ALF (TV series)


ALF is an American television sitcom that aired on NBC from September 22, 1986, to March 24, 1990.
The titular character, ALF, an acronym for "Alien Life Form", but whose real name is Gordon Shumway, crash-lands in the garage of the suburban California middle-class Tanner family. The series stars Max Wright as father Willie Tanner, Anne Schedeen as mother Kate Tanner, and Andrea Elson and Benji Gregory as their children, Lynn and Brian Tanner. ALF was performed by puppeteer Paul Fusco, who co-created the show with Tom Patchett. However, in scenes where he appeared in full body, he was performed by Michu Meszaros, who was uncredited in the role.
Produced by Alien Productions, ALF ran for four seasons and 97 episodes, including three one-hour episodes. These episodes were divided into two parts for syndication, for a total of 100 episodes. The series ended with an unresolved cliffhanger with a 1996 television film, Project: ALF released to serve as a series finale for the franchise. The series was videotaped at Century Studios, 8660 Hayden Place in Culver City California.
In August 2018, Warner Bros. Television announced the development of an ALF reboot, which was later canceled in November of that year. In February 2022, it was announced that Shout! Studios had acquired distribution rights to the ALF titles, and would "develop new ALF-related content," with the company Maximum Effort subsequently joining in July 2023 to develop new material as well.

Plot

is an alien from the planet Melmac who follows an amateur radio signal to Earth and crash-lands into the garage of the Tanners, a suburban middle-class family who live in the San Fernando Valley area of California. The family consists of social worker Willie, his wife Kate, their teenage daughter Lynn, younger son Brian, and pet cat Lucky, whom ALF wishes to consume.
Willie gives Gordon the nickname ALF, and, unsure what to do, the Tanners take ALF into their home to hide him from the Alien Task Force, a part of the U.S. military that specializes in aliens, and their nosy neighbors Trevor and Raquel Ochmonek, until he can repair his spacecraft. Though his culture shock, survivor's guilt, and loneliness often cause problems for the Tanners, as well as their fear of what could happen if others were to discover his existence, they grow to care for and love him as a part of the family.
Later it is revealed that ALF's home planet, Melmac, exploded due to nuclear war, leaving him and other survivors of his species without a home, and that he survived its destruction because he was away as part of the Melmac Orbit Guard. In the season one episode "Pennsylvania 6-5000", ALF tries to convince the President of the United States to stop the nuclear program, as he fears that Earth could suffer a similar fate to Melmac, though a misunderstanding causes the President and national security to call the FBI to arrest Willie.
Episodes dealt with ALF learning about Earth and making new friends both in and out of the Tanner family, including Willie's brother Neal ; Kate's widowed mother Dorothy, with whom ALF has a love-hate relationship; her boyfriend and later husband Whizzer ; the Ochmoneks' nephew Jake ; the psychologist Larry ; and the blind woman Jody, who never learns of ALF's true nature, but does know through touch that he is short and hairy.
Changes occur in the Tanner household over the course of the series, including the birth of a new child, Eric, who was added to the series because Anne Schedeen was pregnant at the time; ALF moving from the laundry room to the attic, which he and Willie convert into an "apartment", and the death of Lucky in the season four episode "Live and Let Die", which ALF accepts despite having previously attempted to catch and eat him due to having come to love and respect him. When ALF adopts a new cat with the intention of eating it, he grows fond of it and allows the Tanners to adopt it. In the 1996 movie Project ALF, which follows ALF after his capture by the USAF, the Tanners do not appear due to moving to Iceland.

