ALF (TV series)

ALF
ALF
Created by	Tom Patchett Paul Fusco
Starring	Paul Fusco Max Wright Anne Schedeen Andrea Elson Benji Gregory Lucky the cat {himself} Michu Meszaros
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	102
Production
Executive producers	Tom Patchett Paul Fusco
Running time	30 Minutes
Original release
Network	NBC
Release	September 22, 1986 – March 24, 1990

ALF was a 30-minute television sitcom that originally ran on NBC from 1986 to 1990. The plot involves the title character Gordon Shumway, an alien nicknamed A.L.F. or (Alien Life Form) portrayed by Paul Fusco and Michu Meszaros, who crash lands in the garage of the suburban middle class Tanner family. The series starred Max Wright as father Willie Tanner, Anne Schedeen as mother Kate Tanner, and Andrea Elson and Benji Gregory as their two children Lynn and Brian Tanner.

Premise

ALF follows an amateur radio signal to Earth and crash-lands into the garage of the Tanners. The Tanners are a suburban middle class family consisting of the social worker Willie, his wife Kate, their children Lynn and Brian, and the cat Lucky.

Unsure what to do, the Tanners take ALF into their home and hide him from the Alien Task Force (a part of the U.S. military) and their nosy neighbors (the Ochmoneks), until he can repair his spacecraft. He generally hid in the kitchen. It was eventually revealed that Melmac exploded as a result of a nuclear war, and that ALF was off the planet because he was part of the Melmac Orbit Guard. Shumway is homeless, but he isn't the last survivor of his species though. He became a permanent member of the family, although his culture shock, survivor guilt, general boredom, despair, and loneliness frequently caused difficulty for the Tanners.

While most of the science fiction of ALF was played for comedic value, there were a few references to actual topics in space exploration. For example, ALF's using a radio signal as a beacon in the pilot episode. In the episode "Weird Science", ALF told Brian, who was building a model of the solar system for school, that there were two planets beyond Pluto called "Alvin" and "Dave". However, after a call was made to an astronomical organization, Willie explained that "Dave" could have been the planetoid Chiron, or "Object Kowal", after its discoverer.

The original series spans over four seasons and 102 episodes (each episode's name is also the name of a song relevant to the episode's plot), in which Alf learns about Earth culture and makes new friends both within the Tanner family and without, including Willie's brother Neal, Kate's mother Dorothy (with whom Alf has a love-hate relationship — he refers to her as the Wicked Witch of the West, a reference to the Wizard of Oz), her husband Whizzer, the Ochmoneks' nephew Jake, a psychiatrist named Larry, and a blind woman named Jody (who never quite figures out that Alf isn't human, though she is aware through touch that he is short and very hairy). Changes pass within the Tanner household over the course of the series, including the birth of a new child, Eric (The explanation for adding a baby in the series was that Anne Schedeen was pregnant and expecting a child at the time.), Alf's move from his initial quarters in the laundry room to a converted attic "apartment", and the death of Lucky the cat; in the final instance, Alf finds that, despite his occasional attempts to catch Lucky with the intention of making the cat a meal, he has come to love and respect the family pet too much to do anything untoward with Lucky's remains.

In the series finale, Alf is about to be rescued by other survivors of his home planet, but is instead captured by the American military, and the viewer is left to ponder Alf's ultimate fate. (This was not supposed to be the finale, as the original airing ended on a "To Be Continued" note. At the time, the show was in limbo as to whether it would get a fifth season. The producers supposedly had a verbal agreement with NBC to get at least one more episode to resolve the cliffhanger. NBC never made good on the deal, and no more episodes were created.)

Cast

File:Alftitle.jpg

Max Wright, Anne Schedeen, Benji Gregory, & Andrea Elson with Alf from the Alf Season 1 & Season 2 title sequence.

