I Just Watched...

[CinemaInternational]

(Still better than waking up next to THE LUME LADY.)

That made me laugh a lot.

[kingrat]

Beth Howland, the original Amy in Company ("Getting Married Today"), played Vera on Alice.

Linda Lavin sang (well, sort of) the title song for the show.

[CinemaInternational]

I don't think I've ever seen an entire episode of ALICE, but I love the movie ALICE DOESN'T LIVE HERE ANYMORE [/b]that was the inspiration for the TV series.

I'M THE OPPOSITE- I've only seen the TV SERIES, which I grew up watching on THE SUPERSTATION.

It would be interesting to see what you think of ALICE: THE SERIES, for me: it's an interesting case of a SITCOM where THE LEAD was DREADFUL but almost all the supporting cast worked overtime to make up for it (especially VIC TAYBACK and the actress who played "Vera"- i especially liked her)

edit- to this day, when I see VIC TAYBACK in something, my eyes just light up- he was a delightful actor.

The movie was different than the TV series: a hard-edged 70s slice of life with Ellen Burstyn playing an unhappily married woman whose truck driver husband was killed in a traffic accident, and then the film shows her trying to adjust to life. The fact that she ended up in a romance with Kris Kristofferson was about the only thing that went her way in the film, given the hard diner job, and earlier a failed lounge singing career and a frightful run-in from psycho Harvey Keitel. Meanwhile, her bratty son was getting drunk on Whipple being give to him by an androgynous Jodie Foster (looking more like a boy than a girl in this film). It's not a bad film, and Burstyn is teriffic. I think you will be getting a chance to see it soon.....

[Allhallowsday]

...Vic Tayback was the only actor from ALICE DOESN'T LIVE HER ANYMORE to reprise their role on the TV series ALICE. Diane Ladd (who played Flo in the movie and was nominated for an Oscar) joined the cast of the TV series later in the run but in a different role.
Alfred Lutter who was wonderful as Alice's son in the movie was in the pilot for the TV show but was replaced by a very bland (but kind of cute) actor when the show was picked up.

I watched ALICE the TV series long before I saw the film. ALICE DOESN'T LIVE HERE ANYMORE is now a favorite, and the TV series pales.
Great remarks about the kid in a central role: ALFRED LUTTER. Blondie Big Teeth from the series was indeed bland.

[HoldenIsHere]

Was Ellen Burstyn asked to reprise her role in the ALICE TV series?

She would have already received the Oscar for ALICE DOESN'T LIVE HERE ANYMORE so it's not surprising if she was asked to do the TV show (or at least the pilot) that she declined.
Back then doing a TV series would have been seen as a "step back" for movie actor.
It's not really the case now.
A sitcom from that era though wouldn't have been able to have the frankness of the movie.

[CinemaInternational]

Was Ellen Burstyn asked to reprise her role in the ALICE TV series?

She would have already received the Oscar for ALICE DOESN'T LIVE HERE ANYMORE so it's not surprising if she was asked to do the TV show (or at least the pilot) that she declined.
Back then doing a TV series would have been seen as a "step back" for movie actor.
It's not really the case now.
A sitcom from that era though wouldn't have been able to have the frankness of the movie.

Probably not. In those days, if someone had "made" it in films, they rarely went back to TV, because there was still a sort of stigma about appearing on TV. Now James Garner had a good career in both mediums but he was an exception to the rule. So, even though she won an Oscar for the part, she was likely not interested in playing it on TV.

That said, Ellen Burstyn did appear in two short-lived network TV series later on after her career had quieted down a lot: The Ellen Burstyn Show in 1986, which lasted only for a few weeks (it was programmed by ABC to follow what turned out to be a tragic flop: Life with Lucy, Lucille Ball's last TV series) and That's Life, which had two seasons in graveyard slots on CBS (this would have been around the time when she staged a career comeback with Requiem for a Dream)

[HoldenIsHere]

Yes, I saw GODFATHER III when it came out- we stole pay per view and it ran on loop.
It was 1990 I think?
I was 12 years old and I kid you not, one day I ran upstairs and grabbed a black wig and a fake rubber nose, and did an impression of Miss Sofia Coppola‘s EPIC performance for my sister and her friend.
GODFATHER III might well be a good movie, but it’s just hard to get past *that performance*.

