ALF (TV series)

ALF is an American television sitcom that aired on NBC from September 22, 1986, to March 24, 1990.

The titular character, ALF, an acronym for "Alien Life Form", but whose real name is Gordon Shumway, crash-lands in the garage of the suburban California middle-class Tanner family. The series stars Max Wright as father Willie Tanner, Anne Schedeen as mother Kate Tanner, and Andrea Elson and Benji Gregory as their children, Lynn and Brian Tanner. ALF was performed by puppeteer Paul Fusco, who co-created the show with Tom Patchett. However, in scenes where he appeared in full body, he was performed by Michu Meszaros, who was uncredited in the role.

Produced by Alien Productions, ALF ran for four seasons and 97 episodes, including three one-hour episodes ("Try to Remember", "ALF's Special Christmas", "Tonight, Tonight"). These episodes were divided into two parts for syndication, for a total of 100 episodes. The series ended with an unresolved cliffhanger, but a television film, Project: ALF, was made later and served as a series finale for the franchise. The series was videotaped at Century Studios, 8660 Hayden Place in Culver City California.

In August 2018, Warner Bros. Television announced the development of an ALF reboot, which was later canceled in November of that year. In February 2022, it was announced that Shout! Studios had acquired distribution rights to the ALF titles, and would "develop new ALF-related content," with the company Maximum Effort subsequently joining in July 2023 to develop new material as well.