HA! I Kill Me!
I was ten years old when NBC gave me and the rest of the world the gift of Gordon Shumway, also known as ALF. The series ran for four seasons on NBC and proved to be mildly successful with audiences. It focused on ALF and his trials and tribulations with the Tanner family (who graciously took him in), the nosy Ochmonek family next door, and everyone from the federal government to blind lady that befriended him.
The Tanners did their best at attempting to hide ALF from everyone but often failed, usually as a result of something that ALF did. ALF also had an uneasy relationship with the family cat, Lucky, because cats were a delicacy on ALF’s home planet of Melmac. As the series rolled along, ALF began searching for other survivors of his home planet’s destruction. The survivors were explored in more depth on the animated series that came out in 1987, just a few days after the second season of the live action show started.
ALF proved to be very popular with kids. A few toys were released as were a few tie-ins with fast food chains. I remember owning an ALF plush toy and getting an ALF puppet from Burger King. I got the Surfer ALF, FYI. There were also trading cards from the series and another series of cards that featured an illustrated ALF visiting all fifty states and appearing on postcard-styled pictures.
The series starred Max Wright as Willie Tanner and Anne Schedeen as his wife, Kate. They had two children named Lynn (Andrea Elson) and Brian (Benji Gregory). An infant son named Eric (Charles Nickerson) was added in the final season when Schedeen became pregnant in real life. The Tanner’s nosy neighbors were Raquel and Trevor Ochmonek (Liz Sheridan and John LaMotta). They provided a lot of humor in the series, especially Sheridan, who was always sticking her nose into the Tanner’s business.
Paul Fusco provided the voice and was the primary puppeteer for the ALF character. In scenes were it was necessary to show ALF walking, actor Michu Meszaros would wear a costume for the shots.
While it proved to be popular with younger audiences, the series struggled to maintain its ratings. As a result, season four ended on a cliffhanger that wouldn’t be resolved until a made-for-TV film was released on ABC a few years later. It has also been stated that producing the series was extremely difficult and often very tense. A special stage had to be created in order to allow Fusco to move the ALF puppet around on the set. The actors had to work around trap doors hidden in the floor and deliver their performance at the same time.
Andrea Elson proved to be an early crush for me even though I was just ten years old. I also wanted to be like Benji Gregory (or at least his character, Brian). I really dove into the ALF craze, purchasing or winning numerous ALF shirts, posters, trading cards, and the aforementioned plush doll and puppet. I would record the show on my family’s VCR and rewatch it whenever I had time on the weekends. I was really sad to learn that it was cancelled, but I quickly moved on to something new.
ALF was the perfect series for me in the mid 80’s. It is in no way a great series nor is it deserving of any major awards. It was simply a fun little show worked perfectly for its brief time on the air.
Thanks for taking a trip down memory lane with me. Let me know in the comments if you liked ALF and feel free to share any of your memories of the series. I’ll be posting again real soon!
Ken's Alternate Universe! 