was also dealing with her internalized feelings of prejudice by casting a non-Jewish actor to play her son.

by Anonymousreply 250July 7, 2022 10:45 AM

Listening to R240 ...I think of a few things

1. How annoyed the crew must have been as she recorded and re-recorded all those different version of the theme songs - can you imagine the faces they were making behind Lavin's back?

2. Lavin really, really, really wanted to be taken seriously as a singer

3. Linda's vocal coach(es) made a fucking fortune off of Lavin (i.e., that was almost perfect, Linda, now once again, and remember the pauses in-between).

by Anonymousreply 251July 7, 2022 10:51 AM

R249 Not so fresh , not freckled face.

by Anonymousreply 252July 7, 2022 10:55 AM

[quote]How old was the new girl in town Alice Hyatt supposed to be?

Judging from the smell of her waitress feet...about 90 - 95...

by Anonymousreply 253July 7, 2022 10:55 AM

^ BTW, don't ever bend down in the store room near Lavin and catch a whiff of her polyester waitress-crotch...

Oof, I'll NEVER make that mistake again!

by Anonymousreply 254July 7, 2022 10:59 AM

R240...conversation in the production booth

"Well, we're contractually obligated to keep re-recording it for her."

"But we're not going to make her voice sound better, no matter how many times we record it."

"Look, why don't we just change up the arrangement a little...so she'll think she's making progress as a vocalist."

by Anonymousreply 255July 7, 2022 11:03 AM

[quote]Linda Lavin and Polly Holliday were both born in 1937, but they made a point of making Flo significantly older than Alice. A decade older, I think?

Alice couldn't handle the fact that my grits were buttery, moist, and delicious...

while hers were hard, dried-out, and tasteless.

by Anonymousreply 256July 7, 2022 11:09 AM

"I'd really like to do the theme song over again. I'd like it to have more of a disco feel this year, like what the kids are listenin' to. I saw this black girl on TV, Donna Summer? Oh, honey, she was the most. What I'm thinkin' is, I'd like to take that line 'I had to get out and start enjoyin' and give it a kinda sexy growl. Like Donna would do, but from a trained vocalist. What do you think? Could we do it one more time?"

by Anonymousreply 257July 7, 2022 11:14 AM

Philip McKeon looked more like Flo than Alice

by Anonymousreply 259July 7, 2022 1:46 PM

I may have had one...or 12 unplanned pregnancies.

(But I never gave birth in New Jersey!)

by Anonymousreply 260July 7, 2022 1:59 PM

"Yes, Miss Lavin, and may I say you are in spectacular voice today!"

by Anonymousreply 261July 7, 2022 2:02 PM

Remember the episode where a customer finds a pubic hair in the brisket? Pure comedy gold!!

by Anonymousreply 262July 7, 2022 2:07 PM

Yeah, but I thought it was on a Diet Coke can.

And wasn't that the episode where Clarence Thomas made a guest appearance as creepy stalker?

by Anonymousreply 263July 7, 2022 2:14 PM

I wish the show had continued a few more seasons.

I'd loved to have heard Linda's late 80s death metal rendition of the theme or an early 90s rap/hip hop version....

"Yo yo yo... my cracka ass used to be sad..."

by Anonymousreply 264July 7, 2022 2:28 PM

There a version or two of the 16 versions of the theme song where I swear you can hear Ms. Lavin inhale and suck the studio monitors right off the wall. It's kind of like Match Game, you can tell which versions were recorded before lunch and the others recorded after lunch.

by Anonymousreply 265July 7, 2022 2:48 PM

Someone subtitled the theme with the lyrics, but a little off, based on her vocal inflections. I can’t find it and it is so funny. Does anyone still have that link?

by Anonymousreply 266July 7, 2022 3:04 PM

The biggest loss to popular culture is that a reality show was never filmed starring Linda Lavin, Bonnie Franklin, Charlotte Rae, Bea Arthur and Rita Moreno, a'la Big Brother crossed with The Hunger Games.

Five Cunts Enter, One Cunt Leaves.

by Anonymousreply 267July 7, 2022 3:32 PM

The corny lounge singer singing on each version just makes the theme seem more terrible. Listening to all of them together is really cringeworthy.

by Anonymousreply 268July 7, 2022 4:40 PM

Rita would be the last one standing.

by Anonymousreply 269July 7, 2022 4:40 PM

Now you can create your own versions of the theme song at home!

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by Anonymousreply 270July 7, 2022 4:51 PM

r270 why did you post that link? I've got that motherfucking theme song stuck on loop in my brain and now it's just going to get worse. I'm even scatting the end credit song!! God help me.

by Anonymousreply 271July 7, 2022 5:27 PM

[quote]Why is Linda Lavin hated?

The question is, why isn't she hated enough?

by Anonymousreply 272July 7, 2022 5:36 PM

[quote]Why is Linda Lavin hated?

Her farts were worse than a bowl of Mel's week-old chili...

by Anonymousreply 273July 7, 2022 7:17 PM

Someone told that he saw a Vic Tayback in a bar, drinking heavily, in the late 80s, and he asked for an autograph

Vic scribbled "Stow It" with his autograph on a cocktail napkin.

by Anonymousreply 274July 7, 2022 7:20 PM

[quote] Vic scribbled "Stow It" with his autograph on a cocktail napkin.

I would not have budged until he added a "dinghy" after it!

by Anonymousreply 275July 7, 2022 7:50 PM

She thought she was cute, and she thought she was the second coming of Lucille Ball. She was neither.

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by Anonymousreply 276July 7, 2022 8:50 PM

She wasn't even the second coming of Vance.

by Anonymousreply 277July 7, 2022 8:51 PM

R276 Oy Vey, a Jewish Easter Bunny, what was she thinking, she was Barbra Streisand doing a Christmas album?

by Anonymousreply 278July 7, 2022 9:53 PM

I think the thing that's so irksome about Linda Lavin is that she's always been completely up her own ass about herself. She thinks she's a Streisand-level talent and is very self-important.

by Anonymousreply 279July 7, 2022 9:56 PM

Here’s why she’s hated. She posted this today, fondly remembering her short-lived sitcom with DL fave Patricia Heston, and as if that wasn’t bad enough, she mentions that the theme song, in which she scats, was “joyful excellence” if she does say so herself.

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by Anonymousreply 280July 7, 2022 10:07 PM

She looks like Mrs. Doubtfire here. Ugh.

by Anonymousreply 281July 7, 2022 10:09 PM

Christ if you thought the Alice theme was bad the aural abomination at r280 is 1000x worse. You think it's over and then it keeps coming back louder and more obnoxious

by Anonymousreply 282July 7, 2022 10:24 PM

Forgive me if this has already been posted - Linda's CBS Sunday Morning profile from a couple years ago. You could tell she was PISSED about not being asked to do the Sondheim tribute concert. She was going to kick the fucking door down if she had to to be a part of it.

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by Anonymousreply 283July 7, 2022 10:30 PM

[quote]She wasn't even the second coming of Vance.

How dare you, Sir!

How dare you!

by Anonymousreply 284July 7, 2022 11:23 PM

[quote]she mentions that the theme song, in which she scats, was “joyful excellence” if she does say so herself.

That gal loved scat more than a farmer who sells pig shit...

and she smelled like it sometimes too!

by Anonymousreply 285July 7, 2022 11:28 PM

Why has there never been an Alice porn parody, with Vera and Flo taking Tommy's virginity?

by Anonymousreply 286July 8, 2022 1:02 AM

This showed up in my Instagram feed:

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by Anonymousreply 287July 8, 2022 1:04 AM

This is very exciting!! I'm wondering if you'd like me to sing 'The Boy From…" from 'The Mad Show'?'

by Anonymousreply 289July 8, 2022 1:40 AM

I though she was great with "The Boy From..." in the Sondheim tribute. She was more charming than she's ever been (okay, low bar).

by Anonymousreply 290July 8, 2022 1:56 AM

She always seems very charming when interviewed but I can see she's also the type to treat somebody who compliments her with a brush off of you are so beneath me contempt alla Streisand.

by Anonymousreply 291July 8, 2022 2:08 AM

The Alice theme song has to be the worst TV theme song ever created. Who thought up that stinker?

by Anonymousreply 292July 8, 2022 2:13 AM

Has Streisand ever covered "New Girl in Town"?

by Anonymousreply 293July 8, 2022 2:14 AM

R277 She wasn’t even the second coming of Kathryn Card. Card looked fresher.

by Anonymousreply 294July 8, 2022 2:21 AM

Did Miss Lavin demand that new lyrics be written for the theme song as they changed after the first couple of seasons?

