Alice and Flo

   The series Flo found Florence Jean Castleberry, one of Mel Sharple's waitresses on the sitcom Alice, moving home from Arizona to Texas and opening up her own place - a roadhouse named Flo's Yellow Rose. The Yellow Rose stank. After less than one season it was history and so was the character of Flo.

   I will say it again! A good supporting character isn't always a good central character. Some characters are at their best on the sidelines where they can just snipe and joke and generally be relaxed and fun as opposed to being the center of attention and having to carry an entire show.

   In this case it was doubly bad though. Not only did we get stuck with the bad sitcom Flo, but its parent show Alice also suffered from the loss of the character of Flo as a great supporting player. I'm not saying Alice was ever a classic of comedy but it was never nearly as funny after Florence Jean Castleberry left. They had two other waitresses try and fail to fill Flo's shoes. One was even played by the great Dianne Ladd who had originated the role of Flo in the movie Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore on which the show Alice was loosely based. But no dice. Nobody could capture the same feisty fun and the show went from being kinda funny to being kinda painful.

Other Alice Crossover Links
Alice and The Dukes Of Hazzard

Click here to return to main Crossover List