FUN HOUSE / FOX'S FUN HOUSE

 

FUN HOUSE / FOX’S FUN HOUSE
(Syndication, FOX, September 5, 1988-April 13, 1991)
 
Stone Television/Stone Stanley Productions, Lorimar-Telepictures (season 1), Lorimar Television (season 2-3)

 

MAIN CAST:

J.D. Roth – Host

Jacqueline Forrest – Jackie the Cheerleader

Samantha Forrest – Sammi the Cheerleader

John “Tiny” Hurley – Announcer (season 1-2)

Michael “Boogaloo Shrimp” Chambers – Announcer M.C. Mike (season 3)

Brian Cummings – Announcer (pilot)

 

 

Nickelodeon struck gold when it debuted its kid-centric game show Double Dare in 1986. Double Dare would pit two teams of two kids against each other by having them win money answering trivia questions. If they didn’t know an answer, or thought the other team didn’t, they could pass it over with a “dare” for double the money. But it could be “double dared” back for four times the money, in which case that dared team either had to answer or take a “physical challenge”. These physical challenges often featured deceptively simple and incredibly messy tasks; like building an ice cream sundae on their partner’s head, popping goop-filled balloons with a needle headpiece, plucking cherries out of gelatin with their mouths, etc. Success won them the money; failure gave it to the opposing team. The team with the most money then went on to an even messier obstacle course for a chance to win up to 8 prizes within a minute.

A contestant making soup on top of her partner's head on Double Dare.

In the world of entertainment, a success breeds imitators trying to duplicate that success. One such attempt came in the form of Fun House, created by veteran game show producer Bob Synes. Tasked by Lorimar-Telepictures with coming up with a kid’s show for syndication, Synes presented executive producer Scott Stone with a drawing of carnival midway games leading to a funhouse at the end. Stone scaled down Synes’ ambitions a bit and suggested focusing on just the funhouse aspect of it. Lorimar fronted the money to construct a massive set designed by Phyllis Hofberg, Rick Bluhm, Bill Harris and Anthony Sabatino (for which they won an Emmy), and produce a pilot to sell the series.

The teams and their respective cheerleaders taking their places at the podium.

Like Double Dare, it featured two teams of kids comprised of a boy and a girl either related or friends. These teams were distinguished by red and gold uniforms, rather than the wacky self-made names utilized on Double Dare. Occasionally, young celebrity guests would appear or fill the role of one of the teammates, including Danny Ponce (The Hogan Family); Staci Keanan (My Two Dads, Step by Step); Danny Pintauro (Who’s the Boss?); Soleil Moon Frye (Punky Brewster); Jeremy Miller and Leonardo DiCaprio (Growing Pains); Sara Gilbert and Michael Fishman (Roseanne); Tiffany Brisette (Small Wonder); Josh Saviano (The Wonder Years); Jenny Beck (Paradise); Brian Austin Green and Douglas Emerson (Beverly Hills, 90210); Candace Cameron and Jodie Sweetin (Full House); Alexander Polinsky (Charles in Charge); Jaleel White and Kellie Shanygne Williams (Family Matters); Benji Gregory and Josh Blake (ALF); and Tannis Valley (Head of the Class).

The teams sitting in the "Slop Machine", where they got showered in either slime or candy.

Unlike Double Dare, Fun House placed a greater focus on their “stunts”, which would then segue into a single related toss-up question asked at a colorful podium equipped with buzzers. Three timed stunts were played each episode; either with one player at a time (alternating for each solo challenge) or both teammates together. Stunts could involve using their faces to lift up a pie to find a “win” symbol on the bottom of the tin; bobbing for bagels in chocolate milk; assembling a mixed-up image on giant blocks; batting slimy softballs into the audience; pulling “hair extensions” off a giant model’s head to place on their own while being covered in goop; using their teeth to remove gum from under rows of seats; turning their partner into the world’s largest sandwich; using a giant slingshot to fire water balloons at pictures of the announcer; and more. Synes would come up with a title for the stunt first, and then the crew, overseen by producer Stephen Brown, had to create a stunt to go along with that name. The type of stunts featured were usually related to the overall theme of that week’s batch of episodes in keeping with Stone’s philosophy of everything telling a story. The winning team—or both, in the case of a tie—won 25 points. Answering the question correctly earned them an additional 25 points.

Piloting submarines in the Grand Prix Race.

