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It Came From Outer Space

Is ALF The Next 80s Icon To Get A Hollywood Reboot?

by Jill Pantozzi | 4:10 pm, May 26th, 2012


Ok, now they’ve gone too far. It wasn’t enough Hollywood rebooted The Smurfs and Alvin and the Chipmunks, now they’ve got their sights set on ALF! And creator Paul Fusco is all about it. 

For those of you too young to remember, ALF (that’s a simplified way of calling something an Alien Life Form), was a sci-fi sitcom that lasted four seasons on NBC. It starred ALF, a puppet, who hailed from the planet Melmac. He crash lands in the garage of the Tanner family on Earth who decide to take him in and keep his existence a secret from an alien task force. Hilarity ensues. Oh, and he loves to eat cats (a common Melmac food), though he never does during the series.

Fusco has yet to pitch to studios but has been working on the new project for some time. “I think the timing is right. That’s a big important thing, timing,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “There have been movies out there of characters that I didn’t think were on the same parallel as ALF that got movies made, so I think it’s time. I think it could be a home run on a lot of levels.”

Fusco was not only the creator of ALF but his puppeteer and voice on the show.

“ALF could be more outspoken now than ever, because the world is a whole different place than the ’80s. And I think the character still stands up and certainly has more to say now than ever,” he said. “I think we would approach it in a fresh way. I don’t think we would duplicate the TV show, but I think we would maybe put it in a storyline where we would explain how ALF got here and put him with a new family and let the character speak for himself.”

I’m of two minds. In general, I don’t like the idea of reboots but they can be good if done well. Obviously The Muppets was the perfect storm but I enjoyed things like the recent A-Team movie. Then again, I’d burn Hollywood to the ground if they ever tried to redo Back to the Future so I guess it really depends. What do you think?

(via /Film)

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  • http://www.facebook.com/john.jaramillo John Jaramillo

    Well… I can kind of see that… Except, the series ending was pretty messed up, even by 80′s standards. 

  • Anonymous

    Honestly, I don’t care how bad it is, so long as it gets rid of the idea that the Tanners spent the rest of their lives in an igloo.

  • http://twitter.com/zenoferic Erica Throne

    ALF is one of those memories that is both good and bad at the same time. A reboot? Really? That’s just kind of… in bad taste.

  • Anonymous

    One of my favorite birthdays as a child was when my birthday fell on the same night as ALF.

  • Caitie Foster

    Honestly, I’m not a big reboot fan.  But I can really see how this would work.  Fusco is right, the world’s a very different place 30 years after the original ALF, so it would have a very different feel (even if it was set in the 80′s).  And the fact that the original creator is not only behind the reboot, but appears to be spearheading it, really makes a big difference.  At least in my opinion.

  • http://www.facebook.com/aussie.mel84 Melissa Francis

    I like the idea, mainly because I have only vauge memories of the show itself as I was a bit young when it was on. Also the fact the Fusco is behind it, i think would make the difference.

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