American Dad RIPS OFF ALF Plot!

[animesuperfan25]

Hi everyone!

I've been a huge fan of ALF for a very long time, and it was thanks to ALF that I realized just how shameless Seth MacFarlane is! I knew well in advance about the borrowed jokes from 'The Simpsons', and to be honest it didn't really bother me. I'm not really sure why because I've been a fan of that show a lot longer than ALF (Sorry dude, just didn't discover you until much later.)

Anyways I'm not just talking about an appearance, or a stolen joke. I'm talking about a complete plot steal with several changes to made to fool you.

First of all if you're a fan of American Dad and have seen all the episodes, than you should know 'Season 3, Episode 9' and than watch 'Season 2, Episode 1' of ALF. If you want to do that instead of hearing my explanation behind this, that's fine. I would want proof myself, but if you would like to hear what I have to say, keep reading.

SPOILERS!




In that episode of ALF. Alf screws up and is forced into the garage, he has to behave himself for at least a week, so he changes his ways completely. He wears a suit, cooks great food, all kinds of great stuff. At the end of the episode he screws up and blows up the kitchen.

Now tell me if this sounds familiar.

In the American Dad episode Roger (THE ALIEN) gets into a fight with Stan (mindless unfunny stuff happens) Francine tells Roger if he wants to come back into the house, he has to behave. Roger changes his ways almost- somewhat, and at the end of the episode he HAS to screw up and insult people.



Now I know that some people would argue that this is a normal plot device in shows. Someone screws up, they get tossed out of the house, and they have to win their ways back in. However if it wasn't a Seth MacFarlane show, and if it didn't involve two aliens, I wouldn't have thought twice about this. I just think it's way too much of a coincidence and if people really sit down and watch both episodes back to back, they would see the same things I did.

Although me saying 'Seth MacFarlane' ripped someone off isn't much of a stretch now is it? Remember the episode of Family Guy when they parodied 'Willey Wonka And the Chocolate Factory'. The line Pawtucket Pat sings his beer song, the part where he says 'Renting it from me' is actually stolen from 'All in the Family'. It was the episode where Archie lies about gambling again!

[shreddinghead]

That proves nothing.

[animesuperfan25]

That proves nothing.

Of course it does, but if you're an 'American Dad' fanboy than the only thing you'd be able to see is the comedic genius of 'Seth MacFarlane' as he continues to create the same show, over and over and over again.

The point is the plot was completely ripped off from ALF.

[Ninjadragon5]

really, this is nothing new. pretty much the whole premise of roger the alien living with the smiths is a ripoff from ALF, so no surprise that they would take similar plots from the episodes. yeah, it may seem like a ripoff, but what can you do? it's not like seth is going to get sued for using a similar plot from a 30 year old show.

[shreddinghead]

I don't care much about American Dad, but you got slim to none evidence to back up your claimed alf rip off. The only thing you got is that they have an alien living with them, and in one episode he gets thrown out the house. Like that isn't too generic? Again, it proves nothing. besides, E.T. came before alf, are you guys gonna say that alf is a rip off of E.T. then?

[robodog]

Actually I wouldn't be surprised if Alf was inspired by ET. But considering they are two vastly different characters I'd hesitate to call it a rip off.

As for American Dad in that episode Roger WASN'T kicked out of the house. He and Francine faked a kidnapping in order to prove that Stan cares about Roger. It was only after Francine got fed up with the way Roger was acting during said fake kidnapping plot that she decided not to support him anymore unless he cleaned up his act. The story was completely different than the Alf Episode you reference with the only similarities being a family harboring an alien gets tired of his antics and kicks him out. The way the two stories played out was entirely different. Alf wasn't kicked out entirely, merely forced to live in the garage. There was no kidnapping plot and rather than the bulk of the story being that Francine tries to prove to Roger that Stan cares the Alf Plot involved Alf trying to prove that he could behave better in order to be allowed to stay in the house once more. Even the endings were completely different. The Tanners once again let Alf stay in the house despite the fact he blew up the kitchen whereas in American Dad it turned out that being nice was actually literally killing Roger so they let him off the hook to save his life, but not before Stan beats the crap out of Roger because of his obnoxious behavior.

[shreddinghead]

Alf's origin as an alien was decided so it would explain his peculiar appearance, in the first place Alf was just a funny doll that Fusco used to make people laugh.

[Ninjadragon5]

you got a good point, robodog. ET and ALF did come out around the same time so it would be not surprise if ALF was inspired by ET and while the premise of the stories are similar, the storyline and characters are vastly different, so it not exactly a rip off.
same goes for roger from american dad and ALF while they share a similar premise and characteristics, they are vastly different from each other with different storylines. so calling this episode of american dad a rip off of ALF is a pretty big accusation.

[animesuperfan25]

I believe you guys have a good point, though I believe 'shreddinghead' is raging a bit, but it's hard to deny the similarities. Besides it's really Seth's fault, he opened himself to this kind of critiquing.

Have you guys ever heard of Jimmy Corrigan? Also know as the 'smartest kid on earth'? And his relationship with his mother?

What about 'Imagine This' comics? Featuring the fun loving, alcohol guzzling teddy bear?