The fourth and final round was The Grand Prix Race. The teams had to race two laps on a track that circled the studio; switching lanes on the second lap. There were two types of races: one utilizing a vehicle of some kind that was ridden by one teammate and moved by the other, switching between laps, and the other was a footrace with each teammate running a lap. The races all featured a different theme with associated challenges that had to be accomplished. For instance, a toy-themed race saw the contestants riding/pulling little red wagons while picking up various toys placed on the track. Additionally, the teams could snag white and blue tokens from stations around the track for 10 and 25 extra points, respectively. During the second season, a Token Bank was added on the second lap that contained a pre-packaged bundle of tokens worth up to 200 points. The winning team earned 25 points, but the ultimate winner was determined after the acquired tokens were tallied by being dropped into slots at the podium. The team with the most points went on to The Fun House obstacle course, while the losing team left with consolation prizes. Ties were broken with a toss-up question.

One of the many configurations of the Fun House obstacle course.

The titular Fun House stood roughly 3-stories tall and featured several interchangeable “rooms” of varying themes and obstacles. They could include toppling Styrofoam skyscrapers; punching out thinly covered holes in a board; an “ice mountain” climb; crawling through a tunnel full of balloons or one that’s spinning; digging through school lockers; traversing a ball pit; etc. Each room contained 16 oversized price tags either plainly visible or hidden somewhere: 6 red representing different prizes revealed before the course was run, and 10 green ones representing cash amounts ranging from $50 to $300. The contestants had 2 minutes to collect as many tags as possible; grabbing three at a time before switching with their partner. This continued until all tags were collected or time ran out. Additionally, one tag was designated as the “Power Prize” that if collected won them a bonus vacation along with everything else they picked up. For the second season, the Fun House became larger and featured more intricate elements like a swimming pool and shooting water.

Host J.D. Roth kicking off the show while John "Tiny" Hurley covers himself in mud.

Fun House debuted in syndication on September 5, 1988. J.D. Roth served as host for the entire run; becoming the youngest game show host in history at just 19. Aiding Roth on the playfield were identical twin cheerleaders. They escorted the teams to the podium, introduced them, and provided support to them based on what color uniform the teams were assigned: Jackie (Jacqueline Forrest) for the gold team and Sammi (Samantha Forrest) for the red. For the pilot, veteran announcer Brain Cummings was utilized. Cummings had previously announced the first season of the 1984-86 syndicated version of Let’s Make a Deal, which Synes produced. John “Tiny” Hurley took over those duties once the series went into production. Along with announcing, Hurley would appear on camera in wacky costumes, participate in skits, or sometimes in various stunts. Other differences in the pilot included playing for cash instead of points; four stunts played instead of three; The Grand Prix awarding $50 for winning and featuring a third red token worth $10 while blue was worth $50; contestants only being allowed two prize tags at a time in the Fun House, with as many cash tags as they wanted; a “Button Banger” in the Fun House awarding a random cash bonus up to $2000 when hit; and the prize tags being scanned at the podium to reveal the Power Prize, which awarded the contestants every prize in the Fun House. Unlike the $2,000-$3,000 Double Dare or fellow Nickelodeon game show Finders Keepers—which filmed in the same complex as Fun House—paid out in cash in prizes, Fun House offered contestants a potential prize payout in excess of $10,000. Score Productions composed the series’ music along with Matt Ender and Jonathan Firstenberg. Props from the show were used in another Lorimar-Telepictures production, Perfect Strangers, for the episode “Games People Play”. Series stars Mark Linn-Baker and Bronson Pinchot also filmed a promo for Fun House as their characters Larry Appleton and Balki Bartokomous.

The show proved a success, becoming the highest rated syndicated new show upon its debut and surpassing even Double Dare (in response, Double Dare added theme weeks and upped the ante in physical challenges by reinstating a previous limited time rebranding as Super Sloppy Double Dare). In 1989, Fun House gained two spin-offs. In the United States, there was College Mad House. Hosted by Greg Kinnear, it featured two teams of four college students (two men, two women) from rival universities playing it out. Rather than cheerleaders, Kinnear was assisted by referees Donna Wilson and Richard MacGregor, with Beau Weaver announcing. Stunts involved the men or women going against each other, and then all four together. The content of this show skewed a bit more risqué than the original; involving more gross-out humor and lewd body movements. Rather than the Grand Prix, the fourth round was the Finals Round. Each member of the team took turns answering as many toss-up questions as possible within a minute and a half; with the winner hitting their opponent in the face with a pie or whipped cream each time. The Mad House, which featured college-themed rooms, had each teammate getting 30 seconds to grab as many tags as they could in order to “clean house” by getting them all. Getting all the tags awarded them a trip; otherwise, they kept whatever prizes they collected for themselves with any cash (up to $1000) going to their school. College Mad House only lasted a single year, ending in September of 1990.

