What do you think of Mel's Diner when watching the show today? Do you find it charmingly retro or just simply very kitschy and dated?

Me, I'm stuck in the 70s and wouldn't mind going to the place for the rest of my life. As long as it was as big as it looked onscreen with the fourth wall missing. Although I suppose it could theoretically be as big as it looked. Put a couple of more booths with big windows right where the camera would be and it wouldn't be bad at all. Sitting in one of those booths could let you watch everything in the diner like you were in your living room.

I'd like to visit, just to see how often the ladies did anything but waitress. :)

As for the decor- it was fine for a diner. Did they adjust the decor after season one to make it look more roomy?

I want to see how it looks on my new TV but I cant get Antenna TV to come in for some reason. The new 4K tv makes all the 70 shows look better but havent had a chance to see Alice yet.

Well TV guide considered the diner ran down looking even back when the show first started

I LOVE places that feel familiar and I dunno why ppl have such an issue with it these days... There is a restaurant here that literally has not changed AT ALL since I was a kid in the 80s and I love going there because it's familiar to a happy time in my life. I made a thread sorta like this in Chit Chat.... I dunno why ppl think EVERY STINKING THING has to be totally updated to look so damn TODAY. It's like if there's one thing from the past, it upsets people

Season 1, the diner had drapes, table cloths, and the cash register was in a different location. The counter was lower too. Season 2 the diner got revamped and looked better IMHO. It really looked like a greasy spoon diner

Season 1, the diner had drapes, table cloths, and the cash register was in a different location. The counter was lower too. Season 2 the diner got revamped and looked better IMHO. It really looked like a greasy spoon diner

It was season 3, I think, that the diner became the familiar look that lasted throughout the series... In season 1, it had like a cowboy theme to it, season 2, I think it was white with red flowers or something on the wallpaper, then season 3 it gets the "greasy spoon" look


One thing I always found funny, is in a later episode when they are finding money hidden all over the diner... it had supposedly been hidden since the man who owned the diner before Mel, right? YET, the diner had been destroyed at least 3 times before that episode if I'm not mistaken, you'd think they would have discovered the money LOL

I LOVE places that feel familiar and I dunno why ppl have such an issue with it these days... There is a restaurant here that literally has not changed AT ALL since I was a kid in the 80s and I love going there because it's familiar to a happy time in my life.

Indeed. That's precisely why we like classic sitcoms and shows like this. While some people absolutely must see all the newest shows and looking forward to the ones after those, I'm fine revisiting the past over and over as the years pass.

Indeed. That's precisely why we like classic sitcoms and shows like this. While some people absolutely must see all the newest shows and looking forward to the ones after those, I'm fine revisiting the past over and over as the years pass.

True, and I don't have a problem with keeping with the times, BUT what I don't understand is why it upsets people if there is so much as ONE THING that isn't totally updated.... if there's ONE thing that looks older than 10 years, it seems to bother people... I just like a mix, modern updated, but also things from the past.

I know I sound old, I'm not that old, I'm at the tail end of Gen X, but I hate hearing Zoomers talk about how they wish movie theaters would die, eat-in restaurants should die, books shouldn't exist, having DVDs should be a crime, places should be boycotted for even selling radios, CDs and things like that.

I'm really feeling the generation gap.... I get along ok with Millenials and Boomers, but I just don't get the Zoomer mind-set of never wanting to leave the house, and be in front of a cellphone 24/7

I want to see how Mel's Diner look on my new TV but I cant get antenna TV:(

It looked better in season 2. The bathroom door was further back in a little enclosure with the cigarette machine moved to the side and stacked with booster seats on top, and a jukebox on the other side.

But as far as the decor of the diner from season 3 onward when it had that orangey/yellowy look, when I was little it reminded me of a restaurant we have here called Captain D's, a seafood place, plus Mel wearing the sailor's hat made him look somewhat like the mascot Captain D. So I associated Mel's Diner with being a fish restaurant back then lol

The quality is already average on Antenna TV so it looks even worse.

His diner was typical of diners. It's a cafe that served average American fare and catered to a middle to slightly lower-middle class clientele. His decor was perfect for the Southwest in Arizona. Country and cowboy wallpaper. A lot of long-haul truckers ate there and usually where truckers eat, the food is good.