Broken Promises & Burger King Puppets: The Crazy History of ALF - The Sitcom, Cartoon & Talk Show! 

You traded my soul for POGS?!?!

*:)*

You said the same thing on IG 🤣

Darn! Beat me to the punchline. 😄

I had no idea you could post comments to Future RU-vid videos in 1997

Dan Larson isn't beholden to Paul Fusco.

Well, Larson IS one of ALF's villains after all.

I mean, to Fusco he was no doubt as real as Hobbes was to Calvin. That said, Larson isn't Fusco or Calvin. Plus, that's just darn good entertainment.

Kinda… I dunno… petty…

Hah! You killed him.

And thanks to Cartoon All Stars to the rescue, they got to crossover that one time

@@MentalLiberation It was cringe looking back at it, but at least it happened.

There is a reanimated version of the song “A Million Ways to Say No” that’s actually very entertaining though. Lookit up.

Add Petter Cullen, Frank Welker, Larry Kenney and the great Mel Blanc and we have the best childhoods. Hahahaha

@@xxOS1R1Sxx The '80s for all its problems was a magical decade for being a kid. The '90s were all so incredibly good but the '80s just seem so special.

Lol

Awesome.

I love this! Thanks for sharing your memories!

What did they talk about?

@@CarynDPrescott Just puppet stuff. I'm not at liberty to say; puppet/client privilege... ;)

@@LNSLateNightSaturday 😄

Was he an Avenger or a member of Excalibur?

@@IsiahTomas roland rat was a rat. who had a car. and was a puppet. with a car. it was a crazy time

'POG form' is mentioned at the end of the show.

Thanks, Millhouse

I hear his worth in that form is quite substantial

I had the same reaction when Kermit rode a bike and when Elmo was showing off his new shoes.

Yeah seeing puppet/muppet legs is just some uncanny weird stuff. They try their best to not make it super weird but especially with Alf it just felt like it poked that part of my brain that found the way he ran to be just super weird and creepy.

Grant Park, you're not alone. I found the full body shots of ALF to be pretty darn creepy, as well. Even though, thanks to my mom telling me, I knew that it was a little person in a suit, it was still creepy to me.

Yeah that always freaked me out, puppets should not have legs!

Yup also at the end when they're all posing for a photo at a bque

They could have just had Max Wright smoke some crack.

Pretty sure the Tanners were witness protected to Iceland....for some reason.

I disagree, ALF doesn't need to retire yet. I propose a new series, or a new movie. Do it while Paul Fusco is still alive & well, cause he's getting old. Oh, & in Project: ALF, the Tanner's were said to be put into witness protection.

I traveled a bit back and fourth between Germany and the United States when I was younger. Two shows that I noticed were popular during the late 80's in both countries were ALF and this other show called Out of This World (but in Germany that show was called "My father is an Alien: Mein Vater ist ein Außerirdischer). Anyway, during the Project: Alf movie (which takes place years after the 4th and final season of ALF), the Tanners were put into the witness protection program and relocated to Iceland and you couldn't see the actors. One of the behind the scenes reasons for that had to do with the actor who played Willie Tanner. Behind the scenes of season 4 they had A LOT of huge problems between him and Paul Fusco (creator of ALF and the American voice and puppeteer of ALF). By season 4, Willie Tanner's actor (Max Wright) legit hated Paul Fusco. It got so bad Max legit attacked the ALF puppet on set for real out of real anger one time and people had to restrain him. If you ever watch season 4 again and you notice that Willie is far more aggravated than usual in some of those episodes, it's because he really is aggravated for real. Anyway, he was not interested in coming back (if a season 5 had happened, his character most likely would have disappeared while Willie Tanner's younger brother, who showed up in season 4 and was played by Jim J. Bullock, would have had a larger role in a season 5 if it had happened) and they didn't want him back either. Also, the daughter Lynn Tanner, while she was on good terms with everyone, she had some personal stuff she was dealing with so she couldn't come back for Project ALF. They most likely could have had the son show up since he was on good terms with everyone, but he was significantly older at that time and not recognizable since he was a teen by the time Project ALF was made. I do believe the mom was available and she definitely was on good terms with everyone, but with only 2 out of the 4 Tanners available (and from the 2 that were available one of them was older and looked very different) I guess they decided to do the relocated to Iceland joke.

So a show about an oppressed minority (whose people have lost their homeland, and have strange dietary customs) hiding from the military with a family that takes them in was very popular in Germany? I can't imagine why.