Over in the United Kingdom, ITV debuted their own version of Fun House produced by Scottish Television. It featured host Pat Sharp, twin cheerleaders Melanie and Martina Grant, and announcer Gary King. Played in much the same way as the original with minor gameplay and naming differences, it actually outlasted its parent program to run a full 11 seasons, ending in 1999. Their own adult-themed spin-off was planned and a pilot produced, but it never went to series.

Playing hockey with pies.

Unfortunately, Fun House was beginning to lose steam as sloppy game shows were wearing out their welcome. They were finding difficulty remaining in syndication, despite their best efforts. Enter: FOX. FOX was about to launch its new kid-focused effort, Fox Kids Network, and the show they wanted to acquire for it was…Double Dare. Previously, FOX was pivotal in the success of Double Dare; having distributed it and aired it regularly on affiliated stations, and even airing a version of the show, Family Double Dare, on their own network on Saturday nights. After attempting to bring the show over to their new line up, FOX ended its direct affiliation with the series over “creative differences” and abruptly cancelled Family shortly before they were set to begin filming a new season. Regular Double Dare continued on, however, and was still shown on FOX affiliates, and Family was eventually revived by Nickelodeon two years later. Looking for a replacement that could be just as popular, FOX turned to Double Dare’s closest competitor: Fun House.

M.C. Mike rapping his intro.

Renamed FOX’s Fun House for its third season, it joined the inaugural Fox Kids Saturday morning line-up on September 8, 1990. It also became the first weekday Fox Kids show, filling in for the delayed Peter Pan and the Pirates by airing a special week’s worth of programs featuring some of the earlier-mentioned celebrity guests. While essentially the same show, several changes were made. Hurley was replaced by Michael Chambers, a.k.a M.C. Mike, best known as “Boogaloo Shrimp” from the Breakin’ films. He opened each episode by showing off his rapping skills before the title sequence. While Jackie and Sammi still escorted players to the podium, introductions were now handled by Mike. Carrying over from College Mad House, the player that answered a question correctly got to slap a pie into the face of their opponent. The entire set also shed its carnival-like aesthetic in favor of more urban flair; with distorted cartoon skyscrapers and riveted pipe theming.

The all-new Fun House.

The Fun House itself was also redesigned to emulate a slice of a city block. Starting at the top rather than the bottom, Roth began the run by turning a large valve to activate the “Whitewater Slide” that let one of the players splash down into a waiting pool and officially start the clock counting down. From there, they could go into the “Hardhat Hallway”, which looked like a scrapyard or garbage-filled empty lot; the “Zippity Zoo Dah”, a zoo full of various stuffed animals, a performer in a creature suit, and bendable cage bars; the “Funky Slop Sewer”, resembling a slimy sewer pipe with fake rats and steamy sewage comprised of green balls in water; the “Recycling Zone”, where pulling a lever dumped trash on the player as well as a prize tag; “Bob’s Mad Mall”, which featured dummies holding shopping bags on rotating doors, one of which held the prize tag; the “Kockeyed Kitchen”, an upside-down kitchen whose cabinets held the tag (and was typically filmed upside-down to make it seem like the player was walking on the ceiling); “Flushing Meadows”, a bathroom-like area with three giant colored toilets that sprayed water up when opened; “Fast Food Fight”, a diner area where the opposing team got to impede the winning team by pelting them with food items; and returning from the original Fun House was the rotating “Tubular Tunnel”. Although cash tags were still in plain sight, the prize tags were now hidden within each area. A large slimy alarm clock called the Crazy Glop Clock was added that gave the team an additional 15 seconds in the Fun House when found.

Celebrity guest Kellie S. Williams receiving a pie to the face for a wrong answer.

Behind the scenes, Lorimar-Telepictures was acquired by Warner Bros. Lorimar-Telepictures served as the distributor during the first season as well as the co-producer, but was replaced by Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution for the remainder. This, along with Tiny Toon Adventures, would begin Warner Bros.’ association with Fox Kids that would prove mutually beneficial for both the studio’s burgeoning animation efforts and the block’s legitimacy as a major player in broadcasting. British Knights was replaced as the primary sponsor by LA Gear, and everyone on stage wore the sponsoring company’s shoes. Synes, sadly, died in 1990. Stone replaced him with David G. Stanley and renamed his production company, Stone Productions, as Stone Stanley Productions (now Stone & Company Entertainment). Each episode of the third season was dedicated to Synes.

A trade ad celebrating Fun House's Emmy win.

