Alice

September 23, 1979

Telly Savalas gives star-struck Vera a thrill when he stops by the diner while she's working there alone. When no one believes her story, she quits in a huff.

September 30, 1979

Alice's sour reaction to Tommy's matchmaking efforts threatens Mel's new promotional gimmick which is free meals to customers if his waitresses don't smile.

October 7, 1979

Mel gives a big engagement ring to his girlfriend Marie, but the sparkle quickly fades when he insists that she sign a premarital agreement.

October 21, 1979

Just one dance lesson and Tommy falls head over heels for his instructor, Vera.

October 28, 1979

Mel is convinced that his chief competitor is romancing Flo just to get the recipe for Mel's Texas-style chili, rated by a food critic as being ""the best in the West.""

November 4, 1979

Vera's boyfriend objects to her sketching nude males in art class.

November 11, 1979

The return of Mel's domineering mother does nothing for his ego because after his back goes out, the customers flock in, for his mother's cooking.

November 18, 1979

Things get hotter than Mel's chili when Dinah Shore invites Mel to prepare his recipe on her show and bring along one, but only one waitress.

December 2, 1979

Mel, his girlfriend and the waitresses spend the weekend packed like sardines in a fishing cabin.

December 9, 1979

Vera asks Art Carney, a sixth cousin on her father's side, to endorse Mel's chili, so it can be marketed frozen as Chili con Carney.

December 23, 1979

A yule tale (with a touch of O. Henry's ""The Gift of the Magi"") finds the girls pooling their meager resources to celebrate Christmas at the diner.

January 6, 1980

Flo takes the wheel herself when she learns that her trucker beau has a female partner.

January 13, 1980

Tommy stirs up trouble by candidly discussing his elders on a TV talk show.

January 27, 1980

Mel installs a time clock which prompts the waitresses to demand overtime for the Sunday cleanup they used to do for nothing.

February 3, 1980

Mel is delighted that his mother is planning to remarry until he meets his prospective stepfather.

February 10, 1980

Tommy has his heart set on taking his girl to a formal Valentine's dance and he needs a tuxedo.

February 17, 1980

Mel plays host to a buddy whose wife has just left him.

February 24, 1980

A wealthy Houston restaurateur offers Flo a job she finds hard to refuse.

March 2, 1980

Mel hires Belle, a Mississippi belle who rings Mel's chimes as ""one of the best waitresses I've ever had."" However, Belle is now aiming for lusher pastures as a country-music writer.

March 9, 1980

The new waitress Belle is making big points with her old boss Mel, but she's scoring zero with Alice and Vera.

March 16, 1980

Heartbroken over her boy friend's sudden lack of attention, Vera begs Belle to transform her into a sex goddess.

March 23, 1980

Mel signs a profit-sharing agreement with the girls just before learning he'll get a tidy sum for letting the city condemn his property.

March 30, 1980

Mel is receptive to an infatuated tour guide, as long as she keeps steering tourists into his diner.

April 6, 1980

Alice allows Tommy to stay with Mel, prompting a wager between Alice and Mel, she bets that he will kick Tommy out and Mel bets that Alice will snoop on her son.