• Max Wright - Willie Tanner
• Anne Schedeen - Kate Tanner
• Andrea Elson - Lynn Tanner
• Benji Gregory - Brian Tanner
• John LaMotta - Trevor Ochmonek
• Liz Sheridan - Raquel Ochmonek
• Josh Blake - Jake Ochmonek (seasons 2-4)
• Jim J. Bullock - Neal Tanner (season 4)
• Lucky the Cat - himself
• Lisa Buckley - Alf assistant/puppeteer

• Bob Fappiano - Alf assistant/puppeteer

Michu Meszaros was the actor within the Alf costume. Paul Fusco operated the Alf puppet (assisted by puppeteers Lisa Buckley and Bob Fappiano), supplied Alf's voice and co-produced the series with Tom Patchett. Patchett also co-created, wrote, and directed the series.

Notable Guest Starring Cast

• Andrea Covell - Jody
• Bill Daily - Dr. Larry Dykstra
• Anne Meara - Dorothy Halligan Deaver
• Paul Dooley - Whizzer Deaver

ALF Character

Gordon Shumway is an alien nicknamed A.L.F or (Alien Life Form). ALF was born on October 28, 1756, though he mentions that his birthday is in August in Episode 7 ("Help Me Rhonda") on the Lower East Side of the planet Melmac. The planet Melmac was located six parsecs past the Hydra-Centaurus Supercluster and had a green sky, blue grass and a purple sun. The commonly-used currency is "Foam". Personal heroes:Bob the great and Lassie, Worst job:One summer as an apprentice lint brush, Marital status:Single...but still looking!

ALF's body is covered with orange fur. He has a rippled snout, facial moles, eight stomachs, large ears, and he likes to eat cats (tabbies have been rumored as a favorite, but his preferred snack has not been definitively stated). He attended high school for 122 years and was captain of a Bouillabaisseball team (which is played on ice using shellfish as a ball).

Production

Paul Fusco is notoriously secretive about his character. During the show's production, Fusco refused to acknowledge that ALF was anything other than an alien. All involved with the production were cautioned not to give away any of ALF's secrets.

Cast interviews since the show ended have revealed a few details about making the series: to make room for the puppeteers, the entire set was built on a raised platform with dozens of trapdoors in the floor. The trapdoors had to be reset multiple times, sometimes during a single scene, forcing them to shoot each episode over the course of several hours and without a studio audience.

Paul Fusco was the primary puppeteer. He used one hand to control ALF's mouth leaving the other free to control one of the puppet's arms. A second puppeteer, Lisa Buckley, accompanied Paul under the stage and wore ALF's other hand (the hands were basically furry gloves) to control it. Together, with a third person (Bob Fappiano), who controlled ALF's facial and ear movements via an RC controller offstage, they worked in concert to make ALF's movements fluid and believable. During tapings Paul would wear a "halo" which was used to record his voice for the ALF character. All of this made for a painstaking process and there were countless mistakes and retakes. Of course none of them made it into the final cut.

To avoid unnecessary wear-and-tear on the principal ALF puppet, the performers rehearsed with a battered, early version of ALF. They nicknamed him "Ralph." Often during rehearsals, Mr. Fusco would just substitute his hand for the puppet.

In an interview on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Tina Fey said that her biggest frustration as producer of NBC's 75th anniversary special was dealing with ALF's "people." Fey said Fusco would only allow ALF to appear on the show if the puppeteers were completely hidden from everyone else, even the studio audience. After his cameo (as an audience member), ALF disappeared through a hole in the riser, was stuffed into a case and immediately hustled out of the building.

While a puppet was usually used for ALF, there were some shots of the tiny alien running or walking around. This was accomplished by dwarf actor Michu Meszaros wearing an ALF costume. (This can be seen in one of the series' intros, which concludes with the Tanner family getting their picture taken; ALF, played by Michu, walks over to be part of the photo.)

The series was independently produced by Alien Productions, a dummy company owned by the same production consortium that produced The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd, The Slap Maxwell Story, and Buffalo Bill. The series was syndicated by Warner Bros. Television and Lorimar-Telepictures, however WBTV does not own the video rights--those rights are held by Lions Gate Home Entertainment under license from Alien Productions.