FOX’s Fun House only lasted a short time on the network, airing 22 episodes before it was replaced on the schedule by the short-lived Swamp Thing animated series in 1991. Despite being nominated for four additional Emmys, winning one other, and winning a Young Artist Award, the show disappeared from the airwaves….in the United States. The British version has aired reruns and even got a special one-time revival in 2015 as a promotional gimmick by Fayre & Square pubs and associated Wacky Warehouse play areas. The American version only eventually resurfaced in videos of various quality on YouTube, including the pilot as a feature entry of legendary game show host Wink Martindale’s Wink’s Vault series. Roth would go on to acting and hosting a few more game shows before moving into producing them—including Moolah Beach, which would air during the final year of Fox Kids (meaning Roth both opened and closed the block). Stone Stanly Productions continued producing game shows, including Fun House spiritual successors Legends of the Hidden Temple, geared towards kids, and Shop ‘til you Drop, geared towards adults. Both featured stunt-heavy gameplay in an elaborate setting: a Mayan temple for Legends, and a 2-story mall for Shop. The latter also reused some of Fun House’s music. In 2022, YouTube channel Hosts at Home hosted a Fun House reunion with Roth, Sharp, Stone, and Brown to discuss and reminisce about the show.

The Fun House NES game box.

In 1988, Pressman Toy Corp. published a board game version of Fun House. A travel game was made by Tiger Electronics the following year as part of their Klix Pocket Travel Games series, as well as their customary LCD handheld game. Hi-Tech Expressions produced a video game in 1989 for the Commodore 64 and MS-Dos, and in 1990 for the NES. No version fully captured the show, but the computer versions were closer than the NES’ as they featured some semblance of the stunts while the NES involved just throwing balls at targets and avoiding obstacles in a top-down view. The board game, and eventually the video games, were given out as consolation prizes on the show.

Exercising on the Fun House set.

The oddest tie-in merchandise had to have been the workout videos. Stone had been on a flight with Julie LaFond, who ran the Jane Fonda exercise empire. A conversation about fitness in kids led to a collaboration between Fonda and the show. Fonda came to the set to introduce Roth, who then led the exercise routines. Two videos ended up being made for the Fun House Fitness series: The Swamp Stomp for kids 3-7, and The Fun House Funk for kids 7+. They were re-released together onto DVD in 2005 as part of the Jane Fonda Collection compilation series.

ALF TALES

 

ALF TALES
(NBC, September 10, 1988-December 9, 1989)
 
DiC Entertainment, Alien Productions, Lorimar-Telepictures, Saban Entertainment

 

MAIN CAST:
Paul Fusco – Gordon Shumway/ALF, Rick Fusterman
Thick Wilson – Bob Shumway, Larson Petty
Peggy Mahon – Flo Shumway
Tabitha St. Germain (as Paulina Gillis) – Augie Shumway, Rhonda
Noam Zylberman (season 1) & Michael Fantini (season 2) – Curtis Shumway
Len Carlson – Cantfayl, Sargent Staff
Rob Cowan – Skip, Roger Cowan
Dan Hennessey – Sloop/Eggbert Petty
Ellen-Ray Hennessey – Stella

 

Created by Paul Fusco and Tom Patchett, ALF Tales was a spin-off of ALF: The Animated Series, which in turn was a spin-off of the live-action/puppet sitcom ALF. ALF had become a major success for NBC, and it was only natural for the network to want to try and expand upon that success; particularly with their ever-increasing younger audience. And if one ALF animated show was good, two would have to be even better.

Promotional poster for the series depicting some of the tales.

            As with its predecessor, the series was set on Melmac and followed ALF, aka Gordon Shumway (Fusco) as he and his friends put on productions of fairy tales and other public domain stories. For whom and why beyond entertaining the real-life audience at home was never revealed. Gordon and his girlfriend, Rhonda (Tabitha St. Germain), were typically the stars of the productions. Other roles would be filled out by Gordon’s family, father Bob (Thick Wilson), mother Flo (Peggy Mahon), sister Augie (Germain), and brother Curtis (Noam Zylberman & Michael Fantini); his friends, Rick Fusterman (Fusco), Skip (Rob Cowan); Melmacian citizens like fortune-smeller Madame Pokipsi (Deborah Theaker) and waitress Stella (Ellen-Ray Hennessy); and even his enemies, Larson Petty (Wilson) and Sloop (Dan Hennessey). Cowan would also play a new character modeled after himself named Roger Cowan, a TV executive who tried to impart notes on the productions. The entire cast was carried over from The Animated Series with the exception of Fantini, who was briefly replaced by Zylberman for the first season.

ALF, Skip and Rick as the Three Little Pigs.

