History Series / ALF

On August 1st, 2018 Warner Bros Television announced they were developing a reboot of the series. The reboot was aborted in November 2018 as Warner Bros. stated they could not find any network who would buy the program. In February 2022, Creator/ShoutFactory announced the acquisition of the rights, with plans to release the series (along with the animated spin-offs and ''Project ALF'') on Blu Ray with many of the original scenes cut from Syndication restored.

* DenserAndWackier: The comic was on the whole a lot more cartoony, with a higher joke density, than the show. The stories set on Melmac took this and ran with it; not only is Melmac presented as a WorldOfPun where every single character is ''some'' degree of MotorMouth {{Cuckoosnarker}} with exaggerated character quirks, it had bizarre (and usually pun-based) natural phenomena and stories that used to take themselves seriously for even a moment. It took a number of elements and characters from the animated series (most prominently the Shumway family), but exaggerated them to the point of parody.

* CharacterDevelopment: Brian, in stark contrast with his TV series counterpart, went through some noticeable development over the course of the series. He went from CheerfulChild and ALF's biggest fan, to a slightly more cynical DeadpanSnarker who traded good-natured insults with ALF.

* {{Crossover}}: The comic managed to take part in 1988's Creator/MarvelComics CrisisCrossover, the ''Evolutionary War''. [[spoiler:The High Evolutionary warned ALF to stay out of his plans and not mess with human development.]] In the last issue, the very last [[BreakingTheFourthWall fourth-wall-breaking]] story, ALF got into an argument with Tom [=DeFalco=] about whether this crossover meant he was officially part of the Marvel Universe or not.

* FinaleMovie: After the series ended on a cliffhanger, a movie was made to finally wrap things up.

* GracefulLoser: A trait found in most Melmacians, as pointed out and shown several times. [[spoiler: Even when ALF's long-time girlfriend Rhonda ends up marrying Skip, there is no hard feelings from ALF's side -- he remains on the best of terms with them both and even performs the marriage ceremony.]]

* ThemeNaming: Anyone and anything on Melmac that could have the syllables "mel" and "mac" in them, would have.

* WeirdWorldWeirdFood: One episode shows that Melmacians ate a dish called "slime balls", which came in such flavours as "slug" and "black cherry". ALF had a bag of these in his ship, which contained a Melmacian cockroach which soon mutates into a [[BigCreepyCrawlies Big Creepy-Crawlie]] thanks to bug spray.

* WorldOfPun: Melmac.

An AnimatedAdaptation co-produced by Creator/DiCEntertainment and Creator/SabanEntertainment alongside Alien Productions was broadcast from September, 1987 to January, 1989, also on NBC. It depicted Gordon's life on Melmac before he came to earth. It introduced Gordon's family members and friends, such as little sister Augie and girlfriend Rhonda[[note]]the latter of whom was first mentioned in the sitcom[[/note]] (both voiced by Paulina Gillis). A villain threatening Melmac was also introduced to add some tension. He was called Larson Petty (a pun on petty larceny). The show had its own SpinOff, ''WesternAnimation/ALFTales'', which had the characters as AnimatedActors performing [[FracturedFairyTale modernized versions of classic stories]].

* AlienLunch: One episode shows that Melmacians ate a dish called "slime balls", which came in such flavours as "slug" and "black cherry". ALF had a bag of these in his ship, which contained a Melmacian cockroach which soon mutates into a [[BigCreepyCrawlies Big Creepy-Crawlie]] thanks to bug spray.

The brainchild of puppeteer/producer Paul Fusco and veteran television writer Tom Patchett, ALF is the story of Gordon Shumway, a hapless '''A'''lien '''L'''ife '''F'''orm [[note]]Sometimes he was billed as an Alien ''Laugh'' Form[[/note]] who crash lands in the backyard of the Tanner family (no, not [[Series/FullHouse them]]) after his home planet, Melmac, [[EarthShatteringKaboom explodes]]. The original series lasted from September, 1986 to March, 1990 on Creator/{{NBC}}, with a total of 102 episodes in four seasons, plus a movie released on February 17, 1996, to wrap up the series. The show was produced by Alien Productions, the production company of Patchett and Fusco (in syndication the show was distributed by Creator/{{Lorimar}}-Telepictures, then Creator/WarnerBros after they acquired L-T in 1989).

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* CharacterDevelopment: Brian, in stark contrast with his [[StaticCharacter TV series counterpart]], went through some noticeable development over the course of the series. He went from CheerfulChild and ALF's biggest fan, to a slightly more cynical DeadpanSnarker who traded good-natured insults with ALF.