Characters

Main

  • Gordon "ALF" Shumway is an alien from the planet Melmac, where he was a member of its Orbit Guard, who arrives on Earth and lands in the Tanner family's garage. He is given the nickname "ALF" by Willie.
  • Willie Tanner is the father of the Tanner family, who works as a social worker. Willie is a kind but often overwhelmed man who tries to maintain order in his home despite ALF's constant chaos. His relationship with ALF is a classic love-hate dynamic—while he clearly cares for ALF and helps him stay hidden from the government, he's also frequently exasperated by ALF's reckless behavior, destructive habits, and bad influence on the kids. Despite his frustration, ALF and Willie have a mutual impact on each other. ALF helps Willie break out of his rigid, overly cautious nature, encouraging him to embrace spontaneity and loosen up. In turn, Willie tries to teach ALF responsibility and restraint. In "Varsity Drag", we learn Willie is a graduate from Amherst College where he was a social science major "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark". He is also a keen amateur radio enthusiast, and the transmission of his shortwave radio signals causes ALF to follow them and crash into his house. In his pastime, Willie also collects scale model train sets.
  • Kate Tanner is the mother of the Tanner family. Unlike Willie, who tries to reason with ALF, Kate has little patience for his antics and often lays down the law when he gets out of control. Despite her exasperation, Kate deeply cares for her family and, over time, develops a grudging tolerance for ALF. While she's often the first to scold him, she also protects him when necessary. In addition to her mother, she has at least one sister. She majored in art history at Amherst College where she met her husband and occasionally works in real estate. In "Having My Baby", she gives birth to her son, Eric.
  • Lynn Tanner is the oldest child of the Tanner family and attends South Bay High School. Lynn is generally kind-hearted and forms a close bond with ALF, often acting as his confidante and helping him stay out of trouble. She starts off as a typical teenager but matures over the course of the show, eventually getting a job and going to California State University, Northridge.
  • Brian Tanner is the middle child of the Tanner family. As a child, Brian is naturally more accepting of ALF than the adults in the household, and he quickly forms a strong bond with the alien. In many ways, Brian serves as ALF's sidekick, often being the only one who listens to ALF's crazy stories and ideas without immediate skepticism. He admires ALF's wild personality and sense of adventure, even if he doesn't always understand the consequences of ALF's schemes. Throughout the series, Brian often helps ALF in small but meaningful ways, whether it's covering for him when he gets into trouble or participating in his antics, usually with some hesitation. Unlike his older sister Lynn, who sometimes acts as ALF's voice of reason, Brian is more of an innocent bystander, caught up in the fun but not always fully grasping the chaos ALF causes. Also, he forms a friendship with Jake Ochmonek, who also knows about ALF's existence. The three were often seen together in the show's third season.
  • Eric Tanner is the younger son of the Tanner family. He first appeared at the end of "Having My Baby", when ALF and the Tanner family met him. As a baby, he doesn't play an active role in the story, but his arrival changes the family dynamic—especially with ALF. ALF takes a strong interest in Eric, often acting as an unusual babysitter and claiming to teach him “important” life lessons. He even treats Eric like a fellow Melmacian, as if shaping him into a mini version of himself.
  • Lucky is the Tanners' family cat, who ALF attempts to catch and eat. He dies in "Live and Let Die" and is succeeded by Lucky II.

    Supporting

  • Trevor Ochmonek is a neighbour of the Tanner family and Raquel's husband. In "The Boy Next Door", we learn that he holds a Master of Arts degree in art history, that he played football for seven years in high school and that he is a veteran of the Korean War, where he served as a pilot. In "Come Fly With Me", it is revealed that he is allergic to shellfish.
  • Raquel Ochmonek is a neighbor of the Tanner family and Trevor's wife. She is very nosy, often spying on her neighbors and spreading rumors. She was also a cheerleader in high school.
  • Jake Ochmonek is Trevor and Raquel's nephew, who was sent to live with them after his father was arrested. He befriends Brian and discovers the existence of ALF. He also flirts with Lynn, but she often rejects him. In season 3, he dates a girl named Laura, with assistance from ALF, but breaks up with her due to her weird laugh.
  • Jody is a blind woman whom ALF befriends in "For Your Eyes Only".
  • Larry Dykstra is a psychologist who was called in to help resolve a conflict between Willie and ALF.
  • Dorothy Halligan Deaver is Kate's widowed mother, Willie's mother-in-law, and Lynn, Brian, and Eric's grandmother. She marries Whizzer in Season 2.
  • Whizzer Deaver is Dorothy's second husband, Kate's stepfather, Willie's stepfather-in-law, and Lynn, Brian, and Eric's step-grandfather. He is also a jazz musician, and later meets ALF.
  • Neal Tanner is Willie's younger brother and Brian, Lynn, and Eric's uncle. He briefly lived with the Tanner family after his wife Margaret left him before moving into his own apartment and getting a job as a handyman at the same apartment building.