            As stated, those productions were parodies of various fairy tales and legends. They were often set in different eras and locations, featured various Melmacian elements native to the franchise, served as spoofs of various genres, films and television shows and featured numerous pop culture references. The episode “Cinderella”, for example, not only did their rendition of Cinderella, but was also presented like an Elvis Presley film as the prince was replaced by a rock star looking for love. “Rumpelstiltskin” played out like a detective noir as private eye Sam Shovel (ALF), a play on Sam Spade, needed to uncover Rumpelstiltskin’s (Sloop) name to get a miller’s daughter (Rhonda) out of a bad deal. “The Three Little Pigs” was bookended by scenes reminiscent of Rod Serling’s intros and outros for The Twilight Zone. The crocodile in the “Peter Pan” episode was portrayed as a caricature of the titular character from “Crocodile” Dundee. “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” was presented as an episode of Unsolved Mysteries with ALF playing a parody of Robert Stack.

Putting the "rap" in Rapunzel.

        ALF Tales debuted on NBC on September 10, 1988; paired with the second season of The Animated Series to form The ALF/ALF Tales Hour. It was produced by DiC Entertainment, Alien Productions, Lorimar-Telepictures and Saban Entertainment. Only Alicia Marie Schudt, Bradley Kesden, and Skip Shepard were carried over from The Animated Series’ writing staff; although Richard Raynis still served as a producer as he did on the other series. Joining them were David Steven Cohen, Roger S.H. Schulman, Eddie Gorodetsky, Michael Rowe, Ellis Weiner, Mitchell Kriegman, Steve Roberts, Richard J. Schellbach, Phil Harnage and Judy Rothman, with Cohen, Schulman and Rothman serving as story editors and Harnage as assistant story editor. Fil Barlow was the character design supervisor over Paul Wee, Marcelo Vignali, Ed Lee, Michael Goguen, Charles Crawford, Adriana M. Galvez, Dean Gordon, Brian Hogan, David S. Karoll, Joey Banaszkiewicz, David Feiss, Mike Kim and Lou Police. Haim Saban and Shuki Levy provided the music, and animation duties were handled by KK C&D Asia and Mook DLE. In the rare event an episode’s story ran short, a brief live-action ALF segment was tacked onto the end where he’d read and answer fictional fan mail.

Rock star ALF searching for the owner of a glass slipper.

            The Animated Series was cancelled after its second season and its reruns were split from Tales to allow its brief second season to air independently. Tales’ intro showcased Gordon directing an off-camera symphony as his outfit and background changed to the various settings featured in the respective tales, while the Hour intro just used The Animated Series’ with the new title. Unfortunately, it was also cancelled after two seasons as new leadership was moving into NBC with no investment in the ALF franchise. All versions of ALF left the network by the fall of 1990. The animated ALF made one additional appearance in the drug-prevention special Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue, which was broadcast across all the major networks on April 21, 1990 and starred a collection of Saturday morning characters.

The DVD.

            A VHS was released in 1989 in the United Kingdom by The Video Collection, featuring the episodes “Robin Hood” and “Sleeping Beauty”. In 2006, Lionsgate Home Entertainment released the first seven episodes of the series to DVD in ALF Tales: ALF and the Beanstalk and Other Classic Fairy Tales. In 2023, Shout! Factory released Alf: The Complete Series Deluxe Edition, which contained the complete original series, spin-off film Project: ALF, and both animated series. The following year, both animated series became part of the debut line-up of retro animation network MeTV Toons. The series is also available to stream on Prime Video, Fubo, Peacock, The Roku Channel, Tubi and Crackle and the official ALF YouTube Channel.

 

EPISODE GUIDE:
Season 1:
“Robin Hood” (9/10/88) – Robin Hood and his jazz band must rescue Maid Marian from Nottingham castle while opposing the Sheriff’s unjust taxes.
 
“Sleeping Beauty” (9/17/88) – Prince Gordon gets a cursed papercut that causes him to fall asleep, and it’s up to princess Rhonda to defeat the witch that cast it with three wizards.
 
“Cinderella” (9/24/88) – Cinderella’s fairy godmother helps her attend a rock star’s concert where he plans to find his bride and wows him with a spectacular duet.
 
“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” (10/1/88) - While investigating the Headless Horseman for a story, reporter Ichabod Crane discovers that there are in fact several Horsemen.
 
“Jack and the Beanstalk” (10/8/88) – Jack Bates trades the family cow for magic beans to save their struggling motel and the resulting beanstalk leads to a giant with a hen that lays golden eggs.
 
“The Aladdin Brothers and Their Lamp” (10/15/88) – Ziggy and Roy Aladdin end up in trouble when their genie sends them to Sheboygan and they encounter the princess.
 
“Rapunzel” (10/29/88) – The Wicked Witch controls all media in the country and ends up imprisoning Rapunzel and her family when they lose her rigged quiz show.
 
