Editor’s Note: Shortly before posting this piece, we became aware of the passing of Linda Lavin, TV’s Alice. A performer since childhood, Lavin starred on Broadway, television, and in film. Her accolades included three Drama Desk awards, a Tony, two Golden Globes (for Alice), and induction into the American Theater Hall of Fame. As she figures prominently in this story, we at the Post wish to extend our condolences to her family, friends, and fans.
When you think of Martin Scorsese, you probably think of the great director’s penchant for crime films, or his long-standing relationships with actors like Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio. A lesser-known achievement is how he paved the way for a long-running TV comedy in 1974, and he was far from the only moviemaker that decade watching their work jump from the big screen to the small one. For Scorsese, the journey started with a single mom who worked in a diner.
Ellen Burstyn was filming The Exorcist when Warner Brothers wanted to lock her in for another movie. Burstyn’s agent brought her the script for Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, which Warner had agreed to make. When the studio asked about her choice of director, she wanted to find someone who was newer on the scene. Francis Ford Coppola suggested Burstyn watch Mean Streets, which was still pending release. Burstyn lined up a screening and decided she wanted to meet that movie’s young director, Martin Scorsese, for Alice. Burstyn asked, “What do you know about women?” and Scorsese’s answer, “Nothing, but I’d like to learn,” got him the job. Alice would be Scorsese’s first big studio film.
The trailer for Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (Uploaded to YouTube by World of Warner Bros)
The story of a suddenly widowed mom who plans to take her son, Tommy (Alfred Lutter) to California and restart a singing career resonated with audiences. Alice takes a waitressing job at a diner run by Mel (Vic Tayback), working alongside Flo (Diane Ladd), and Vera (Valerie Curtin). Kris Kristofferson played Alice’s new love interest. Famous faces in supporting roles included a young Jodie Foster, Harvey Keitel, and a little girl with an ice cream cone played by Ladd’s daughter, Laura Dern. The film did very well and earned a Best Actress Oscar for Burstyn, a Best Supporting Actress nomination for Ladd, and a Best Screenplay nom for Robert Getchell.
After the success of the film, Getchell created a TV version of the series. Vic Tayback continued his role as Mel, but the rest of the roles were recast as the film actors passed on reprising them. Linda Lavin played Alice, Polly Holliday took on the role of Flo, and Beth Howland played Vera. Lutter did play Tommy in the pilot episode, but the role was recast with Philip McKeon. Alice ran for nine seasons from 1976 to 1985, spending four of those seasons in the top ten most-watched shows on television.
But Alice didn’t go to TV alone.
McCloud (1970-1977): McCloud debuted with a TV movie pilot on February 17, 1970. The premise had Deputy Marshal Sam McCloud (Dennis Weaver) escorting a prisoner from his normal base in New Mexico to New York City. McCloud would be embroiled in solving a murder case, and thereafter end up on loan to the NYPD as a special investigator. That basic plot had its roots in the 1968 Clint Eastwood film, Coogan’s Bluff; Herman Miller, who wrote the story for Bluff, is credited as McCloud’s creator. Response to the pilot was strong enough that McCloud was selected as one of four programs for NBC’s Four in One, an ongoing “wheel” program where episodes alternated with other series in the same timeslot. McCloud ran for seven successful seasons.
The trailer for the M*A*S*H film (Uploaded to YouTube by Rotten Tomatoes Classic Trailers)
M*A*S*H (1972-1983); Trapper John, M.D. (1979-1985): One movie that’s responsible for two different TV shows! The original M*A*S*H film was an Oscar nominee in 1970, and it begat the beloved 1972 series. It was also behind Trapper John, M.D., which followed that character (now played by Pernell Roberts) years after having left Korea.
Shaft (1973-1974): Toward the end of 1973, a famous fictional detective made the jump from the big screen to the small. Yes, we’re just talkin’ ’bout Shaft. John Shaft first appeared in the series of novels by Ernest Tidyman (and later, David F. Walker) that began in 1970. Shaft went to the movies in a big way in 1971, with Richard Roundtree in the title role and Gordon Parks in the director’s chair. The film was a zeitgeist-shaking hit, and Isaac Hayes’s “Theme from Shaft” won an Oscar. Shaft was seen as a crucial advancement for Black talent in Hollywood, and spawned two immediate theatrical sequels: Shaft’s Big Score! and Shaft in Africa. In October 1973, Roundtree took the character to CBS as part of The New CBS Tuesday Night Movie wheel. A new 90-minute Shaft TV film debuted every third week on that schedule, ultimately delivering seven installments.
Planet of the Apes (1974): 1968’s Planet of the Apes remains an unabashed science fiction film classic. While its four sequels showed some diminished returns as they ran through 1973, the producers thought there was some life left on television. On September 13, 1974, CBS launched Planet of the Apes, using much of the costuming and remaining sets from the films. Roddy McDowall returned for the show as a new character, Galen. The series only aired 13 of its 14 filmed episodes before being cancelled. In 1981, McDowall recorded new intros and outros for a series of five TV movies that were made by editing the episodes of the TV series together. It’s also notable that in 1975, the producers turned to TV animation with NBC’s Return to the Planet of the Apes, which hewed closely to the film series in terms of characters and continuity; it also lasted a single season.
The Cowboys (1974): The 1972 John Wayne vehicle of the same name (which is probably most well-known as the movie where Bruce Dern’s character murders Wayne’s) underwent a small-screen translation two years after its release. Robert Carradine, A Martinez, and Clay O’Brien made the move to the TV show after appearing in the film. In an unusual move, ABC made the Western a 30-minute show.
Serpico (1976-1977): Based on the hit Al Pacino film, Serpico follows the exploits of real-life cop Frank Serpico (here, David Birney) as he tangles with crooked cops. The show eked out fourteen episodes before being cancelled and replaced by the long-running Quincy, M.E.
