Surprising Stories from the Set of the Sitcom Alice

By the early 1980s, Alice wasn’t the effortless hit it had been in its first few seasons. After Polly Holliday left in 1980 and the cast shifted, ratings began to soften. CBS moved the show to different time slots, trying to recapture its earlier momentum.

At one point, cancellation was a very real possibility. But the series managed to stabilize enough to keep going, ultimately running nine seasons from 1976 to 1985. Not bad for a diner sitcom that lost two major stars along the way. Mel would’ve called that a comeback special.