6
(a couple of acknowledgements of God and scriptures)
7
(some mild sexuality)
6
(worth seeing more than once)
"ALF" was without a doubt my favorite TV show during my pre-teen to early teen years. A short, wise-cracking alien was the perfect character for me to love. Still today I still have every issue of the ALF comic book and other memorabilia stashed safely away. I didn't rush out to get the TVD set, though, because I was afraid I would come to realize they aren't as good now that my age has more than doubled. My sister couldn't resist, however, and bought it for me as soon as she saw it. So I gathered people around me and began diving into the Melmacian nostalgia. My impressions as a kid were of "ALF" being the greatest comedic venture ever broadcast. My impressions now are of "ALF" being hokey, corny, and so endearing that I've already watched the pilot episode 3 times. Maybe I wouldn't go as nuts over him if I had been this old upon his first airing, but I can't help but like him still.
ALF is a short, furry, long-nosed being from Melmac. The planet exploded (which opens the door to some slightly more serious discussions about the dangers of nuclear warfare in the show), and ALF has crash-landed on the Tanner's garage. They take him in because they can't stand to think of him being experimented on in a government lab somewhere, and the antics begin. His appetites, physical make up, and societal views are different than those of Earthlings. Cats are a common meal on Melmac, the person having the birthday doesn't get the presents, hair in food is not a problem, and things that the Tanners might not want him doing (like drinking beer) have not previously been an issue with him. He's not stupid by any means, in fact, when it comes to communications equipment like a ham radio, he's quite brilliant, but this society is so strange to him that he gets himself into trouble at every turn.
Young Brian idolizes ALF as any young boy with his own alien would. Teen Lynn just wants to help. Geeky father Willie is fascinated by what the irrefutable evidence of alien life means. Skeptical mother Kate doesn't want an alien destroying her house. And grandmother Dorothy (who I'll call Dot because I'm too lazy to spell the whole name every time) wants to wring the alien's neck.
Like any sit-com the specific problems and situations vary from episode to episode and are pretty much wrapped up by the end. With a few exceptions you could watch any of the episodes in any order and it wouldn't make a difference to the overall story. The pilot, of course, is the main exception, but in the case of Kate's mother ALF has to meet her before anything else can happen with her so there is a chronology between 3 or 4 of those episodes. The last exception is the flashback episode. Obviously it has to flash back to things that have already happened. It seems early to have one since there's not a whole lot to flash back to, yet. Other than that episode 2 could be #8, 5 could be 10, and you'd never know the difference. The reason this may be important is because the episodes on the TVD may be different than the order you remember.
The comedy is full of wise-cracks, puns, and silliness. Much of it is kid-friendly, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it's not for adults. I would put it somewhere between Saturday morning cartoon humor and the less sexual moments of something like "Friends." I don't laugh out loud all the time, but there are plenty of smiles and chuckles. My young nieces can enjoy him while there's still enough to tickle my funny bone.
"ALF" is great enough to have made #8 on TV Guide's list of best sci-fi shows beating out another of my favorites "Stargate SG1" as well as "Babylon 5," "Quantum Leap," "Dark Angel," "The 6 Million Dollar Man," and others you'd recognize (incidentally it was beaten by such legendary greats as "X Files," "Star Trek," and "Twilight Zone").
Morality
Like I said, "ALF" is kid-friendly. You might get a "hell" from time to time (maybe 2 or 3 times in the whole season), but the vast majority of the episodes have no strong language at all.
What little sexual content there is stays mostly vague with no revealing attire other than a moment of Kate getting out of the shower to find ALF in the room.
There's not so much as a fistfight as far as violence. The worst thing you get is ALF drinking beer, (and that's only in one episode), or ALF spying on the Ochmoneks and telling them to knock off the sex.
The outtakes in the DVD extras are not as kid-friendly having some perverted jokes and strong language. It's perhaps closer to a light PG13 rating.
Spirituality
There is virtually nothing religious or spiritual in this season though we'll get a little bit of such things later on. The closest we get is a Christmas episode which mentions the four Gospels (ALF gets them mixed up with the concept of Santa and has to be corrected). Other than that we get some themes of forgiveness and togetherness that don't reach into the spiritual realm but also stay away from promoting commercialism.
There are a few sentimental moments and some positive messages of helping others even though this can be misguided (such as ALF wanting to help Lynn by using his resources to buy her a car but going overboard and getting a Ferrari). ALF gets involved with gambling, which for a while appears to be a positive thing for him, but that too eventually gets him into big trouble.
Final Thoughts
The show gets high marks; it's good, clean family fun. It's kid-friendly enough for the youngsters yet mature enough for many adults (at least those that can laugh at more than sex jokes and don't require R rated language). It's worth watching if you want some goofy 80's comedy even if, like me, most sit-coms hold no interest for you.
