Story: As he adjust to life on planet Earth, ALF still has memories of his home world of Melmac, some good and some not so good. When he realizes he has a wealth of stories about his adventures on Melmac, he decides to put those tales to good use and write a book. So he sits down to hammer out his masterpiece, one wacky, laugh filled story after another. Those memories then come to life in vivid fashion, including so many characters and places that ALF has described to his friends the Tanners, though of course, the written word can only do so much for stories of this epic quality. But will ALF ever find a publisher or even a single buyer for his collection of yarns from Melmac?

Entertainment Value: This cartoon take on ALF, not to be confused with ALF Tales of course, ran for twenty-six episodes and took us to Melmac for a series of all new adventures. I appreciated the live action bookend segments and I also liked how the writers here reference the sitcom often, filling in some lore elements and letting us see some events talked about on the show. ALF shares a lot of stories about his previous life on the sitcom, so it was fun to see Melmac first hand and see some of the wackiness ALF described. The sense of humor is about what you’d expect from ALF, with the signature snark and pop culture references all present, just a little toned down or used with a wink toward the audience. Some of the stories are better than others, but this is a solid overall late 80s cartoon series, with solid humor and again, the little bits of lore blended in. If you’re a fan of the ALF sitcom, you’ll likely find at least some entertainment here.

A lot of the appeal of ALF: The Animated Series is likely going to be nostalgia, given the seemingly immortal love shown toward the pop culture of the 80s. On that level, the show certainly delivers and has all the earmarks of an 80s cartoon series. This includes the animation itself, which is simple, but warm and nostalgic. The character designs are fun and show the wide scope of Melmac residents, with visuals right in line with ALF Tales. The two shows could intertwine to be true, though I found ALF Tales to be more over the top and random. I appreciate this kind of old school animation and I think it retains a certain charm, even decades later. The rest of the show is on the dated side as well, a product of the late 80s and that is always evident. But overall, I had fun revisiting this series and it offers some colorful, nostalgic fun.

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