That and Harry and Hendersons. Furophilia of some sorts...

yeah Willy was ironically really funny and had a great dynamic with Alf

I had the same puppet, I put it on the transfer case shifter in my jeep! Awesome show, I was a sarcastic obnoxious 20 year old when the show came out and I totally related to ALF!

I ended up with a 4 puppets. But I remembered getting the last one on the day I ended up going camping. Kinda like 1 big happy memory. Man I miss being a kid

that guy was awesome as Mr. Denby on The Norm Show too🙂

I really do hope that story is real, and I really wish I'd seen it happen.

It appears to be very real. I remember reading interviews long ago where at least one cast member confirmed it happened for real. Long story short, by season 4 of ALF, Max Wright (Willie Tanner) and Paul Fusco (the English voice actor of ALF, one of the puppeteers and also the creator of ALF) were NOT getting along. Max HATED him by season 4 and Max was miserable as hell and with a nasty attitude. If you ever rewatch season 4 you will notice that Willie is a lot more aggravated towards ALF than usual in some episodes. That's REAL aggravation coming through. Anyway, IF Alf had returned for a fifth season, there is a high chance either Willie Tanner's character would have been completely written off the show since Max Wright didn't want to return and wanted out of his contract and Paul and some of the cast were NOT comfortable around Wright during season 4 and entirely replaced him with Jim J. Bullock (who played Willie's younger brother Neal in season 4) or if Max wanted to stay because of the huge paycheck (and he was still under contract), Willie's role would have been drastically reduced (probably only interacting with the human characters and NOT so much with ALF... mainly because I don't think Paul Fusco wanted Max Wright legit destroying the ALF puppet, or Paul himself, out of anger since Max was already on the edge of insanity during season 4, so there is no telling how insane he would have gotten throughout an entire season 5 shooting schedule) and increasing Willie's brother, Neal, role on the show (if you noticed, during the later part of season 4, Jim J. Bullock as Willie's brother, Neal Tanner, was starting to show up more and longer. They were already toying around with that idea by the later half of season 4).

Cocaine is a hell of a drug , so I'm guessing it's true.

@@johnpenguinthe3rd13 you can tell they already had Neil as a back-up plan.

@@johnpenguinthe3rd13 See, Jm J Bullock has no shame, so he probably would have been up for permanently joining the cast. Like how David Spade slithered into Eight Rules after John Ritter died.

Ok I need to look this up now. I had no idea the behind the scenes struggle of this show was turned into a movie. Not mention one starring Ben Stiller no less. Where was the last time you saw it? I wonder if it’s streaming on any of the services. How old is the movie?

@@spenserbeckerszs The book and the movie are both called Permanent Midnight, and the movie came out in 1998. It’s unusual to see Ben Stiller in a dramatic role. Not sure if any streaming services carry it. Also, to clarify, the movie is about television writer Jerry Stahl’s drug addiction and not about Alf, though it does include the part where he started writing for Alf. Some names are changed, probably due to legal concerns. Alf is “Mr. Chompers” in the movie.

Jfc! No wonder I never enjoyed watching this show. Loved the merchandise but the energy showed.

You're telling me the dad was hooked on crack????😮 Holy fuck. No idea.

@@Joecbg100 He was also Closeted. And couldn't deal with his Sexuality. So he was heavily addicted to Crack and often made Homosexual Amateur Porn. Even more tragic, his Wife completely kicked him out of the house in 2003 and divorced him. He spent his tragic final years reclusive, almost homeless and practically broke.

👏

I made the mistake of looking this stuff up, and nopped right out. about $20 a pound, ah hell no.

I mean basically yes all of that. Nothing like exploiting nostalgia.

Was making a comment dumping on the company paying for the video you're watching an effective use of your time?

@@scotthardie5141 They have a right to comment on the quality or cost of the product, just as we do for commercials on actual TV.

I remember that, he was usually the middle square.

Mine too.

I hate hockey to this day...

In my country, they edited the episode so it ended before the military arrived...I learned about this years later...wish I never had.

If Alf is evil, then I for one welcome our new, fuzzy, overlord.

Also, ALF writers Mike Reis and Al Jean later went on to be Simpsons Show runners and writers.

That would be a funny detail, if they put a sound only sensitive to cats when alf entered the frame, scaring cats with his presence.

@@michiganscythian2445 If they ever cancel *The Simpsons* they can always get their old job back.

Tons of great shows from that decade and the one before. Unfortunately I can't watch any of them anymore, except Sci-fi or Westerns, due to the ever present laugh track. If you know anyone selling AIs that remove laugh tracks from shows, I would pay money for that.

"Danny the Elfman" Clever!

:o hey, you do great work, thanks

Alfew of them.

