Surprising Stories from the Set of the Sitcom Alice

When Alice premiered in 1976, it centered on a widowed mother supporting her son by working at Mel’s Diner — and it didn’t treat that as background detail. The show regularly wove in storylines about financial independence, workplace fairness, and the realities of raising a child alone.

At a time when more women were entering the workforce, Alice reflected that shift on prime-time television. It balanced humor with real-world concerns, letting Alice Hyatt stand as a capable, working single mom — not a side character, but the lead of her own story.