I must admit I like her first rendition of the song, or at least the first half when she sings it pretty straight. She gets a lot out of the line "Going through life blinders on it's tough to see". But every rendition after that gets cheesier, more annoying and more loungy. In a way these more desperate vocals by Lavin on the theme song in later years could be seen as a reflection of how Alice, despite her dreams of wanting to be a professional singer, is getting further and further from her dream, being stuck working at Mel's Diner. But I don't think that was the intent, just an accidental result.

by Anonymousreply 295July 8, 2022 2:58 AM

Flo was basically a prostitute.

by Anonymousreply 296July 8, 2022 3:08 AM

She rubbed people the wrong way with her own self importance. The sixteen versions of a two minute diddy she turns into a two minute lounge act is a very good example of her nonsense.

by Anonymousreply 297July 8, 2022 3:20 AM

[quote] Alice was such a weird movie-to-TV-show transition.

I turned on to Alice on its reruns because I loved the Scorsese film. Ellen Burstyn and Scorsese were both phenomenal. Weirdly enough, I grew fond of watching the cheesy Alice episodes too. Maybe it had something to do with Vic Taybacks forearms effect on gayling me.

by Anonymousreply 298July 8, 2022 3:30 AM

Sometimes it sounds like she singing “There’s a new ghoul in town..!”

by Anonymousreply 299July 8, 2022 3:32 AM

This thread of useless without clips.

by Anonymousreply 300July 8, 2022 3:37 AM

I find her annoying most of the time too but like people said she’s been working CONSTANTLY in TV & stage for 40+ years - and she’s in her 80s and still getting good gigs. She can’t be that difficult - that’s just the reality of the business. It’s not like she’s some great draw or MILF.

by Anonymousreply 302July 8, 2022 3:58 AM

There's a neeew girl in tawun..… and she's loo-king gouwaod!

by Anonymousreply 303July 8, 2022 4:15 AM

It's only on DL that she's hated. She's well-liked in real life. DLers need someone to bash to feel superior and in the know.

by Anonymousreply 304July 8, 2022 4:18 AM

When the theme song reaches that part where Linda just lets loose and soars, my heart leaps and life is beautiful for a moment.

by Anonymousreply 305July 8, 2022 4:18 AM

Take some focus off Tommy, and Lavin's desperate attempts to sing on TV, and this show could've easily succeeded as 'Mel's Diner", with no real emphasis on the Alice character.

by Anonymousreply 308July 8, 2022 5:02 AM

[quote]The Alice theme song has to be the worst TV theme song ever created. Who thought up that stinker?

The Growing Pains theme song would like a word with you.

by Anonymousreply 309July 8, 2022 5:04 AM

r308 Lavin did seem desperate to show off her singing. It was shoehorned into many episodes.

by Anonymousreply 310July 8, 2022 5:09 AM

Eh she’s old now. Leave her alone.

by Anonymousreply 311July 8, 2022 5:18 AM

What's hilarious/pathetic is that virtually ALL the bashing of Linda Lavin on this site focuses on her work on ALICE. Girls, that show went off the air (after 9 seasons!) in 1985. Since then, she's accumulated dozens of screen credits (mostly TV) and 5 Tony nominations to add to the 1 she had before the sitcom -- 4 of those in Leading categories.

Lucille Ball? Well, of course she is -- and presumably always will be -- the bigger name, historically speaking. But her post-I LOVE LUCY career is a textbook study in diminishing returns. Lavin, by contrast, went on to tremendous successes onstage and continued to win acclaim at (and beyond) the age at which Ball was embarrassing herself with LIFE WITH LUCY. (Well before that, Ball perpetrated the monstrosity of LUCYMAME, when she was *younger* than Lavin at the time of her triumph in THE TALE OF THE ALLERGIST'S WIFE.)

I'm not arguing that Lavin is greater than Ball -- just that mocking her as some egomaniacal hack is silly, especially when in certain respects her career surpasses Lucy's.

by Anonymousreply 312July 8, 2022 5:35 AM

Lavin's inflated ego and humorlessness rubs people the wrong way. She's not a stellar-level talent.

by Anonymousreply 313July 8, 2022 5:38 AM

As a kid listening to the theme song, I thought "the saddest part" was "the saddest pout." I didn't speak Lavinese yet.

Serious question: Whatever happened to the reboot of this series that was reported on in 2018? Diablo Cody was writing it.

by Anonymousreply 314July 8, 2022 5:40 AM

It’s funny, she’s absolutely DL gold when it comes to the various threads, but every single time I’ve been around her, both professionally and personally, she’s been incredibly nice. She loves to joke around and was really engaging with everyone, but I’m sure different days, different moods, like all of us.

by Anonymousreply 315July 8, 2022 5:41 AM

[quote] Why is Sada Thompson hated?

Cold as ice and a cunt as well. Not pleasant to work with.

by Anonymousreply 316July 8, 2022 5:48 AM

What about Miss Sadie Thompson?

by Anonymousreply 317July 8, 2022 5:54 AM

[quote] I'm not arguing that Lavin is greater than Ball -- just that mocking her as some egomaniacal hack is silly, especially when in certain respects her career surpasses Lucy's.

What a stupid take. (Not surprising, coming from you.) Just because someone works a long time (and by the way, Lucy worked nearly up until her death) doesn't mean they are any great shakes as a performer. Lavin's career doesn't begin to touch Lucy's. If Lavin is remembered at all, she's remembered for A- being a cunt and B- Being on a bad 70s sitcom that ran because it was cheap to produce. (And yes, in that order.)

Anything else Lavin has done has been as a journeyman actress at best. And that's all she is. Lucy was a star. Lavin gets work because most women her age are either infirm or dead. It's easy to keep working when there's no one else to hire for the job.

by Anonymousreply 318July 8, 2022 7:23 AM

It's not a stupid take. Lavin has had an exceptionally good career, especially her Tony nods. Lucille Ball got stuck and she stagnated.

by Anonymousreply 319July 8, 2022 7:33 AM

Will anyone be talking about Linda Lavin 35 years from now?

by Anonymousreply 320July 8, 2022 7:37 AM

We vow NEVER to stop talking about Linda Lavin!

by Anonymousreply 322July 8, 2022 7:48 AM

It ended in 1985, R321. We were about to get The Golden Girls and Designing Women, so the "sitcom about different types of broad" niche would not remain unoccupied.

by Anonymousreply 323July 8, 2022 7:49 AM

Correct me if I'm wrong, but 1985 is more than 35 years ago.

by Anonymousreply 324July 8, 2022 7:58 AM

I love Lucy ended nearly 70 years ago.

by Anonymousreply 325July 8, 2022 8:08 AM

And Ball many decades of nothing afterwards.

by Anonymousreply 326July 8, 2022 8:09 AM

Things from a long time ago on Datalounge? I'm shocked.

It can't be all Ezra Miller all the time.

by Anonymousreply 328July 8, 2022 9:03 AM

I saw her perform Mama Rose and still to this day, decades later, it strikes me the most egregious celebrity stunt casting and not that of a seasoned Broadway performer. I’ve seen Tyne Daly in multiple shows, someone who I never had any interest watching on TV and she was the consummate Broadway actress and came alive and electric on stage. Lavin seemed like an impediment the rest of the cast was trying to work around.

by Anonymousreply 329July 8, 2022 9:36 AM

I note you didn't state consummate Musical Theatre performer because you know Tyne Daly can't sing.

by Anonymousreply 330July 8, 2022 9:44 AM

I’ve here seen her in a singing role, that is true.

by Anonymousreply 331July 8, 2022 9:53 AM

A friend went to the Tyne Daly(was not really familiar with her from TV) Gypsy and said she barreled through it like a truck driver. I passed. So I went when Lavin did it. I don't remember anything about it really but I remember I didn't walk out. Have had no desire to see it since. I'm one of those people who likes the movie but not enough to own it.

by Anonymousreply 332July 8, 2022 1:23 PM

I guess that I should be flattered that R318 has taken note of me as "stupid," since s/he obviously can't read and/or argue logically. I specifically detailed that Lavin hasn't just worked but has received continuous acclaim. Plays have been written for her, mounted for her, scheduled around her availability. She's been nominated and awarded. She's had an outstanding stage career by any standard. The idea that she just gets roles because no one else is available is laughable on its face.

My point was, and remains, that shrugging Lavin off and/or using Lucille Ball as some sort of gold standard are both foolish positions. You're entitled to your opinion, R318. You're not entitled to your own "facts."

by Anonymousreply 333July 8, 2022 5:36 PM

R129- There you are wrong.

We love our Miss Sada

by Anonymousreply 334July 8, 2022 5:40 PM

[quote] You're not entitled to your own "facts."

I haven't yet seen you present any, just your own opinions.

Here's a fact for you- You're a tiresome cunt.

by Anonymousreply 335July 8, 2022 6:59 PM

Lucille Ball was a superstar and continues to be one of the biggest pop culture/entertainment legends to this day. To compare Linda Lavin to her is laughable.

by Anonymousreply 336July 8, 2022 7:25 PM

R335, my post at R312 was full of facts. Thanks for confirming that the tiresome cunt is, in fact, you. I'll be hiding your useless posts in the future.

by Anonymousreply 337July 8, 2022 8:01 PM

Good, you're a waste of everyone's time.

by Anonymousreply 338July 8, 2022 9:04 PM

I’m watching season 3 of Alice

by Anonymousreply 339July 8, 2022 9:47 PM

There are interviews with Arthur Laurents where the Rose in Gypsy of 1989 production were said to be considered amongst Shirley MacLaine, Carol Burnett, Liza Minnelli, Patti LuPone (before the Jolson Sings Again feud) and Lainie Kazan.

