The true fact of sitcom life is that most of the time spin-offs just don't live up to the the original. Yes we are looking at you Hello Larry (Spoinoff of Diff'rent Strokes), Joannie Loves Chachi (spin-off of Happy Days) and The Tortellis (Spin-off of Cheers).
Warner Archive released Flo the Complete Series the spin-off of Alice and I am ecstatic to say that this one is not in those bad television spin-offs. This is a really good series. Let's take a look at this series in the bigger picture.
After stealing the show for 4 and a half seasons on the TV series Alice, Flo (Polly Holliday) got the chance to star in her own series entitled Flo. In the fourth season of Alice Flo announced that she was leaving Mel's Diner for a job in Houston. As this series began Flo is on her way to Houston when she stops in her hometown of Cowtown, Texas. Feeling nostalgic for an roadhouse she buys it and renames it Flo's Yellow Rose.
Now the flirtatious redhead must put her feeling on the back burner at time and be the boss for the business. Along with trying to do her best to make the business a success she must deal with her chauvinistic bartender Earl (played perfectly by Geoffrey Lewis), her opinionated Mama (Sudie Bond), prim and proper sister Fran (Lucy Lee Flippin) and Les the piano player. Along with dealing with Farley the banker who holds the mortgage on the roadhouse.
Episode Ratings:
****=Don’t Miss it!
***=Worth a look.
**=An Ok way to spend some time.
*=You haven’t missed anything.
Disc 1
1. Homecoming: On her way to a new restaurant hostess job in Houston, Flo gets a flat tire and ends up buying an old roadhouse in her hometown of Cowtown, Texas. ****
2. Showdown at the Yellow Rose: A showdown looms at sundown at the Yellow Rose between Earl and Bad Joe Shaw, whose girlfriend was stolen by Earl 17 years earlier. ***
3. Happy Birthday, Mama: Flo and Fran plan a surprise Hawaiian-theme birthday party for Mama, including reuniting her with an old beau. **
4. Take My Sister, Please: Flo reluctantly hires her prim-and-proper sister Fran to work at the Yellow Rose, but she turns out to be so obnoxious that no one can stand her. ***
5. The Hero of Flo's Yellow Rose: Les saves Farley from choking to death and when Flo calls a radio station to suggest him for its "Citizen of the Week" award, Les mysteriously disappears. ***
6. The Reunion: Flo is reunited with an old high school beau who makes an offer to travel the world and share his wealth. ***
7. The Enemy Below: A skunk has stationed itself under the Yellow Rose, driving customers out and Flo into battle against the critter to save the Yellow Rose. ***
8. Farley, the People's Choice: Farley is elected zoning commissioner and, much to his disappointment, it is not all it is cracked up to be. ***
9. Bull is Back in Town: Bull, a wild prospector, comes to town on his annual binge – seeking a good drink, bath and a pretty woman – and sets his sights on Flo. ***
10 & 11. A Castleberry Thanksgiving: Parts 1 & 2: Flo invites her father (Forrest Tucker), who ran out on the family 30 years earlier, to spend Thanksgiving with the Castleberry clan. ***
12. Willoughby vs. Willoughby: Miriam wins a Yellow Rose lottery to accompany Flo on a free trip to Disney World, provided she can leave her husband and kids. ***
13. So Long, Shorty: Flo vows to give "Shorty", a favorite customer, his dying wish – a wingding of a funeral at the Yellow Rose – but then she realizes they eulogized the wrong man. ****
14. Deserted Islands: After a quarrel with his father, Randy quits his job to become a country music star and moves into the storeroom of the Yellow Rose which Flo soon regrets. ***
15. The Miracle of Casa de Huevos: While on their way to the annual Snowflake Ball on Christmas Eve, an ice storm maroons Flo, Earl, Les in Earl's barn, with Earl's expecting mare. ***
16. Grey Escape: Mama runs away from home when Flo and Fran, determined that she should lead a more productive life, sign her up for every volunteer project in town. ***
17. Pretty Baby: Flo's dream of winning the "Miss Rodeo Days" contest is almost spoiled when friends leave their seven-month-old baby to take care of. ***
18. Not with My Sister, You Don't: Flo is worried when a vulnerable Fran attaches herself to Les after her longtime fiancé Wendell elopes with an exotic dancer. ***
19 & 20. The Price of Avocados: Part 1 & 2: Flo can't pay the rent on the Yellow Rose. So Farley threatens to take her trailer (which she put up for collateral) but somebody beats him to it. ***
21. Welcome to the Club: Flo's brother sabotages her efforts to impress a businesswoman who is writing an article on the Yellow Rose. ***
22. Gunsmoke at the Yellow Rose: Flo fantasizes an Old West shoot-out at the Yellow Rose as a roaring saloon in the 1880s. ***
23. What Are Friends For?: Mel Sharples (Vic Tayback), Flo's former boss, visits the Yellow Rose and he gives her some unwelcomed advice. ***
24. Just What the Doctor Ordered: Flo gets tonsillitis and can't speak, well Earl discovers her age through her birth certificate, but an anniversary edition of the newspaper mistakenly lists her birthdate as 1931. ***
25. Footsie: When Earl plans to take off for his birthday to accompany a friend to a rodeo – he neglects to tell Flo that the friend is his ex-girlfriend, B.J. ***
26. You Gotta Have Hoyt: Country-western singer Hoyt Axton visits the Yellow Rose to see if all the stories he has heard about Flo are true and she doesn't disappoint. ***
27. Flo's Encounter of the Third Kind: Flo claims to have seen a flying saucer, but no on believes her. So she takes Earl to camp out and wait for the UFO to return. ****
28. No Men's Land: Buddy (George Lindsey), tells Flo that the bathrooms in her bar are on his land and she has to pay for them. ****
29. The Daynce: When Flo convinces Earl into escorting her to a formal ball marking her membership in an exclusive club, he helps her make a big impression, but not the kind she wanted. ***
Along with the amazing cast that worked so well together. The show scored some incredible guest stars as well including; James Cromwell, Robert Englund, Forrest Tucker, Joanna Cassidy, Hoyt Axton and Alice's Mel himself Vic Tayback.
Sadly this show only got 29 episodes probably because of schedule changes. CBS changed it's time slot 5 times in it's short run. This is what happened to many shows. If every time you turn around you have to try to find out where the show is on you get frustrated and just quite looking.
Flo could have and probably should have lasted as long if not longer than Alice's 9 season run. It was that good. A very strong cast of characters and great acting, directing and storytelling.
As for this DVD release. The episodes are spread out over 4 DVD discs. The episodes are presented in their original full screen format and in 1.37:1 aspect ratio. The audio is Dolby Digital mono track. These show were shot on video tape so you can't expect high definition quality video.
I ran a bitrate test and on the high end these episodes run from around 7.5. At the lowest bitrate it ran a 3.5. So these episode have a great bitrate. I am really impressed with the clarity of the picture and the audio. This is a very nice release.
Warner Archive deserves a lot of love for the fact of keeping these shows available. Flo could easily be forgotten for all time. But they love classic movies and TV as much as we do and I am so thankful for that. I highly suggest check out their amazing catalogue of release at www.WarnerArchive.com.
If you are a fan of Polly Holliday, Florence Jean Castlebury or the TV Show Alice. The spin-off series Flo is an absolute must addition to your classic TV Collection. I can not recommend this enough! Head over to Amazon.com and get your copy today.
Offensive Material: Nothing to bad
Audience: Families
Genre: Comedy, Sitcom
Length: 716 Minutes
DVD Value Rating: A
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