Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Favorite Fictional Character --- Alf


To make it easier on myself and the few others who read these posts I'm going to break every month into a theme.  Simply put, every character during a particular month will have something in common.  For the month of January I'm going to be reintroducing (maybe introducing) some great characters from 80s sitcoms.


I can't think of 80s TV without thinking of one of the best aliens to ever grace the silver screen.  Gordon Shumway, better know as Alf to the rest of us, crash landed on Earth when he followed a radio signal.  Thankfully for him, and us, he crashed into the garage of a middle class family in the burbs that takes him in and hides him away from the government who are intent on studying him.

Throughout the 4 season run Alf is annoying, cynical, gets into way too much trouble,.  He is continuously bored, doesn't understand Earth culture at all, and tends to get depressed when he thinks about home because since it blew up, he thinks he's the last remaining survivor of Melmac.  All that drama allowed Alf to be so cleverly funny that even when he was misbehaving, you couldn't help but love him.  At least I couldn't, especially when he was eating (which was all the time) or when he was trying to eat the family cat (every time he wasn't eating something else.

Eventually all good things come to an end, and Alf is captured by the government and held for 7 long years before he is freed by someone on the inside.  Throughout it all though Alf remained one of those characters that despite all his flaws, entertained me and allowed me to fall in love with him.

8 comments:

La Coccinelle said...

Ha! I kill me.

(I'm showing my age here...)

Michelle (Red Headed Book Child) said...

I still can't believe a show like this was on the air. I loved it , of course, but really? My oh my, the 80s. Gotta love em'.

bookmagic said...

I still mock my brother incessantly for loving this show!!

Michelle Stockard Miller said...

For me, Alf was one of those characters I had a love/hate relationship with. He was so annoying, but I couldn't help but watch! I'm with Michelle...leave it to the 80s to have a show like this!

Staci said...

I loved Alf. I knew the creator of Alf's sister. When I worked for a veterinarian we took care of their Brittney Spaniels and she would always come in with some sort of Alf wear on. Her son married the daughter from the show!

Simcha said...

I remember Alf! Though I guess I stopped watching before he got captured by the gov. because I don't remember any of them. Perhaps I'll check out some of those later episodes just to see what happened.

Ceri said...

Alf! Ohmygosh! Memories! :D My cousin used to have a full-sized Alf stuffed toy and we used to bring him everywhere when I stayed over there. Loved him. :D

Tianna Xander said...

Okay. I didn't see the cat in that photo. Should we send out a search party or go see if Alf has him tied up and hanging over the grill? LOL I loved that show.