Episodes

Season 1: 1986-1987

#	Title	Screenshot	Overview	Original Airdate
1	ALF			September 22, 1986
2	Strangers in the Night			September 29, 1986
3	Looking For Lucky			October 6, 1986
4	Pennsylvania 6-5000			October 13, 1986
5	Keepin' the Faith			October 20, 1986
6	For Your Eyes Only			November 3, 1986
7	Help Me, Rhonda			November 10, 1986
8	Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue?			November 17, 1986
9	Jump			November 24, 1986
10	Baby, You Can Drive My Car			December 1, 1986
11	On the Road Again			December 8, 1986
12	Oh, Tannerbaum			December 22, 1986
13	Mother and Child Reunion			January 12, 1987
14	A Little Bit of Soap			January 19, 1987
15	I've Got a New Attitude			February 2, 1987
16	Try to Remember: Part 1			February 9, 1987
17	Try to Remember: Part 2			February 9, 1987
18	Border Song			February 16, 1987
19	Wild Thing			March 2, 1987
20	Going Out of My Head Over You			March 16, 1987
21	Lookin' Through the Windows			March 23, 1987
22	It Isn't Easy ... Bein' Green			March 30, 1987
23	The Gambler			April 6, 1987
24	Weird Science			April 13, 1987
25	La Cucaracha			May 4, 1987
26	Come Fly With Me			May 11, 1987

Season 2: 1987-1988

#	Title	Screenshot	Overview	Original Airdate
27	Working My Way Back to You			September 21, 1987
28	Somewhere Over the Rerun. aka. The Ballad of Gilligan's Island			September 28, 1987
29	Take a Look at Me Now			October 5, 1987
30	Wedding Bell Blues			October 12, 1987
31	Prime Time			October 19, 1987
32	Some Enchanted Evening			October 26, 1987
33	Oh, Pretty Woman			November 2, 1987
34	Something's Wrong With Me			November 9, 1987
35	Night Train			November 16, 1987
36	Isn't it Romantic?			November 23, 1987
37	Hail to the Chief			December 7, 1987
38	ALF's Special Christmas: Part 1			December 14, 1987
39	ALF's Special Christmas: Part 2			December 14, 1987
40	The Boy Next Door			January 4, 1988
41	Can I Get a Witness?			January 11, 1988
42	We're So Sorry, Uncle Albert			January 25, 1988
43	Someone to Watch Over Me: Part 1			February 8, 1988
44	Someone to Watch Over Me: Part 2			February 15, 1988
45	We Gotta Get Out of This Place			February 22, 1988
46	You Ain't Nothin' But a Hound Dog			February 29, 1988
47	Hit Me With Your Best Shot			March 7, 1988
48	Movin' Out			March 14, 1988
49	I'm Your Puppet			March 21, 1988
50	Tequila			March 28, 1988
51	We Are Family			May 2, 1988
52	Varsity Drag			May 9, 1988

Season 3: 1988-1989

#	Title	Screenshot	Overview	Original Airdate
53	Stop in the Name of Love			October 3, 1988
54	Stairway to Heaven			October 10, 1988
55	Breaking Up is Hard to Do			October 17, 1988
56	Tonight, Tonight: Part 1			October 24, 1988
57	Tonight, Tonight: Part 2			October 24, 1988
58	Promises, Promises			October 31, 1988
59	Turkey in the Straw: Part 1			November 14, 1988
60	Turkey in the Straw: Part 2			November 15, 1988
61	Changes			November 21, 1988
62	My Back Pages			November 28, 1988
63	Alone Again, Naturally			December 5, 1988
64	Do You Believe in Magic?			December 12, 1988
65	Hide Away			January 9, 1989
66	Fight Back			January 16, 1989
67	Suspicious Minds			January 23, 1989
68	Baby Love			February 6, 1989
69	Running Scared			February 13, 1989
70	Standing in the Shadows of Love			February 20, 1989
71	Superstition			February 27, 1989
72	Torn Between Two Lovers			March 6, 1989
73	Funeral for a Friend			March 20, 1989
74	Don't Be Afraid of the Dark			March 27, 1989
75	Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing in the Shadow			April 10, 1989
76	Like an Old Time Movie			April 17, 1989
77	Shake, Rattle and Roll			May 1, 1989
78	Having My Baby			May 8, 1989

