After Goldorak on Paramount+, another cult program, Alfis back on French screens. The TNT Gulli channel is rebroadcasting the adventures of the little furry alien from Monday to Friday at 8:20 p.m. In this touching comedy, the Tanners take in Alf while he repairs his ship. The weeks turn into months, then years, and the little Martian becomes a full-fledged member of the family. This new tenant that the Tanners try to hide from the rest of the world is really not discreet, gets into mischief and regularly tries to eat the house cat. Alf is not only a very funny sitcom, but also carries a beautiful message of tolerance, showing that, no matter where you come from, and no matter what you look like, you can find friends and a loving home. If the series was a worldwide success – in France, largely thanks to the voice of Roger Carel who dubbed the famous puppet -, the last episode made fans furious.
Alf :The series ended on a cliffhanger
Created by Paul Fusco, Alf The series consists of 102 episodes of 25 minutes each. The series aired overseas from September 22, 1986 to March 24, 1990. For four seasons, the Tanner family hides Alf in the garage, to prevent him from being captured by the army and becoming a laboratory subject. In the final episode, titled The curtain is down (Consider Me Gone), the furry, sarcastic and adorable little alien with an appetite for cats, is in danger. Alf decodes a message from his Melmac friends, Skip and Rhonda, who come to get him on Earth because they found another planet to settle down on. Alf and the Tanners are unaware that the government has bugged them. They say goodbye and then the Tanners drive Alf to the rendezvous point. But as the ship approaches, government agents burst in. Alf’s friends leave without him and the little alien is taken prisoner. End of the episode… And yes, the writers had not planned an ending because they did not know that the series was going to be canceled. A finale that had also provoked the (logical) anger of the fans
Alf : why was the series cancelled?
The creators and authors of Alf The show’s cast didn’t know that the sitcom wouldn’t be renewed, so they didn’t plan a proper epilogue. At the time, most of the show’s cast wanted the show to end, as they resented the puppet, Alf, being the real star of the show. Max Wright, who played patriarch William Tanner, felt overshadowed by Alf, who he felt had all the good lines. He was at odds with creator Paul Fusco. Anne Schedeen, who played his wife, Kate, said that there was a bad vibe on set and that the show was a nightmare to shoot. A 30-minute episode took about 20 hours to shoot, due to the many technical constraints of animating the puppet. This bad vibe and workload led to the surprise cancellation of the hit series.
Alf : A TV movie was shot to conclude the series.
In 1996, six years after the broadcast of the last episode, the TV movie Operation Alf is made to conclude the series, but the Tanner family does not appear in this finale. In this fiction, which can be found on YouTube, Alf has been taken prisoner by the government. Held captive on a military base, he is subjected to various tests by doctors and officers. Commander Melissa Hill (Jensen Daggett) and Captain Rick Mullican (William O’Leary) develop a plan to save his life while he must undergo medical examinations. On the run, Alf gives the two officers a hard time. They stop at Dexter’s, a scientist who is supposed to help them. But it turns out to be a trap. Melissa discovers that the latter wants to reveal Alf’s identity to the world and sell him to the highest bidder. Meanwhile, Rick has been found by Colonel Gilbert Milfoil (Martin Sheen) who orders him to reveal Alf’s whereabouts. The soldiers manage to find the alien before he appears on a television show. His identity can therefore remain a secret but Colonel Milfoil intends to get rid of him. Fortunately, an agent finds a compromising video and Milfoil is fired. A military committee is convened by the general who apologizes to Alf and guarantees his safety and comfort. Rick and Melissa are promoted and Alf is appointed ambassador to another galaxy.
