Story: This collection from Shout Studios is the ultimate ALF fan’s dream come true, with all of the episodes packed into one box set and trimmed with some nice supplements. This box holds the entire ALF sitcom run, ALF: The Animated Series, ALF Tales, and even Project: ALF, the made for television movie that closes out the alien’s narrative path. All the ALF you could want, in one convenient location. Here’s what you will find inside this Deluxe Edition of wacky 80s icon ALF’s masterworks.

ALF (1986-1990): 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?

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.

ALF: The Animated Series (1987-1989):

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?

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.

ALF Tales (1988-1989):

This animated series finds everyone’s favorite wisecracking extra terrestrial in a wealth of new adventures, or at least new to ALF. So we have tales like Robin Hood, Rapunzel, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, and others, all brought to life with ALF’s special sense of humor. As you can likely guess, the episodes stick to the basics of the stories involved, but also add in a lot of comedy and alter the narratives at times, to serve the comedic nature of the series. While ALF Tales was marketed as a children’s cartoon, it manages to blend the silliness that appeals to younger viewers with cultural references and jokes that will miss those same kids, but give their parents some solid laughs. The show has a lot of pop culture references and is fairly competent about working them into the stories, while also preserving ALF’s signature wackiness.

The second cartoon series centered on ALF, ALF Tales ran two seasons for a total of twenty-one episodes from 1988-89. Unlike ALF: The Animated Series, which served as a prequel of sorts, this series doesn’t add much to the lore of the franchise and instead, focuses on humorous spins on established stories. The tales chosen are fertile ground for this kind of project, as classic stories like The Wizard of Oz, Little Red Riding Hood, and King Midas are so familiar, so the need for exposition is minimal. That frees up more time for the jokes and the weirdness, both of which are in high supply here. I appreciated the wild, sometimes almost random pop culture references and jokes put in to make the parents or older viewers laugh, as this spruced up the well worn classics just enough. Not all of the humor works of course, but I found the writing is to be solid or better in most episodes and the general wackiness adds a lot to the entertainment.

The animation is perhaps crude by comparison to more recent releases, but this is a nostalgic charm here, whether you watched the show at the time or not. This kind of animation just has a certain warmth, similar to other 80s cartoons that might looked dated now, but still has an undeniable visual spark. The character design work is fine and since the entire cast are aliens from ALF’s home world, we get to see a wealth of different type of citizens, so no worries that everyone looks just like ALF. I enjoyed how the visual approach varied so much from episode to episode, as the different stories warrant very different visual elements, even if the detail isn’t always that deep or revelatory. A simple animation style that to me, is timeless and nostalgic, and a chance to see ALF in some tales that let him get into all kinds of mayhem. In the end, while not a cartoon classic perhaps, ALF Tales is silly, nostalgic, and fun, not to mention quite wacky at times. So if you appreciate 80s cartoons or ALF in general, this short series is worth a look.

Project: Alf (1996):

After he was captured by the Alien Task Force, ALF has been making friends as usual and getting under the skin of his military hosts. Inside the organization, there is a lot of debate over how to proceed with ALF’s fate and some believe he is a threat, while others contend he poses no danger whatsoever. As the two sides go back and forth, ALF tries to run a gambling ring and talk his way into extra perks, all the while a secret plot to poison him is being mapped out. But before the plot can be carried out, ALF is whisked away from the military base and taken on the road by two optimistic soldiers. With the Tanners out of the country and the military on his trail, can ALF somehow survive and get a new lease on life?

Entertainment Value: The original ALF sitcom ended on a cliffhanger, but years later, that conclusion would be revisited in Project: ALF, a made for television movie. The end result does indeed have ALF and brings his story to a finish, but this doesn’t share much common ground with the popular sitcom. The narrative is basic and rather dull, but the real issue is that this movie is often painfully unfunny and while they try to dial up ALF’s sense of humor, it just doesn’t work. You could find a few jokes that land, but most are dead on arrival and while the cast has some bright spots, no one is able to make much out of this material. I also think a lot of fans would be let down here by the absence of other elements from the sitcom, as only ALF himself returns and on his lonesome, this just doesn’t really capture the spirit of the show. I would have loved a proper finale for ALF, but this movie is dry, slow, and at times even hard to watch.

ALF himself is of course the real star of this one and while no one came back from the original cast, there is some fun in just seeing the character in action again. But the filmmakers managed to lock down a pretty good cast to back up our favorite crude alien, including Martin Sheen as a villainous military leader. I think it is kind of surreal to see Sheen here and he has quite a few scenes, so it isn’t just a simple cameo. He doesn’t seem too interested and this isn’t one of his better performances, but just seeing Sheen in the world of ALF is humorous to me, is one of the rare highlights here. I think Jensen Daggett is fun to watch here and likely has the most memorable turn, as she at least brings some energy and enthusiasm to the role, while Miguel Ferrer’s deadpan, detached effort adds an eerie vibe at times. The cast also includes Ed Begley, Jr., William O’Leary, and Ray Walston.

The Disc: Shout Studios has released this box set and all of these episodes look quite good, while the Project: ALF movie looks fantastic. The shows look dated of course, produced before the high definition revolution overtook television, but the episodes look sharp and clear, all things considered. The animated shows look just as I remembered, while Project: ALF is razor sharp and looks excellent. The original ALF episodes have also been restored to their original runtimes and had scenes/music returned, though one episode does feature a change from the original version. As far as extras, we have audio commentary tracks from ALF himself and co-creator Tom Patchett on select episodes and a retrospective look at ALF with Pratchett and Paul Fusco, who co-created and of course, provided the voice of ALF.