One of the more… unusual sitcoms to come out of the 1980’s involved an alien’s crash landing on Earth and living with a human family. Can you name it? Come, you know you know it. Heck, if you read the title to the review… I’m sure you have a clue… Alright, fine, I’ll tell you. The series, “Alf”, starred a certain furry Melmacian (pronounced Mel-mak-e-an) by the name of… well… Alf. To say that he had a few eccentricities is a bit of an understatement, after all what would you call having an irrational fear of Rhode Island? It was almost a surprise that “Alf” became the success that it did, considering its main star was actually a puppet. There are just so few shows that make it with puppet stars (with the exception of “The Muppet Show”). Part of its success was no more than the fact that its scripts were surprisingly clever, in spite of their seemingly dumb premises. Alf’s comments and interaction with his human counterparts were often a lot funnier than most people give it credit for.

We’re not talking Pulitzer Prize winning stuff here, but good enough to be enjoyed by the whole family.

The character of Alf became a huge icon, adorning shirts, hats, notebooks and posters, his popularity lasting well into the mid 90’s. Then, he kind if just faded away, becoming another footnote in the pantheon (I just love big words) of Television characters. A few years ago, he popped back into the public’s eye with a series of commercials promoting the long distance phone company 10-10-220. These commercials were a big hit, and cast him opposite some of the greatest non-actors in Hollywood History. Most notably, he starred in some of them with Ex-Dallas Cowboy Emmitt Smith (who inexplicably kept referring to him as “Aff.”)

Once again Alf was on top, getting offers from all of the big studios to audition for lead roles in their major motion pictures. He almost took the part of Achilles in “Troy” from Brad Pitt and narrowly lost the role of Jack Sparrow in “Pirates of the Caribbean” to Johnny Depp. Since missing out on these parts, his popularity has continued, and thankfully he has found true success as the proud manager of a string of Subway Shops (none of them in Rhode Island).

For those “Alf” fans who miss the heyday of the original series, Lions Gate Home Entertainment has already released the first three seasons on DVD, and is now following those up with the fourth. That is the good news. The bad news is that they are releasing the syndicated versions of the show as opposed to the original uncut episodes. Most people won’t notice the difference, but hardcore fans will undoubtedly compare them to their faded VHS copies and check them against the downloadable scripts and cry ‘Foul’ to the missing scenes. (They have a lot of time on their hands.) While I make a little fun of this, I do agree that if a studio is going to release a show on DVD, they really should do their best to get hold of the original unedited versions.

Aside from this little indiscretion, (and the lack of special features), the DVD release offers up some pretty good-looking transfers, so there is no complaint there.

Episodes:
Baby, Come Back
Lies
Wanted: Dead or Alive
We're in the Money
Mind Games
Hooked on a Feeling
He Ain't Heavy, He's Willie's Brother
The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
Live and Let Die
Break Up to Make Up
Happy Together
Fever
It's My Party
Make 'Em Laugh
Love on the Rocks
True Colors
Gimme That Old Time Religion
Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades
When I'm Sixty-Four
Mr. Sandman
Stayin' Alive
Hungry Like the Wolf
I Gotta Be Me
Consider Me Gone

Starring: Max Wright, Anne Shedeen, Andrea Elson, Benji Gregory
Extras: None
Specifications: Full Screen, Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround Sound
Studio: Lions Gate
Release Date: 10/3/2006
Region 1
MPAA Rating: NR
Website

We'll give Alf: Season 4 a C+.