I love that out of all those names it came to be Linda Fucking Lavin

by Anonymousreply 340July 8, 2022 9:54 PM

I never realized Linda Lavin's two greatest professional adversaries were two of Hollywood's most iconic redheads: Lucy....and BONNIE FRANKLIN!

by Anonymousreply 342July 8, 2022 11:18 PM

I went to a Linda Lavin concert one time. It was really good.

by Anonymousreply 343July 8, 2022 11:21 PM

I agree that LL has gone on to achieve many nice accomplishments post-Alice.

However, it was the sitcom’s attempt to turn her into a lovable, zany leading lady similar to Lucille Ball (complete with ridiculous disguises as showcased in the dozen or so show openings) that stay in people’s minds. And I think the majority of the dislike for her comes from that. Alice should have been the straight woman to more colorful characters such as Flo, Vera and Jolene, but of course Linda wasn’t having any of that.

(Cybill Shepherd did the same thing on her sitcom - insisting to be the “funny”one - and the results in her case were often embarrassing. However, was a splendid straight woman to Bruce Willis on Moonlighting.).

by Anonymousreply 344July 8, 2022 11:23 PM

Lavin tried to pull off my wig once in the powder room at Sardi's, but I wasn't having it. She finally picked the wrong redhead to mix with.

by Anonymousreply 345July 8, 2022 11:24 PM

I went to a Beth Howland concert one time

by Anonymousreply 346July 8, 2022 11:27 PM

I enjoyed that short lived sitcom she did with Raymond's wife.

by Anonymousreply 347July 9, 2022 12:04 AM

bah-bah-bah-bah - - - fahhhhh......

by Anonymousreply 348July 9, 2022 12:06 AM

[quote]I went to a Beth Howland concert one time

Were there straws?

by Anonymousreply 349July 9, 2022 12:09 AM

[quote] At what age is she too old to sing that she's a new girl in town?

Twenty-six.

by Anonymousreply 351July 9, 2022 12:11 AM

There was only the ONE Beth Howland concert to go to, bitches.

by Anonymousreply 353July 9, 2022 12:12 AM

[quote]Serious question: Whatever happened to the reboot of this series that was reported on in 2018? Diablo Cody was writing it.

It's now passed onto EJ Johnson to star in, and he's likely to make a decision very soon.

by Anonymousreply 354July 9, 2022 12:15 AM

I love Linda. She was a cast member of three sitcoms in the past 10 years: Sean Saves the World (bad time slot, NBC never gave it a chance to succeed), 9JKL (absolute wretched CBS shitcom starring God-awful Mark Feuerstein), and B Positive (a total mess but was getting somewhat better). Linda was easily one of the best things about each show!

by Anonymousreply 355July 9, 2022 12:26 AM

She wasn’t a new girl in town after the first season. They should’ve just done an instrumental of the theme song there after. Of course Lavin probably threw a fit and coerced the producers to have her do the increasingly crappy versions of it with her cringy vocals.

by Anonymousreply 356July 9, 2022 1:23 AM

In Season 3, a producer suggested changing the lyric to "there's an old girl in town," but Linda exploded just like Vera's straws.

by Anonymousreply 357July 9, 2022 1:30 AM

Listen to ALL of them and try not to lose your mind.

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by Anonymousreply 358July 9, 2022 1:31 AM

It's true that Linda and Polly Holliday didn't get along. During rehearsals, Linda would point at Polly and sing to the tune of the Alice theme "there's an old whore in town and her name is FLO!" Polly hated when she did that.

by Anonymousreply 360July 9, 2022 1:54 AM

Did Miss Lavin demand the writers give Belle the lame so called catch phrase "Isabelle, my little voice always calls me Isabelle" to ensure Belle and Diane Ladd would not become as popular with the viewers as Flo and Kiss My Grits?

by Anonymousreply 361July 9, 2022 2:03 AM

Diane Ladd and Linda didn't get along, according to gossip.

by Anonymousreply 362July 9, 2022 2:05 AM

Not a good quality pic, but the Alice cast all glammed up

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by Anonymousreply 363July 9, 2022 2:13 AM

Linda looking directly at the camera, trying to steal the shot away from Bonnie Franklin. There must've been fireworks backstage after this.

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by Anonymousreply 365July 9, 2022 2:36 AM

Linda with a young and hot AF Alec Baldwin

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by Anonymousreply 366July 9, 2022 2:37 AM

Nice try, Linda, but soy la chica nueva en la ciudad!!

by Anonymousreply 367July 9, 2022 2:40 AM

Because everything comes back to "Follies": I saw Linda Lavin as Hattie in the 2011 production of "Follies" at the Kennedy Center that briefly transferred to Broadway, headlined by a miscast Bernadette Peters. Linda didn't do the Broadway run, I think because of another commitment. Her "Broadway Baby" was nothing special, but at least she didn't scat during it.

by Anonymousreply 368July 9, 2022 2:50 AM

I won't go to the mat for Lavin's "Broadway Baby," R368, but it made more sense to me than Jayne Houdyshell's version on Broadway.

Then again, I'm just glad to have witnessed Mimi Hines' sublime take on the part.

by Anonymousreply 369July 9, 2022 3:02 AM

I like the parts where starts a sultry nasally growl….moves to burlesque bump and grind…and then yells the rest of the song like a cheerleader. WTF?

by Anonymousreply 370July 9, 2022 3:37 AM

R347 I remember watching that I was probably around 14 at the time - I have no idea why. I mildly enjoyed it though.

And then when Raymond started I remembered Patty Heaton as the “actress from that failed Linda Lavin show”

by Anonymousreply 371July 9, 2022 3:46 AM

Alice was a prime example of a mediocre time-slot hit. It was paired with All in the Family/Archie Bunker's Place and The Jeffersons for most of its run.

In the sixth season (after coming in #5 for season five), CBS figured the show might have a following of its own and moved it to Wednesdays to be the tentpole of that night.

The show dropped to the bottom of the ratings, coming in third to Facts of Life and The Fall Guy. CBS moved it back to Sunday, where they got two more seasons out of it. Even in its heyday, Alice was only a show people watched because of the other shows around it.

by Anonymousreply 374July 9, 2022 5:17 AM

Don't tell Ortrud Maxwell that, R374. Linda Lavin was bigger than Lucy!!!

by Anonymousreply 375July 9, 2022 5:19 AM

There's a new girl in town.

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by Anonymousreply 376July 9, 2022 5:23 AM

As a mixed-race non-binary trans omnivore, I really can’t watch the show since I don’t see myself represented—and therefore can’t relate to any of the characters. I hope they reboot the series and add a gender minority character so I can enjoy it as well!

by Anonymousreply 377July 9, 2022 5:26 AM

Seems like a good price for the pretty L.A. house. The neighboring houses appear to be very close by and their occupants may want to invest in industrial level ear plugs.

by Anonymousreply 378July 9, 2022 5:32 AM

[quote]Did Miss Lavin demand the writers give Belle the lame so called catch phrase "Isabelle, my little voice always calls me Isabelle" to ensure Belle and Diane Ladd would not become as popular with the viewers as Flo and Kiss My Grits?

And yet even so, a few later they stole that line for Blanche to use repeatedly on "Golden Girls":

"I said to myself, 'Water Lily' ... That's what I call myself sometimes..."

by Anonymousreply 379July 9, 2022 5:39 AM

The Emmys sure hated her.

She only got one nomination for eight seasons of Alice.

And zero nominations for any of her subsequent TV projects.

by Anonymousreply 380July 9, 2022 6:07 AM

She is hated for loving! She is hated for loving.

by Anonymousreply 381July 9, 2022 6:08 AM

Who is Cathryn Damon and why do we never talk about her?

by Anonymousreply 382July 9, 2022 6:31 AM

Unlike Lavin and Franklin, I WON an Emmy.

by Anonymousreply 383July 9, 2022 6:32 AM

Cathryn Damon was a wonderful part of one of the best comedy series of all time. She could sing.

Also unlike Linda Lavin.

by Anonymousreply 384July 9, 2022 6:51 AM

Cathryn Damon understudied MAME and Vera?! Why isn't she a DL fave?

by Anonymousreply 385July 9, 2022 6:53 AM

Cathryn also co-starred with Lizsha in Flora the Red Menace, which supplied Lizsha's first Tony.

by Anonymousreply 386July 9, 2022 6:57 AM

Did Cathryn have dat Damon ass?

by Anonymousreply 387July 9, 2022 7:21 AM

It's amzing that in R358's reel of every intro of the series (10, I believe), the only shot that is in EVERY SINGLE ONE is Vera and the STRAWS! No wonder Beth Howland carried a box of straws in her purse wherever she went so that she would be ready for the fans.

by Anonymousreply 388July 9, 2022 8:35 AM

I do think Alice had a pretty good "prime" in its first four seasons. I don't know how it holds up today, but I wouldn't call it a time-slot wonder. For a while, it was better than average for a '70s workplace sitcom. But a lot of shows in any era keep going and going past their best, and with '70s/'80s sitcoms, examples were thick on the ground.

