Warner Brothers is working on what may be the most unexpected reboot of all– ‘ALF’. The original series was co-created by Paul Fusco and Tom Patchett, with Fusco serving as the puppeteer and voice of the furry alien who is taken in by an average middle class family, the Tanners. The series ran for four seasons on NBC from 1986-1990, racking up 102 episodes. The series famously ended in a cliffhanger that went unresolved for several years.
Fusco and Patchett are involved with the new version, which it is stressed is in very early development, with no studio attached. However, the creative team has been working on this since May.
The furry alien character at the center of the show was actually named Gordon Shumway on his home planet Melmac. “ALF” stood for Alien Life Form. The Tanners were played by Max Wright as father Willie, Anne Schedeen as mother Kate, Andrea Elson as teenage daughter Lynn and Benji Gregory as preteen Brian. In its second season, ‘ALF’ ranked in the top ten of TV shows in prime time, but ratings fell from there, leading to its season four cancellation, on a cliffhanger that ended with ‘ALF’ about to be taken captive by the U.S. government. This cliffhanger was unresolved until a poorly received TV movie, ‘Project ALF’ in 1996, which revealed that ALF’s had been captured, but was living comfortably until a new threat emerged. The Tanners did not appear, which is just one reason why it failed to lead to a revival.
At the height of its success, however, ‘ALF’ spawned a Marvel Comic book that lasted for 50 issues and a cartoon prequel that depicted Gordon’s adventures on Melmac with his friends and family, prior to the planet’s destruction. There was also a slew of licensed merchandise.
In recent years, ‘ALF’ has been referenced on many shows like ‘The Big Bang Theory’ and even appeared in a dream sequence in an episode of ‘Mr. Robot.’ Reruns of the original sitcom air on MeTV.
Were you a fan of the original ‘ALF’? What do you think of a modern version?
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
