Thoughts on the Later Seasons as well as Season 6 (1981-82)

[JAlanRuss72]

I have been watching a lot of the ALICE eps I have recorded lately. The show was NEVER the same after Polly Holliday (Flo) left, of course, and seasons 4 and 5 with her replacement Belle were not that great. It seemed they really didn't know what to do with Diane Ladd's character after they introduced her as Flo's replacement. She was quickly shoved into the background and it seemed as though the show was extremely flat and boring. (some minor exceptions were "The Jerry Reed Story", "Vegas", and "Macho, Macho Mel"). Even worse, Ladd's comic timing was no where near Polly Holliday's, and it was very uncomfortable for me to watch. I kept thinking on each episode how much better it was when Flo was in town. This was no fault of Diane Ladd's, she's actually a great actress. It's just that Flo was pretty much damned irreplaceable. Then, when Jolene was hired toward the end of season 5 (80-81), there seemed to be a breath of fresh air. The cast and the situations seemed to have a renewed energy and the stories, while still not quite up to the creativeness of the first 3 seasons, had a "new" quality again. Season 6 (1981-82) overall is very entertaining, and the episodes "Bet A Million, Mel" (where the girls tie Mel up to keep him from betting the Diner), "Alice's Big Four-Oh!" (where Alice's mother comes to town on her 40th birthday to make her life a living hell) and "The Best Little Waitress in the World" (which has Vera in a newfound confidence taking over too many responsibilities in the Diner resulting in chaos) are very funny and I found myself chuckling once again. I'm not sure about seasons 7-9, but so far season 6 put ALICE back on the right road (for a while at least). Just my opinion!