I've recently been watching the season 10 and 11 episodes on MeTV and YouTube and I have noticed that Uncle Charley often refers to Ernie, Rob, etc. as "Alice". e.g. "Well, Alice, if you don't get in here and eat your dinner I'm gonna throw it in the garbage!" Maybe this was a thing in earlier seasons too, I don't know, but why does he do that? Who is Alice?

Anyone?

IDK, but the only thing I can think of, is that it's a throwback to seafaring days. I can see sailors doing that.

That was like Eddie calling Wally "Gertrude" on Leave it to Beaver !:lol:

Eddie called Wally "Gertrude"? LOL, I've never watched that show regularly enough to pick up on that. That's funny. Eddie was so weird.

I also figured that the whole "Alice" thing was supposed to be a holdover from Charley's old seafaring days but I didn't know if that was an expression common to real sailors or just something that William Demarest made up to add character to his character, so to speak.

He was secretly hoping that Linda Lavin would make a guest appearance.

I figured he says Alice when he can't think of the persons name.

Wow, has today's world fallen so far as to not know an insult when you hear it. Calling a man by a girl's name is meant to be an insult to their manhood. In Charlie's case he wasn't serious but used it more as a funny insult, but come on, let's not be so P.C. that we can't state the obvious. I'm always happy to be as non P.C. as possible, P.C. is just an innocent word for censorship, plain and simple.

Wow, has today's world fallen so far as to not know an insult when you hear it. Calling a man by a girl's name is meant to be an insult to their manhood. In Charlie's case he wasn't serious but used it more as a funny insult, but come on, let's not be so P.C. that we can't state the obvious. I'm always happy to be as non P.C. as possible, P.C. is just an innocent word for censorship, plain and simple.

I'm not PC and I'm not a feminist, and I remember when it used to be a thing for boys to call other boys who they considered sissies girls' names, especially a variation of their own name, like calling someone named Michael "Michelle". However, Uncle Charley uses this nickname almost constantly throughout those last few seasons when referring to one of the boys for any reason, so I can't imagine that he was trying to attack their masculinity every time he spoke to them, that would have been abnormally abusive and cruel, even for Uncle Charley. That's why I think it may be more likely that it was an old seafarer's term, or at least one that the writers of M3S created to make Charley look like the Old Salt that he constantly claimed to be.

It's Alice in Wonderland. He's telling the person that his head isn't screwed on straight.


That actually makes sense, I can see Uncle Charley doing that!

You seemed to have ignored my out for Charlie in the case with the kids, and I quote, "In Charlie's case he wasn't serious but used it more as a funny insult" Please read before you leap.

You seemed to have ignored my out for Charlie in the case with the kids, and I quote, "In Charlie's case he wasn't serious but used it more as a funny insult" Please read before you leap.

You are correct, when I read over your reply again I did miss that part somehow and I apologize. That was a good analysis of Uncle Charley's personality, because even when he was trying to be funny he still seemed grouchy.

You seemed to have ignored my out for Charlie in the case with the kids, and I quote, "In Charlie's case he wasn't serious but used it more as a funny insult" Please read before you leap.

Yeah because all three boys were secure in their masculinity! None were sissies ! They knew Uncle Charlie was just playing, not seriously insulting them!
;) Like Eddie calling Wally Gertrude, same thing as the Douglas boys and Wally didn't get upset over it! :D

It was a good answer...and since the question, I've heard him use it 4 or 5 times!

Another example of a character who's flippant regularly in a similar way is "Kookie" Kookson of 77 Sunset Strip, who calls his male coworkers "Dad" (he's the younger man). I wouldn't read too much into Charley's "Alice;" I think he's just being flippant to be funny.