Paul Fusco Movies

This made-for-television comedy picks up where the popular alien TV-series ALF left off. Captured by the military on his way back home, ALF is forced to undergo experiments at the hands of the unsympathetic Col. Gilbert Milfoil (Martin Sheen). Two military officers take pity on poor ALF and decide to free him from his captors. They escape and set out on a road trip that takes them on some bizarre adventures -- but ALF isn't out of the woods just yet. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide

In accordance with the edicts of his god "Barry", ALF is required to become a minister. Now he must perform a wedding immediately--or else run the risk of losing his soul and being condemned to a eternity of yodeling. To save ALF from such a horrendous fate, Willie (Max Wright) and Kate (Anne Scheeden) agree to renew their matrimonial vows. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Now that his wife has left him, Willie's younger brother Neal (JM J. Bullock) is spending all his time with the Tanners. This puts ALF in the awkward situation of remaining under cover so that Neal will not suspect his presence. Ultimately, ALF has had enough of being a "shadow alien", and prepares to meet Neal face to face--with surprising results. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A mugshot for a criminal who looks just like Willie (Max Wright) is briefly flashed on a TV "crimestoppers" program. Since a huge reward has been posted for the lookalike, ALF appoints himself Willie's protector--and, accordingly, his blamed when the cops arrest Willie, even though next-door-neighbor Trevor (John LaMotta is to blame. A young David Alan Grier appears as an FBI agent. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

ALF wants to have a pet for his own. To shut up the persistent alien, Willie (Max Wright) buys ALF an ant farm. Surely, no one in his right mind would regard a bunch of ants as "real" pets and become emotionally attached to them. But who ever said that ALF was in his right mind? Sure enough, per the episode's title, one of the ants dies...and ALF stages the insect funeral to end all insect funerals. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Randee Heller appears as Elaine, the light-fingered mother of Jake Ochmonek (Josh Blake). Even though Elaine insists that her kleptomania is a thing of the past, the resentful Jake cold-shoulders his mom. ALF tries to arrange a reconciliation between mother and son--but this proves difficult when he catches Elaine in a blatant act of thievery. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The former Gordon Shumway, refugee of the long-gone planet Melmac, continues to wreak hilarious havoc upon his adoptive Earth family the Tanners as ALF enters its third season. By this point in time, virtually every member of the viewing public knew that Gordon's "new" name, ALF, was an acronym for Alien Life Form. They also knew that, for all his wisecracks and anti-social excesses (such as eating everything that wasn't nailed down and breaking everything else), ALF had a heart of gold, else why would the Tanners not have turned him over to the dreaded Alien Task Force long ago? Typical third-season episodes include the opener, "Stop in the Name of Love," in which ALF helpfully arranges a blind date for teenager Lynn Tanner (Andrea Elson) after accidentally scaring off her boyfriend; the two-part Thanksgiving story "Turkey in the Straw," wherein a bum repays ALF's generosity by trying to report him to the authorities; "My Back Pages," a flashback to the "hippie" days of uptight suburbanites Willie and Kate Tanner (Max Wright, Anne Schedeen); "Superstition," in which ALF performs a bizarre Melmacian ritual to expunge himself from guilt after destroying the history book possessed by young Brian Tanner (Benji Gregory); and the season finale, "Varsity Drag," the story of ALF's brief and extremely eventful career as a newspaper delivery boy. Though viewership for ALF eroded a bit during its third season thanks to the formidable competition of CBS's Newhart and ABC's MacGyver, the series still managed to end up in a healthy 15th place in the Nielsens. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The beleaguered Tanner family continues to conceal the presence of their resident space alien from the authorities as ALF begins its second season. Series co-creator Paul Fusco is back as the voice of the pint-sized, giant-nosed extraterrestrial ALF, who in his efforts to "do right" by his adoptive family succeeds only in causing chaos whenever he moves a muscle. In the season's opening episode, Willie Tanner (Max Wright) becomes so fed up by ALF's antics that he exiles the alien to the family garage, whereupon ALF tries to get back into Willie's good graces by promising to be a good little...whatever he is for a whole week (fat chance!). The season's second episode is the now-classic spoof of Gilligan's Island, in which TV addict ALF finds himself marooned in an island of his own making with Bob Denver, Alan Hale Jr., Dawn Wells, and Russell Johnson! And in episode three, snoopy next-door neighbor Raquel Ochmonek (John LaMotta) becomes convinced that she's off her trolley when she accidentally sees ALF -- compelling the alien himself to convince Raquel that she's of sound mind (sort of). These three episodes pretty much set the tone for the rest of the season. New to ALF during season two is Josh Blake as Jake Ochmonek, the 15-year-old son of the Tanners' neighbors. Also new was the series' elevated spot in the Nielsen ratings; it ranked in tenth place, up from 28th place during its first season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The acronymic letters in the title of this NBC sitcom stood for "Alien Life Form," as a good a way as any to describe the protagonist, an orange-haired, pint-sized 299-year-old space alien with an aardvark-like nose and a propensity for mischief and comic sarcasm. Known on his home planet Melmac as Gordon Shumway, ALF (his voice provided by the series' co-creator Paul Fusco) crash-landed in the earthbound garage of the Tanner family: dad Willie (Max Wright), a social worker, mom Kate (Anne Schedeen), and children Lynn (Andrea Elson) and Brian (Benji Gregory) -- in the final season, the Tanner family was increased by one baby son, Eric, played by twins J.R. Nickerson and Charles Nickerson. Persuading the Tanners not to turn him over to the authorities (he can't return to Melmac, which has recently blown up!), ALF moves in with the family -- a decision the Tanners often have reason to regret, inasmuch as ALF has a bad habit of breaking things, poking his huge nose into other people's business, and doing his best to make a meal of the family's pet cat. Whenever snoopy neighbors like the Ochmoneks or other visitors showed up, ALF was hidden in the kitchen, where he proceeded to eat everything in sight. As he attempted to repair his spaceship, ALF did his best to soak up earthling culture by watching network television.

In the series' final season, ALF was able to make contact with two other surviving Melmacians named Skip and Rhonda, and was about to leave the Earth to establish a new world, when suddenly he was captured by the dreaded Alien Task Force -- at which point the series ended, leaving our hero's ultimate fate up in the air. Debuting September 22, 1986, ALF proved to be one of NBC's most popular series, not to mention a merchandising bonanza. ALF himself began showing up as a "guest star" on such series as The Hollywood Squares and The Tonight Show; perhaps it should be explained that the character was essentially a puppet, though he was "played" by uncredited dwarf actor Michu Meszaros in those scenes where he was shown walking about. Nearly six years after the final ALF telecast on June 18, 1990, a TV movie sequel, Project: ALF, explained what had happened to the furry little alien after the government closed in (he was living on an Air Force Base and enjoying all the comforts of home, including endless supplies of Earth food -- but no cats!) From 1987 to 1990, an animated version of the property, variously titled ALF and ALF Tales, was seen on NBC's Saturday-morning schedules. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide