Remember that one day when you could wake up without an alarm? When you would get your favorite bowl of cereal and sit between the hours of 8 and 12? This is a blog dedicated to the greatest time of our childhood: Saturday mornings. The television programs you watched, the memories attached to them, and maybe introducing you to something you didn't realize existed. Updated every weekend.
Move over, Muppets—a new puppet was taking over the
80s.
Airing on NBC, ALF was
a sitcom following the adventures of Gordon Shumway (Paul Fusco) from the
planet Melmac that crash-landed on Earth after his planet suffered a nuclear
explosion. He was taken in by the Tanner family (not the ones from San Francisco),
who protected him from the Alien Task Force while he repaired his ship.
Nicknamed Alien Life Form by the family patriarch, Willie (Max Wright), ALF would spend the
next four seasons enthralling America and becoming a media darling.
Paul Fusco with ALF.
A communications
major, Fusco worked his way through college by doing magic, puppetry and
ventriloquism. He managed to strike a deal with Showtime for a series of
specials, out of which the ALF character was born. Fusco would use him at
parties to entertain family and friends, and even tried him out at a comedy
club in New Haven. He formed Alien Productions with Tom Patchett and they secured
representation with Jim Henson’s
manager, Bernie Brillstein.
Brillstein was hesitant to take Fusco on, considering Henson to be the best
puppeteer, but was won over by ALF; seeing the merchandising possibilities.
Similarly, ALF won over the NBC executives when they pitched the series; with
Fusco pulling him out during their meeting when they started to lose interest. The
series would make its debut on September 22, 1986, filmed on a stage with trap
doors and trenches to allow the puppeteers to operate ALF in each scene (which
his live-action co-stars hated with a passion as there was always a
danger of falling into one).
Promotional ad for NBC's Saturday line-up.
ALF was popular with
children—it was then-NBC President Brandon
Tartikoff’s young daughter who convinced him to keep ALF going
beyond the pilot—and they started to become a big portion of the show’s
audience. As a result, the
content of the show was gradually altered to reflect their new viewers. For
instance, ALF was only seen drinking alcohol during the first season, and
certain imitable antics—like using electric appliances in the bathtub—were
either altered for future broadcasts or toned down in future episodes. Recognizing
an opportunity, NBC ordered an animated spin-off of the show for inclusion in
their Saturday morning line-up.
The planet Melmac.
Developed by Fusco
and Patchett, ALF: The Animated Series served
as a prequel to the regular ALF series.
The show followed the adventures of Gordon (“ALF” was never used in the show
beyond the title) on the planet Melmac, having freshly graduated high school at
the ripe young age of 193. The animated series helped Fusco with his desire to
perpetuate the illusion that ALF was an actual being rather than a puppet as
the cartoon’s full body could be seen on screen all the time. However, unlike
the sitcom, ALF was always adorned in a Hawaiian shirt. The series made full
use of its alien setting to generate humor from surrealistic activities being
treated as ordinary, such as getting mayonnaise from mines; the names of
locations, such as Gordon’s hometown being East Velcro; or from pop culture
satire, like an entire episode dedicated to parodying the James Bond franchise. Even the episode names
themselves were parodies of movie and song titles, as well as popular sayings. The
cartoon also poked fun at itself by featuring a show within a show where an
Earthling crashes on planet Melmac and stays with a family of Melmacians.
The Shumways: Bob, Gordon, Flo, Neep, Augie, Curtis and Harry.
Among Melmac’s other residents were Gordon’s family: father Bob (Thick
Wilson), mother Flo (Peggy Mahon), sister Augie (Tabitha St. Germain) and
brother Curtis (Michael Fantini). The Shumways also had two pets: a bird named
Harry and a dog, called a “vespa”, named Neep. Gordon’s closest friends
included neighbor Rick Fusterman (Fusco), Skip (Rob Cowan) and Sloop (Dan
Hennessey). Gordon also had a girlfriend, Rhonda (Germain). Rhonda, Rick and
Skip all made appearances on the live show, establishing that ALF wasn’t the
last of his kind. The series’ primary villain was Larson Petty (Wilson), who
constantly sought to conquer the planet Melmac but was thwarted by Gordon and
his allies. A recurring Melmacian was Madame Pokipsi (Deborah Theaker), a fortune
smeller (not a typo). The characters were designed by Fil Barlow, Lou Police and Dave Smith.
