The popular CBS sitcom Alice, which ran from 1976 to 1985, was
loosely based on the successful 1974 film Alice Doesn’t Live Here
Anymore. The plot had recently widowed Alice Hyatt (played by Linda
Lavin) taking a waitress job in Mel’s Diner, a Phoenix eatery, to make
ends meet. One of her waitress colleagues was feisty Florence (Flo)
Castleberry played by Polly Holliday. The character became so popular
that CBS launched a sitcom focusing on Flo. The premise of the spinoff
was that Flo had moved back home to Cowtown, Texas to assume the
management of a rundown roadhouse which she re-christened Flo’s Yellow
Rose. As a mid-season replacement, Flo aired on Monday nights in March
and April 1980 and got as high as number seven in the Neilsen ratings.
However, when Flo returned in the fall of 1980 its time slot was moved
several times. Ratings tanked and it was gone after a total of 29
episodes. The Flo character never returned to Alice (with the exception
of old clips in the series finale). Here is the opening montage of
Flo.
Flo: A Sitcom Spinoff Disaster