[quote]However, it was the sitcom’s attempt to turn her into a lovable, zany leading lady similar to Lucille Ball (complete with ridiculous disguises as showcased in the dozen or so show openings) that stay in people’s minds. And I think the majority of the dislike for her comes from that. Alice should have been the straight woman to more colorful characters such as Flo, Vera and Jolene, but of course Linda wasn’t having any of that.

Good observation. Playing the sane "center" (sort of like Courteney Cox on first-season Friends, before they really dialed up Monica's manic/OCD side) would have been playing to a relative strength for Lavin. Tayback, Howland, and Holliday were all stronger in broad comedy than she was, and they were enough "colorful characters" for an ensemble. Alice as the mistress of disguise was horribly unfunny and embarrassing.

[quote]No wonder Beth Howland carried a box of straws in her purse wherever she went so that she would be ready for the fans.

Bonus: If she were in a nonsmoking environment, she could pull one out as a cigarette substitute.

by Anonymousreply 389July 9, 2022 11:35 AM

[quote]Her "Broadway Baby" was nothing special, but at least she didn't scat during it.

Oh honey, she scatted in everything...

That's how I learned never to put on a wig without checking it first.

by Anonymousreply 390July 9, 2022 12:05 PM

Her side character on Alice was ghastly and terribly unfunny. Almost as bad as her singing.

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by Anonymousreply 391July 9, 2022 12:06 PM

Would Linda Lavin play Mrs. Brice in FUNNY GIRL?

by Anonymousreply 392July 9, 2022 12:06 PM

After listening to Linda's 1 million different variations of the "Alice" theme song:

Tell me you're a mediocre singing talent without telling me you're a mediocre singing talent

by Anonymousreply 393July 9, 2022 12:07 PM

Just remember she got paid for every single one of those songs she sang, and she still get residuals every time they're played...

by Anonymousreply 394July 9, 2022 12:09 PM

R372, I bet Miss Lavin never did a pre show song with Polly or Diane for the studio audience.

by Anonymousreply 395July 9, 2022 12:41 PM

^ Miss Lavin was very much like Miss Cybill Shepherd in that way:

She very much did NOT like to share HER microphone...or HER spotlight.

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by Anonymousreply 396July 9, 2022 1:24 PM

I suggest you go to www.alicehyatt.com for all things ALICE.

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by Anonymousreply 398July 9, 2022 1:45 PM

Linda Lavin also played Mrs. Waldwn, Vera Louise Gorman Novak's landlady on the series. i loved her.

by Anonymousreply 399July 9, 2022 1:47 PM

Wait, someone help me, did LL play the Shelly Winters role in the Anne Frank play Natalie Portman starred in? I may have blocked that out…

by Anonymousreply 400July 9, 2022 1:51 PM

Lavin played "Mrs. Walden" (pronounced by her as MisSHuss VOLden) on a few episodes during the final season.

I believe she was a Holocaust survivor, which for a sitcom, is just really too much.

by Anonymousreply 401July 9, 2022 1:58 PM

Ugh, she did play Mrs. Van Daan, she must have chewed up the scenery and overworked that fur coat. It must have been so bad I blocked it out.

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by Anonymousreply 402July 9, 2022 2:06 PM

Here is a synopsis of the series finale which aired March 19, 1985.

After 9 years of trying, Alice finally gets a recording contract and is moving to Nashville with Travis Marsh. Vera announces she is pregnant and decides to be a full-time mother, Elliott having been promoted from officer to detective. Jolene's "Granny Gums" dies and leaves her enough money to open her own beauty parlor in her hometown. Besides all three waitresses suddenly leaving simultaneously, by an amazing coincidence Mel has just sold the diner for a large amount of money to a real-estate developer and must close within days. On closing day, he surprisingly gives each waitress a $5,000 farewell bonus.

by Anonymousreply 403July 9, 2022 2:11 PM

Linda Lavin was a big ass deal during the taping of the series Alice. Linda was the highest paid performer in a half-hour series at that time.

by Anonymousreply 404July 9, 2022 2:28 PM

R403 I think CBS canceled the series. Lavin and the cast were willing to go on, but the ratings didn’t justify it. Interesting they totally left Ladd out of the clips they showed in the finale. Oversight or deliberate? Anyway at least they had a finale, unlike some other shows.

by Anonymousreply 405July 9, 2022 2:44 PM

Diane Ladd didn't get along with the cast and production of the TV series Alice. Her departure was a mutual decision.

by Anonymousreply 406July 9, 2022 2:56 PM

Alice got a recording contract in Nashville? Really?! So if Alice Hyatt had been real and went on to a recording career would she have challenged Madonna, Whitney and Janet at the top of the charts with her unique blend of country/Broadway/lounge music in the mid to late 80s? Would Janbot be attacking Alice instead of Madonna here at DL in an attempt to defend his favorite diva?

by Anonymousreply 407July 9, 2022 3:04 PM

Hyatt would have been way too old for MTV.

by Anonymousreply 408July 9, 2022 3:17 PM

They didn't have Polly come back for the series finale. Perhaps the showrunners approached Lavin about it, and the yelling could be heard all over the lot.

by Anonymousreply 409July 9, 2022 4:04 PM

^^ there were flashbacks to Flo on Alice during that last episode

by Anonymousreply 410July 9, 2022 4:40 PM

R346- I went to a Danny Bonaduce concert one time.

by Anonymousreply 411July 9, 2022 5:04 PM

We'll never know what really happened to Phillip, I guess. Usually the truth filters down to the masses eventually, but on this subject people are tight-lipped.

by Anonymousreply 412July 9, 2022 5:07 PM

Beth Howland died of lung cancer. She loved cigarettes.

by Anonymousreply 413July 9, 2022 5:10 PM

[quote]Alice got a recording contract in Nashville? Really?! So if Alice Hyatt had been real and went on to a recording career would she have challenged Madonna, Whitney and Janet at the top of the charts...

Ha, that's a good one.

She'd have released a demo; her contract would've been dropped; and she'd have been lucky to play the Nashville Holiday Inn lounge down by the interstate - in an emergency when the regular talent didn't show...

by Anonymousreply 414July 9, 2022 5:18 PM

[quote]On closing day, he surprisingly gives each waitress a $5,000 farewell bonus.

Well, I never got $5 from Mel Sharples that I didn't work my fanny off for...much less $5,000!

And you know what I have to say about that, Mel...

by Anonymousreply 415July 9, 2022 5:22 PM

[quote] Beth Howland died of lung cancer.

There are worser ways to go, IMHO.

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by Anonymousreply 416July 9, 2022 5:23 PM

[quote]^^ there were flashbacks to Flo on Alice during that last episode

Polly Holliday was well-liked by production...even years after she'd left the show

by Anonymousreply 417July 9, 2022 5:24 PM

[quote]There are worser ways to go, IMHO.

Dying ignorant of standard grammar being one of them...

by Anonymousreply 418July 9, 2022 5:25 PM

R419- I believe she's wearing a RUG in that photo.

by Anonymousreply 420July 9, 2022 5:30 PM

Pancreatic cancer is frequently asymptomatic until Stage 4....

I've known people who've died of pancreatic cancer only a few weeks after being diagnosed.

One friend of mine said her only symptom was stomach pain.

by Anonymousreply 421July 9, 2022 5:33 PM

Beth got her nose bobbed in the 1950s. I wonder if she got it done for the movie of Lil Abner.

by Anonymousreply 422July 9, 2022 5:38 PM

When Bonnie Franklin received her diagnosis it truly would have been appropriate for her to say-

Hold me DAVID!

by Anonymousreply 423July 9, 2022 5:40 PM

Anyone have a clip or know which episode it was where they were all throwing water in Vera's face as she cried. I believe, for a very very short time, the included in the opening credits.

That always bothered me as a small child cause I could sense Vera was "different" and they were bullying her.

by Anonymousreply 424July 9, 2022 5:57 PM

Sometimes Beth Howland’s face was skeleton like. Her teeth were tall too

by Anonymousreply 425July 9, 2022 6:00 PM

I remember when Linda Lavin was cast in “Bogart Slept Here”, before it all ended badly (yes, I’m old!)

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by Anonymousreply 426July 9, 2022 6:03 PM

R425, I always suspected she suffered from anorexia nervosa....

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by Anonymousreply 427July 9, 2022 6:04 PM

I guess Beth's daughter got Beth's original nose.

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by Anonymousreply 428July 9, 2022 6:05 PM

I imagine Charles Kimbrough developed a fear of fellatio.