Now we can say that those two episodes don't prove anything, but in reality they prove quite a bit. It has the same setup. Two aliens cause trouble, they are threatened, and they have to change their ways in order to remain in the house (Also I never said Roger was kicked out of the house, I know about the kidnapping, Francine tells him if he wants back into the house he has to change his ways) they do change their ways, but screw up in the end.

The way we get to these points is different, but it's so similar that it's hard to say it's just a coincidence. And I'm only talking about these two episodes, not the characters themselves. I know Alf's origin story very, very well. And I don't care about Roger enough to even pretend to care.

[animesuperfan25]

really, this is nothing new. pretty much the whole premise of roger the alien living with the smiths is a ripoff from ALF, so no surprise that they would take similar plots from the episodes. yeah, it may seem like a ripoff, but what can you do? it's not like seth is going to get sued for using a similar plot from a 30 year old show.

No I don't see Seth getting sued either, but it does shine a nice spotlight on his so called 'genius' status, that some fans lavish him with. Seriously people consider him a genius, I just consider him very lucky. Or unlucky, I mean this is FOX were talking about.

[robodog]

Yeah, I'd hardly call Seth a genius. I enjoy his programs to a point but they're filled with unlikeable characters that, while amusing in 30 minute snippets, are not characters one can really care about. Alf is a character I care about. Seth's characters are just something to laugh at while they're on but forget about the second the show's over, I don't give a damn what happens to them the way I do Alf.

[animesuperfan25]

Yeah, I'd hardly call Seth a genius. I enjoy his programs to a point but they're filled with unlikeable characters that, while amusing in 30 minute snippets, are not characters one can really care about. Alf is a character I care about. Seth's characters are just something to laugh at while they're on but forget about the second the show's over, I don't give a damn what happens to them the way I do Alf.

Same here! I really cared about Alf and the tanners, even the nosey neighbors.

Well I'll drop all this. I really didn't come on here to try and start a fight with anyone. I just wanted to get that off my chest for some time now, but I was serious about 'Family Guy' and 'American Dad'. I used to be really big fans of both of the shows, but after that one episode I was disappointed.

Well it doesn't matter. I really love this forum so I'm going to stick around for a while, I won't cause anymore 'Seth MacFarlane' related rants though.

[Ninjadragon5]

yeah, robodog as another good point, while I do like shows like family guy and american dad, but mostly only because they give something good to laugh at, but I never get as emotionally involved with the characters as I do with ALF. I actually care about what these character must be feeling on the inside. mostly because the characters in ALF show a boarding range of emotion besides just being mad at each other.

and yeah, it seems seth just got really lucky to be where he is now, while sometimes his jokes are spot on, but storytelling wise he often falls flat. really, I bet seth is not the only one to do this, most tv show directors rip off each other in some form or another, originality as become scarce these days.

[robodog]

I once spoke to someone with an interesting theory about Seth Macfarlane. He said that he didn't believe that Seth really cared about his creations, that they were just tools for him to express his rather crude sense of humor and a means to make money. As someone who used to create characters all the time I find it hard to believe anyone couldn't care about characters they created. But I have to admit it kind of makes sense.

[Ninjadragon5]

that really would not surprise if that was the case since he as been pulling tv shows out of his ass lately with American dad and the Cleveland show. if he really cared about his characters he would stick with just with one show and work on developing those characters more. you can easily tell that paul fusco loved the characters he created and put a lot of work into his show.

[animesuperfan25]

that really would not surprise if that was the case since he as been pulling tv shows out of his ass lately with American dad and the Cleveland show. if he really cared about his characters he would stick with just with one show and work on developing those characters more. you can easily tell that paul fusco loved the characters he created and put a lot of work into his show.

You can add 'Bordertown' to that list now.

I agree with you about Seth as well. I'm writing a novel which have about 6 main characters, and I can't imagine writing another sentence if I didn't care about the characters.

[ALFicionado]

Definitely agree on ALF's influence on Roger, I write about it at the end of this page of my fansite: http://alfanatic.webs.com/ALFonOtherShows.htm

Gotta say I love Seth's humor and am a big fan of Family Guy and American Dad. I think a guy as creative as Seth can focus on more than one show at a time. If he didn't care he wouldn't be planning to end Family Guy before it turns into the mess The Simpsons has become over a decade ago.

[ALFreak]

I don't watch American Dad (or Family Guy, for that matter),but I'm sure they aren't trying to specifically rip off ALF. The thing is, the storyline that you claim they stole is has a fairly common premise that is used quite often in comedy shows; the rascal has to reform himself to prove to his friends that he is worthy. This means that it's likely much more of a coincidence than a rip-off.
However, if they had made an episode about the Rodger alien falling in love with a blind woman, that would be ripping off, because that's not a plot that is commonly used.

[robodog]

Actually the plot where a non human creature befriends a blind person is a fairly common plot. Off the top of my head I know it was done in both Gargoyles and Gummi Bears and The Thing from the Fantastic Four dated a blind girl for awhile in the comics.

[ALFreak]

Really? I haven't seen it used in that many other shows, myself, but I guess you're right.
I meant that had AD made Roger do something very obviously from ALF, then it would've been ripping off.