What’s Happening!! (1976-1979): The comedy-drama Cooley High was a box office hit in 1975. ABC attempted a direct adaptation, but the network didn’t like the resulting pilot. The network chief, Fred Silverman, ordered the idea worked as a sitcom with a different name and characters. The result was What’s Happening!! The show ran for three years but was cancelled after the stars, notably Fred “Rerun” Berry clashed with the network over pay. A sequel series, What’s Happening Now!!, ran in syndication from 1985 to 1988; most of the cast returned, although Berry was fired after the first season due to another salary dispute.
The trailer for the film, Logan’s Run (Uploaded to YouTube by Rotten Tomatoes Classic Trailers)
Logan’s Run (1977-1978): The dystopian 1967 novel of the same name by William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson provided the basis for the film, which earned a Special Academy Award for Visual Effects. The story dug deep into themes of resource scarcity and post-apocalyptic society while presenting as an action film. Nolan co-wrote the pilot episode, and the series maintained the theme of Logan and Jessica on the run through various locations on the future Earth. However, the series didn’t “run” for very long, as it was cancelled before all of the filmed episodes aired.
National Lampoon’s Animal House (1978): John Landis’s frat comedy was a massive hit, so of course executives wanted to find a way to extend it. The show inspired not one, not two, but three TV series in the wake of its success, though only one was “official.” That was 1979’s Delta House, which saw five cast members make the jump from film to television: Stephen Furst (Flounder); Bruce McGill (D-Day); James Widdoes (Hoover); John Vernon (Dean Wormer); and Priscilla Lauris (Dean Wormer’s secretary, Miss Leonard). The show actually got off to a good start in the ratings after its January 18th debut, but producers Ivan Reitman and Matty Simmons had endless fights over ABC’s content guidelines; those battles resulted in the show’s early cancellation.
As for the other two imitators, Brothers and Sisters launched on NBC three days after Delta House. Co-Ed Fever followed on CBS on February 4. Like Delta House, Brothers and Sisters limped along for a few months of behind-the-scenes content fights before getting yanked. Co-Ed Fever only aired one episode in the U.S. before its poor ratings and viewer complaints over content saw it snuffed; the six episodes that had been filmed were shown on Canadian TV, and the show’s frat house set was repurposed into Eastland for a new sitcom, The Facts of Life.
The Bad News Bears (1979-1980): Like Planet of the Apes before it, The Bad News Bears was a successful, multi-installment film franchise. The first film following an occasionally foul-mouthed kids’ baseball team was a big hit in 1976, followed by two sequels with diminishing returns (1977’s The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training and 1978’s The Bad News Bears Go to Japan). The Bears were spun into a CBS sitcom that lasted two seasons. It’s primarily notable for the young cast, none of whom jumped over from the films; it included Corey Feldman, Billy Jayne, Meeno Peluce, and future The Young & The Restless stars Tricia Cast and Kristoff St. John.
Moonrunners/The Dukes of Hazzard (1979-1985): You’ve gotta love Bob Clark. In addition to directing wildly different classics like pioneering slasher Black Christmas, teen sex comedy Porky’s, and holiday staple A Christmas Story, he executive produced Moonrunners, which was turned into The Dukes of Hazzard on TV. Some character names were changed (Grady and Bobby Lee became Bo and Luke, but Uncle Jesse was still Uncle Jesse), and the only character to make the transition was The Balladeer, essayed by Waylon Jennings. The film is mainly remembered for one terrific car chase, but Dukes became huge hit on TV, running from 1979 to 1985.
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Comments
If Martin Scorsese made one film that was delightfully unexpected, it was “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.” Ellen Burstyn was marvelous, and we got to keep Vic Tayback as ‘Mel, giving ‘Alice’ 2 years later; an important link with the film, which I know contributed to its long-running success. A role Vic was born to play, like Frank Sutton as Sargent Carter on ‘Gomer Pyle’. (Nobody rocked a crew cut like Frank did either. No one.)
As good as the film was, its real legacy is the 1976-’85 ‘Alice’ TV series. Linda Lavin as Alice gave the character depth, warmth, toughness and lovable quality for a sustainability. Ellen’s one-off film portrayal role did not, and wouldn’t have been expected to.
The rest of the series’ cast was excellent, and they were like a family. Sometimes at odds with each other, but mainly fun, likable people you’d want to visit every week at Mel’s Diner’ no question about it. I got the chance to meet some of the ‘Alice’ cast members (including Linda of course) at a cool TV stars convention at the Beverly Garland Hotel in the late 80’s.
All great, warm people that loved and appreciated their fans. I’m sorry Linda’s gone as of today, but glad that she didn’t suffer long. My deepest condolences to her family, especially at this very difficult time.
Other shows I loved here include McCloud, Shaft, Serpico, and The Dukes of Hazzard, of course. It’s too bad some of the ‘Animal House’ TV shows didn’t fare better. I did watch them, short-lived as they were. I always hated the coked-out. over-the-top John Belushi in nearly everything he did. Apparently he felt that way about himself, too.
Anyway, this feature made me think of 2 other shows based on films that didn’t last long either. One directly, the other more of a knock-off. Specifically the ‘Paper Moon’ series that lasted one season, if that. The other was ‘Makin’ It’ for a couple of months in early ’79, hoping for some small screen success of ‘Saturday Night Fever’.
It starred David Naughton, best known for ‘An American Werewolf in London’ from 1981, but also the fun, catchy disco hit ‘Makin’ It. I ran into him at the Ralph’s grocery store in Sherman Oaks in 1984 in the check-out lane. I casually spoke with him about all of the above, and how I admired his work. Very nice, and appreciative.