Series Description

The Alf TV show was a 30 minute fantasy/comedy series on NBC about a big-mouthed, furry, arrogant alien who came from the planet Melmac and landed on Earth by crashing into a garage. The owners allowed him to live with them as long as he promised to stay hidden from the rest of Earth's inhabitants. They called him Alf which stood for "Alien Life Form" and constantly had to help him out of one bad situation after another.

Alf Cast

Paul Fusco .... Gordon Schumway aka ALF (Voice)
Max Wright .... William "Willie" Francis Tanner
Anne Schedeen .... Katherine "Kate" Daphne Tanner
Benji Gregory .... Brian Tanner
Andrea Elson .... Lynn Tanner
Anne Meara .... Dorothy Halligan
Josh Blake .... Jake Ochmonek
John LaMotta .... Trevor Ochmonek
Liz Sheridan .... Raquel Ochmonek

Alf Trivia:

Alf had to leave Melmac suddenly because it blew up. The Planet was named Melmac because it was composed of something called Melmac. No further explanation was ever given. Max Wright had starred on three other TV shows prior to ALF. They were, "Buffalo Bill", "Misfits of Science", and "The Norm Show".

The Alf TV show 12 Emmy Award nominations, but never won one. It did, however, win two "Kid's Choice Awards" and one "People's Choice Awards".

Paul Fusco did not only provide the voice for Alf. He was also the creator and producer of the show.

Alf was perhaps an even bigger hit in Germany than in the U.S. but it did cause some headaches for a German city named, "ALF". The city limit signs with the name of the city on them kept getting stolen! The town finally decided to have a large number of them produced and sold them to earn revenue!

Andrea Elson guest-starred on many other TV shows before appearing on ALF including "Simon & Simon" (1981), "Silver Spoons" (1982), and "Parker Lewis Can't Lose" (1990). She also co-starred on a show titled, "Whiz Kids". Alf's real name was Gordon Shumway. His heart was located inside his ear.

All but a couple of the episode titles are also the titles of songs. Every title somewhat explains the plot of that particular episode.

The names of the months on Melmac are: January = Harble, February = Tarble, March = Gorruf, April = Kilmer, May = Gagg, June = Orring, July = Barp, August = Twangle, September = Fanfan, October = Nathinganger, November = Anerva, and December = Fibble.

Alf TV show Opening Narrative

(From the first episode:)

Willie Tanner: "Hello? ... Hello? This is K726XAA. Can you read me? They're answering but I don't recognize the language."
Kate Tanner: "Why don't you just shut it off?"
Willie Tanner: "I ... can't ... I can't control it. It's locked in on the signal."
Kate Tanner: "Willie, what's that?"
Willie Tanner: "Oh, my gosh! It can't be."
Kate Tanner: "The lights! What happened to the lights?"
Lynn Tanner: "Daddy! Daddy! What's that thing in the sky?"
Brian Tanner: "What's going on?"
Willie Tanner: "It's closing in fast. I think maybe we'd better" (The spacecraft crashes into garage)
Willie Tanner: "We have a visitor."