Do you think perhaps 'Flo' was a little bit too country for audiences too get and enjoy or was flo just one dimensional???

I think she was just one dimensional. Some supporting characters just shouldn't be spun-off. Remember the Dukes of Hazzard was a rural show and they were ranked in the top 5 at the time.

I think she was just one dimensional. Some supporting characters just shouldn't be spun-off. Remember the Dukes of Hazzard was a rural show and they were ranked in the top 5 at the time.
I agree with Sonny. Flo was a one dimensional character. That was fine when she was a supporting character on Alice but it also meant that she just could not carry a show as the lead.

Alice was based in a rural area too so that defintely wasn't it-lol

It was the Fall of 1980 and this is when TV starts its sad Decline :eek:

No one copied the strategy of ABC which was having the spinoff air right after it;s Parent show.

When that didn't happen they usually failed

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I think she was better as just another charcter on Alice than the MAIN charcter of a show. And Flo being the focus of the show just didn't work.some can pull it off and some can't

I've also heard the argument that Flo as a series and as a main character didn't have a strong supporting cast except for Lucy Lee Flippin's Fran Castleberry. Also, the scripts on Flo's show just weren't that funny. And she really didn't have that many good lines.

I'd agree Flo was too one dimensional and not that interesting as a lead herself. But then none of the other characters were that great either. I remember watching it (I was 11 or 12 at the time) and I liked it then but looking back yeah it wasn't such a great show anyways.

Ed.

I remember being disappointed that they didn’t carry through with the reason Flo left Alice: she got a job as a hostess at a posh Houston restaurant. That could have been interesting, with Flo as a fish out of water at a fancy restaurant. The whole setup with her in a roadhouse with all those hicks was boring to me.

It just wasn’t very funny. Flo isn’t a good character as a lead, unless the supporting cast is amazing (which it wasn’t).

I’ve only seen five or six episodes, and the only one I enjoyed was when Mel made an appearance.

she even used all her Alice Phrases on her own show and that didnt work:lol:

I watched the series and it was okay. The problem I saw was that all the supporting characters were just too normal. Aside from Flo’s sister, everyone seemed like straight characters. Flo’s mom was a low key subdued woman. She should have been Flo times ten! The chain smoking piano player was just that. Why not a creator of whacky tunes who aspired to be on Broadway?

The time slot change in the second season didn't help either.

The time slot change in the second season didn't help either.

Well I guess since it was top 10 CBS wanted to see how it can do as a lead in show and never could do as well as its parent show

It was moved from 930pm to 8pm in season 2 on the same night and couldnt compete against Little House in the Prairie. Season 1 it was up against Monday night movies

Flo worked best as a fish out of water but back in her hometown all she could do was seem trashier than any of the other locals.

Im still surprised this show was on DVD. Curious to know the sales numbers

TV Party argued (http://www.tvparty.com/80-flo.html) that unlike its parent show Alice, Flo simply wasn't that funny:
'Flo,' a spinoff of 'Alice' (1976-85), aired on CBS from March 24, 1980, to July 21, 1981 with Polly Holliday reprising her role as sassy Mel's Diner waitress Florence Jean "Flo" Castleberry.

Polly Holiday immediately became the breakout star of 'Alice,' in 1976, much like Fonzie on 'Happy Days,' with her catch phrase "Kiss my grits!" So naturally, after 4 seasons on 'Alice,' CBS decided in 1980 that she could carry her own sitcom

After Polly Holliday left 'Alice' she was replaced by one of the greatest character actresses of all time, Diane Ladd, who played Flo in the motion picture 'Alice' was based on, 'Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore,' directed by Martin Scorsese.

Ladd was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance in that film so it was somewhat surprising that she chose to basically return to that role on the small screen, her character renamed Isabelle "Belle" Dupree. The actress won a Golden Globe for her performance on 'Alice' but Diane Ladd was dropped from the cast before the end of the 1980-81 season, allegedly due to clashes with other cast members.

Instead of portraying a hash house waitress, as she did on 'Alice,' in this new series Flo was the proprietor of Flo's Yellow Rose, a country-western bar, all the rage in 1980. This was the period of time when 'Urban Cowboy' rocked the box office, suddenly everybody in America was a cowboy/girl, wearing Stetson hats, boots, and tight jeans. 'Dallas,' also on CBS, was hugely popular on TV as well.

The not-very-catchy theme song was sung by Hoyt Axton. One of the recurring elements of the show was the celebrities who entered the diner playing either themselves or some other character including Victor Buono, Robert Goulet, Art Carney, Martha Raye, George Burns, and Jerry Reed.

While 'Alice' was a generally humorous show with hints of pathos, 'Flo' (https://web.archive.org/web/20061031130429/http://www.jumptheshark.com/f/flo.htm) was thoroughly unfunny, with the actors employing annoying nasal twangs that they associated with Southern hicks. Another advantage 'Alice' had was the writing team responsible for Lucy's best shows, from 'I Love Lucy,' 'The Lucy Show,' and 'Here's Lucy.' Which would explain why Desi Arnaz, pretty much retired from TV, appeared in one of the better episodes of 'Alice.'

In one storyline, Sorrell Booke of 'The Dukes of Hazzard' guest starred as Boss Hogg, along with fellow Dukes character Enos (Sonny Shroyer). Vic Tayback made a guest appearance as Mel from 'Alice' but Polly Holliday never returned the favor and didn't appear again on the series that made her famous.

'Flo' was a highly rated program - at first - finishing the 1979-80 season at number 7. But the poor quality of the scripts and atrocious acting drove viewers away. With the entire show centered on her, Flo came off as an unsympathetic character. As a result, the series didn't crack the top 30 for season 2, after which it was canceled.

To this day, Polly Holliday refuses to repeat her catch phrase, "Kiss my grits!"

should have copied what Gary marshall did and have CBS pair Alice and Flo in the same hour

To me, the show got better as the second season went on- still not a great show, though it did improve. The two-part trailer-dedicated episode was among the second-season highlights.

Behind-the-scenes events (see the behind-the-scenes tidbits thread) probably didn't help matters. Unlike Alice, where no one who worked on the show has said much of anything about rumored issues, with Flo, we do have players who have talked about problems on the show.

Seemed like the show never had a link to its parent show and came off as a completely different show. Not another diner or location in arizona, some bar way in the state of Texas lol

That could be part of it. Sometimes, though, a spun-off character, in a location not near the setting of the parent show, does well- see Frasier, though that started when the parent show ended.

That could be part of it. Sometimes, though, a spun-off character, in a location not near the setting of the parent show, does well- see Frasier, though that started when the parent show ended.

Then you had shows where the spinoff stayed in the same city or state

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Grady

Yeah, hit or miss. If only there were a crystal ball for spin-offs' fates. :D