“Phantom Pilot” (9/26/87) – Gordon gets some unlikely help in
defending Melmac from Larson Petty
“Hair Today, Bald Tomorrow” (10/3/87) – After Harry uses Gordon’s hair
for his nest, Gordon goes for a baldness cure only to accidentally insult
Madame Pokipsi and receive a baldness curse.
“Two for the Brig” (10/10/87) – Gordon and Sargent Staff accidentally
mistake their ship for a cruise liner and end up in jail.
“Gordon Ships Out” (10/24/87) – Gordon, Rick and Skip chip in for a
sailing yacht and end up stranded on an island thanks to a termite.
“Birdman of Melmac” (10/31/87) – When Harry is declared an extinct
species, it becomes a royal pain for the Shumway family.
“Pismo and the Orbit Gyro” (11/7/87) – The Orbit Gyro’s regular
maintenance leads the robot in charge of it to having a few screws loose.
“20,000 Years in Driving School” (11/14/87) – Gordon must re-attend
driving school in order to get his license back after losing it in an accident.
“Pride of the Shumways” (11/21/87) – Gordon is offered a chance for
the major leagues in Bouilliabaseball, but Curtis suspects something is amiss.
“Captain Bobaroo” (12/5/87) – When Bob gets hit on the head he
believes he’s a children’s TV show host.
“Neep at the Races” (12/12/87) – Gordon enters Neep in a race, but
bikers want a cut of his winnings.
“Salad Wars” (12/19/87) – Gordon’s family vacation is interrupted by
someone’s desire to have a salad seed monopoly.
“Tough Shrimp Don’t Dance” (1/2/88) – Gordon helps rescue an alien
race of shrimp from Larson Petty.
“Home Away from Home” (1/16/88) – When his parents are away, Gordon
loses their house to a sleazy real estate agent.
Season 2:
“Flodust Memories” (9/10/88) – Flo is entered into and wins a Mom of
the Millennium contest, but her celebrity status goes to her head.
“Family Feud” (9/17/88) – The Fustermans declare war on the Shumways
after losing to them on a game show.
“Clams Never Sang for my Father” (9/24/88) – Bob and Frank Fusterman
face each other in the traditional Mayonnaise Lodge rite of passage
clam-wrestling contest.
“A Mid-Goomer Night’s Dream” (10/1/88) – Larson Petty accidentally
abducts Bob wearing a Goomer suit, leaving Gordon and Augie to find the real
one and save their dad.
“The Bone Losers” (10/8/88) – Gordon finds dinosaur bones in his yard
which makes a celebrity paleontologist jealous enough to want to steal them
away.
“Thank Gordon for Little Girls” (10/15/88) – Gordon invents a new
device that Augie and her scout troupe end up taking credit for.
“Hooray for Mellywood” (10/29/88) – Gordon’s life is about to be
turned into a movie--maybe.
“The Spy from East Velcro” (11/12/88) – When an evil spy mistakes
Gordon for agent James Bonzo, Gordon ends up captured by the villain.
“He Ain’t Seafood, He’s My Brother” (11/19/88) – Renegade Muklukians
kidnap Cutis in a plot to claim their planet’s throne, and Fescue comes to
Gordon for help in stopping them.
“Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places” (12/3/88) – Gordon tries to
help a friend get a girl, but she ends up falling for him instead.
“The Slugs of Wrath” (12/10/88) – During a mayonnaise shortage, the
Shumways move to a farm to try their hands at raising slugs.
“Housesitting for Pokipsi” (12/17/88) – Gordon and his friends
housesit for Madame Pokipsi and Gordon gets into trouble using her crystal
ball.
“Skipper’s Got a Brand New Dad” (1/7/89) – Larson Petty needs to find
a son in order to claim an inheritance while Gordon and Rick try to find Skip’s
birth parents.
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