Season 4: 1989-1990

#	Title	Screenshot	Overview	Original Airdate
79	Baby, Come Back			September 18, 1989
80	Lies			September 25, 1989
81	Wanted: Dead or Alive			October 2, 1989
82	We're in the Money			October 9, 1989
83	Mind Games			October 16, 1989
84	Hooked on a Feeling			October 23, 1989
85	He Ain't Heavy, He's Willie's Brother			October 30, 1989
86	The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face			November 6, 1989
87	Live and Let Die			November 13, 1989
88	Break Up to Make Up			November 20, 1989
89	Happy Together			November 27, 1989
90	Fever			December 4, 1989
91	It's My Party			December 11, 1989
92	Make 'em Laugh			January 8, 1990
93	Love on the Rocks			January 15, 1990
94	True Colors			January 22, 1990
95	Gimme That Old Time Religion			January 29, 1990
96	Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades			February 5, 1990
97	When I'm Sixty-Four			February 12, 1990
98	Mr. Sandman			February 19, 1990
99	Stayin' Alive			February 26, 1990
100	Hungry Like a Wolf			March 3, 1990
101	I Gotta Be Me			March 10, 1990
102	Consider Me Gone			March 24, 1990

Spinoffs

Animated Series

To capitalize on the success of the series, a spinoff animated series arose and aired on Saturday mornings on NBC. Alf: The Animated Series, (AKA Alf on Melmac) set on ALF's home planet of Melmac, ran from 1987 to 1988 and was produced by DIC Entertainment. The series was a prequel series, set on Melmac before the planet exploded. The show focused on ALF, his family, his friends, and girlfriend Rhonda and their various exploits. Each episode was bookended by a live-action sequence involving ALF talking to the television viewers, setting up the episode.

When the cartoon entered its second season, it was paired in a one-hour block with its own spin-off AlfTales, which took Gordon and the cast of characters from season one and recast them as characters from assorted classic (Earthly) fairy tales.

Select episodes of the first season of the cartoon are included as a special feature on the ALF: Season 2 DVD.

Marvel Comics

File:AlfAnnual1.jpg

Cover to Marvel Comics' ALF Annual #1.

An ALF comic book was published by Star Comics (and eventually Marvel Comics) beginning in 1987 and ran for four years, 50 issues, and nearly a dozen specials.

The comic loosely followed the continuity of the television show (though it featured alternate takes on certain episodes, like the birth of Eric Tanner) and featured numerous parodies of Marvel Comic characters and other pop culture parodies in the form of "Melmac Flashbacks". Towards the end of the series, when the cancellation of the series was imminent, the series took a highly critical position towards Marvel Comics and then Marvel Editor-In-Chief Tom DeFalco.

TV Movie

In 1996 a 90-minute television movie, named Project ALF, was aired on ABC, in the movie ALF states an intense dislike for the Fox Television Network. This movie picked up six years after the events of the TV series with ALF in government custody and focuses on a scientist and military police officer who break ALF out of government custody.

It did not feature any of the Tanner family from the original series, but they were briefly referenced in the movie.

The series was so popular in Germany in fact that the TV Movie was released there theatrically under the name Alf - Der Film (Alf - The Movie) and was panned by critics and fans particularly for the Tanners' absence. It continued where the show left off as ALF was captured by the U.S. Army and is imprisoned in a desert base similar to Area 51. Also in Germany at the time the show ALF was on, the roadside signs for the Moselle River town of "Alf" were frequently stolen by souvenir hunters.

Other Media

Merchandise

Like many shows of its day, ALF also had a trading card series by Topps. Most featured stills from various episodes, but a few cards parodied baseball cards by depicting players of the Melmacian sport "Bouillabaisseball" (similar to baseball, but played with seafood in place of a ball), complete with bogus stats like "Splats." The yellow bordered first series was released in 1987 with a red bordered second series released in 1988.

At the time that the original TV series was popular, some ALF-related merchandise was sold, including a 1988 calendar with Melmac's planetary holidays, such as Shout at a Shrub Day, prominently marked.

There is an obscure Sega Master System video game based on ALF. It is an adventure game in which Alf must get pieces to repair his spaceship. There was also a computer game designed for the Commodore 64 as well as other computers.

