Problems with Project ALF

[MR. Littwack]

Shortly after posting yesterday I watched Project ALF again. this time while listening to the comentary. If you have not watched while listening to the comentary I recommend that you do. It gives a lot of insight as to the motives of the creative team.

I had always assumed that the original cast simply did not want to be a part of it based on rumors I had heard. While nothing in the commentary really says otherwise, it seems as though they were planning to really take ALF in a new direction. As Mr. Fusco put it, ALF would sort of be like SGT Bilko in a manner of speaking. Had the network went for it, Project ALF was intended to be a possible lead in for a new series with ALF, now presumebly known to the world, still living on the army base.

According to the commentary, they had only planned for a very, very brief cameo for the Tanners, and that was written out before shooting. Paul Fusco did seem to maybe slightly regret not putting them in the film however.

At any rate, after watching the commentary, I have found that I enjoy the movie much more than before as it gives such wonderfull insight to the story.

[twangle]

i just watched that movie from my beta collection. HA!HAha! well from vhs and i cant stand alf being without the ones who have loved him for all that time and to alfs thinking that was my connection to melmac..

[twangle]

well his connection to melmac .

[ALFanatic]

OK, "Project: ALF" will never become a "classic", but it is a better than average, humorous, made for TV movie that I continue to enjoy watching countless times. The ongoing, and absolute "genius" of "Project: ALF" is the plot with a storyline that affords ALF the opportunity for a new beginning.

Unfortunately, to date, ALF's opportunity for a new beginning has yet to materialize, since it now appears that the subsequent "ALF'S HIT TALK SHOW" was merely a false start.

Mike

[twangle]

well in your heart, cant you see alf saying to the tanners:HI what's for dinner.

[Lucky-ftw]

well in your heart, cant you see alf saying to the tanners:HI what's for dinner.

Yeah, that would have made a perfect ending for sure. I always about thought ALF sneaking around to the backdoor and breaking a pot plant while the Tanners in the living room and Willie just yells "ALF!".

[twangle]

yes i feel the same. by the way welcome lucky-ftw

[MR. Littwack]

Project ALF really was good for what it was. It gave some closure to the series, as well as leaving things open for a possible new series. As with most shows/movies that have any real time period between series to movie some of the steam was just lost. The story wasn't bad at all, but it had been years since ALF was on the air. A lot changes in the generation that watches a show in that time. Sometimes it is very difficult to go back and recreate the magic that was once there. There are very rare exceptions to this (star trek for example) but only once in a long while does it happen. Take the Xfiles movies. The first one came out when the show was at its height in popularity. The second film came out a few months ago and from what i saw, nobody really cared. I admit I still have not seen that film, but that only strengthens my point. I was a huge xfiles fan and still am, but it had been so long since the show went off, I didn't jump right out there to see the latest movie.

It would be great if they could bring back ALF in another way. I think ALF is still a natural to host something. At this point I doubt that his Hit Talk Show will return, but I could see him hosting a movie of the week or something like that. Have him at the commercial breaks giving a commentary on the film. I still think he would have been a great addition to the Mystery Science Theater crew when it was still on the air. How about a news show similiar to the Daily Show?

[twangle]

That would be a good start for him. I do see him coming back for something in that area and progressing. thanks for your insite. . twangle

[ALFan]

I have question.When the hearing was being held to decide the fate of ALF,they did mention the Tanners.
They said they were in Iceland in the Federal Witness Protection Program.Thay also said that Willie Tanner testified on the account of ALF starting 264 fires,and multiple accounts of trying to eat the cat.Now,is it just me,or does it sound like Willie was trying to get ALF in trouble? Or,was he just telling the truth in court? It made me wonder,should we even like the Tanners for telling on him like that,or should we assume they were just telling the truth in court like I said? I would obviously like to assume the best,but I would like to know everybody elses' opinion.Please let me know what you think. Thanks.

