ALF Outtake Reel

[Admin]

I'm sure you've all been hearing about this news for days, but it's been getting to be a bigger story...I've seen it posted on dozens of websites. Plus this website has received thousands more visits due to this.

http://www.tmz.com/2010/12/27/alfs-n-bo ... er-defend/

Not sure I like John La Motta's comment...

[Admin]

Here's another article.

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainmen ... z19WZbvgeQ

I can't say I agree with the language, but people do need to understand that this was in the 1980s.

[Iggy]

The saddest thing is that in today's world the worst thing you can do is, Godforbid, insult someone...

I don't mind racial humor cause I find the whole racism thing so idiotic and unbelievable (unbelievable in a way that I can't imagine how humans actually thought that way). People should learn to accept a joke (especially one 20 years old!) and I'm sure this was only a joke. If Paul Fusco was being serious here, and was holding a whip while making a person of a certain skin color pick cotton while saying the so called "N-bomb", then that's a different story.

To comment John La Motta... well, one must only look at his imdb profile to see that this was the best job he had. He reminds me of Robert Beltran who talks the same about Star Trek Voyager when it was the one and only successful show he managed to be a regular on and one that got him to be famous. You think La Motta would have been remembered by those 2 Fraiser appearances he did?

[Luke]

Wasn't it someone here who posted this first online ages ago? I kinda remember. I understand it's a "fan thing" and people were just curious to see behind the scenes stuff of ALF but you can tell from the video it was obviously not meant to be publicly viewed and I doubt the creators of ALF would have wanted it online. Maybe not such a great move!

ALF was spoofing an episode of LA Law or St Elsewhere or something. It wasn't actually directed at anyone, times were very different back then, and in any case, much worse got said on CLOSED TV sets and still does lol. I agree with Steve Lamar. Also ALF wasn't just a furry loveable kids character, he has quite a sharp wit - there are bits in the sitcom, Cindy Margolis, Bill O'Reily but there was always a line he didn't publicly cross so that he didn't offend people.

Remember when ALF was "seen", the whole illusion was there that he really WAS an alien from Melmac. Everyone involved with making that happen stayed out of public view and took great care to make him seem "real" and I think the viewers appreciated that. I recall Tina Fey saying that even at the NBC anniversary special everything had to be set up so that the audience never saw how ALF got in or out of his seat. I love the Muppets but i never liked it when you saw the Muppeteers in behind the scenes footage actually working the Muppets (even though they are/were massively talented people and it helped you understand that) - but the illusion was lost a bit and it made the characters less "alive". The people behind ALF made sure that the stuff actually meant to be seen by the public was the best quality and true to ALF's image and character. Millions loved him, laughed, and enjoyed the show - it even beat Cosby!

This whole thing has probably done a little damage with people who don't understand the context of this video or even "get" ALF, but above all maybe I hope people view the outakes reel as a whole, see how funny the show was and go search out and enjoy the actual episodes on DVD or Hulu.

[haynese]

I think it's definitely okay nowadays to see Alf and the magic behind how he worked. It's been over 20 years since the show got cancelled and none of us are getting any younger. Sure, Alf had some resurgence a few years back but he hasn't been in anything new since his appearance on The O'Reilly Factor over 3 years ago.

What I do want to know is who puts together these outtake reels? It looks like a "best of" bloopers. You'd have to go through A TON of footage to get enough material and not only this you have to have time and access. I'm just curious on who makes this stuff. I love it and it's very interesting to finally see Alf behind the scenes.

[ALFicionado]

Whoa, I had never seen this one before, actually. Not heard of this story anywhere else for that matter. When I first read that he said the "N"-word I thought it was just something he said in bad taste since it caused such an uproar. But when you view the video and know the reason behind it, God damn it, it was a joke (a funny one at that.) I can't believe people are getting upset about this kind of thing. That's sad and stupid.

As for La Motta's comment, I hope he was kidding, too, or that he was misquoted or whatever. Sure, as most of the other main cast members have said, it was a hard show to work on, and I can understand that. But that doesn't make the show a piece of ****. It's far from it, still giving fans laughs all these years later. Maybe he's not aware of that, and perhaps needs to. Maybe a good question for Liz Sheridan would be to ask her if she felt that he didn't like to work on the show or not, in light of his comment. She told me pretty much the complete opposite of what everyone else has been saying about working on the show.

I was pretty shocked hearing Andrea Elson drop the "F"-bomb though, in the beginning of the clip, when talking to Benji of all people!

