Does anyone know why Alf was only aired in the UK on terrestrial TV in early 1987 before moving to Sky One?
I have been watching the DVDs and it is a truly wonderful series with an interesting, if slightly sad, back story.
Apparently, they were all at each others' throats because of the sheer stress of acting with a puppet and animals.
But, anyhow, it doesn't show - lovely vibe from nicer times - and it is one of the best 10 US sitcoms of all time.
Welcome back Horse - I missed you. Everything OK? 
Quote: Hercules Grytpype Thynne @ 28th February 2019, 11:05 PMWelcome back Horse - I missed you. Everything OK?
Happy birthday Hercs and thank you for your nice greeting. Lot of medical stuff. Sadly, But I went travelling. Newcastle Utd. Ipswich Town. Exeter City. I got confused around Chinese people in York. I was questioned at length about fantasy football by the police when asleep on my own doorstep. Quite a few walks around graveyards in Brantham and East Bergholt but they proved disappointing. I went to my first opera and also met up with Judy Collins. And I visited the island where Cuthbert was a hermit. All the usual stuff. Check out Katy Hurt in one of my other posts. I have found that the videos don't need my usual trousers. Or my previous ones.
No one is alone. Not bad for 79!:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpG5FDAE7ow
(That's Judy rather than Katy)
Yes, Gordon has had his share of problems, which may be a pity for you as he might have been able to shed some light on your ALF query. Thankfully he seems to be OK at the moment - perhaps your post might encourage him back as he said in his PM he would be in due course.
Take care.
Quote: Hercules Grytpype Thynne @ 1st March 2019, 10:52 AMYes, Gordon has had his share of problems, which may be a pity for you as he might have been able to shed some light on your ALF query. Thankfully he seems to be OK at the moment - perhaps your post might encourage him back as he said in his PM he would be in due course.
Take care.
I am very sorry to hear about Gordon and hope very much that he returns soon.
Does anyone know the answer to my question?
The series was very popular in Germany, probably because they had it on proper TV every night (and viewers who thought they were tuning into Alf Garnett were pleasantly surprised).
Can't quote your post Rude Boy, so...........................
"Note re topicality: this thread is dedicated to "Alf" and more astute reader will immediately see that my last sentence (above) refers to that very character. I am therefore bang on topic!
I thank you."
You silly twisted boy. That boy Aaron has got a HUGE grey marker pen......................you just wait and see..............................in a minute..........it'll come..........be patient.................
Quote: A Horseradish @ 28th February 2019, 11:02 PMI have been watching the DVDs and it is a truly wonderful series with an interesting, if slightly sad, back story.
I simply know about Mike Reiss and Al Jean being at ALF before moving on to The Simpsons. You might enjoy Mike Reiss's recent memoir, as he mentions some ALF-related stuff. I was not impressed by ALF back when it first aired in Australia in the 1980s. Didn't like the look or the voice or the catchphrases of the puppet. Also disliked the style of delivery for the running gag of wanting to eat the cat. But I must have sat through a couple of episodes, which is more than can be said for similar era shows Charles in Charge or Full House. Which is a bit like saying it's better to eat a dog turd than to consume arsenic or methanol. The best thing about ALF were ALF ice creams. Very tasty. And then he appeared in a Simpsons episode in pog form. When I saw ALF DVDs for sale many years ago, I was wondering who the hell would buy them.
Quote: Hercules Grytpype Thynne @ 1st March 2019, 3:42 PM.................. That boy Aaron has got a HUGE grey marker pen......................you just wait and see..............................in a minute..........it'll come..........be patient.................
He's also perverse. 
Quote: Kenneth @ 2nd March 2019, 6:28 AMI simply know about Mike Reiss and Al Jean being at ALF before moving on to The Simpsons. You might enjoy Mike Reiss's recent memoir, as he mentions some ALF-related stuff. I was not impressed by ALF back when it first aired in Australia in the 1980s. Didn't like the look or the voice or the catchphrases of the puppet. Also disliked the style of delivery for the running gag of wanting to eat the cat. But I must have sat through a couple of episodes, which is more than can be said for similar era shows Charles in Charge or Full House. Which is a bit like saying it's better to eat a dog turd than to consume arsenic or methanol. The best thing about ALF were ALF ice creams. Very tasty. And then he appeared in a Simpsons episode in pog form. When I saw ALF DVDs for sale many years ago, I was wondering who the hell would buy them.
Thank God, Gordon is taking a break from this forum presently.