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by Anonymousreply 429July 9, 2022 6:07 PM

R430 is that all that’s on your mind??

by Anonymousreply 431July 9, 2022 6:15 PM

if it needs dermabrasion.

by Anonymousreply 432July 9, 2022 6:21 PM

I like Carrie Sharples. She doesn’t take any of Mel’s shit

by Anonymousreply 433July 9, 2022 6:56 PM

Does Lavin have any children, or did her ego preclude them?

by Anonymousreply 434July 9, 2022 7:06 PM

My many fans are my children.

by Anonymousreply 435July 9, 2022 7:09 PM

R425 she kind of reminded me of Julie Hagerty, but not pretty (but equally annoying).

by Anonymousreply 436July 9, 2022 7:10 PM

They should have gotten Vic Tayback to play one of the Golden Girls’ many suitors. Who would it have been? Dorothy or Blanche? I can’t see him with Rose.

by Anonymousreply 437July 9, 2022 7:18 PM

Damn. Julie Hagerty was a mess.

[Quote] In 1991, she starred alongside Fran Drescher and Twiggy in Princesses, a sitcom that aired for five weeks on CBS. Hagerty had walked off set after four episodes amid poor ratings and negative reviews. She was cast in the 1994 Designing Women spin-off Women of the House, but was committed to another project when filming began, so Valerie Mahaffey substituted for her in several episodes. She eventually joined the cast, filmed two episodes, and resigned, handing the role back to Mahaffey

by Anonymousreply 438July 9, 2022 7:19 PM

Linda Lavin - Stars Would Fall

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by Anonymousreply 439July 9, 2022 7:31 PM

Her Rose in Gypsy wasn't a total mess. She had her inspired moments, but the performance lacked a certain energy and humor. She sang the role better than Tyne, but hers wasn't a performance you remembered much about after leaving the theater. I can still remember the way Tyne delivered several of the lines, but Linda didn't create the same memories.

by Anonymousreply 441July 9, 2022 7:39 PM

Wasn't Lavin going through a divorce at the time? Did she have a pill problem?

by Anonymousreply 442July 9, 2022 7:41 PM

I just watched the Cabin Fever episode in season 4 of Alice. It’s fucking hilarious. They all go to a cabin in the woods for the weekend and a tornado is headed straight for the cabin. Flo has a lot of great barbs at Mel.

by Anonymousreply 443July 9, 2022 7:52 PM

R443 fun episode. I loved the Marie character, Mel’s on and off again gf. I think Marie just stopped appearing eventually. She could’ve been used in more episodes during the latter part of the series when the show got worse.

by Anonymousreply 444July 9, 2022 7:58 PM

I had never seen the first version of the Alice credits at r358 until just now--it's the other Tommy 9from the movie?), so this must just be for the pilot episode. He's amazing even back then Lavin was putting in jazz 'scallops" on her singing (especially at "...lookin' GOOD!"). It's odd that she was kind of pretty back then.

There's a weird brief moment at :38 when she's trying to pull one of Tommy's boots off and at first I instantly thought it showed Tommy orgasming as he takes his mother from behind, which was a bit of a shock. But then i realized what it was.

by Anonymousreply 445July 9, 2022 8:07 PM

Celia Weston is phenomenal in "Dead Man Walking" as the mother of one of the murdered children. There's a great scene where she and her husband have brought Sister Helen Prejean (Susan Sarandon) into their home, thinking she's on their side in having Sean Penn executed, and then first Sister Helen realizes their mistake and then they do--it's one of those scenes that requires first-rate actors, and both Sarandon and Weston are up to it.

by Anonymousreply 446July 9, 2022 8:13 PM

[quote]The official story is that they were thinking of a long run and wanted to go younger on the kid so they could prolong a certain phase with him. Lutter was 13-14 at the time the pilot and first season were shot, and McKeon 11.

Alfred Lutter reportedly also hit a growth spurt between the pilot and the start of filming for the first season, making him no longer plausible as a tween boy.

by Anonymousreply 447July 9, 2022 8:25 PM

Weston is a terrific character actress and has been able to work steadily in theater, film and television. Alice is the least of her accomplishments.

by Anonymousreply 448July 9, 2022 9:03 PM

Celia Weston is one of those very lucky actresses whose career got better as she got older. That's a rare thing.

by Anonymousreply 449July 9, 2022 9:11 PM

Well, character actresses tend to work more the older they get. Maybe not huge roles, but good roles. I have never understood why Mary Louise Wilson could not take advantage of that, especially during her renaissance in the late 1990s and on. She had a HUGE success with Full Gallop, followed by a first Tony nom a year later in Cabaret, a handful of Off-Broadway roles and then the Tony for Grey Gardens, but the best she was able to muster during that in film and tv was a one-off guest shot on The Sopranos and a tiny role in the film Nebraska. And she absolutely should have played the role that June Squibb played in that film, instead. Squibb is a terrible actress. Seriously awful. Her Oscar nom was one of the worst I've ever seen. And she's gone on to work continuously since, always being terrible. Whereas MLW has done precious little. I also know MLW and she is a delight to work with, so I know it's not because she's a pain in the ass.

by Anonymousreply 450July 9, 2022 9:32 PM

[quote]Would Linda Lavin play Mrs. Brice in FUNNY GIRL?

Lavin is 84 years old. She would make the current Mrs. Paroo in "The Music Man" seem, well, youngish.

by Anonymousreply 451July 9, 2022 10:04 PM

Alfred Lutter was very good in the film. I believe he received second billing the tv pilot and McKeon did as well in the first season. When it became clear that McKeon did not have the ability that Lutter did, his role diminished and he wound up next to last in the credits before Holliday's 'And' credit.

by Anonymousreply 452July 9, 2022 10:51 PM

Lutter looked like a little brainiac and he ended up with a Masters in management and engineering from Stanford.

He was pretty funny in "Love and Death,"

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by Anonymousreply 453July 9, 2022 10:57 PM

Alas, no *Starring*, r452.

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by Anonymousreply 454July 9, 2022 10:59 PM

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

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by Anonymousreply 455July 9, 2022 11:18 PM

Stop knitting your brow, Jodie.

by Anonymousreply 456July 9, 2022 11:19 PM

A thought: how did we not get an American version of Keeping Up Appearances circa 1994 with Linda?

by Anonymousreply 457July 9, 2022 11:33 PM

Also, one more digression: the cast of Women of the House was wall-to-wall women making their second or third chances. What was the mindset there?

by Anonymousreply 458July 9, 2022 11:40 PM

[quote]There are interviews with Arthur Laurents where the Rose in Gypsy of 1989 production were said to be considered amongst Shirley MacLaine, Carol Burnett, Liza Minnelli, Patti LuPone (before the Jolson Sings Again feud) and Lainie Kazan.

I doubt Shirley or Carol would have been interested in doing eight shows a week at that time. Shirley was still a big name in movies and Carol was working on her comeback series for NBC.

Lainie would have been interesting, but could she sell tickets?

Tyne Daly was a good choice. She had a built-in audience of housewives due to Cagney and Lacey's success, and it was an intriguing choice, as Daly was not well known for her musical prowess. But as Tyne said, she had an uphill battle as she had to convince audiences that it wasn't going to be Mary Beth Lacey performing Gypsy.

Now if she could sing, the one who I think would have worked as Rose would have been Mary Tyler Moore.

Daly was fucking pissed when CBS offered the TV movie to Bette Midler.

by Anonymousreply 459July 9, 2022 11:54 PM

I guess, R 446, but I still wouldn't want to get anywhere near the dirty pantyhose of any of the main women mentioned in this thread.

There hasn't been much mention of Linda's face work, but it would appear she's had some. That horizontal line just under the nose tells it.

MLW may be nice to you when you worked with her, but her book and that doc about her make her sound complaining.

by Anonymousreply 460July 10, 2022 12:11 AM

Just a couple of additions to the list of great Celia Weston: the matriarch of the North Carolina family in Junebug (which got Amy Adams her first Oscar nomination). Also, she played a nurse practitioner in rural Mississippi in one of those occasional "field trip" episodes of ER, this one a showcase for Eriq La Salle's Dr. Benton. She stole it away with a really lovely performance.

by Anonymousreply 461July 10, 2022 1:23 AM

I remember thinking Linda was alarmingly thin during her Gypsy run. It was during her divorce and she didn't seem happy.

by Anonymousreply 462July 10, 2022 1:25 AM

Was Linda Lavin the Lea Michelle of her day?

by Anonymousreply 463July 10, 2022 2:00 AM

Jealousy and feuds occurred among the cast of "227," "The Golden Girls" anytime there is more than one bitch on stage.

by Anonymousreply 464July 10, 2022 2:12 AM

Mary Louise Wilson is ninety years old which is a good reason to not be working a lot.

She was not a good choice for the half-baked Roundabout revival of "On the Twentieth Century" when Jackie Hoffman or Mary Testa would have been so much better.

by Anonymousreply 466July 10, 2022 2:58 AM

I absolutely love the Spanish style bungalow Linda and her husband bought in Toluca Lake.

If I lived in L.A. this is exactly the type of house I'd love to live in.

by Anonymousreply 467July 10, 2022 3:00 AM

Does she have an alibi for when Philip McKeon died?

by Anonymousreply 468July 10, 2022 3:08 AM

[quote]My many fans are my children.