Buying Guide
"ALF" season 1 is an exercise in taking what the controlling company gives you or doing without. There isn't much decision-making when it comes to what to get, you just have to decide if it's worth purchasing instead of simply streaming.
You have a single TVD option. There isn't a series box set.
Final Recommendation:
This is not a great package, but neither is it completely lacking. What I don't understand is why they would go to all the trouble to write and record such good new material for the interface hosting and then do such a poor job with the rest of the release. Why not include some commentaries and such? Worst of all is the edited versions of the episodes. Someone should get their hands on the uncut episodes and re-release the whole series. On the upside, if you're a longtime fan like I am you will surely appreciate the unaired pilot, the outtakes, and the interface skits. Those somewhat offset the disappointments when deciding to buy or just stream the episodes by themselves.
Season 1 is a 4 DVD set.
Video
1.33:
This is the TV standard ratio. The video is a little cleaner than I expected - not as crisp as a more modern show might be, but better than I remember it looking on TV. Don't get it as an example of great video quality, but if you've only seen the broadcast quality you should be satisfied.
Audio
2.0 Dolby:
Again, nothing impressive by today's standards, but it's remastered and better than I remember from the broadcast. There are numerous things that I will complain about on this release, but audio/video quality is not among them.
Packaging
Maybe you'll luck out and get a redesigned case, but the one I got is horrible. The case opens like any normal snap case. Inside it the DVD's are stacked on top of one another: 2 on the left, 2 on the right. To get the bottom disc out you have to first remove the top disc. If you then close the case the bottom disc will fall off it's peg and just slide around. This is quite possibly the worst case design I've ever seen.
The insert is nearly as poor in design. What design? It's just a thin sheet of paper. If you don't lay it in the case just right you'll crumple it all up. It does have a list of what episodes are on what disc with the director and writer for each one. It could have had air dates, guest cast lists, and a chapters list.
The interface is simple as far as menu options go. The episode list has thumbnails with the episode titles and some fun elements that I'll talk about below.
Extras
-Interface hosting: Extras are slim, but you can count the menu introductions among them. You get a little exclusive ALF comedy as we see him negotiating the release of his DVD. After a few seconds you have the option of skipping it to get to the episode list, and you can return to it from the list if you want to see it again. ALF continues his monologue when the episode list comes up by explaining what the buttons on the menu do. The exclusive ALF interaction is one of the best things about this release. Each disc has a unique skit that picks up where the last one left off so you more or less get an original mini-episode.
-Summaries: I don't know if you would consider this truly an extra, but each episode has a short summary clip. If you click on the “?” by the episode video of ALF talking about it replaces the thumbnail. They are very short and not as humorous as the menu introductions.
-Original Unaired Pilot (23:51) One of the best extras is the inclusion of the unaired pilot. Why are there 2 versions of the pilot? Nothing here gives us any clue. They aren't all that different from each other, but at least as an extra feature this one episode isn't cut in any way. I actually think some of the jokes are better than the version that aired. The video quality lacks. It includes handy chapter stops.
-Cast Gag/Outtakes Reel (6:34) The outtakes and gag reel are great! I laughed so hard I hurt. It's not as kid-friendly as the show, though. There are a couple of perverted moments and a little strong language, but trust me, you've seen much worse on a tame "Friends" episode. Some of the shots cut off too quickly, but other than that no complaints.
-Trivia Facts: There's not a great deal to the ALF trivia. It includes bits of info about the beginnings of the show, the people behind it, ALF the character, and other aspects. It's presented as a manually controlled slideshow.
-Credits: A few pages of text.
Episodes
This set lists 25 episodes. In a sense, though, you get 27 because one of them is a 2-parter, and the unaired pilot is included as an extra feature. The order doesn't match with airdate lists I've seen so I have to assume they are going by production chronology. I've seen a few people express dislike about that, but since it doesn't cause inconsistencies in the story it doesn't bother me, with one exception: the flashback episode refers to events in an episode that comes after it. We're supposed to be seeing the past, not the future!
The runtimes vary a good bit with most right at 20 minutes long to about 21 and a half, although “Wild Thing” just barely breaks 18 minutes. By comparison, the unaired, and thus uncut, pilot is right at 24 minutes. The 2-parter is double-length.
And with that I should mention the absolute worst thing about this set, the one thing that may convince more people to avoid buying it than anything else I could say. These are the versions of the episodes cut for syndication meaning that there are at least a couple of minutes missing from each one – scenes you may remember seeing when they aired that are nowhere to be found on any official DVD release. Before I knew about this dirty little secret I could tell something was wrong with the episodes; a little research revealed why.
One thing the TVD designers did right is chapter placement. Chapter 1 stops at the end of the theme song. Since I usually watch at least 2 or 3 episodes at a time I like skipping the theme after hearing it once. Chapter stops make that effortless. There is another division usually in the middle (though sometimes closer to the end) and one for the closing credits (unnecessary if you ask me, but that's OK because they get the important ones right).