Make ‘Room’ for Lavin

Linda Lavin is becoming the mother of all mothers.

From 1976 to ‘85, she starred as Alice Hyatt, the widowed mother of a young son who worked as a waitress in Mel’s Diner on the hit CBS series “Alice.” In 1986, she won a Tony Award as the world-weary matriarch of the Jerome family in Neil Simon’s award-winning “Broadway Bound.” Two years ago she starred on Broadway as the ultimate stage mother, Mama Rose, in the revival of “Gypsy.”

Seven years after “Alice” left the airwaves, Lavin is back as a sitcom mom in “Room for Two.” The ABC series begins a six-week run this week, airing Tuesdays after the top-rated “Roseanne.” (The hit “Coach,” which usually occupies that time slot, is on hiatus and will return in May.)

In “Room for Two,” Lavin stars as Edie Kurland, a widow from Dayton, Ohio. Her daughter Jill (Patricia Heaton) is an accomplished, sophisticated producer of a New York morning talk show. The two are forced to renew their relationship when Edie gets a job on the television show Jill produces. Edie’s arrival throws Jill’s orderly life off-balance. But for Edie, moving to New York and getting a new job is a beginning of a fresh life for her.

Lavin, who also is one of the executive producers of the series, was approached 18 months ago by Warner Bros. about doing “Room for Two.” Lavin had been courted to do other series since “Alice,” but nothing had struck her fancy.

“This is the one I came back for,” she said.

Lavin said she was intrigued with “Room for Two” because the sitcom explored the relationship between a mother and grown daughter “without the bad jokes. We are friends. We live in the same town but I want to make it very clear the mother does not live with the daughter. She comes from Dayton, Ohio, and goes to work and gets her own apartment. The daughter is extremely successful but when something goes wrong in her personal life she goes over to Mom’s for a hug. But the mother is trying to let go.””

Lavin hopes her new series will affect audiences as “Alice” did. She said Alice Hyatt became the symbol for working women across America. “She represented over 80% of the women who worked,” Lavin said.

During the show’s second season, Lavin received the Grass Roots Award from the Washington D.C.-based National Commission on Working Women. She is still involved with the non-governmental organization.

“I represent the media on the commission,” Lavin said. “We present awards to those who have done the best work in documentary and real-life drama or fiction, based on the lives of working women in this country, what they do and what they are about. They are all ‘Alice’ and ‘Alice’ is all of them.”

During “Alice’s” run, Lavin, dressed in Alice’s waitress uniform, started to speak out publicly and attended rallies supporting the Equal Rights Amendment. “(Alice) spoke through me and I could speak through her,” she said. “The show became my commitment to reflect the truth of the times as I believe television must.”

“Room for Two” airs Tuesdays at 9:30 p.m. on ABC.