Differences Between The Movie and Show's Premise
Alice had many contrasts with the film on which it was based, Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore.
| Movie | TV series |
|---|---|
| Alice's maiden name was Graham. | Alice's maiden name was Spivak. |
| Alice and Tommy had previously lived in Socorro, New Mexico. | Alice and Tommy had previously lived in northern New Jersey. |
| Alice's late husband Donald was portrayed as abusive. | Alice's relationship with Donald is never described, but she kept a photo of him displayed on the wall of her apartment for years after his death. |
| Alice's original plans were to move back to her hometown of Monterey, California to restart her singing career. | Alice's original plans were to move to Los Angeles to restart her singing career. |
| The restaurant where Alice becomes a waitress was called Mel & Ruby's Cafe and located in Tucson. | The restaurant where Alice becomes a waitress was called Mel's Diner and located in Phoenix. On the pilot episode, the sign on the door said "Mel & Ruby's Cafe". |
| Alice and Flo do not initially like each other and do not become friends until well into the "Tucson" segment of the movie. | Flo takes on the role of "big sister" to the other waitresses, and she and Alice were best friends from the beginning of the series. |
| Alice ran out of money, and took the job at Mel and Ruby's temporarily to earn enough money to get them the rest of the way to Monterey. | Alice took a job at Mel's because her car broke down when she and Tommy reached Phoenix on the way to Los Angeles. |
| Mel was a widower, having been married to a woman named Ruby; hence the restaurant's name, "Mel & Ruby's Cafe." | Mel was a middle-aged bachelor. |
| Alice and Tommy live in a nearby motel while she works at Mel's. | Alice and Tommy move to the Phoenix Palms Apartments; the distance between her apartment and Mel's Diner is never revealed, but is presumably within walking distance, as it is mentioned that Alice and/or Tommy occasionally walk between the diner and home. |
| Alice meets and falls in love with a divorced rancher named David, whose wife left him and took their children; David becomes Tommy's guitar teacher. | Alice does not get involved in a serious relationship until the last season. |
| Alice and Flo were around the same age. | Flo was roughly ten years older than Alice (despite the fact that in reality Holiday and Lavin were approximately the same age, having both been born in 1937). |
| Flo had blonde hair. She was in a crumbling marriage and her husband was not speaking to her. She had a daughter to support and flirted with and accepted passes from her male customers, but never dated any of them. She had a number of one-liners, including "You can kiss me where the sun don't shine." | Flo had red hair, was divorced three times and had no children. She lived by herself in a trailer park, dated many men, and her usual catchphrases were "Kiss my grits!" and "When donkeys fly!" |
| Vera had a low, quiet voice; she was taken to and from work by her father; she was shy and somewhat awkward, but was not "dumb". | Vera had a high voice that was fairly loud; she lived alone in an apartment that was located at an unknown distance from the diner; she was extremely clumsy, and rather slow-witted. |
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