''ALF: The Animated Series'' (also known as ''ALF on Melmac'') is a 30-minute Saturday morning animated series that aired on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

for 26 episodes from September 26, 1987, to January 7, 1989. ''ALF: The Animated Series'' was a prequel and animated spinoff of the prime time series '' ALF'', which had also aired on NBC from 1986 to 1990.

Paul Fusco Paul Fusco is an American puppeteer, actor, television producer, writer and director. He is best known as the puppeteer and voice of the title character on the sitcom '' ALF'', for which he also served as creator, writer, producer, and directo ...

, the creator and puppeteer of ALF in the live-action series, was the only cast member to reprise his role in voice form; none of the human characters from the prime time ''ALF'' appeared in the animated series, due to the shows premise revolving around ALF (Gordon Shumway) traveling to various places on his home-world of Melmac. ''

ALF Tales ''ALF Tales'' is a 30-minute Saturday morning animated series that aired on NBC from September 10, 1988, to December 9, 1989. The show is a spin-off of '' ALF: The Animated Series'' which featured characters from that series playing various chara ...

'' was a spin-off from the series that also ran on NBC on Saturdays from September, 1988 to December, 1989. The two ALF animated series ran concurrently during the 1988–89 season as the ''ALF & ALF Tales Hour''.

Synopsis

Setting

This show is a prequel to the live action sitcom '' ALF'', depicting ALF's life back on his home planet of Melmac before it exploded. Since the original character's name of "ALF" was an acronym for "Alien Life Form", it is never used in the animated series except for its title. The main character is Gordon Shumway who is normally referred to as "Gordon". In each episode the puppet ALF from the sitcom appears at the introduction and conclusion of the episode, talking to the television viewers; either setting up the episode as if writing his memoirs "Melmac Memories" and commenting on it afterwards, reading fan mail or describing what his life was like on Melmac. The visual look of the series was created by the lead character designer

Fil Barlow Fil Barlow (born 8 April 1963) is an Australian artist, cartoonist, writer, production designer currently based in Los Angeles. Barlow is the creator of the ''Zooniverse'' comic book published in 1986-87. Biography Barlow was born on 8 April ...

. The format of the series has the standard setup of a situational comedy, or

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...

, as its premise, in the style of ''

The Flintstones ''The Flintstones'' is an American animated sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. The series takes place in a romanticized Stone Age setting and follows the activities of the titular family, the Flintstones, and their next-door neighb ...

'' or ''

The Jetsons ''The Jetsons'' is an American animated sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. It originally aired in prime time from September 23, 1962, to March 17, 1963, on ABC, then later aired in reruns via syndication, with new episodes produced ...

''. Much of the humor arises from the characters taking part in ordinary everyday activities set in an alien and surrealistic environment. Gordon/ALF from this series is one of the cartoon characters featured in ''

Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue ''Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue'' is a 1990 American animated television film starring many characters from several animated television series at the time of its release. Financed by McDonald's, Ronald McDonald Children's Charities, it was or ...

''.

Plot

Gordon Shumway is a fairly normal teenager living in suburban East Velcro with his parents Bob and Flo, brother Curtis, young sister Augie and their dog Neep on the planet Melmac. He spends time hanging out with his friends Rick and Skip who call him "Gordo", and he has a girlfriend named Rhonda. Sometimes the quartet would report for mandatory duty with the Melmacian Orbit Guard. The show includes an array of quirky supporting characters, which include the fortune-smeller Madame Pokipsi and the villain Larson Petty with his offsider Eggbert.

Characters

The Shumway Family

* Gordon (Gordo) Shumway / ALF (voiced by

) – The star of the show. *Bob Shumway (voiced by Thick Wilson) – Gordon's father. He works at a mayonnaise factory and is an amateur inventor. *Flo Shumway (voiced by Peggy Mahon) – Gordon's mother. *Curtis Shumway (voiced by Michael Fantini) – Gordon's younger brother. *Augie Shumway (voiced by Paulina Gillis) – Gordon's little sister. *Neep – The Shumway family's pet who looks like a dog but is officially a "vespa." *Harry – The Shumway family's pet bird, a Westfellman Smulk.

Melmacians

*Rhonda (voiced by Paulina Gillis) – Gordon's girlfriend and secretly an accomplished pilot. *Skipper "Skip" (voiced by Rob Cowan) – One of Gordon's close friends *Rick Fusterman (voiced by

) – One of Gordon's close friends who has a persistent stutter. *Spudder – Curtis' friend. *Stella (voiced by Ellen-Ray Hennessy) – Waitress at the Cats Up Diner. *Eddie – Owner of the Cats Up Diner. *Madame Pokipsi (voiced by Deborah Theaker) – The fortune smeller. *Colonel Cantfayl (voiced by

Len Carlson Len Carlson (September 2, 1937 – January 26, 2006) was a Canadian voice actor who has voiced various characters on many animated television series from the 1960s onward, an occasional live-action TV actor, and a Kraft Canada TV pitchman duri ...

) – A colonel in the Orbit Guard. *Sargent Staff (voiced by

) – A sergeant in the Orbit Guard. *Larson Petty (voiced by Thick Wilson) – The primary villain of the series who makes attempts to invade Melmac. *Eggbert (voiced by

Dan Hennessey Dan Hennessey (born August 25)https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Dan-Hennessey/ is a Canadian voice director and voice actor who, early on in his career, performed with a children's comedy troupe The Zoo Factory (with John Stocker, Bruce Gord ...

) – Larson Petty's offsider. *Sloop (voiced by

) – Larson Petty's other offsider. *Freda Fusterman (voiced by Marla Lukofsky) *Tillie (voiced by Marla Lukofsky) *Jane Appalling (voiced by Marla Lukofsky) *TV Announcer (voiced by Marla Lukofsky) *Louie the Pruner - A villain and owner of a salad dressing empire. He lets tickle the feet of his victims to get informations. *Sonny - The son of Louie the Pruner. He wanted lick salad dressing off Gordon's feet as Gordon and Albert were captured by Louie.

Episodes

Each episode is bookended by ALF talking about his upcoming book, "Melmac Memories", about his life on Melmac during his first year in the Orbit Guard.

Season 1 (1987–88)

Season 2 (1988–89)

Home media

On May 30, 2006,

Lionsgate Home Entertainment Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, doing business as Lionsgate, is a Canadian-American entertainment company. It was formed by Frank Giustra on July 10, 1997, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is currently headquartered ...

released both the first nine episodes of ''ALF: The Animated Series'' as ''ALF Animated Adventures – 20,000 Years in Driving School and Other Stories;'' and the first seven episodes of ''ALF Tales'' entitled ''ALF and The Beanstalk and Other Classic Fairy Tales'' on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

in Region 1. Some episodes can also be found in the special features section of the collectors edition release of the original live action series.

Notes

References

External links

* {{Children's programming on NBC in the 1980s 1980s American animated television series 1980s American comic science fiction television series 1987 American television series debuts 1989 American television series endings ALF (TV series) American animated television spin-offs American children's animated comic science fiction television series American children's animated space adventure television series American prequel television series Animated television series about extraterrestrial life English-language television shows NBC original programming Teen animated television series Television series by DIC Entertainment Television series by Lorimar Television Television series by Saban Entertainment Television series created by Paul Fusco Television series created by Tom Patchett Television series set on fictional planets Television series by Lorimar-Telepictures