Story: Willie Tanner (Max Wright) loves to tinker with radios, telescopes, and all kinds of other tech, but even he is shocked by what his equipment picks up one night. A loud, panicked alarm goes off from Willie’s garage monitors and soon, an object crash lands right into their house. As it turns out, this was an alien vessel and before Willie and his family can process the event, a being emerges from the spaceship. He is short, covered in hair, and has a big attitude and while everyone involved is on edge, Willie decides to keep the being safe from the government and even names him, ALF. While ALF misses his home world of Melmac, a return anytime soon seems unlikely, so can he and Willie’s family manage to make the best of this outlandish situation?

Entertainment Value: I doubt anyone would confuse ALF for high cinematic art, but the show is wacky, random, and is steeped in 80s vibes, so the nostalgia is warm and thick. This sitcom about an alien puppet and a lame family captivated audiences and had a fantastic run on television, with multiple seasons, two animated spin offs, and even a made for television movie a few years after the show concluded. And of course, the licensing was omnipresent, with ALF on just about anything you could find, from lunchboxes to t-shirts to stuffed animals. I think ALF is hilarious throughout its run and while it is indeed corny to say the least, that corniness is one reason the show is so much fun. ALF embraces the sitcom tropes and dials up the snark, letting the titular character loose to reign chaos on anyone who he happens to encounter. The dialogue is pure cheese, but it is so funny sometimes and when it falls flat, even then it can be so corny, you can’t help but laugh. This has all the hallmarks of 80s sitcom goodness, just with an outrageous puppet dropped into the mix.

That is one of the show’s strongest assets to me, as we’ve seen most of these sitcom plots and stories, but now we have this outlandish alien puppet involved. The ALF character is iconic of course, with such a memorable look and an even more memorable attitude. Our alien drives every episode and has most of the best lines, often at the expense of Willie Tanner or others. The catchphrases and quotable lines almost always come from ALF, but his dynamic with the Tanners is also crucial here. Willie is just constantly hilarious, even just standing around and you can tell Max Wright isn’t invested. He has said many times he did not like the show’s content and his sedated, half hearted performance reflects that. But in this 80s atmosphere with such a bananas concept like ALF, that kind of performance shines and to me, is a wonderful source of laughs. The cast overall performs as you’d expect, with saccharine, over the top efforts in the 80s sitcom style. I always have fun revisiting ALF and if you appreciate wacky 80s television, this series is well recommended.

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