“Rumpelstiltskin” (11/12/88) – A miller’s daughter comes to P.I. Sam Shovel to find out the name of a dwarf and get her out of a bad deal made with him.
 
“The Princess and the Pea” (11/19/88) – Aspiring stand-up comic Prince Gordy wants to marry a waitress that’s really a princess, but the Queen says she must pace the mattress test first.
 
“John Henry” (12/3/88) – Master chef John Henry fights automation when he competes against a mechanical food processor to see who can make the best meals.
 
“The Three Little Pigs” (12/10/88) – B.B. Wolf is tasked with getting the Three Little Pigs’ land for the oil deposits beneath it.
 
“Alice in Wonderland” (12/17/88) – When a humanoid rabbit steals his birthday present for Rhonda, Gordon follows her down an elevator shaft into Wonderland.
 
“Peter Pan” (1/7/89) – Peter Pan brings Wendy and her brothers to Never-Never Land where stand-up pirate Captain Hook views him as a rival and plots against him.
 
Season 2:
“Hansel & Gretel” (9/16/89) – Hansel and Gretel end up at Camp Eat-a-Kid where Hansel is fattened up by a wicked witch and Gretel is imprisoned with two Chimpunky prisoners.
 
“The Wizard of Oz” (9/23/89) – A tornado brings 1930s Gordon to the 1960s where landing on a witch gets him stuck with magical ruby high-top sneakers that only the Wizard of Oz can remove.
 
“The Elves and the Shoemaker” (9/30/89) – Elves are tasked with helping failed shoemaker Donald Tramp, but the success and riches turns him into a miserly dictator of a CEO.
 
“The Emperor’s New Clothes” (10/14/89) – The finicky Emperor is presented with the most unique of fashion: invisible Schmatex.
 
“Goldilocks & the Three Bears” (10/28/89) – When Rhonda gets a better house-sitting offer, she tasks Gordon with watching Mayor Bear’s place and he turns it into an amusement park.
 
“Little Red Riding Hood” (11/11/89) – Red has a package for scientist Granny, but little does he know that the Wolf had gotten there first and used her own shrinking device to shrink and eat her.
 
“Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” (12/2/89) – Robert Stuck is on the case of missing champion skier Snow White after she was last seen in the company of a thug for hire.
 
“King Midas” (12/9/89) – Oklahoma Jones is in search of King Midas, but the evil Professor Bouquet steals his map with the intent of finding the king first.

ALF: THE ANIMATED SERIES

ALF: THE ANIMATED SERIES

(NBC, September 26, 1987-January 7, 1989)

DiC Entertainment, Alien Productions, Lorimar-Telepictures, Saban Entertainment

MAIN CAST:

Paul Fusco – Gordon Shumway/ALF, Rick Fusterman

Thick Wilson – Bob Shumway, Larson Petty

Peggy Mahon – Flo Shumway

Tabitha St. Germain (as Paulina Gillis) – Augie Shumway, Rhonda

Michael Fantini – Curtis Shumway

Len Carlson – Cantfayl, Sargent Staff

Rob Cowan – Skip

Dan Hennessey – Sloop, Eggbert Petty

            Move over, Muppets—the 80s belonged to a new puppet.

             Airing on NBC, ALF was a sitcom following the adventures of Gordon Shumway (Paul Fusco) from the planet Melmac after he crash-landed on Earth following a nuclear explosion on his planet. He was taken in by the Tanner family (not the ones from San Francisco), who protected him from the Alien Task Force while he repaired his ship. Nicknamed Alien Life Form by the family patriarch, Willie (Max Wright), ALF would spend the next four seasons enthralling America and becoming a media darling.

Paul Fusco with ALF.

            A communications major, Fusco worked his way through college by doing magic, puppetry and ventriloquism. He managed to strike a deal with cable network Showtime for a series of specials out of which the ALF character was born. Fusco would use him at parties to entertain family and friends, and even tried him out at a comedy club in New Haven, Connecticut. He formed Alien Productions with Tom Patchett and they secured representation with Jim Henson’s manager, Bernie Brillstein. Brillstein was hesitant to take Fusco on, considering Henson to be the best puppeteer in the business, but was won over by ALF and his merchandising possibilities. Similarly, ALF won over the NBC executives when they pitched the series; with Fusco pulling him out during their meeting when they started to lose interest. The series would make its debut on September 22, 1986, filmed on a stage with trap doors and trenches to allow the puppeteers to operate ALF in each scene (which his live-action co-stars hated with a passion as there was always a danger of falling into one).

Promotional ad for NBC's Saturday line-up.