Quote: Kenneth @ 2nd March 2019, 6:28 AMI simply know about Mike Reiss and Al Jean being at ALF before moving on to The Simpsons. You might enjoy Mike Reiss's recent memoir, as he mentions some ALF-related stuff. I was not impressed by ALF back when it first aired in Australia in the 1980s. Didn't like the look or the voice or the catchphrases of the puppet. Also disliked the style of delivery for the running gag of wanting to eat the cat. But I must have sat through a couple of episodes, which is more than can be said for similar era shows Charles in Charge or Full House. Which is a bit like saying it's better to eat a dog turd than to consume arsenic or methanol. The best thing about ALF were ALF ice creams. Very tasty. And then he appeared in a Simpsons episode in pog form. When I saw ALF DVDs for sale many years ago, I was wondering who the hell would buy them.
Thank you for the book recommendation, Kenneth. I didn't know about the link between ALF and the Simpsons.
Herc - There is an overlap in my head between ALF and Gordon and I have to remind myself that probably only one of the two likes eating cats.
Quote: A Horseradish @ 4th March 2019, 11:31 AMHerc - There is an overlap in my head between ALF and Gordon and I have to remind myself that probably only one of the two likes eating cats.
That'll be the other one methinks as GB is very much into chocolate and cheese.............in one bun I believe.
Just in case you're missing him...............
Quote: A Horseradish @ 4th March 2019, 11:31 AMThank you for the book recommendation, Kenneth. I didn't know about the link between ALF and the Simpsons.
Have a few snippets:
We jumped from Sledge Hammer! to ALF, a show about an alien hiding out with a family in suburbia. ALF ("Alien Life Form") was in fact a puppet voiced and operated by show creator Paul Fusco, one of the most talented men I ever worked with.
More importantly, the show was something new in our careers: a hit!
One thing we would take from ALF to The Simpsons was its suffusion of pop culture references. In the pilot for ALF, there was a line that every critic at the time singled out. When the family in the show is fighting, the father cries out, "Have we learned nothing from The Cosby Show?"
ALF's pop culture obsession reached a peak in an episode where the alien dreams he's shipwrecked on Gilligan's Island, his favorite show. We assembled a majority of the cast as guest stars -- sing it with me: Gilligan, the Skipper too, the professor, and Mary Ann. For a child of the sixties this was a dream come true -- I got to write jokes for Gilligan. And hit on Mary Ann.
Because ALF was a show with a puppet, we knew kids would watch it, even if they didn't get the jokes. This freed us to write our scripts purely for an adult audience. One episode was an hour-long parody of The Tonight Show, which was on three hours past most kids' bedtimes. (I got to reuse some old Carnacs on that one!) This was a lesson we took to The Simpsons -- don't write the show for kids; write it for the parents who will be watching with their kids.
ALF didn't pioneer this, by the way. Mad magazine never worried about what its audience might understand: it once did a cover story on A Clockwork Orange, an X-rated film that its core readers were too young to see. Years later, The Simpsons would do a Halloween show that parodied both A Clockwork Orange and Eyes Wide Shut, the Stanley Kubrick X-rated double feature. If your kids have seen these movies, I'm calling Child Protective Services.
I can trace this refusal to write down to your audience to Rocky and Bullwinkle, a show everyone at The Simpsons grew up watching. Apparently, the writers of that show (including Jim Brooks's old writing partner, Allan Burns) felt that the show's animation was so bad, the only way to save it was in the writing. As such, Rocky and Bullwinkle was a mix of silly puns and sophisticated Cold War satire; villain Boris Badenov was a nod to Boris Godunov, the sixteenth-century czar regent of Russia. Get it, kids? Of course not.
After a year on ALF, Al and I went off to work on It's Garry Shandling's Show, a show about a guy who knew he was on a show. Even the theme song was self-referential: "This is the theme to Garry's show / The opening theme to Garry's show . . ." The set was an exact replica of Shandling's actual living room.
People don't realize how much of The Simpsons came from It's Garry Shandling's Show. More than half our original writing staff--Sam Simon, Jay Kogen, Wally Wolodarsky, Al, and I--had done time on the series. The show was as unpredictable and self-aware as The Simpsons would be. The Shandling show also pioneered the use of the random guest star; for example, Jeff Goldblum and Tom Petty had recurring roles, as themselves, playing Garry's wacky neighbors. The Simpsons would do this later, but Shandling did it first.
Alf was hilarious , the movie didn't do him or Melmac justice.
Quote: Hercules Grytpype Thynne @ 4th March 2019, 11:44 AMThat'll be the other one methinks as GB is very much into chocolate and cheese.............in one bun I believe.
Just in case you're missing him...............
I am missing GB, any idea where he be?
Quote: Will Cam @ 6th March 2019, 11:02 PMI am missing GB, any idea where he be?
I PM'd him a couple of weeks ago and he's OK. Has had some "issues" (I won't go into what) and hopes to be back soon.