[ALFicionado]

I have question.When the hearing was being held to decide the fate of ALF,they did mention the Tanners.
They said they were in Iceland in the Federal Witness Protection Program.Thay also said that Willie Tanner testified on the account of ALF starting 264 fires,and multiple accounts of trying to eat the cat.Now,is it just me,or does it sound like Willie was trying to get ALF in trouble? Or,was he just telling the truth in court? It made me wonder,should we even like the Tanners for telling on him like that,or should we assume they were just telling the truth in court like I said? I would obviously like to assume the best,but I would like to know everybody elses' opinion.Please let me know what you think. Thanks.

Willie had no reason for wanting to get ALF into trouble. He was just being honest. If he had lied & said that ALF hadn't set anything on fire, I don't think that would have helped. I doubt they suspected ALF of being a terrorist or something of the sort.

[Gordo]

Yeah in retrospect its a shame the Tanners couldnt have had a minor cameo in Project ALF - as ABC never picked up the series there wasn't a need to do the "new beginning" so doing an end scene where ALF ended up back home might have been better closure.

[andyalf]

Well as a newbie here, being from the UK we did not get the final season of ALf and I had no idea how it ended.
I watched Prroject:ALF some years ago and took it as a stand alone film (which I really enjoyed).
Only recently I have finally been able to see the last series and was surprised to find the very last episode ended with ALF's capture- Now the film to me seems even better-
as they didnt contradicte the show in anyway and instead did a logical continuation to the show.

Most films that come out based on previous TV shows tend to totally disregard past events and are considered "non canon" by fans, But I was happy to see that was not the case with Project: ALF.

I enjoyed the stars like Martin Sheen and Migual Ferrer, who played their roles with a straight face! and it was also nice to see ALF played without the canned laughter for a change!

[ALFicionado]

Do you mean that the UK never bought the rights to show season 4 of ALF back in the 90's, you guys stopped airing the show after season 3?

[Bring Back ALF]

In the UK we had season 1 & 2 on ITV the terrestrial station with season 3 & 4 only being shown on SKY One the satellite television.

[ALFicionado]

The terrestrial station? They reallycall it that? How come they didn't buy the rights for the complete 4 seasons considering the popularityof ALF? THat's just wrong, poor kids

[Bring Back ALF]

No they don't call it that, it was just me separating it from the satellite channel!

I think what happened was ALF was a big hit on ITV and Sky had just launched their satellite channel Sky One and wanted to gain viewers so it outbid ITV for the rights to season 3 & 4.
For a couple of years 1989/90 ALF was one of their flagship shows and was shown every week night at 7pm, I managed to tape every episode over ten video tapes which were my most treasured ALF items until the uncut DVD's finally came out last year.

[andyalf]

Well that explains it!
I remember watching season 1 & 2 as a kid on ITV. When it finished I persumed that was all they had made.
I didnt have SKY at the time and had no idea that they had done series 3 and 4.
Now its so easy to check via internet for full episode guides and listings but back then when a show finished on TV you just persume thats it.

The same goes for shows like MacGyver- this was shown on BBC1 with series 1 & 2.
It was only some years later that ITV started airing episodes late at night that I realised they had made more.
Even now I dont think any channel in the UK has ever shown all 7 seasons!
Satellite channels like FX and Bravo tend to just repeat seasons 1 & 2 and thats it!

Yet BBC1 does from time to time show the 2 MacGyver films they did that followed after the series. Strange.

Anyway, thats going slightly off topic, but just tryin to explain the reason why probably some fans of ALF would not have seen the last 2 seasons.

[puppet_guy]

Yes I remember only having season 1 and 2 shown in Australia in the 80's. Then in re-runs in the 90's they still never showed the very last episode " consider me gone" - maybe the network didn't like that episode? Anyway project ALF is good but the only thing is, we don't just love ALF, we love the Tanner family and I think most fans feel sorry for the Tanners being shipped away never to see ALF again.

[fbhwes]

Don't get me wrong i'm glad we finally did get Project ALF because the "Cliffhanger" way it ended made it obvious they thought they'd return. I was upset when i saw it because it didn't seem like the simple enjoyable show i remembered. And his relationship with The Tanners was a very important part of the show and i felt was handeled with absolutely no thought or care at all. I wasn't expecting the dynamic to be the same but a quick flipant "they're in Iceland" was not what i was expecting either. Sorry to those who loved this . I just was only a mediocre fan of this movie.