         ALF was popular with children—it was then-NBC President Brandon Tartikoff’s young daughter who convinced him to keep ALF going beyond the pilot—and they started to become a big portion of the show’s audience. As a result, the content of the show was gradually altered to reflect their new viewers. For instance, ALF was only seen drinking alcohol during the first season, and certain imitable antics—like using electric appliances in the bathtub—were either altered for future broadcasts or toned down in future episodes. Recognizing an opportunity, NBC ordered an animated spin-off of the show for inclusion in their Saturday morning line-up.

The planet Melmac.

             Developed by Fusco and Patchett, ALF: The Animated Series served as a prequel to the regular ALF series. The show followed the adventures of Gordon (“ALF” was never used in the show beyond the title) on the planet Melmac, having freshly graduated high school at the ripe young age of 193. The animated series helped Fusco with his desire to perpetuate the illusion that ALF was an actual being rather than a puppet as the cartoon’s full body could be seen on screen all the time. However, unlike the sitcom, ALF was always adorned in a Hawaiian shirt. The series made full use of its alien setting to generate humor from surrealistic activities being treated as ordinary, such as getting mayonnaise from mines; the names of locations, such as Gordon’s hometown being East Velcro; or from pop culture satire, like an entire episode dedicated to parodying the James Bond franchise. Even the episode names themselves were parodies of movie and song titles, as well as popular sayings. The cartoon also poked fun at itself by featuring a show within a show where an Earthling crashes on planet Melmac and stays with a family of Melmacians.

The Shumways: Bob, Gordon, Flo, Neep, Augie, Curtis and Harry.

Among Melmac’s other residents were Gordon’s family: father Bob (Thick Wilson), mother Flo (Peggy Mahon), sister Augie (Tabitha St. Germain), and brother Curtis (Michael Fantini). The Shumways also had two pets: a bird-like alien (called a “Westfellman Smulk”) named Harry and a dog-like alen (called a “vespa”) named Neep. Gordon’s closest friends included neighbor Rick Fusterman (Fusco) and Skip (Rob Cowan). Gordon also had a girlfriend, Rhonda (Germain). Rhonda, Rick and Skip all made appearances on the live show, establishing that ALF wasn’t the last of his kind. Gordon, Skip and Rick were members of the Melmacian Orbit Guard under the command of Sargent Staff and Colonel Cantfayl (both Len Carlson). The series’ primary villain was Larson Petty (a play on “petty larceny”, voiced by Wilson), who constantly sought to conquer the planet Melmac with his minion Sloop (secretly his long-lost son Eggbert, voiced by Dan Hennessey), but was thwarted by Gordon and his allies. Recurring Melmacians included Madame Pokipsi (a play on the New York city of Poughkeepsie, voiced by Deborah Theaker), a fortune smeller (not a typo), and Stella (Ellen-Ray Hennessy), a waitress at their favorite hangout, Eddie’s Cats-Up Diner (later the Galaxy Café, but still owned by the titular Eddie). The characters were designed by Fil Barlow, Lou Police, Dave Smith, Charles Crawford, Michael Goguen, Brian Hogan, Ed Lee and Kenny Thompkins.

Rhonda and a dinosaur bone.

ALF: The Animated Series debuted on NBC on September 26, 1987 and ran for a total of two seasons. The series was written by Duane Capizzi, Martin Donoff, Richard Raynis (who also produced and directed the series), Alicia Marie Schudt, Dan DiStefano, Steve Roberts, Howard Bendetson (who also wrote for the sitcom), Terrie Collins, Steve Hayes, Mark Jones, Michael Maurer, Bradley Kesden, Mark C. Miller and Skip Shepard, with DiStefano and Schudt serving as story editors, and Capizzi as associate story editor. It was produced by DiC Entertainment, Alien Productions, Lorimar-Telepictures and Saban Entertainment. Haim Saban and Shuki Levy provided the music. Animation duties were handled by KK C&D Asia, Mook DLE and SHAFT. The live ALF made appearances at the beginning and end of the episodes to introduce the story, read fan mail, or provide commentary.  For the second season, ALF was paired with an additional animated series called ALF Tales to form The ALF/ALF Tales Hour. The Hour used the same intro as ALF but featured the new title at the end. When ALF ended its Saturday run, the two shows were split to allow ALF Tales to run its brief second season unaccompanied. With new leadership at the network holding no investment in the franchise, all versions of ALF left the NBC schedule by the fall of 1990. The animated ALF made one additional appearance in the drug-prevention special Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue, which was broadcast across all the major networks on April 21, 1990 and starred a collection of Saturday morning characters.

ALF on DVD.

