Intimate Portrait with Linda Lavin - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

chrisgill@aol.com · 09-06-2003, 01:54 PM

Hi!

I watched Philip McKeon on Intimate Portrait on Lifetime. Who else were in Intimate Portrait?

Holly

Scoobiedoo30 · 07-09-2007, 02:17 PM

I wish I could see it Again but we do not get Lifetime move Network anymore

cavalier · 07-11-2007, 02:15 PM

What did Philip say about being on Alice and working w/her?

TALLguyinKY · 08-28-2007, 12:21 AM

I saw it the other night. Wow...the Alice segments were about how wonderful, groundbreaking, hilarious, and loved Alice was. Like it was a classic of television. Sure I enjoyed the reruns for nostalgia, but I found that for myself the show wasn't that great as I'd remembered as a kid. It's pretty bad when your lead character becomes uninteresting by the second season and completely overshadowed by the third.

I noticed Linda didn't happen to mention her mostrous inflated ego which shoved Polly out of the show.

In fact she got the info wrong, she just briefly mentioned Polly when she discussed cast changes, and she said, "We had Polly Holliday as Flo for...2 years, then she left to do her spin-off" (she just casually said it like it was so natural---yeah, right! [and never mind Polly was on for about 3 1/2 years, not just 2!]), "then we had Diane Ladd, and then I think in season 4 we had this terrific actress named Celia Weston come in, and she stayed till the end."

Uh-huh.

catlover79 · 08-28-2007, 12:41 AM

I've said it before and will say it again (and Garfieldkool will concur): Vic Tayback was the REAL star of Alice. From everything I've read, he was warm, friendly, easygoing and wonderful to his fans (he even signed "stow it!" in his autographs -

). He won several Golden Globes for his role, as did LL - but she seems to have had MAJOR ego issues. She had the least interesting role and she was the lead!

I did like LL as Janice Wentworth on Barney Miller, however (especially in the episode "Hotel").

TALLguyinKY · 08-28-2007, 12:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by catlover79

He won several Golden Globes for his role, as did LL

And Polly won 2.

comedyfreak · 08-28-2007, 08:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by catlover79

I've said it before and will say it again (and Garfieldkool will concur): Vic Tayback was the REAL star of Alice. From everything I've read, he was warm, friendly, easygoing and wonderful to his fans (he even signed "stow it!" in his autographs -

). He won several Golden Globes for his role, as did LL - but she seems to have had MAJOR ego issues.

I read somewhere that Vic was wanting a come back when he died.

mstewart · 08-28-2007, 09:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TALLguyinKY

I saw it the other night. Wow...the Alice segments were about how wonderful, groundbreaking, hilarious, and loved Alice was. Like it was a classic of television. Sure I enjoyed the reruns for nostalgia, but I found that for myself the show wasn't that great as I'd remembered as a kid. It's pretty bad when your lead character becomes uninteresting by the second season and completely overshadowed by the third.

I noticed Linda didn't happen to mention her mostrous inflated ego which shoved Polly out of the show.

In fact she got the info wrong, she just briefly mentioned Polly when she discussed cast changes, and she said, "We had Polly Holliday as Flo for...2 years, then she left to do her spin-off" (she just casually said it like it was so natural---yeah, right! [and never mind Polly was on for about 3 1/2 years, not just 2!]), "then we had Diane Ladd, and then I think in season 4 we had this terrific actress named Celia Weston come in, and she stayed till the end."

Uh-huh.

If Linda said that she was lying. Her and Polly did not get along and you can see it in season 4 by the way Linda interacted with her onscreen. In the first two seasons you can see the warmth between them. When the show took off in season 3, the best one, that was when Polly took off as Flo. The tension began because many was calling it Flo's show. There were a couple of episodes in season 4, Polly's final one on the show, you can sense the tension between them.

When Diane Ladd came on board the tension between them was there immediately. Linda saw her as a threat. Diane was good in that role. I love her little voice trademark. Diane stated that her experience on Alice was hard and she went to CBS wanting out. That was why she left in the middle of the season.

Celia Weston, on the other hand, was not good and brought the show down. I did not care for Jolene. She was not funny except her first episode when she threw those plates at her former truck driver partner. I was screaming on that one.

Alice was more of an ensemble show, in the vein of Mary Tyler Moore, Dick Van Dyke and Barney Miller, with Linda Lavin as the star and the centerpiece of the show. It was too bad that ego and power got in the way of a show that had the potential of going down as a classic. Also, the show stayed on too long and by season 6 it was stale and tired. From season 7 to its final it became unwatchable. Especially season 8 and 9.