Music

In 1987, Dutch remixer and producer Ben Liebrand made a mix with samples from one of the ALF-shows. The song was called Stuck on Earth. The mix had a lot of impact at the TV Studio: "Next step was getting permission to release the mix. For this, all vocal lines, and the spoken texts were traced back to the episodes they came from, and the authors who had written them. New record contracts needed to be created for each and everyone of the authors."

Appearances

• Jerry Stahl, writer for episodes of ALF, was portrayed by Ben Stiller in the autobiographical movie Permanent Midnight, details Stahl's rise to fame and his addiction to heroin. In the movie ALF is portrayed as "Mr. Chompers"

• The animated version of Alf made an appearance in the drug prevention video Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue.

• ALF also appeared in the long-distance plan 10-10-220 commercials on American television.

• ALF has made many appearances on Hollywood Squares.

• AlF also appeared as a guest on The Love Boat: The Next Wave.

• ALF has appeared in 2 episodes of Family Guy one as a recovering drug addict in a flashback special. Peter also thought Brian's costume was Alf. also he appeared in an episode where Peter has a dream where he is in a house that is spinning in a tornado (referencing to the Wizard of Oz), where ALF passes and waves at Peter in a rocking chair.

• ALF appeared briefly on Chappelle's Show as a ghost figure.

• ALF has appeared on several Simpsons episodes. In one cartoon Alf has a cameo in a police lineup of Illegal Aliens. He also appears "in pog form" as Milhouse van Houten trades Bart Simpson's soul for $5 in the episode Bart Sells His Soul. He was also a special guest at Springfield's "Bi-Mon Sci-Fi-Con". Alf also appears on many episodes on the cover of Homer's TV Guide (prominently on flashbacks that happened in the 80's, and on old issues of the TV Guide stored in the Simpson's basement).

• ALF has been referenced many times on Adult Swim's series Stroker and Hoop.

• ALF is referenced in an episode of Stargate SG-1 entitled "SIGHT UNSEEN" (Season 6: Episode 13). In the episode, As the final scene comes to a close, The joke applied is a reference to the fact that Anderson's previous show, MacGyver, aired opposite of ALF during most if its run.

• ALF was referenced in the second season of 30 Rock. ALF was one of Dr. Spaceman's famous clients whom he kept photographs of on his wall.

• In November of 2007, ALF appeared as a guest on The O'Reilly Factor hosted by Bill O'Reilly on the Fox News Channel.

DVD releases

Lions Gate Home Entertainment has released all four seasons of ALF on DVD in Region 1. All releases contain edited episodes (syndicated versions). Lions Gate stated that they had no choice but to use the syndicated episodes as the original episodes' footage was too poor in quality to be used for DVD releases; it would be cost prohibitive to clean up the original broadcast versions for release.

DVD Name	Ep #	Release Date	Additional Information
Season One	25	August 10 2004	Contains all 25 episodes from Season One Interactive menus hosted by ALF himself Gag/Outtakes Reel Original Unaired Pilot ALF Trivia Facts
Season Two	25	August 23 2005	Contains all 25 episodes from Season Two Interactive menus hosted by ALF in his own "ALF Shopping Network" Contains the first episode of ALF: The Animated Series and the first episode of ALF Tales The hour-long Christmas special runs at approximately 47 minutes and is unedited
Season Three	28	May 30 2006	Contains all 28 episodes from Season Three Interactive menus hosted by ALF in his own Sirius Satellite Radio show
Season Four	24	September 5 2006	Contains all 24 episodes from Season Four Interactive menus hosted by ALF promoting his own ALF 1000 Cell Phone. Easter Egg on Disc Four The episode "Make 'Em Laugh" runs at 23:27 and is unedited

Video Service Corp. (VSC) previously released two other DVDs of ALF. The ALF Files was released exclusively in Canada on November 1, 2002. It contained three episodes, "Tonight, Tonight", "Try to Remember", and "ALF's Special Christmas". On September 13, 2005, they released the 1996 reunion movie, Project: Alf. Some prints of the DVD came with an Alf keychain as a purchasing incentive.

The two-part episodes "Try To Remember," "ALF's Special Christmas," and "Tonight, Tonight" are fused into one episode in their consecutive season sets.

The episodes "Mind Games" and "Fever" were made while in production for Season 3, yet shown on NBC as episodes for Season 4, which probably explains why they were in both season sets.

