What Happened to Jake Ochmonek in S4?

[SanDiegoHereICome]

Why did Jake Ochmonek (played by Josh Blake) not appear in Season 4? He was a frequent character in Season 2 (the Season he was introduced in and even more so in Season 3.

Does anyone know why Fusco and crew decided to drop him in Season 4? Or was it his doing - did he not want to play the part anymore?

Does anyone have answers?

[ALFanatic]

SanDiegoHereICome,

Unfortunately, I am privy to no factual information that might answer your question, but I do have the following personal opinion, for what's it's worth:

The disappearance of "Jake" after Season Three could be result of personal decision by "Josh Blake" to pursue other opportunities, or contract dispute between actor and producers, both of which happen over the run of a TV series; however, I am of opinion that Jake's disappearnce is just one of the more noticeable indicators that honchos at Alien Productions, Inc. and/or NBC decided the introduction of new characters and scenarios for Season Four was necessary in an attempt to broaden storyline that had over time become very confining for the writers.

Mike

[Hey Tanner!]

Josh Blake left after season 3 to take a regular role on the CBS sitcom The Famous Teddy Z. Like ALF, it was cancelled in the spring of 1990.

[ALFanatic]

Hey Tanner!

Thanks for the information, and welcome to the Forum.

Mike

[SanDiegoHereICome]

Alright Fanatic, thanks for your input. It's just odd that he was such a prominent character in Season 3 and wasn't in Season 4 at all.

My guess is that you're right about him pursuing other career options, that correlates with what I saw by looking at his portfolio at IMDB. If Alien Productions wanted to introduce new characters, they could have done so (and they did, Neil, Margaret, introducing ALF to Wizzer, etc.) but they could have had Jake in a few episodes, so I believe the former opinion is the most likely case (as opposed to the latter).

[ALFanatic]

SanDiegoHereICome,

Thanks to information supplied by "Hey Tanner!", we now know with certainty the reason why "Jake" (Josh Blake) does not appear in any Season Four episodes of the ALF TV series. Broader question that I believe to still support my opinion of Season Four storyline moving in new direction is, "Why, except for immediate Tanner family members, all supporting characters from prior three seasons make few, if any, appearances in Season Four episodes of the ALF TV series?"

Mike

[SanDiegoHereICome]

SanDiegoHereICome,

Thanks to information supplied by "Hey Tanner!", we now know with certainty the reason why "Jake" (Josh Blake) does not appear in any Season Four episodes of the ALF TV series. Broader question that I believe to still support my opinion of Season Four storyline moving in new direction is, "Why, except for immediate Tanner family members, all supporting characters from prior three seasons make few, if any, appearances in Season Four episodes of the ALF TV series?"

Mike

Exactly. The Ochmoneks were practically written out of any later scripts after the early S4 episode where they betrayed Willie by turning him into the FBI because they saw a lookalike on Crimestoppers. You're completely right... all we see is immediate family members for the most part... Neal Tanner/Margaret Tanner (albeit Margaret is not immediate), and then Dorothy and Wizzer... I

have no idea... Season 4 did have quite a wide array of NEW guest stars, but none of the supporting stars from Seasons 1-3... perhaps they just got sick of the show or their pay had to be cut due to decreasing ratings. S4 had the tabloid photographers, all of the Willie Lookalikes and the FBI Agents, ALF's cotton support group, in the Cat episode it had Lynn's friend and the french girl with her dad, it had the airline workers in Dorothy/Wizzer's episode, Neal's Landlord, all the members of the Tanners's luau, all the characters from ALF's stand-up comic dream, Margaret Tanner and all the other characters in that episode, Lynn's art class and art professor, ALF's future visions of Brian and his mob family and then Lynn's mime boyfriend, the retirement home people, the Sendrax guy, the homeless guy in the park in the episode where ALF wanted to diet, and then the Alien Task Force guys from the cliffhanger.

It seems to me that S4 was all too dependent on these little guest stars, and only really had Neal Tanner as a recurring supporting guest star... Dorothy / Wizzer / Larry made their return, but not to the extent that they had been in previous seasons. The Ochmoneks were basically written out of all scripts after the Willie Polygamy episode (Wanted: Dead or Alive), except for the luau episode... Jake is absent, Jodie is absent.

[ALFan]

Josh Blake left after season 3 to take a regular role on the CBS sitcom The Famous Teddy Z. Like ALF, it was cancelled in the spring of 1990.

Are these episodes for sale anywhere?

[Dan G]

i never noticed JAke was gone :S... I remember i saw him in a Sabrina The teenage witch episode, when she was at the university. Josh invited her to date some day.

[Admin]

Are these episodes for sale anywhere?

As of right now, no. I find it VERY doubtful (actually, I think I can say with absolute certainty) that the show will never be available on official DVDs. Reason being the show only ran one season...

[Jessica]

I liked having Jake in the series. The episodes he appeared in was good. It was cool when Jake met ALF for the first time, and funny. When ALF came in to the garage singing Michael Jackson's hit "Billie Jean".

They did introduce new characters in season 4, such as Neil Tanner, Willie's boring brother who was nothing but depressed that his wife Margaret left him (For only a while.) It was funny when ALF lived with him, though. Maybe it'd be better if he was introduced earlier instead of the middle of season 4. And when Margaret was introduced, that episode was mostly about them getting married again.
I think they could have kept Jake.

[ALFan]

Are these episodes for sale anywhere?

As of right now, no. I find it VERY doubtful (actually, I think I can say with absolute certainty) that the show will never be available on official DVDs. Reason being the show only ran one season...

That's what I thought.

[tazz765]

We could always go with the theory that The Ochmoneks and Tanners had a falling out after Trevor turned Willie in to the police so that is why they never appear after that.

[ALFan]

We could always go with the theory that The Ochmoneks and Tanners had a falling out after Trevor turned Willie in to the police so that is why they never appear after that.

Well, that is a good idea, but we see the Ochmonecks again. We just don't see Jake again,