TALLguyinKY · 08-28-2007, 07:00 PM

I agree mstewart---in a way I couldn't believe she glossed over everything like that and mentioned the cast changes so casually as if she were repeating what she had for lunch. But considering that most of the fans know about the tension and power trips and stuff---and others like Polly have alluded to it or mentioned it interviewes--it's just amazing that Lavin glossed over it, and that the interview didn't reference it at all.

mstewart · 08-28-2007, 11:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TALLguyinKY

I agree mstewart---in a way I couldn't believe she glossed over everything like that and mentioned the cast changes so casually as if she were repeating what she had for lunch. But considering that most of the fans know about the tension and power trips and stuff---and others like Polly have alluded to it or mentioned it interviewes--it's just amazing that Lavin glossed over it, and that the interview didn't reference it at all.

So did Diane Ladd mentioned in interviews how rough that experience on Alice was.

TALLguyinKY · 08-29-2007, 07:03 PM

She wasn't interviewed for this---neither were Polly (surprise, surprise) or Beth.

But Celia was...imagine that.

catlover79 · 08-29-2007, 11:52 PM

I thought LL and Beth Howland were pretty tight while the show was on the air. Whatever happened to Beth Howland post-Alice, anyway??

mstewart · 08-30-2007, 12:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by catlover79

I thought LL and Beth Howland were pretty tight while the show was on the air. Whatever happened to Beth Howland post-Alice, anyway??

Beth was not a threat to Linda.

09-06-2003, 01:54 PM	#1
chrisgill@aol.com Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Mar 24, 2002 Location: Bremerton, Washington Posts: 141	Intimate Portrait with Linda Lavin Hi! I watched Philip McKeon on Intimate Portrait on Lifetime. Who else were in Intimate Portrait? Holly
	__________________ Holly K. Niemi

07-09-2007, 02:17 PM	#2
Scoobiedoo30 Member Forum Superstar Join Date: Jun 27, 2002 Location: KENNER, LOUISIANA Posts: 27,654	I wish I could see it Again but we do not get Lifetime move Network anymore
	__________________ Who Dat

08-28-2007, 12:41 AM	#5
catlover79 God Bless Val Forum Addict Join Date: May 29, 2006 Location: Bewitched in Ohio Posts: 70,376	I've said it before and will say it again (and Garfieldkool will concur): Vic Tayback was the REAL star of Alice. From everything I've read, he was warm, friendly, easygoing and wonderful to his fans (he even signed "stow it!" in his autographs - ). He won several Golden Globes for his role, as did LL - but she seems to have had MAJOR ego issues. She had the least interesting role and she was the lead! I did like LL as Janice Wentworth on Barney Miller, however (especially in the episode "Hotel").
	__________________ "Jesus loves you and He approves this message." "I'm alive. I'm feeling good. I'm trying to live every moment as much as I can." - Valerie Harper, March 2013

07-11-2007, 02:15 PM	#3
cavalier Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Sep 07, 2003 Posts: 189	What did Philip say about being on Alice and working w/her?

08-28-2007, 12:21 AM	#4
TALLguyinKY Member Senior Member Join Date: Mar 18, 2002 Posts: 1,439	I saw it the other night. Wow...the Alice segments were about how wonderful, groundbreaking, hilarious, and loved Alice was. Like it was a classic of television. Sure I enjoyed the reruns for nostalgia, but I found that for myself the show wasn't that great as I'd remembered as a kid. It's pretty bad when your lead character becomes uninteresting by the second season and completely overshadowed by the third. I noticed Linda didn't happen to mention her mostrous inflated ego which shoved Polly out of the show. In fact she got the info wrong, she just briefly mentioned Polly when she discussed cast changes, and she said, "We had Polly Holliday as Flo for...2 years, then she left to do her spin-off" (she just casually said it like it was so natural---yeah, right! [and never mind Polly was on for about 3 1/2 years, not just 2!]), "then we had Diane Ladd, and then I think in season 4 we had this terrific actress named Celia Weston come in, and she stayed till the end." Uh-huh.

08-28-2007, 07:00 PM	#9
TALLguyinKY Member Senior Member Join Date: Mar 18, 2002 Posts: 1,439	I agree mstewart---in a way I couldn't believe she glossed over everything like that and mentioned the cast changes so casually as if she were repeating what she had for lunch. But considering that most of the fans know about the tension and power trips and stuff---and others like Polly have alluded to it or mentioned it interviewes--it's just amazing that Lavin glossed over it, and that the interview didn't reference it at all.

08-29-2007, 07:03 PM	#11
TALLguyinKY Member Senior Member Join Date: Mar 18, 2002 Posts: 1,439	She wasn't interviewed for this---neither were Polly (surprise, surprise) or Beth. But Celia was...imagine that.

08-29-2007, 11:52 PM	#12
catlover79 God Bless Val Forum Addict Join Date: May 29, 2006 Location: Bewitched in Ohio Posts: 70,376	I thought LL and Beth Howland were pretty tight while the show was on the air. Whatever happened to Beth Howland post-Alice, anyway??