Other transmissions

After the series run in the United States, it went on to even greater success in reruns in many European countries.

• Argentina, ALF is being currently transmitted on Nick @ Nite and Telefé.
• Australia, ALF was shown on the Seven Network.
• Austria, ALF was shown on ORF1.
• Brazil, ALF is being currently transmitted on Nick @ Nite. And was also shown on SBT and in early 90's on TV Globo.
• Belgium, ALF was shown on Kanaal 2
• Bulgaria, ALF was shown on Kanal 1 and bTV, currently on GTV.
• Canada, ALF was shown on Family Channel.
• Chile, ALF is being transmitted on Nick @ Nite, TVN and Red TV
• Costa Rica, shown on Channel 7. Airing on Saturdays at 12:30 p.m.
• Czech Republic, ALF was shown on ČT1.
• Finland, ALF was shown on MTV, Kolmoskanava and MTV3.
• France, ALF was shown on France 2, France 5 and Sci-Fi.
• Germany, ALF was first shown from January 5, 1988 to June 28, 1991 on ZDF. and has had reruns shown on many different stations.
• Greece, ALF was shown on ET1/NET during the 1980s
• Guatemala, ALF is aired on Nick @ Nite and also on Channel 13 of National Television Weekdays at 9 p.m.
• India, ALF was shown on POGO, a children's entertainment channel of ZEE - Turner Network.
• Indonesia, ALF was shown on TVRI, the national TV network.
• Ireland, ALF was shown on Radio Telifís Éireann, the national TV network.
• Israel, ALF was shown on IBA1
• Italy, ALF was run on RAI and Telemontecarlo (TMC, now LA7)
• Japan, ALF was run on NHK of Japan.
• Malaysia, ALF was run on TV3 on Saturday Mornings from 2004.
• Malta, ALF was shown on MTV (Maltese Television) but has since been discontinued.
• Mexico, ALF was shown on the Mexican channel Imevisión (now called Azteca Siete), and is currently aired on Nick @ Nite.
• The Netherlands, ALF Originally aired on Dutch public television [TROS]].
• New Zealand, ALF was shown on TVNZ's TV2.
• Norway, ALF was shown on NRK. Reruns were later aired on TV3.
• Paraguay, ALF is being currently transmitted on channel 4 Telefuturo.
• Peru, ALF was shown by Frecuencia Latina (channel 2). This channel aired ALF in 1987.
• Philippines, ALF was shown on RPN 9 and on GMA Network.
• Poland, ALF was shown on TVP1, Polsat, RTL7 and TVN Siedem.
• Portugal, ALF was shown on Canal1 (former RTP1) and later on Sic Comédia.
• Russia, ALF was shown on STS, 1ch, Domashniy-channel and Vostochniy Express-channel.
• Slovakia, ALF was shown on TV Markiza.
• South Africa, ALF was shown on TV1
• Spain, ALF was shown on TVE and TVE2.
• Sweden, ALF aired on SVT. And in 2006 on TV4 Komedi
• Trinidad and Tobago, ALF was aired on Trinidad and Tobago Television channels 2 and 13 during the 1980s and early 1990s.
• Turkey, ALF was shown on TRT 1 and TRT 2.
• Ukraine, ALF was run on ICTV, There have been 5 separate reruns since 1997. The series returned in 2007 on ICTV
• United Kingdom, ALF was aired on ITV and Sky One, This channel aired ALF in 1990.
• Uruguay, ALF was shown on Channel 4 "Montecarlo Television". This channel aired ALF in 1987, and was shown on Wednesday nights.
• Venezuela, ALF was shown on RCTV and Televen.
• Yugoslavia, ALF was shown on RTB. Currently aired daily on Fox TV at 19:30 CET
• Turkey, ALF was shown first on TRT 1 and TRT 2 during early 1980s and late 1990s. and now it is showing on RetroMax.
• Others, On February 13, 2006 Nickelodeon started transmitting ALF through Nick @ Nite to all Latin American countries.

External links

• ALF Episode Guide -- by Dean Adams
• ALF at IMDb
• Alf at TV.com
• ALF at Curlie