    Episodes

Production

Producer Bernie Brillstein was approached to see Fusco's audition with a puppet character but was initially uninterested, having managed Jim Henson for years and regarding Henson as the best puppeteer in showbiz. However, Fusco's brief performance as ALF won over Brillstein, who thought the character was hilarious and strong enough to be the focus of a series.
Fusco co-produced the series with Tom Patchett. Patchett also co-created, wrote, and directed the series. The series was first syndicated by Warner Bros. Television and Lorimar-Telepictures. The U.S. syndication rights were passed over to Debmar-Mercury when its parent company, Lionsgate, owned home video rights. Shout! Factory assumed distribution rights to the series in February 2022.
Due to the inherent nature of producing a show featuring hand-operated puppets, ALF was technically difficult and extremely demanding on series creator Fusco as well as its four lead actors. All confirmed during a 2000 People magazine interview that there were constant high levels of tension on the set. Max Wright said that he despised supporting a technically demanding puppet that received most of the good lines of dialogue. He admitted to being "hugely eager to have ALF over with." Artie Lange, who later worked with Wright on The Norm Show, told of a time when Wright had become "crazed" and physically attacked ALF, causing producers to have to pull Wright off the puppet. Anne Schedeen said that on the last night of taping the final episode, "there was one take and Max walked off the set, went to his dressing room, got his bags, went to his car and disappeared... There were no goodbyes." Schedeen herself said "there was no joy on the set... it was a technical nightmare – extremely slow, hot and tedious... A 30-minute show took 20, 25 hours to shoot." While fond of her on-screen children, Schedeen said some adults had "difficult personalities. The whole thing was a big dysfunctional family." Schedeen added, "It's astonishing that ALF really was wonderful and that word never got out what a mess our set really was." Andrea Elson, who suffered from bulimia during the second season of shooting, said, "If ALF had gone one more year, everybody would have lost it." Wright later admitted that as the years passed he looked back at ALF with less animosity and conceded that "It doesn't matter what I felt or what the days were like, ALF brought people a lot of joy." In reference to the tension, Fusco commented in 2012, "It was just the nature of the beast. There was no way we could have made it go any further or any faster," he insisted. "I think it was frustrating that it would take so long, but people got paid for what they did. Despite what people thought, that there was a lot of tension on set, there really wasn't."
Fusco was notoriously secretive about his character up until the series' premiere. During the show's production, Fusco refused to acknowledge that the puppet ALF was anything other than an alien. All involved with the production were cautioned not to reveal any of ALF's production secrets.
The set was built on a platform raised four feet above the ground, with trap doors constructed at many points so ALF could appear almost anywhere; Fusco operated him from underneath, so the unoccupied holes throughout the floor were deep and treacherous. The trap doors had to be reset multiple times, sometimes during a single scene. Principal puppeteer Paul Fusco control ALF's mouth with his left hand, while his right hand controlled ALF's right arm. Another puppeteer, Lisa Buckley, who later performed on Sesame Street, assisted Fusco beneath the stage, operating ALF's left arm. At times when ALF's full body was shown in the sitting position, Lisa controlled ALF's left hand by cable allowing slight finger movements. A third puppeteer, Bob Fappiano, controlled ALF's facial and ear movements via a radio control offscreen. During tapings, Fusco wore a head-mounted microphone to record ALF's voice. The process resulted in numerous mistakes and retakes, making it impossible to record ALF in front of a live audience. A laugh track was added during post-production.
To avoid wear and tear on the principal ALF puppet, the performers rehearsed with a crude early version of ALF, nicknamed "RALF" for "Rehearsal Alien Life Form"). Fusco did not like to rehearse, and often substituted his hand or RALF for the real ALF puppet during rehearsals. 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 hidden from everyone else. After ALF's cameo alongside former Family Ties star Michael Gross, ALF disappeared through a hole in the riser, was stuffed into a case, and immediately removed from 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 the 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 walks over to be part of the photo. However, Meszaros' services became too costly as well as time-consuming, and the full ALF costume was abandoned after the first season.
ALF scored its highest ratings during Season 2. Ratings remained at a steady fifteenth place during Season 3, but plummeted to 39th place during Season 4. NBC moved the show from its traditional Monday night slot to Saturday in March 1990 and eventually moved to Sunday, but ratings continued to fall.
The season-ending cliffhanger "Consider Me Gone" became an unintentional series finale when NBC gave Alien Productions a verbal commitment for a fifth season, but ultimately withdrew its support. ABC resolved the cliffhanger on February 17, 1996, with the TV movie Project: ALF. NBC executive Brandon Tartikoff later told Fusco that the network regretted cancelling ALF prematurely, saying "It was a big mistake that we cancelled your show, because you guys had at least one or two more seasons left."