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From 1986 to 1990 NBC aired the sitcom ALF, the story about a friendly extraterrestrial (ALF) who crashed in the garage of a suburban middle class family: The Tanners.
If you ever watched the show you know that ALF´s real name was Gordon Shumway and his hometown was Melmac. Also that ALF is his nickname which means Alien Life Form. But did you know how ALF came to live in every episode? If you don´t know you can find out here: Who played Alf?
There where two ALFs, one was a puppet (half-body shots) and the other was an actor dressed in an ALF custom (full-body shots).
The ALF puppet (live –hand puppet) was operated primarily by Paul Fusco (also a producer on the show). He was the principal puppeteer and the voice of ALF, he had two assistant puppeteers: Lisa Buckley and Bob Fappiano.
For full-body shots of ALF (like in the series intro, where ALF joins the Tanners in their family picture) they didn´t use the puppet. It was Mihaly “Michu” Meszaros, a 2 ft 9 inches (83.82cm) tall Hungarian performer who stood in for the ALF puppet wearing an ALF costume. Meszaros wore the full-body ALF costume for the first few seasons every time ALF was walking, running, or standing.
You can distinguish the ALF puppet and the costume because the heads proportions are different.
Did you grew up watching ALF? What’s your favorite memory about this show?
I am a grandmother…but I love Alf. Was one of my all time fave shows, and I have an assortment of Alf Collectibles. Wish they would make a new series of it.
Hey Nomi!
It’s nice to hear that there are other ALF fans out there!
If there was a new ALF series, how would you like it to be like? An adaptation of the original series but to todays’ context? Same character or new ones?
I love the show ALF. I was born in 1977 & grew up watching this great funny show all the time as a kid lol. I also loved Dukes of Hazzard,Knight Rider,A-Team,The Fall Guy,etc.
I’m a great alf fan, from Brazil! In fact I grew watching him on TV and when I read articles like this, I just miss my childhood =)
We grew up watching ALF too! And it certainly makes us miss our childhood as well. The world has changed so much, including TV shows.