On the Desi episode, he played a character named Paco. Martha Raye played Mel's mom. What other celebrities on the show played a character with a different name? Or was this it?

Florence Henderson portrayed a celebrity, but she was not playing herself.

debbie reynolds played an old girlfriend of mel's in one ep

Another one I just recently read about was Ruth Buzzi as Henry's wife.

Jay Leno played a biker, but then that was before he was famous.

Didn't Eve Arden play a talk show host in an episode?

Didn't Eve Arden play a talk show host in an episode?
Yep, "Alice In TV Land", from season 4. It's a pretty good episode with a sort of a twist at the end.

Yep, "Alice In TV Land", from season 4. It's a pretty good episode with a sort of a twist at the end.
That was one of my favorite episodes. Unfortunately you can see the tension between Linda Lavin and Polly Holliday when the characters of Flo and Alice were arguing. Their real life feud filtered into the screen especially the way Linda rolled her eyes at Polly.

That was one of my favorite episodes. Unfortunately you can see the tension between Linda Lavin and Polly Holliday when the characters of Flo and Alice were arguing. Their real life feud filtered into the screen especially the way Linda rolled her eyes at Polly.
Until I browsed this site I didn't even know there was a feud between them :eek:
Does anyone know if they got along at first and then a feud developed, or did they have trouble getting along even right from the pilot?
What was Linda's beef with her?

Until I browsed this site I didn't even know there was a feud between them :eek:
Does anyone know if they got along at first and then a feud developed, or did they have trouble getting along even right from the pilot?
What was Linda's beef with her?
When the show started they did get along but as the show became a hit Polly's Flo became the breakout character of the show. People were saying Flo was the star so Linda Lavin got resentful and forced her off the show which was why she got the spinoff. But Polly would not go back to Alice after the spinoff failed. The feud went full tilt in the third season. Linda also had a feud with Diane Ladd, who played Belle, and end up leaving the show. The bad thing about all that was the show was never the same after Flo left. Belle was a good replacement Jolene was a poor replacement. You see Jolene stayed through the rest of the show. That tells you something there.

When the show started they did get along but as the show became a hit Polly's Flo became the breakout character of the show. People were saying Flo was the star so Linda Lavin got resentful and forced her off the show which was why she got the spinoff. But Polly would not go back to Alice after the spinoff failed. The feud went full tilt in the third season. Linda also had a feud with Diane Ladd, who played Belle, and end up leaving the show. The bad thing about all that was the show was never the same after Flo left. Belle was a good replacement Jolene was a poor replacement. You see Jolene stayed through the rest of the show. That tells you something there.
Yikes. Linda seems so charming at times. It's a shame to know that in reality she has such an ego problem. I can understand why Polly wouldn't want to come back to that, regardless of her spinoff only lasting two seasons. I'm not sure if it's possible but maybe she had even less tolerance for Diane, seeing as how it felt like she was on the show for all of two seconds. Or maybe Diane was less tolerant of Linda, essentially saying "I'm not putting up with this nonsense for as long as Polly did!".

Yikes. Linda seems so charming at times. It's a shame to know that in reality she has such an ego problem. I can understand why Polly wouldn't want to come back to that, regardless of her spinoff only lasting two seasons. I'm not sure if it's possible but maybe she had even less tolerance for Diane, seeing as how it felt like she was on the show for all of two seconds. Or maybe Diane was less tolerant of Linda, essentially saying "I'm not putting up with this nonsense for as long as Polly did!".
Look at Celia Weston, who played Jolene, she lasted longer than Polly and Diane did. She was not a threat to Linda Lavin. Jolene was not a funny character and I did not like her. The show was never the same after that. Looking at the show Alice it was more of an ensemble show like Barney Miller, Mary Tyler Moore and Bob Newhart was. That was a show that wore its welcome out because the last two years its age was showing. To many celebrity guest stars were on there to get laughs and ratings.