It’s Weird That A Martin Scorsese Movie Became A Popular Network Sitcom That Lasted Nine Seasons

Criterion announced, finally, Martin Scorsese's Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore will be getting a release this July. I think it's one of Scorsese's most unique films and one of his best. I suspect the new Criterion release will get it more due attention. And it's been long overdue for a release giving it the presentation it deserves, so that is all exciting news.

There's one truly remarkable, and very weird, aspect about this movie: it spawned a sitcom that ran for nine seasons on CBS. In 1980 Alice was the fourth most popular show on television. I feel this should be talked about more in daily conversations. Which is why, in April of 2021, I wrote this piece at Uproxx. But now it's been deleted from the internet, so I failed. So, here I am again, trying to bring it back.

Since this originally published on April 30th, 2021, a few things have happened. Kris Kristofferson died in 2024. Diane Ladd, who was nominated for an Academy Award for her role as Flo, died in 2025. Polly Holliday, who was nominated for multiple Emmy awards for playing the role of Flo on the television series, also died in 2025.

But before we get to the original piece, I do have an Alice themed story involving Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige.

In 2018, around the release of Avengers: Infinity War, the tagline was 'the greatest crossover event in history," which spawned a bunch of social media memes. When I interviewed Feige for Uproxx in May of 2018 (in another interview that was deleted from the internet) we were discussing these memes and I brought up how Boss Hogg and Enos from The Dukes of Hazzard showed up on an episode of Alice. (Which means, yes, that a Martin Scorsese movie is somehow also associated with The Dukes of Hazzard. Also, this can be viewed on YouTube.) This meeting is explained by making Boss Hogg a distant relative of Jolene Honnictutt, a waitress at Mel's Diner in the later seasons.

When you get an interview with Kevin Feige, especially back then, every second was precious. This was the chance to go directly to the source and ask anything about upcoming movies and rumors. And the thing about Feige, he wouldn't lie. That doesn't mean he'd answer every question, but he wasn't known for being intentionally misleading. And one good answer from Feige could lead to aggregation from every entertainment site on the internet, which would buy you another couple days day of employment before that was expected again.

Anyway, I used my precious time to discuss ... this. Also, you may be shocked to learn that this is the last exchange I've ever had with Kevin Feige and he's never agreed to let me interview him again...

My contribution to the meme was Boss Hogg from The Dukes of Hazzard showing up on Alice.

Wait…

Boss Hogg wanted to buy Mel’s Diner.

Hold on…