Yes boys and girls, Vigilante has picked up his shovel and dug up
the first piece of remains from the entertainment graveyard. And what…what did I
find. That’s right folks, Gordon Shumway himself. Don’t know who Gordon Shumway
is? Then where the hell were you during the late 80’s? Gordon Shumway was the name of
the beloved character on one of TV’s most memorable shows, "ALF".
The TV series ALF focuses on an alien life
form (ALF) named Gordon Shumway whose spaceship crashed into the
garage of the Tanner family in Los Angeles. Because his spaceship could not be
repaired, he was stuck on earth and had no possibility to get back to his home planet Melmac.
The Tanner family decided to hide ALF from the alien task force and so he was allowed to
stay.
I remember the days of ALF like it was yesterday. I think I was 6
or 7 around the time the show was on the air. I would always root for ALF to eat that damn
Tanner cat Lucky, but it was too no avail. The show actually proved to be EXTREMELY
popular as two cartoon series were spawned off of it, alf puppets, comics, and records
ruled the food chain, and let’s not forget when good ol Gordon hosted the Tonight
Show…. Man those were the days. Unfortunately, like all good things, alf had to come
to an end at the end of its fourth year. It was treated a little unfairly by NBC, as a
show that brought it as much attention as it did was pushed aside to the dreaded Friday
time slot when ratings started to fall. Then, that dreaded final episode aired. A tear
rolled down my eye as I thought that would be the last time I ever saw my favorite alien,
but what was that….a "To Be continued"? Was there going to be more?
No, not at first at least. 6 years later however, the TV movie
"Project Alf" was made to appease the fans of the great show and tie up any
loose ends it may have. The movie was very good, but for some strange reason it aired on
ABC (NBC was its TV show’s owner). Alf was not only a success here, but all over the
world as well. Especially Germany, where the Project Alf film was actually released in
theaters.
Now, a decade and a half have gone by. No show has really had the
same effect that ALF did on television, and on the hearts of today’s college kids.
Alf was the man, and it’s a shame that it has become so hard to get any re-runs of
the show or any places to purchase memorabilia. There’s a channel called the Odyssey
Channel that is airing re-runs of Alf and Project Alf, but I’m sure you would have to
rape your cable company to get a hold of that station. In the meantime, till we all can
see ALF once again…I shed a tear for the man from Melmac. May there be plenty of cats
in that Alien Sky.
R.I.P. "ALF"
1986-1990
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