* SomethingCompletelyDifferent: The season three episode "Tonight, Tonight" is totally different from all the others. Basically, it's ALF guest-hosting ([[ShamelessSelfPromoter and ultimately hijacking]]) ''Series/TheTonightShowStarringJohnnyCarson''. It deviates from the show's usual canon of ALF hiding with the Tanner family and from the military (though the Tanners do appear in [[ClipShow the clips throughout the episode]]). Also, ALF is guest-hosting the ''Tonight Show'' as if nothing is out of the ordinary instead of the show's normal canon of him being an alien from another planet.

* ParentalBonus: The comic was ''steeped'' in references and parodies that seemed more aimed at the older audience. Various Melmac-flashbacks featured Melmac-versions of such diverse things as Franchise/XMen, Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian, the Creator/MarxBrothers Series/TheHoneymooners, Creator/HumphreyBogart, Film/JamesBond, Film/{{Psycho}} and Film/CitizenKane.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The first few episodes of season one. ALF had a much deeper, gruff-sounding voice and was a bit more competent and less of {{Jerkass}}. Lynn was slightly more ditzy and had braces. It was somewhat rare to see ALF and Brian separated; with a few exceptions, Kate was more antagonistic towards ALF — sometimes for no good reason — rather than just simply being strict, Willie was less bumbling and seemed to not be as big of a ButtMonkey, ALF was occasionally depicted as a beer drinker before this was dropped for being unsuitable behavior for a children's hero, [[note]]ALF's ceasing his beer drinking was at least acknowledged in-universe; in one second-season episode, ALF swears off drinking completely after waking up with a hangover from a night of binge-drinking with Kate's alcoholic sorority sister [[/note]]and the humor and jokes seemed more somber and slow-paced, rather than the DenserAndWackier show into which it evolved.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The first few episodes of season one. ALF had a much deeper, gruff-sounding voice and was a bit more competent and less of {{Jerkass}}. Lynn was slightly more ditzy and had braces. It was somewhat rare to see ALF and Brian separated; with a few exceptions, Kate was more antagonistic towards ALF — sometimes for no good reason — rather than just simply being strict, Willie was less bumbling and seemed to not be as big of a ButtMonkey, ALF was occasionally depicted as a beer drinker before this was dropped for being unsuitable behavior for a children's hero, [[note]]ALF's ceasing his beer drinking was at least acknowledged in-universe; in one second-season episode, ALF swears off drinking altogether after waking up with a hangover from a night of binge-drinking with Kate's alcoholic sorority sister [[/note]]and the humor and jokes seemed more somber and slow-paced, rather than the DenserAndWackier show into which it evolved.

* BizarreAlienBiology: Unrestrained by a TV budget, the comic took this UpToEleven, revealing that Melmacians also become temporarily invisible if eating a sponge, exhale helium ([[{{Balloonacy}} making bubble-gum blowing a risky thing to get carried away with]]), their noses begin glowing with extremely bright lights if they get ''very'' excited, and every 75 years they go through a "shed cycle" wherein all their fur falls off and they're completely bald for eight hours before re-growing their fur through performing the "primal sneeze ceremony."

** The comic book featured a WeirdCrossover with ''[[CrisisCrossover The Evolutionary War]]'', an event running through all of Marvel's 1988 summer annuals; the High Evolutionary, an ''Franchise/XMen'' villain, ends up encountering ALF.

On August 1st, 2018 Warner Bros Television announced they were developing a reboot of the series. The reboot was aborted in November 2018 as Warner Bros. stated they could not find any network who would buy the program. In February 2022, Creator/ShoutFactory announced the acquisition of the rights, with plans to release the series on Blu Ray with many of the original scenes cut from Syndication restored.

On August 1st, 2018 Warner Bros Television announced they were developing a reboot of the series. The reboot was aborted in November 2018 as Warner Bros. stated they could not find any network who would buy the program.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The first few episodes of season one. ALF had a much deeper, gruff-sounding voice and was a bit more competent and less of {{Jerkass}}. Lynn was slightly more ditzy and had braces. It was somewhat rare to see ALF and Brian separated; with a few exceptions, Kate was more antagonistic towards ALF — sometimes for no good reason — rather than just simply being strict, Willie was less bumbling and seemed to not be as big of a ButtMonkey, and the humor and jokes seemed more somber and slow-paced, rather than the DenserAndWackier show into which it evolved. ALF was also occasionally depicted as a beer drinker before this was dropped for being unsuitable behavior for a children's hero. [[note]]ALF's ceasing his beer drinking was at least acknowledged in-universe, in one episode where Kate actually orders ALF to quit drinking it because it's setting a bad example for Brian.[[/note]]

* EightiesHair: Lynn

** In "Prime Time," one is delivered to ''Series/TheCosbyShow'', which is portrayed as dull and unengaging. ("Great episode last week, when Theo lost his comb. I never, ever thought he'd find it.")