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ALF (TV series): Difference between revisions
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{{quote|''"Haaa! I kill me."''}}
The brainchild of puppeteer/producer Paul Fusco, Alf is the story of Gordon Shumway, a hapless '''A'''lien '''L'''ife '''F'''orm <ref>Sometimes he was billed as an Alien ''Laugh'' Form</ref> who crash lands in the backyard of the Tanner family after his home planet, Melmac, [[Earthshattering Kaboom|explodes]]. The original series lasted from September, 1986 to March, 1990
As is typical of the [[Alien Among Us]] plot, Alf has to deal with the particular protocols of living on earth. In a subversion, however, he is not depicted as particularly advanced or powerful. He's a little freaky teddy-bear monster, who is lazy, gluttonous, and tries to eat the family cat (cats were his home world's equivalent to chickens). He hides out in the attic, and makes no attempts to ever leave the house, perfectly content to freeload off the family patriarch, Willie, and tease the [[Nosy Neighbor]] Raquel Ochmonek.
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There was also a comic book adaptation which tended to play down the sitcom aspects in favor of giving him strange technological toys; it seemed more inspired by the [[Animated Adaptation]] than the original sitcom and would in fact often include stories set on Melmac, usually with the framing story of Alf telling the Tanners of life on his home planet. (Willie and Kate, for some unnexplained reason, found these [[Flash Back|flashbacks]] incredibly tedious. Lynn was fairly indifferent to them, and Brian loved them.)
Alf was voiced and performed by Fusco. Recently, the character has been resurrected in various capacities; in 2004, a late-night talk show format (called
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* [[Aliens Speaking English]]: They even have English names.
* [[Amusing Alien]]
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* [[Eighties Hair]]: Lynn
* [[Exposed Extraterrestrials]]: Alf is smart enough to crack wise with the Tanners, but can't be bothered to put on a pair of pants.
* [[Follow the Leader]]: This is basically a comic version of ''[[E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
* [[Fun with Acronyms]]: Alf ('''A'''lien '''L'''ife (or '''L'''augh) '''F'''orm)
** This leads to a bit of [[Fridge Logic]] in [[Real Life]]: Fusco's puppet is named Alf. He insisted on it being addressed like any other actor. That means the puppet Alf portrayed the biological alien character Gordon Shumway, who was nicknamed A.L.F. by another character. This makes A.L.F. [[The Danza]].
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* [[Last of His Kind]]: {{spoiler|Due to the explosion of Melmac}}.
** {{spoiler|However, there are other survivors.}}
* [[Left Hanging]]: cancellation made the last episode aired an unresolved cliffhanger, with Alf surrounded by government agents and facing certain vivisection.
** Luckily the TV Movie solved this by having him rescued.
* [[Nosy Neighbor]]: Raquel Ochmonek. Also serves as a [[Drop-In Character]].
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* [[They Would Cut You Up|They'd Cut You Up]]
* [[Ugly Guy, Hot Wife]]: Willie and Kate Tanner. Apparently, the kids more closely resemble the mother.
* [[The Ugly
* [[Whole-Episode Flashback]]:The comic would often include these to tell stories set on Melmac. These stories were either stories of Alf's own life, with the setting from the cartoon, or parodies of famous stories or historical events, starring an [[Expy]] of Alf (sometimes one of his ancestors).
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