My fans? Those losers...what the fuck are you tawking about?

My incomparable voice and my acting talent are my children...

I've nurtured them and watched them grow...

by Anonymousreply 469July 10, 2022 3:28 AM

The entire cast is dead except Linda.

She's taking the final bow as she's always wanted.

by Anonymousreply 470July 10, 2022 3:39 AM

And calling me dead is BRAZEN category fraud!

by Anonymousreply 473July 10, 2022 3:44 AM

[quote]The entire cast is dead except Linda. She's taking the final bow as she's always wanted.

Listen Diane, that's just the pitch used to ask the network to reboot the show.

Picture it: "Alice: The One Woman Show with Original Music by Linda Lavin"

"There's a new girl in town with a titanium hip...a fresh face lift and some valve replacements"

"She was just passing through...but she's a little incontinent and needs to use your restroom...for a while"

"Bomp Pomp Bomp Pomp Pa..."

"Hey, I STILL GOT IT!"

by Anonymousreply 474July 10, 2022 3:53 AM

"Picture this - Alice Hyatt buys the old Mel's Diner in Phoenix and turns it into an elegant Lounge to finally showcase her God-given talent that she's never had the opportunity to pursue."

"The lights come up and I'm wearing an elegant sequined off-the-shoulder gown, sitting behind a beautiful grand piano...and I begin to sing..."

by Anonymousreply 475July 10, 2022 4:03 AM

When Alice nosedived from the top 10 in the ratings to the bottom 10 in mere months (a feat few other series have repeated), this article did some thorough filth-reading:

"Alice is a classic example, perhaps the best to date, of an unremarkable series that owed its existence largely to a solid gold time slot."

"Sources at CBS say Linda Lavin, the star of Alice, was difficult to deal with in recent years. Moving the show to Wednesday night was in part a punishment, they say."

"Alice's cancellation may be the quickest demise ever of a show that was a hit yesterday." (The show was actually pulled temporarily, not canceled, unfortunately.)

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by Anonymousreply 476July 10, 2022 4:11 AM

Meow, r476! They really had it in for our dear Linda.

by Anonymousreply 477July 10, 2022 4:15 AM

"Lavin recently remarried and had reportedly lost some enthusiasm for the long-running show."

Just as her new husband soon lost some enthusiasm for Lavin.

by Anonymousreply 478July 10, 2022 4:18 AM

I will always love her for how she sings "You've Got Possibilities" on the Superman OBC Album.

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by Anonymousreply 479July 10, 2022 4:36 AM

When Diane Ladd left the show, this widely syndicated TV critic had a few thoughts.

"Alice is a rotten television show, the producers and writers are miserable hacks, and a respectable performer with a certain amount of pride and dignity has no place working on such a piece of claptrap."

"Alice is an embarrassingly inept program, and ... Diane simply got tired of hating to go to work every day."

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by Anonymousreply 480July 10, 2022 4:38 AM

Also from R480's link: "Diane just doesn't like the show. She's a marvelous actress, and she's been deeply disappointed with most of the storylines and with some of the dialogue that they put in her mouth."

Had Diane not seen any of the episodes from the first three seasons before she signed on to join the cast? I mean, it was pretty obvious by the time she joined that the show was a steaming pile of crap.

by Anonymousreply 481July 10, 2022 4:51 AM

"Alice" was not a crap show. It was amusing and had a great cast. The show is still watchable today.

by Anonymousreply 482July 10, 2022 5:06 AM

Was/is Gary Deeb family? He's like a bitchier Tom Shales.

by Anonymousreply 483July 10, 2022 5:08 AM

Gary apparently sold out big time when he started working for ABC in 1983.

by Anonymousreply 484July 10, 2022 5:16 AM

The article at R476 is a little confusing to me. It's from early 1983. And it says Alice was canceled. But Alice ran until the spring of 1985. Was the cancellation rescinded?

by Anonymousreply 485July 10, 2022 5:31 AM

R485, yes.

Gary Deeb was more snotty than bitchy. He would appear on the local news when I was a kid, he didn't seem queeny, just miserable and a snob, about television of all thing!

by Anonymousreply 486July 10, 2022 6:03 AM

I always think Linda is hated more than Bonnie for two reasons: (1) though also a singer, Bonnie did not attempt to sing the theme song and only performed at the follies for her mother's nursing home every year, and (2) as soon as you came across Ann Romano, you thought "bitch" because of the scowl and the giant mushroom haircuts and the constant shouting; but most people started "Alice" thinking Alice Hyatt would be nice, because she was smiley and prettier. But after a while you'd discover she was just as shrill and strident (although at least she didn't hit anyone).

by Anonymousreply 487July 10, 2022 6:09 AM

Thankfully, Linda never went braless like Bonnie did.

by Anonymousreply 488July 10, 2022 6:10 AM

R488, but I always went sans panties...unless you count my 'pubic diaper' as a set of underwear. Seriously it was the size of a slice of New York pizza

by Anonymousreply 489July 10, 2022 6:23 AM

Linda was fascinating in Gypsy and I think Sondheim said she was probably the closest to the real Rose. Her rages and foot stomping were terrifying. She lacked the necessary charm but it was brave of her to focus on the dark side of the woman and she certainly wasn’t boring.

by Anonymousreply 490July 10, 2022 6:37 AM

[quote]The entire cast is dead except Linda. She's taking the final bow as she's always wanted.

[quote]We beg to differ, R470—Diane L. and Celia W.

Those two aren't the only ones you forgot. You can kiss my grits, R270.

by Anonymousreply 491July 10, 2022 6:42 AM

It's R470, Flo. So stow it!

by Anonymousreply 492July 10, 2022 6:52 AM

I loved all the celebrities who guest-starred on Alice, playing themselves. Art Carney, Dinah Shore, Jerry Reed, George Burns, Robert Goulet, Telly Savalas, Joel Grey. ❤

by Anonymousreply 493July 10, 2022 6:57 AM

I really hope Polly outlives this cunt.

by Anonymousreply 494July 10, 2022 7:13 AM

Did Joel Grey as “himself” make a pass at Flo?

by Anonymousreply 495July 10, 2022 7:53 AM

^ No, but he asked if Tawwhmee would massage his feet too.

by Anonymousreply 496July 10, 2022 9:08 AM

Her second husband must have hated her. She made quite a cunty statement about the divorce settlement.

[quote]In a statement issued through her lawyer, Ms. Lavin said: "This husband made no contributions as a husband or as a father or to my career, and so he was not at all entitled to alimony, support or property. Mr. Niven lived very well during the marriage. Any decent person would have said, 'Thanks, I screwed up,' and walked away."

[quote]Mr. Niven gave up claims to the couple's Central Park West apartment, said to be worth $1.25 million, and a $300,000 weekend home in Chincoteague, Va.

[quote]"Mr. Niven is pleased with the result," said his lawyer, MONA R. MILSTEIN, "though obviously this was not amicable."

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by Anonymousreply 497July 10, 2022 9:55 AM

A friend of mine saw Lavin in the revival of Candide at NYCO in 2017, and he said she was the best thing about it, in the role of The Old Lady. He especially praised her acting in the big finale, which has some kind of botanical title ("I'll Plant My Own Tree"?).

by Anonymousreply 498July 10, 2022 10:12 AM

R476, I like the statement in that article that Alice was for awhile dependent on being scheduled after One Day at a time to be a hit show. So Bonnie Franklin is the reason why, in part, Linda Lavin had a hit show!

by Anonymousreply 499July 10, 2022 11:46 AM

It’s really incredible it stayed in the top 10 during the the early Weston years when it was unwatchable. People, I guess, were just in that groove of watching these four sitcoms, which had been on since the mid 70s. Same thing with Threes Company. The ratings didn’t fall to the bottom immediately after Somers left and Barnes joined. It stayed a pretty solid hit for awhile.

by Anonymousreply 500July 10, 2022 1:13 PM

[quote]It's amazing that in [R358]'s reel of every intro of the series (10, I believe), the only shot that is in EVERY SINGLE ONE is Vera and the STRAWS! No wonder Beth Howland carried a box of straws in her purse wherever she went so that she would be ready for the fans.

It's also interesting that the iconic straws bit occurred in the very first episode. I wonder if that rankled Linda for 10 years.

by Anonymousreply 501July 10, 2022 2:22 PM

Lavin's career is based on the fact that people were too lazy to get off their couches and switch the channel in the days before widespread remote controls.

by Anonymousreply 502July 10, 2022 3:11 PM

It's amazing to think what shows were big hits back in the days of only three networks to choose from and no internet. Some of the hit shows of the past wouldn't last one season today, because of more and better entertainment options.

by Anonymousreply 503July 10, 2022 3:18 PM

Remote controls were pretty common by the time "Alice" debuted.

by Anonymousreply 504July 10, 2022 6:09 PM

Yeah, remote controls were the youngest kid in the family or the kid who sat closest to the TV set.

by Anonymousreply 505July 10, 2022 6:40 PM

I had a remote control tv in my bedroom as a child and watched Alice

by Anonymousreply 506July 10, 2022 6:54 PM

[quote] Remote controls were pretty common by the time "Alice" debuted.

