Douglas Robinson

Mel (Vic Tayback) hires guard dogs to protect his diner, and everyone gets trapped there overnight.

When Jolene (Celia Weston), the partner of a cross-country truck driver, quits her job in Mel's Diner, she creates a crisis in the ladies' room but ends up with a job as the new waitress, despite Mel's (Vic Tayback) reservations.

Mel (Vic Tayback) is almost put out of business because of his mother (Martha Raye), but blood is still thicker than water.

When Vera (Beth Howland) buys a parrot for a pet, an annoyed Mel (Vic Tayback) decides the whole situation is for the birds.

After losing customers to a competitor who's giving away cash prizes, Mel (Vic Tayback) stages his own contest offering $3,000 to the winner. Mel thinks he has the game rigged, but when he finds out that's not so, he becomes frantic.

When Mel (Vic Tayback) sells his diner to a land developer, he, Alice (Linda Lavin), Vera (Beth Howland), Tommy (Philip McKeon), Jolene (Celia Weston) and the diner's faithful customers reflect on the good times and bad, and how the diner and its "family" has affected their lives. Series finale.