There Was More Than One ALF
The television show “ALF” last aired nearly three decades ago. But the story of a smart-mouth creature named Gordon Shumway from Melmac, who crash-landed in a suburban garage and has a fetish for eating cats, has been played on re-run for many years since.
Whether you’ve seen a repeat on television in recent years or remember the series fondly from the 1980s, there were a lot of things going on behind the scenes and other details you might have missed.
If you ever noticed that ALF looked different in all the various shots. it wasn’t your imagination. There were actually two ALF puppets, one used for shots that went from the stomach up, and one used for full-body shots.
ALF Was Previously A Comedian
In the case of full-body shots, 2 feet 9-inch actor Mihaly Meszaros slipped into the costume.
While it’s known through the show that ALF had been an Orbit Guard on his home planet, a series of trading cards released in the late 1980s revealed that ALF had, among other things, failed as a stand-up comedian. So he invented sit-down comedy.
ALF Played Sports
His most famous joke was “You can pick your friends, and you can pick your nose, but you can’t find a word to rhyme with “orange.”
After leaving professional comedy, ALF became a leg hugger on a bouillabaseball team at the age of 193. The game is described as being played almost the same as baseball, except that fish parts are used instead of bats and balls, and that because of this, on hot days players were required to wear nose plugs.
ALF Drank Beer In The First Season
The show was originally conceived as appealing more to adults, and in the first series ALF drinks beer. As it turned out ALF was adored by children and the network convinced creator Paul Fusco to remove all alcohol consumption so as to appeal to parents who were concerned about their children being encouraged to drink.
ALF Was Still A Bad Role Model
ALF’s obsession with wanting to eat cats, a long-running joke in the show, along with one episode where he tries to cook the family cat in the microwave, was blamed in a case where a child actually did put a cat in a microwave and attempted to cook it after watching the show.
Every Episode Of ALF Is Named After A Song
With the exception of the pilot and “ALF’s Special Christmas,” every episode of “ALF” was named after a song. The show’s writers named the episodes after a wide variety of music such as “When I’m Sixty-Four” (Beatles), “Hungry Like the Wolf” (Duran Duran,) “Mr.
ALF Recorded An Album In Germany
Sandman” (The Chordettes), and “True Colors” (Cyndi Lauper)– to name but a few.
ALF Also Released Singles
Not only were “ALF” episodes named after songs, ALF himself recorded an album in Germany in 1991 (a country where the show was seriously popular) that included the songs “Jetzt Sing’ Ich!” (Now I Sing!), “Raus Mit Dem Senf” (Pump Up the Jam) and “Nimm’s Leicht, Nimm’s Locker (Don’t Worry, Be Happy.)
Germany wasn’t ALF’s only claim to musical fame, having recorded four singles that were released by Burger King in 1988.
The Cast Hated Filming The Show
The singles included “Melmac Rock,” “Melmac Girls,” “Cookin’ with ALF” and “Take Me, ALF, to the Ballgame.”
Members of the cast had to work up to 18 hours a day on set filming due to the complexities of puppeteering. And to make matters worse the set, which used trap doors so ALF could appear at various points, was considered dangerous.
Cast Members From Gilligan’s Island Appeared On The Show
Cast members also hated playing second fiddle to an inanimate puppet.
In one of the more surreal “ALF” episodes, the cast of “Gilligan’s Island” appears in a dream ALF has after becoming obsessed with the show. Featured in the episode were Alan Hale Jr, the last time he appeared as Skipper Jonas Grumby on network television, along with Bob Denver, Dawn Wells and Russell Johnson.
ALF Guest Starred In Other Shows
ALF’s boundaries didn’t stop at his self-titled show with the character appearing in a 1987 Matlock episode “The Network,” and on “The Love Boat: The Next Wave” in “Trances of a Lifetime” (1999). In “Matlock,” he was credited as a TV star.
ALF Co-Hosted A Talk Show
Although the show finished in 1990 it was fondly remembered, and in 2004 the cable network TV Land resurrected ALF to co-host a talk show with former Johnny Carson sidekick Ed McMahon. The show, however, was a failure and lasted only seven episodes.
ALF Had His Own Movie
ALF appeared in a made for television movie called Project: ALF in 1996. The movie only featured a handful of original cast members, including none of the Tanner family, and was poorly received when it aired.
ALF May Return To The Big Screen
The movie itself was meant to be a follow-up to the final episode of the television series which ended abruptly.
Sony acquired the rights to a new “ALF” movie in 2012 to be made in conjunction with show creator Paul Fusco. The movie was described as being an all-new CGI-live action feature film but has since stalled in production.
The Man Behind The Fur
Here’s to hoping for a resurrection of the show in a movie that is much better than the small-screen version that was previously released.
Mihaly “Michu” Meszaros was the Hungarian actor who filled the shoes of the ALF costume. At just 2 feet, 9 inches tall, Meszaros also had a career as a circus performer with the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Cirus.
ALF’s Neighbor Was Seinfeld’s Mom
He was most recognized though for appearing in a Pepsi commercial alongside Michael Jackson, and on the cover of The Doors’ Strange Days album.
Guests and minor players popped up in other shows other the years, including ALF’s neighbor Raquel Ochmonek. Raquel was played by actress Liz Sheridan, who later popped up in the role of Seinfeld’s mother in the series of the same name.
Eric Was Created Due To A Cast Pregnancy
She sure has been forced to deal with some pretty crazy people (and aliens) in sitcoms.
The character of Eric Tanner appeared on “ALF” in the third season and was written into the show because Anne Schedeen, who played Kate Tanner, was pregnant in real life.
NBC Wanted To Replace Max Wright
Proving that he is a softy at heart, ALF shows that he can make Eric quiet down when he is crying in the episode “Baby, Come Back.”
It’s hard to imagine the role of Willie Tanner being played by anyone other that actor Max Wright but it nearly happened. NBC tried to replace Wright after the pilot episode because they didn’t think he was a solid or typical father figure.
ALF’s Voice Was Inspired By A Muppet
Show creator Fusco fought to keep Wright on the show and won.
The inspiration for ALF’s rough voice came from Rowlf the Dog from “The Muppets.” This can be seen more so in earlier episodes but eventually, ALF’s voice was toned down as doing the accent was too hard on creator Fusco’s vocal chords.