And also Diane Keaton‘s perm.

I will say that I was very impressed with Sofia Coppola's work in THE VIRGIN SUICIDES (both her writing and directing).

I haven't seen the movie in many years so my opinion might be different now.

I know that I was crushing big-time on Josh Harnett (those eyelashes!) when I first saw the movie, and that is also features a pre-Anakin Skywalker/post-GOOSEBUMPS Hayden Christensen so it's possible that those factors swayed my reaction to the movie as a whole.

I see that THE VIRGIN SUICIDES is currently available on The Criterion Channel.
I am going to re-watch it and see if the Holden of today is as impressed as the younger Holden was.

I'll try not to be hypnotized by Josh Harnett's eyelashes . . .

[HoldenIsHere]

Was Ellen Burstyn asked to reprise her role in the ALICE TV series?

She would have already received the Oscar for ALICE DOESN'T LIVE HERE ANYMORE so it's not surprising if she was asked to do the TV show (or at least the pilot) that she declined.
Back then doing a TV series would have been seen as a "step back" for movie actor.
It's not really the case now.
A sitcom from that era though wouldn't have been able to have the frankness of the movie.

Probably not. In those days, if someone had "made" it in films, they rarely went back to TV, because there was still a sort of stigma about appearing on TV. Now James Garner had a good career in both mediums but he was an exception to the rule. So, even though she won an Oscar for the part, she was likely not interested in playing it on TV.

That said, Ellen Burstyn did appear in two short-lived network TV series later on after her career had quieted down a lot: The Ellen Burstyn Show in 1986, which lasted only for a few weeks (it was programmed by ABC to follow what turned out to be a tragic flop: Life with Lucy, Lucille Ball's last TV series) and That's Life, which had two seasons in graveyard slots on CBS (this would have been around the time when she staged a career comeback with Requiem for a Dream)

Yeah, I Ellen Burstyn would not have been interested in doing the ALICE series, but I wonder if she was asked do it

[HoldenIsHere]

Beth Howland, the original Amy in Company ("Getting Married Today"), played Vera on Alice.

Linda Lavin sang (well, sort of) the title song for the show.

Oh wow, the lyrics to the ALICE TV theme song were written by Alan & Marilyn Bergman.

I'm not sure how to describe Linda Lavin's singing style . . .

[CinemaInternational]

Yes, I saw GODFATHER III when it came out- we stole pay per view and it ran on loop.
It was 1990 I think?
I was 12 years old and I kid you not, one day I ran upstairs and grabbed a black wig and a fake rubber nose, and did an impression of Miss Sofia Coppola‘s EPIC performance for my sister and her friend.
GODFATHER III might well be a good movie, but it’s just hard to get past *that performance*.

And also Diane Keaton‘s perm.

I will say that I was very impressed with Sofia Coppola's work in THE VIRGIN SUICIDES (both her writing and directing).

I haven't seen the movie in many years so my opinion might be different now.

I know that I was crushing big-time on Josh Harnett (those eyelashes!) when I first saw the movie, and that is also features a pre-Anakin Skywalker/post-GOOSEBUMPS Hayden Christensen so it's possible that those factors swayed my reaction to the movie as a whole.

I see that THE VIRGIN SUICIDES is currently available on The Criterion Channel.
I am going to re-watch it and see if the Holden of today is as impressed as the younger Holden was.

I'll try not to be hypnotized by Josh Harnett's eyelashes . . .

I saw it last year, and thought that it was a curious film because it was so vague about things. We are , I guess supposed to gather that the suicides were because of martinet repression, which would be true of most of them. But that doesn't explain the first suicide attempt in the film since it comes before any of them are locked down. It's strange but this is the second thing today that reminded me of that film; the first was hearing the 1975 10cc song "I'm Not in Love" on the radio in the car, which made me think of the film's big prom scene.

[txfilmfan]

I don't think I've ever seen an entire episode of ALICE, but I love the movie ALICE DOESN'T LIVE HERE ANYMORE [/b]that was the inspiration for the TV series.

I'M THE OPPOSITE- I've only seen the TV SERIES, which I grew up watching on THE SUPERSTATION.

