"ALF Tales" (1988) TV series 1988-1990

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Directors:

Kevin Altieri
David Feiss

Writers:

Phil Harnage (writer)
Bradley Kesden (writer)

Release Date:

10 September 1988 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Comedy

Plot:

Alf and his friends retell classic stories in their own unique way.

Plot Keywords:

Based On TV Series | Based On Live Action TV Series | Character Name In Title

Cast

Paulina Gillis	...	Augie Shumway, Rhonda (voice)
Peggy Mahon	...	Flo Shumway (voice)
Thick Wilson	...	Bob Shumway, Larson Petty (voice)
Dan Hennessey	...	Sloop / Eggbert Petty (voice)
Rob Cowan	...	Skip (voice)
Debra Theraker	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Paul Fusco	...	Gordon Shumway (ALF) (voice)
Don Francks	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Marvin Goldhar	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Greg Swanson	...	Additional Voices (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Eva Almos	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Harvey Atkin	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Jayne Eastwood	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Ellen-Ray Hennessy	...	Stella (voice)
Ray Kahnert	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Michaël Lamport	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Marla Lukofsky	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Greg Morton	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Nick Nichols	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Stephen Ouimette	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Linda Sorenson	...	Additional Voices (voice)
John Stocker	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Deborah Theaker	...	Madame Poughkeepsie (1988)
Noam Zylberman	...	Curtis Shumway (voice)

Also Known As:

"AlfTales" (USA) (alternative spelling)

Runtime:

30 min (26 episodes) | Germany:22 min (21 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

USA:TV-Y

Company:

Alien Productions

Quotes:

Cinderella's Stepmother: While we're gone, I want you to sweep the chimney!
Stepsister Janet: And chop the firewood!
Stepsister Latoya: And finish up that radiation research in the basement!

Movie Connections:

Featured in Alf Loves a Mystery (1987) (TV)

Proof that the best get cancelled

AlfTales, along with the maniacally inspired Alf cartoon, was, of course, short-lived. Only the good die young.

AlfTales spoof both a fairy tale and a film genre simultaneously, with often surrealistic results. One treasured moment is the Cinderella-meets-Elvis episode, in which the father summons the new evil stepsisters ... "Oh, Janet! --- Latoya!" The horrid stepfamily ("played" by Alf's Melmac neighbors, the Fustermans) inform the horrified girl that they're also a rock-and-roll group, and launch into an off-key intro: "We're ... (bum-bum-bum-bum) ... The Evil Step-Tones!" The blimb from Blade-runner puts in an appearance announcing that Gordo (our Elvis take-off) will be choosing a bride at his concert tonight. Cinderella's Brandoesque fairy godMOTHER(?) grants favors with a tap of his magical cigar. The evil stepsisters notice that the transformed Cinderella looks very familiar ... "She looks just like... like... Teri Garr!" (And at that moment, you notice that strangely enough, she does, despite the snout and pink hair.)

Back on Melmac, Marcel Duchamp is in charge. A favorite pasttime is a variation on miniature golf played with dustpans and cans of anchovy paste. The Schmidlap family of Methanol Falls is introduced as a possible set of contestants on Wheel of Cheese. Gordon's father works in a mayonnaise mine, where the lodge members chant, "Mayonnaise is more than sandwich spread... it's in our hearts and in our heads." A Bondesque villian infiltrates the Furry Chunks cereal factory as part of an evil plan to win the Sweepstakes Adventure. The muscle bound Gut-Squisher with an Austrian accent shows pathological devotion to his Cuddly Naptime Aardvark. You get the idea.

If you can find old tapes, snatch them up. If you find reruns, record them. Share them with demented friends and children. Like a good wine, animated Alf and AlfTales episodes improve with age.