CColeco, who made merchandise for the sitcom, produced a set of six figures based on the show; Diamond published a sticker album in 1987; and Checkerboard Press made a series of coloring books between 1987-88. In 1988, three VHS tapes were released in Australia by Roadshow-Lorimar Home Video and in the United Kingdom by The Video Collection featuring two episodes each. In 2006, Lionsgate Home Entertainment released the first nine episodes of the series to DVD in ALF Animated Adventures: 20,000 Years in Driving School and Other Stories. In 2023, Shout! Factory released Alf: The Complete Series Deluxe Edition, which contained the complete original series, spin-off film Project: ALF, and both animated series. The following year, both animated series became part of the debut line-up of retro animation network MeTV Toons. It was also made available to stream on Prime Video, Fubo, Peacock, The Roku Channel, Tubi, and Crackle, and the official ALF YouTube Channel.

EPISODE GUIDE:

Season 1:

“Phantom Pilot” (9/26/87) – Gordon gets some unlikely help in defending Melmac from Larson Petty

 

“Hair Today, Bald Tomorrow” (10/3/87) – After Harry uses Gordon’s hair for his nest, Gordon goes for a baldness cure only to accidentally insult Madame Pokipsi and receive a baldness curse.

 

“Two for the Brig” (10/10/87) – Gordon and Sargent Staff accidentally mistake their ship for a cruise liner and end up in jail.

 

“Gordon Ships Out” (10/24/87) – Gordon, Rick and Skip chip in for a sailing yacht and end up stranded on an island thanks to a termite.

 

“Birdman of Melmac” (10/31/87) – When Harry is declared an extinct species, it becomes a royal pain for the Shumway family.

 

“Pismo and the Orbit Gyro” (11/7/87) – The Orbit Gyro’s regular maintenance leads the robot in charge of it to having a few screws loose.

 

“20,000 Years in Driving School” (11/14/87) – Gordon must re-attend driving school in order to get his license back after losing it in an accident.

 

“Pride of the Shumways” (11/21/87) – Gordon is offered a chance for the major leagues in Bouilliabaseball, but Curtis suspects something is amiss.

 

“Captain Bobaroo” (12/5/87) – When Bob gets hit on the head, he believes he’s a children’s TV show host.

 

“Neep at the Races” (12/12/87) – Gordon enters Neep in a race, but bikers want a cut of his winnings.

 

“Salad Wars” (12/19/87) – Gordon’s family vacation is interrupted by someone’s desire to have a salad seed monopoly.

 

“Tough Shrimp Don’t Dance” (1/2/88) – Gordon helps rescue an alien race of shrimp from Larson Petty.

 

“Home Away from Home” (1/16/88) – When his parents are away, Gordon loses their house to a sleazy real estate agent.

 

Season 2:

“Flodust Memories” (9/10/88) – Flo is entered into and wins a Mom of the Millennium contest, but her celebrity status goes to her head.

 

“Family Feud” (9/17/88) – The Fustermans declare war on the Shumways after losing to them on a game show.

 

“Clams Never Sang for my Father” (9/24/88) – Bob and Frank Fusterman face each other in the traditional Mayonnaise Lodge rite of passage clam-wrestling contest.

 

“A Mid-Goomer Night’s Dream” (10/1/88) – Larson Petty accidentally abducts Bob wearing a Goomer suit, leaving Gordon and Augie to find the real one and save their dad.

 

“The Bone Losers” (10/8/88) – Gordon finds dinosaur bones in his yard which makes a celebrity paleontologist jealous enough to want to steal them away.

 

“Thank Gordon for Little Girls” (10/15/88) – Gordon invents a new device that Augie and her scout troop end up taking credit for.

 

“Hooray for Mellywood” (10/29/88) – Gordon’s life is about to be turned into a movie--maybe.

 

“The Spy from East Velcro” (11/12/88) – When an evil spy mistakes Gordon for agent James Bonzo, Gordon ends up captured by the villain.

 

“He Ain’t Seafood, He’s My Brother” (11/19/88) – Renegade Muklukians kidnap Cutis in a plot to claim their planet’s throne, and Fescue comes to Gordon for help in stopping them.

 

“Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places” (12/3/88) – Gordon tries to help a friend get a girl, but she ends up falling for him instead.

 

“The Slugs of Wrath” (12/10/88) – During a mayonnaise shortage, the Shumways move to a farm to try their hands at raising slugs.

 

“Housesitting for Pokipsi” (12/17/88) – Gordon and his friends housesit for Madame Pokipsi and Gordon gets into trouble using her crystal ball.

 

“Skipper’s Got a Brand New Dad” (1/7/89) – Larson Petty needs to find a son in order to claim an inheritance while Gordon and Rick try to find Skip’s birth parents.

Originally posted in 2016. Updated in 2025.