[haynese]

As for La Motta's comment, I hope he was kidding, too, or that he was misquoted or whatever. Sure, as most of the other main cast members have said, it was a hard show to work on, and I can understand that. But that doesn't make the show a piece of ****. It's far from it, still giving fans laughs all these years later.

I can't imagine what it was like working on that show, especially when they're used to working so many less hours on other shows. Combine that with ALF's creator rewriting the script so he'd get all the funny lines and of course just standing around all day/night playing second fiddle to ALF would almost be unbearable. Plus, isn't it true if they got picked up for a 5th season they were all going to be let go anyway?

I give most of the cast kudo's for being as nice about it as they've been.

[Luke]

What I do want to know is who puts together these outtake reels?.

They are usually private gag reels put together by the crew for the end of season. With this reel though I think its fan made from some longer studio footage that was being sold on the internet many years ago.

ALF never had ALL the funny lines in sitcom, but yes he had the bulk as the show is called "ALF". Max would have known as an actor he was being hired to be ALF's straight guy. I thought John and Liz as Raquel and Trevor, and also Jim as Neal got lots of funny lines - more than the family. If the whole family would have been overly funny back at ALF it would have wrecked the whole concept - the point is ALF is the wisecracking alien terrorising the family in an annoying but loveable, funny way.

[ALFicionado]

As for La Motta's comment, I hope he was kidding, too, or that he was misquoted or whatever. Sure, as most of the other main cast members have said, it was a hard show to work on, and I can understand that. But that doesn't make the show a piece of ****. It's far from it, still giving fans laughs all these years later.

I can't imagine what it was like working on that show, especially when they're used to working so many less hours on other shows. Combine that with ALF's creator rewriting the script so he'd get all the funny lines and of course just standing around all day/night playing second fiddle to ALF would almost be unbearable. Plus, isn't it true if they got picked up for a 5th season they were all going to be let go anyway?

I give most of the cast kudo's for being as nice about it as they've been.

I doubt they'd let the entirce cast go for a 5th season, they'd have to show us the Tanner family in their search for ALF in some way, I imagine.

[Admin]

More info:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/blogs/ ... -alf-65783

Yep, LA Law.

[Iggy]

Thanks for that link Admin, now I get the joke (and I get even less why all the fuss about the blooper reel now...)

[Admin]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-H0OMSaOna0

Here's the exact clip of the LA Law episode. Woooop, wooop, oh boy...

[melmacian56]

It's funny how most of us at the forum have known about this clip for a while now and when TMZ has got nothing else to report on they decide to dig up this clip.

[Admin]

It's also funny that in the articles they're making a big deal of this, but if you read the comments at the bottom of the articles the majority thinks the clip is hilarious (other than those who do not like and/or have a bias towards ALF). I was worried at first when I read the articles, but after a while it makes you think...could this "negative" publicity be a good thing since it brings the ALF character back into the spotlight (although limited)?

[Alfaholic]

could this "negative" publicity be a good thing since it brings the ALF character back into the spotlight (although limited)?

Yes! This is exactly what happened in my case. I check TMZ every day and lo' and behold the other day they've got this little blurb on Alf. I instantly got addicted to all the outtakes on Youtube and then I searched for a fan forum and Voila! here I am!

[Gordo]

...could this "negative" publicity be a good thing since it brings the ALF character back into the spotlight (although limited)?

I was thinking that. It might show ALF in a more adult way, but they love him. Hopefully some TV exec will have taken note that ALF could be great once again

Also, this guy has it right and puts everything into context, including showing the LA Law clip
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4IsUqclKUE

[ALFicionado]

By the way, why the heck would they contact John La Motta about this? Was he in that scene? Was he on set that day? Was he even in that episode?

[Alfaholic]

By the way, why the heck would they contact John La Motta about this? Was he in that scene? Was he on set that day? Was he even in that episode?

He probably was one of the few cast members that would comment or maybe several of them commented but La Motta's slam on the show made the article a little juicier. As I age I realize there really isn't such thing as news, it's just entertainment and they can spin it any way they want to.

[ALFIsMyIdol]

John La Motta's comment is interesting because I don't personally think that he was commenting on the set but more on the quality of the scripts. When you think about it La Motta had only about 5 scenes with Alf during the enture run of the show so he couldn't have been under as much pressure as the rest of the actors. This leads me to believe that he didn't like the show as a whole not just working on it. I find people who don't like Alf sad. They don't know what they're missing.

[ALFicionado]

That's what it sounded like to me as well, but I think that bad experiences on a set can have an effect on the feelings you have towards the show afterwards. I personally don't think he believes it's the worst work he's done, just look at what else he's done. ALF was clever, there's no denying that.