The last Renaissance Fair I went to there was somebody in a Chewbacca suit complete with bandolier. When he turned around, he was wearing an Alf mask.

Probably the reason why the movie was so bad is because Alf made in thr '90s felt...wrong

All of a sudden I just had a clear memory of getting the large ALF stuffed animal when I was in 3rd grade for Christmas. I had a large box that I was playing with inside it with ALF and think I was pretending it was his spaceship.

@@davidm4566 the box it came in looked like a spaceship, I remember cos it was half the reason I wanted it so bad - drove my poor dad crazy bugging him about that Alf toy before Christmas that year!

@@HisNameWasCrazy I forgot about that! I think I still have the ALF puppets at my Dad's house.

I could think of even more embarrassing scenarios!

Another Fun Fact: Melmac is the name of the planet but also what it was made out of.

The actual reason is nuclear warfare.

Hahahahaha

Lol

I could see myself as an Alfaholic

That it is, he took it as seriously as if Alf was his own child

Or just hold out hope for an ALF Omnibus

Or just find it digitally

Dude... There's an issue where ALF has to fight a sentient aloe vera plant. It was bonkers! Loved that comic.

The comics are totally worth getting if you can find them. I have maybe 2/3 of the collection (maybe more? Been a while since I pulled them out of their hiding spot), and it's been a goal of mine to try to fill in the gaps one of these days.

A comic shop I lived near a while ago had all 50 issues that they were selling for like $30. They where there the entire I lived there. Apparently people weren't crazy about the Alf comic.

"I still hope for an alternate version where Alf lands on the Ochmoneks' garage." They did that in the comics one issue! Alf used his ship's Wotif machine on occasion to show alternate versions of events.

That's why I was disappointed that *Project: ALF* disregarded them completely.

Well yeah man.... you're going to have to face it but... Kermit was always just a puppet.

I NEVER thought as ALF as Real. In the 80s as a Young Child, I saw him as a Kid's Mascot.

Yes, but we as kids did not care, as we were getting more ALF, and that's all that mattered.

That's pretty dark for a kid's show...

Rhonda alf's girlfriend and a few friends one named skip survived.. they made a cameo in an episode of the original TV show.

I loved the Hogan Family. Though the show started off as Valarie's Family with Valarie Bertinellii, I vaguely remember those earlier episodes. It was always Sandy Duncan that was Mother figure as far as I was concerned.

Rushing out of the bath towel around my waist! That was my Mork and Mindy memory. Also cracking it cos Mum said bath-time right before!!

I seem to remember he got the Teddy Ruxpin treatment too as a toy. You could put a tape in his back and his mout and ears would move up and down to make it look like he was talking along with the audio tape.

Awesome 👍

I had two Storybooks with Cassettes AND a Poster back during 1987-88!

I've gotten used to it, but that first viewing is jarring compared to what we were used to.

@@behindthescenesphotos5133 Is a great episode indeed but man, the first time you see it is a total kick in the nuts when you weren't prepared.

I just watched it last night. I though it was pretty good! For some reason I have no memory of that one.

Ah, got ya!

I remember this! Was a teen fan so the daughter’s ‘rebelliousness’ WAS jarring, especially since my family has always had good Latin “Christmas Spirit”. I guess they were going for an “It’s a wonderful life” homage. I’ll have to watch it again. Miss 80s tv.

I had that same doll. I liked it a lot but I buried it under blankets at night. If I saw it in the dark, it would freak me out.

Ah yes and Kate's anniversary gift , some cheap perfume finally killed it.

my Thoughts exactly! That was truly the great age of TV Entertainment.

Fresh Prince was a fish out of water series like ALF, but it was way way way way WAY better than ALF. Having the two shows get directly compared left me blinking in confusion. (By the way, when Fresh Prince debuted, it was on in the same hour as the TV adaptation of Ferris Bueller. The show which insulted the movie. The show that lasted maybe thirteen episodes.)

So your saying Alf was ratted out by the Fresh Prince, so he could take Alf's time slot?🤔

And Kermit, albeit in Muppet Babies form. :)

1989. I love the Chipmunks song "There's a Million Wonderful Ways to Say No".

That's all, that's it

* "Rhonda's"

or SNL

I wouldnt mind seeing Toy Galaxy do a video on The Critic (along with Duckman for that matter)

Loved Alf Tales, combining tall tales with Hitchcock 😂, Favorite was John Henry

@@ColdHighway7 yes

@@ColdHighway7 Duckman was basically George Costanza in animated form. Although I feel like they did a much better job of humanizing and giving the character pathos then you would think.