We didn't have a remote until we got cable. And we didn't get cable until Aug of 1981, when we moved into a neighborhood that was wire for it. We had ONTV until then.

by Anonymousreply 507July 10, 2022 7:18 PM

I LOVE Linda's new house in Toluca Lake. If I lived in that area, that would be the perfect house for me.

by Anonymousreply 509July 10, 2022 7:19 PM

Advances in remote control technology and availabilty were clearly in response to the supposed popularity of Alice.

by Anonymousreply 512July 10, 2022 7:29 PM

Linda Lavin and Bonnie Franklin threads never disappoint. They've been DL staples for as long as I've been here.

by Anonymousreply 513July 10, 2022 7:30 PM

Did Linda ever get her tits out on the cover of PEOPLE magazine? No, but Bonnie sure as fuck did!

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by Anonymousreply 514July 10, 2022 7:31 PM

Y'all rag on Bonnie's looks but that co-star...

by Anonymousreply 515July 10, 2022 7:33 PM

"Yes, I'd like the new issue of People. And please put it in a brown paper bag."

by Anonymousreply 516July 10, 2022 7:34 PM

The thought of guys masturbating to Bonnie Franklin is horrifying.

by Anonymousreply 517July 10, 2022 7:45 PM

I had to laugh at "the Nobel sperm bank" was put right next to Mackenzie's ass on that cover. Somebody at PEOPLE magazine had a wicked sense of humor.

by Anonymousreply 518July 10, 2022 7:46 PM

R518 I thought they were Star Search winners.

by Anonymousreply 519July 10, 2022 7:53 PM

[quote]I LOVE Linda's new house in Toluca Lake

Toluca Lake is a scene you should make with your little one.

by Anonymousreply 520July 10, 2022 8:01 PM

Posted on SitcomsOnline.com

[quote] believe the third season when the feud between Linda Lavin and Polly Holliday started to blow open. The show took off and that was their best season. In fourth season it was full tilt. People were watching the show for Flo not Alice. In the fourth season you can the tension between those two by the way they interacted with each other on camera. There weren't too many scenes they had together as they did in the early seasons because of the tension. Look at some of the episodes fo that season and you would see Linda rolling her eyes at Polly when she gets a laugh.

[quote] Even before I knew about the feud, I did start picking up on a little tension in season 4 (1979-80), Flo's last season. I particularly remember a very good episode where Mel installed a time clock and the waitresses were picketing the Diner. Whenever Flo would get a big laugh, Alice would look away, roll her eyes and sigh, appearing irritated. It was really a shame, too, because I actually think they did some of their best scenes together. They played off of each other's characters really well IMO. That season was when their feud went full tilt. You did not see them in many scenes together compared to earlier seasons. The same tension got passed to Diane Ladd who did a great job filling the shoes. I understood when Ruth Buzzi guest starred on the show Linda Lavin was threatened by her and letting her know that she is the star. What a shame. Linda would not have lasted on any of Norman Lear nor MTM shows because they were both ensemble cast where not one particular star shined.

by Anonymousreply 521July 10, 2022 8:02 PM

[quote] Linda would not have lasted on any of Norman Lear nor MTM shows because they were both ensemble cast where not one particular star shined

Excuse me?

by Anonymousreply 522July 10, 2022 8:09 PM

Linda's second husband, Kip Niven, was a total cunt.

by Anonymousreply 523July 10, 2022 8:11 PM

Can you imagine how many times she rehearsed and performed that theme song over the years trying to achieve "perfection?"

In retrospect, each iteration only confirmed and reinforced her delusions of grandeur.

We all have our blind spots, but [italic]Good Lawd![/italic] talk about a lack of self-awareness.

by Anonymousreply 525July 10, 2022 8:29 PM

I believe the color of the Alice theme logo was shit brown in season 2. Why?

by Anonymousreply 526July 10, 2022 8:34 PM

Brown was popular in the 1970s.

by Anonymousreply 527July 10, 2022 8:41 PM

[quote]I believe the color of the Alice theme logo was shit brown in season 2. Why?

Linda loved scat

by Anonymousreply 529July 10, 2022 8:58 PM

Bonnie had a huge lesbianic following, including groupies who got mushroom haircuts and frantically masturbated to her braless "People" cover.

by Anonymousreply 530July 10, 2022 9:03 PM

Esther Rolle went through the same thing on Good Times. Overshadowed, like Lavin, by co stars who played their roles strictly for laughs. Thinking it was THEIR shows, but not realizing that, with more people watching because of Polly and Jimmie, it benefited everyone connected with the shows by sharing the wealth. I guess it’s kind of an ego blasting thing. But it’s a chance you take with every series. Acting like a cunt never helps.

by Anonymousreply 531July 10, 2022 9:06 PM

I sensed attitude with Rosie's request to Linda to sing the theme in the clip r528 posted.

by Anonymousreply 532July 10, 2022 9:07 PM

R287 LOL. I love that Jackie Beat responded to that Instagram post about this DL thread

by Anonymousreply 533July 10, 2022 9:25 PM

Esther Rolle was evil and loved voodoo.

by Anonymousreply 534July 10, 2022 10:13 PM

Esther's complaint was a little different. She felt the show tilted too much into buffoonery, and she said she'd signed on to explore the problems of inner city Blacks and the family unit. It wasn't petty like Linda the Cunt.

by Anonymousreply 536July 10, 2022 10:16 PM

To this day, if you book Jimmie "J.J." Walker for a club date or any personal appearance gig

his contract rider says he will only say the phrase "Dynomite" for an additional fee

by Anonymousreply 537July 10, 2022 10:21 PM

i'm pretty sure that no matter how awful Kip Niven was to Lavin, I'd take his side.

by Anonymousreply 538July 10, 2022 10:24 PM

Linda provided you ingrates with countless hours of pleasure on stage and tv. All all you do is call her bitch.

by Anonymousreply 539July 10, 2022 11:05 PM

^ If it comes out of a cow's ass, I ain't gonna call it a rose!

by Anonymousreply 540July 10, 2022 11:09 PM

Flo gave her flower to so many men. She was so dirty!

by Anonymousreply 541July 10, 2022 11:11 PM

[quote] Linda provided you ingrates with countless hours of pleasure on stage and tv.

Oh, I think those hours are definitely countable.

by Anonymousreply 542July 10, 2022 11:12 PM

[quote] All all you do is call her bitch.

Wrong. We call her CUNT!

by Anonymousreply 543July 10, 2022 11:13 PM

[quote] Oh, I think those hours are definitely countable.

I'm not sure you can actually count to zero.

by Anonymousreply 544July 10, 2022 11:14 PM

[quote]Flo gave her flower to so many men. She was so dirty!

Chef Monica, honey, I don't know you...and you don't know me.

But I ain't never once forced my "rose" on any man.

by Anonymousreply 545July 10, 2022 11:15 PM

That's what a third grade education will get you, Florence Jean. No one said "forced."

by Anonymousreply 546July 10, 2022 11:16 PM

^ The reference to "force" means it was between two consenting adults - and you weren't one of them, Cunt!

by Anonymousreply 548July 10, 2022 11:18 PM

^ Looks like Linda and her publicists finally got a Google alert about this thread!

by Anonymousreply 549July 10, 2022 11:20 PM

[quote] Bonnie had a huge lesbianic following, including groupies who got mushroom haircuts and frantically masturbated to her braless "People" cover.

We called ourselves "Bon-heads" after Bonnie!

We had all kinds of chapters all over the country in the 70s and early 80s. I was vice-president of my hometown's chapter back in high school in rural Minnesota.

by Anonymousreply 550July 10, 2022 11:24 PM

[quote]“Linda, the Cunt”-A memoir

That subject is too extensive to cover in one book.

by Anonymousreply 551July 10, 2022 11:25 PM

I remember seeing Bonnie as a high school student on Gidget when the Mesothelioma channels started showing it. She looked 35 back then.

by Anonymousreply 552July 10, 2022 11:27 PM

Is someone trying to steer the conversation away from Linda's long history of cuntiness...

My, my, what an interesting development...

by Anonymousreply 553July 10, 2022 11:30 PM

Marlo is the queen cunt emeritus.

by Anonymousreply 554July 10, 2022 11:33 PM

Not only a cunt but a self-important cunt!

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by Anonymousreply 555July 11, 2022 12:40 AM

Why didn't they give Linda Lavin a sassy catchphrase on Alice?

by Anonymousreply 556July 11, 2022 12:40 AM

They told her a sassy song was more than enough.

by Anonymousreply 557July 11, 2022 12:42 AM

The lead almost never had a sassy catchphrase in the 70s. I can think of only a few sitcom leads who did: Maude ("God'll get you for that...") and Archie Bunker ("STIFLE!").

by Anonymousreply 558July 11, 2022 12:43 AM

R536 true. I only meant Esther and Linda had similar issues, but for different reasons. They expected Ralph Carter to be breakout star of GT, the cute kid with all the pro black propaganda. Something tells me that would’ve irked Esther too. Even if the show would’ve clicked all the PC boxes, she probably would’ve felt a young kid was overshadowing her. Esther had her cunty wants too. Her and Amos openly complained about the show in print. Biting that hands that feeds you when it could’ve been worked on behind the scenes was the right thing to do. This ended with Amos being let go. Lavin probably out cunted her with petty stuff like counting who had the most lines of dialogue and if Polly had one more she threw a fit.

by Anonymousreply 559July 11, 2022 2:08 AM

People were watching Alice for Flo, not Linda, and Linda was PISSED. You could see the tension between them on the show.

