DVD/TV Series Review: ALF: The Complete Series (Deluxe Edition)

 

ALF: The Complete Seris is a DVD box set containing the live-action sitcom Alf, which aired for four seasons on NBC from 1986 to 1990, and the two animated Saturday morning cartoons that were spun off of the main series: Alf: The Animated Series and Alf Tales. The live-action series was created by Tom Patchett and Paul Fusco about an alien from the planet Melmac named Gordon Shumway (but always called ALF, short for alien life form), whose ship drifted in space for a year after his planet blew up and then crashed into the garage of a family in Los Angeles. Fusco created the character of ALF, voiced him in the series, and acted as the puppeteer. The series also starred Max Wright, Anne Schedeen, Andrea Elson, and Benji Gregory in the leading roles as the Tanner family members with whom ALF lives. John Lamatta and Liz Sheridan play the most prominent supporting characters in the series, Tanner's neighbors, Trevor and Raquel Ochmonek. The Animated Series aired from 1987 to 1989 and was a story-of-the-week cartoon about ALF's life on Melmac. Alf Tales aired from 1988 to 1990 and spoofed Fairy Tales such as Snow White, Hansel and Gretel, etc., often infusing them with pop-culture references such as movie references like The Godfather or 80s personalities like Sigfried and Roy and Johnny Carson. 

The DVD set is a 24-disc set. The final disc is a bonus disc that contains a series retrospective featuring interviews with Fusco and Patchett, the 1996 TV movie Project ALF, which resolved the cliffhanger that the parent series ended on, and a handful of episodes from the series with Patchett and Fusco (mostly in character as ALF) commentating on the episodes as bubbles with facts about the series or jokes pop up on the screen. Overall, this is a nice box set, especially for people who were kids in the 1980s watching the show when it aired. The live-action series is the best of everything included in this set. It was mainly wholesome and family-friendly, but occasionally, it would sneak a more adult joke in. The series had quite a few recognizable character actors from the 1980s who appeared, along with a couple of well-known guest stars like Ed McMahon and David Odgen Stiers. The only drawback is that the series ended on a massive cliffhanger. If you watch the bonus material, you will discover that NBC had not decided on the series' fate as the fourth season ended. The producers agreed with NBC that they would end the season on a cliffhanger, and if the series was not renewed for a fifth season, they would make a TV movie to wrap up the story. Unfortunately, NBC backed out of that agreement, so the ending went unresolved until 1996 when ABC agreed to do the TV movie Project ALF.

While it was a decent ending to the story, it did not include any of the cast members from the main series, so it was not a proper series finale. The two animated series were fine but were definitely geared 100% for kids, so they are not as enjoyable for adults. Ultimately, ALF was a fun show. If you lived through the 1980s, it will be a nostalgic blast from the past. One thing some may enjoy is that there are a couple of shots taken at donald t***p, proving that the orange genital wart was just as big a joke back then as he is now. Of course, Americans would be stupid enough to elect an idiot who was a punchline for 80s sitcoms and cartoons as President. The show is dated and a bit cheesy but holds up well and is worth the time to watch.