It would be interesting to see what you think of ALICE: THE SERIES, for me: it's an interesting case of a SITCOM where THE LEAD was DREADFUL but almost all the supporting cast worked overtime to make up for it (especially VIC TAYBACK and the actress who played "Vera"- i especially liked her)

edit- to this day, when I see VIC TAYBACK in something, my eyes just light up- he was a delightful actor.

Vic Tayback was the only actor from ALICE DOESN'T LIVE HER ANYMORE to reprise their role on the TV series ALICE. Diane Ladd (who played Flo in the movie and was nominated for an Oscar) joined the cast of the TV series later in the run but in a different role.
Alfred Lutter who was wonderful as Alice's son in the movie was in the pilot for the TV show but was replaced by a very bland (but kind of cute) actor when the show was picked up.

True, but a think a bratty Tommy like the one in the film would've been too much week after week. That's not to say Alfred Lutter couldn't have played a less bratty Tommy in the sitcom, but the character probably did need to change a bit for the series.

Alfred Lutter did do the pilot for Alice, though.

[txfilmfan]

I'll defend Lavin's singing a bit here. She was a Broadway (and off-Broadway) veteran long before Alice came about, in musicals and straight plays. She was in an off-Broadway revue with Jo Anne Worley and Paul Sand, among others, called The Mad Show, loosely based on Mad magazine. She sang a song about a man she fancied but can't figure out that he's not interested because he's gay, in a parody of The Girl from Ipanema (written by Mary Rodgers and Stephen Sondheim)

[jimimac71]

It doesn't get any better!

[Swithin]

There is actually wisdom in The Nanny, i.e. a combination of Jewish foibles and Jewish wisdom. Seinfeld and Enthusiasm are just shtick. In terms of Woody Allen, I love much of his work, particularly Radio Days, Manhattan, Annie Hall, A Rainy Day in New York, etc. I even like What's Up, Tiger Lily?. But I'm not a fan of Play It Again Sam and Take the Money and Run.

In terms of Jewish sensibilities, I once mentioned to a friend that the British director Mike Leigh's films display "Jewish sensibilities," even though he's not Jewish. My friend said, "He is Jewish." I didn't know that.

Sure Swithin, while there may be "wisdom" (Jewish or not) dispensed within 'The Nanny', I have to say I always found the few edisodes I ever watched of it (could only take so much of Fran's nasally voice...I mean by now I'm SURE you know how I feel about THAT sort'a thing and once again "Jewish" or NOT, and after all these years of my making fun of Mankiewicz's, RIGHT?!...LOL...ah, but I digress here) pretty much very conventional in its presentation of the classic fish-out-of-water story/family sitcom, and thus really breaking little new ground within this genre.

AND whereas, well, while you evidently think the 'Seinfield' sitcom is nothing but "shtick", allow me to ask you the following question here in regard to the concept of "breaking new ground":

Were there really any new phraseologies created in 'The Nanny' that would make their way into the general lexicon and that would become culturally embedded in this country such as, "Soup Nazi", "Anti-Dentite" and "Festivus, for the rest of us"(just to name a few here) and which were created by the minds of Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David?

(...nope, sorry, but I really can't think of any that would originally spring from that Fran Drescher starring sitcom)

Dargo, I'm not sure that new phraseologies are an indication of the excellence of a show. I remember when the term "Please don't squeeze the Charmin" came into use. That doesn't make Charmin the best toilet paper.

I think some of the subtleties of The Nanny may have been invisible to non-tribe members. But for many of us, they were clearly there. In relation to Sanford and Son, a show I rarely watched, I recently read something relevant to this conversation. Red Foxx insisted that LaWanda Page be hired for the role of Aunt Esther. After a few rehearsals, the producers wanted to fire her, because they didn't think she was right and wouldn't add anything. Foxx replied "The night that first show of LaWanda's goes on the air, there'll be dancing in the streets in every ghetto in the United States." Foxx was right; Aunt Esther became one of the most popular characters in a '70s. sitcom. I think that's relevant to The Nanny, but also the scripts were truer to the working-class Jewish communities, unrelated to the "fish out of water" part of the show but present in the dialogue.

We shouldn't forget the pioneering Gertrude Berg, who basically invented the sitcom with The Goldbergs and with her character Molly Goldberg, which was first on radio.

https://www.thejewishstar.com/stories/B ... dberg,1171

[dianedebuda]

It doesn't get any better!

Nice. For some reason, it brings this to mind