It was the age-old story of a supporting character becoming the breakout star of the show. Sometimes the star of the show realizes it's "good for business" and just rolls with it, like Michael Gross and Meredith Baxter did on Family Ties when Michael J. Fox became a huge sensation, and Marion Ross and Tom Bosley did when Henry Winkler became the breakout star of Happy Days. Then there's cunts like Linda who threw a fit and wanted the bitch off the show.

Valerie Harper was pissed when Jason Bateman became the breakout star of her sitcom, and of course we all know about Marla Gibbs and Jackee on 227. Gibbs and Jackee made up years later and are now good friends.

by Anonymousreply 560July 11, 2022 2:22 AM

I'm of two minds about the Good Times situation. One, I can understand that Rolle and Amos thought they were going do a show that sheds some light on the plight of black working class people and it turned into somewhat of another minstrel show where the stereotypical character becomes the breakout. I get why they were disappointed and felt somewhat let down.

Two, shut up, take the money, enjoy life in the top ten and for any guilty feelings, donate to some charities to help you sleep at night.

by Anonymousreply 561July 11, 2022 2:23 AM

Rolle actually left the show because she hated the direction in which it went. When the ratings started to tank, they lured her back for the final season but it was too late by then.

by Anonymousreply 562July 11, 2022 3:37 AM

I get the feeling Rolle wasn’t the most diplomatic. She probably bulldozed her way into meetings with Norman Lear and the producers of the show while not understanding the fact you get more flies with honey than vinegar. Granted, JJ could be ridiculous sometimes. But going to Ebony magazine and blasting the show wasn’t going to help her or Amos’s plight. Amos has admitted he was a hot head around this time and would handle it differently now. The producers always run the show. You do your best to change it and if you can’t change it you work within the confines of it. Or leave. It’s sitcom work not a cure for cancer. She ended up leaving and costing herself a years salary and the show never got its mojo back.

by Anonymousreply 563July 11, 2022 3:49 AM

But she eventually got the lucrative Spiritual Psychic Helpline gig.

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by Anonymousreply 564July 11, 2022 3:54 AM

Um, I'll still need the extra money if you want me to the say the word that begins with a "D"

by Anonymousreply 565July 11, 2022 4:23 AM

Did the TV Guide artist hate her?

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by Anonymousreply 566July 11, 2022 6:58 AM

^ When you're trying to draw Linda Lavin and you take a wrong turn at Didi Conn.

by Anonymousreply 567July 11, 2022 7:10 AM

She looks like a Flintstone but it’s still not like she was Stockard Channing-d.

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by Anonymousreply 568July 11, 2022 12:33 PM

That looks more like Bernadette Peters.

by Anonymousreply 569July 11, 2022 12:35 PM

Linda looks like Michele Lee at r566.

by Anonymousreply 570July 11, 2022 12:36 PM

What did Linda Lovelace think of Linda Lavin?

by Anonymousreply 571July 11, 2022 12:44 PM

Why does Flo look like Wilma Flintstone at R566? Do you think Linda had a meltdown because she had to share a cover with just Flo?

by Anonymousreply 572July 11, 2022 1:04 PM

Do you think Beth Howland secretly plotted against Linda and Polly?

Her straw technique is pretty iconic.

by Anonymousreply 573July 11, 2022 1:36 PM

Beth decided she would chain smoke in front of Linda and ruin her voice by secondhand smoke.

The joke was on Beth. Linda's voice was already terrible.

by Anonymousreply 574July 11, 2022 3:06 PM

[quote]She looks like a Flintstone but it’s still not like she was Stockard Channing-d.

I love how the cartoon version of Stockard includes the bags under her eyes even though she was playing a teenager.

by Anonymousreply 575July 11, 2022 10:20 PM

Have Stockard Channing and Linda Lavin ever met? And, more importantly, do they hate each other?

by Anonymousreply 576July 12, 2022 1:16 AM

R573 you’re tiresome with the straw bit, it’s more than obvious by your insistence on referencing the clip that you didn’t watch the show more than one episode or you’d know the character of Vera wasn’t limited to the straws you constantly reference.

by Anonymousreply 577July 12, 2022 1:19 AM

Stockard Loves Rita but not Chita

by Anonymousreply 578July 12, 2022 1:57 AM

Can you believe this is a real quote from a guy on Youtube. Or is it Linda Lavin posting about herself?

[quote] I totally hit puberty watching Alice as a kid, had such a crush on Linda Lavin

by Anonymousreply 579July 12, 2022 7:24 AM

[quote] I totally hit puberty watching Alice as a kid, had such a crush on Linda Lavin

In the late '70s and early '80s, lots of teenage boys had posters of Linda Lavin on their bedroom walls.

by Anonymousreply 580July 12, 2022 8:15 AM

R580 Right next to their lunch lady posters?

by Anonymousreply 581July 12, 2022 8:18 AM

This is probably where that guy's crush started.

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by Anonymousreply 582July 12, 2022 8:24 AM

This is the fastest moving Linda thread I have seen in a while. We are approaching 600!

by Anonymousreply 583July 12, 2022 11:11 AM

Why did Linda sport that dykey looking buzz cut the final season of Alice?

by Anonymousreply 584July 12, 2022 11:16 AM

R582, I wonder if Linda demanded that Kermit introduce her as the Lovely Miss Linda Lavin, or else she wouldn't do the show?

by Anonymousreply 585July 12, 2022 12:38 PM

R585 She’s holding a gun down below on the puppeteer out of the camera range.

by Anonymousreply 586July 12, 2022 1:52 PM

[quote] I totally hit puberty watching Alice as a kid, had such a crush on Linda Lavin

Tell me you’re a flaming homosexual without telling me you’re a flaming homosexual

by Anonymousreply 587July 12, 2022 7:07 PM

Do you ever think Linda lurks around the internet, comes to a thread like this and eventually figures, "Well, at least I'm not Bonnie Franklin."

by Anonymousreply 588July 13, 2022 12:16 AM

Linda had the Nastiest Person on Broadway Thread nuked.

by Anonymousreply 589July 13, 2022 12:17 AM

This thread is proof that Linda Lavin is not simply a DL fave, but a DL LEGEND and just a LEGEND in general.

Even Madonna cannot get to 600 posts anymore.

Linda needs to go on a world tour pronto!!!

by Anonymousreply 590July 13, 2022 12:20 AM

I watched Alice, and do think she was a bit much.

But Linda’s really good in almost everything. She was great in her guest role on Mom and the Good Wife and a bunch of other stuff.

by Anonymousreply 591July 13, 2022 12:23 AM

The stirring finale of LOVE, LINDA is the 20-minute remix of "New Girl in Town."

by Anonymousreply 592July 13, 2022 12:33 AM

Only Linda Lavin can max out a thread these days.

by Anonymousreply 593July 13, 2022 12:35 AM

Do you think Bonnie Franklin ever turned to Linda during that Hal Linden special and said, 'I made you!' Because of ODAAT's keeping Alice afloate in the ratings?

by Anonymousreply 594July 13, 2022 12:36 AM

Even better, she turns to Linda and says, "....KISS MY SHITS!"

Then follows it up with an, "OHHHMYYYYYGODDDDDDD..."

by Anonymousreply 595July 13, 2022 12:39 AM

Who had the tighter snatch, Linda or Bonnie?

by Anonymousreply 596July 13, 2022 12:49 AM

Alice at 9:00 Eastern got better numbers than One Day at a Time at 8:30 for five seasons. I think if anyone was going to tell someone "I made you," it would be Carroll O'Connor telling it to Bonnie.

Honestly, Mike Wallace could tell it to all of them. 60 Minutes put a lot of blankets on the CBS lawn on Sundays.

It's not much to go by, but the only people I knew who were very enthusiastic about One Day at a Time were boys in school who wanted to see Valerie Bertinelli at peak hotness. Bonnie, Mackenzie, and the guy in the denim vest were like the vegetables they forced down to get dessert.

by Anonymousreply 597July 13, 2022 12:54 AM

Do you think Linda threw her hat into the ring to play Fanny Brice in Funny Girl?

by Anonymousreply 598July 13, 2022 12:54 AM

I really think Linda Lavin owes it to Mackenzie Phillips; people only tuned in to ODAAT to see how drunk or stoned she was going to be.

by Anonymousreply 599July 13, 2022 1:22 AM

ovah!!!scooobydooolalala!

by Anonymousreply 600July 13, 2022 1:23 AM

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