Info:
DVD Release Date: August 10, 2004 (Lions Gate Home
Entertainment)
color/616 min.
MSRP: $39.98
Number of discs: 4
Number of episodes: 27 half hours (counting unaired
pilot)
Languages and subtitles: English, Closed Captioned.
Special features: “Interactive Menus Hosted by ALF,”
“The Original Un-Aired Pilot Episode,” “Gag/Outtakes
Reel,” and “ALF Trivia Facts.”
Introduction:
ALF is finally making his way to DVD! Before he had
his own talk show on TV Land, commercials for
1-800-COLLECT and 10-10-220, he had his own sitcom
from 1986-1990 on NBC. ALF is voiced and puppeteer by
Paul Fusco, who is also the creator & executive
producer, and he even directed and wrote a few
episodes! The show is about the Tanner family finding
ALF in his spaceship on their garage roof. They keep
him hidden from any other human and do not turn him in
to the government. The Tanner family consists of
Willie (Max Wright), Kate (Anne Schedeen), Lynn
(Andrea Elson), and Brian (Benji Gregory). The nosy
neighbors are the Ochmoneks (Trevor and Raquel), who
always seem to find something fishy going around in
the Tanner household. Will they ever figure out who
ALF is? Find out on the season one DVD of ALF!
ALF stands for Alien Life Form. He was given that
name by the Tanners. His real name is Gordon Shumway
and he is from the planet Melmac. ALF was such a bit
hit that two Saturday morning cartoons were created
starring ALF in 1987. The ALF sitcom won a People’s
Choice Award in 1986 for Favorite New Comedy Series.
Memorable Episodes / Notable Guest Stars:
Some famous ALF season one episodes include the “ALF
Pilot,” “Looking for Lucky,” “Pennsylvania 6-5000,”
the one-hour “Try to Remember,” and “La Cucaracha.”
Famous guest stars include Harry Shearer
(“Pennsylvania 6-5000”), Meshach Taylor (“Pennsylvania
6-5000”), Mary Jo Catlett (“Keeping the Faith”), and
Anne Meara (recurring).
Packaging:
The packaging is pretty nice. The box cover is in
blue with stars and ALF in the center. The ALF logo
is in red. The back of the box lists the special
features, a brief synopsis of the show, four ALF
Facts, and ALF season one credits. There is also a
photo of ALF in his full body with a rose in his mouth
while holding the DVD set! The case also has the same
cover as the box and the same back as the box. They
should have made it different, but no biggie. Inside
the case of course are the 4 discs and also an episode
index sheet. The episode index sheet lists what
episodes are on each disc with episode titles, and who
wrote and directed the episode. It also features two
quotes from ALF!
All the discs are in the blue color scheme and have
the ALF logo in red with the words season one in light
blue. Disc one has ALF’s face, similar to the cover,
with a shot of a planet on the far left. It also
mentions that disc one contains episodes 1-7. Disc
two has ALF’s body with a rose in his mouth, similar
to the back cover except he isn’t holding the DVD set.
Disc two has episodes 8-14. Disc three has ALF in a
red Hawaiian shirt pointing to the sky. Disc three
features episodes 15-21. Disc four has a tough
looking ALF with a gold chain and a silver chain
representing a dollar sign, something out of the
closet of Mr. T. Disc four has episodes 22-25 (really
26, since a 2-part episode is counted as one). The
case is two sided and has 2 discs on each side.
Menu Design and Navigation:
The menu screens are the best ever! I REALLY mean
that. ALF himself hosts the menu screens! They are
very interactive. ALF tells you a story then tells
you to pick something from the menu screen. This is
fun to watch. I spent over 10 minutes just watching
him on the menu screen. Each disc has a different
menu screen, with ALF saying different things. When
you select the episodes option, you go to a screen
with all the episodes listed. There is a play icon, a
photo from the episode, and a question mark icon.
When you click on the question mark, ALF gives you a
brief video synopsis of the episode—in his own words!
ALF was really involved in this DVD, it seems! On
disc four when you click on special features, it takes
you to the special features screen. ALF does another
skit and then reads you the options on the menu
screen, and waits for you to pick something. He
actually does wait for you, though, he sounds pissed
if you take long. The special features menu has
“Unaired Pilot,” Gag Reel,” “Trivia Facts,” and
“Credits.” The credits are the credits for the DVD.
Who was involved, etc. There is no scene selection
screen for each episode, but there are chapters on
each episode, which you can use with your remote. I
think there are about 4-6 chapters or so.
Video and Audio Quality:
The video and audio look decent. The set is newly
remastered, so you can tell how crisp the video looks
and how the audio sounds. The audio is in 2.0 Dolby
Digital Surround. I didn’t find any faults in the
audio or video. All the episodes look good, but one
question I can’t figure out is, why are all the
episodes between 20-22 minutes in length? I hope they
are not syndication prints. The unaired pilot is the
longest in duration out of anything on this set. So
something is wrong. I can’t prove anything unless I
have some original episodes to compare, but I don’t.
ALF himself was involved on this set, so I hope he is
aware of this. I’m sure he wouldn’t let fans see
edited episodes? Anyway, just buy the set and see
yourself.
Special Features:
The special features are pretty nifty and they are all
located on disc four. The first one is great. It is
the unaired pilot. It runs about 23:50 in length. I
don’t want to give anything away, but the actors are
all the same from the aired pilot. The plot is
basically the same, but the first about 6-7 minutes is
different from the aired pilot. The unaired pilot
doesn’t look back on how they got ALF; instead it is
actually the day they got ALF. You’ll see what I mean
when you watch it. The second feature is the
Gag/Outtakes Reel. The quality on these is not that
great, but it is very watch able. There is a running
time clock on the bloopers, so they are for sure taken
from a reel. The bloopers run just under 7 minutes in
duration, I believe. ALF is hilarious in it. A must
see! The third feature is ALF Trivia Facts. It is in
text form and contains some useful information that
you might have not known. Some info from there could
be obvious to you, such as what ALF stands for. Then
there is a credits section, so fans can see who was
involved in the making of this set.
Final Comments:
I really liked this set. The menu screens were really
energetic and nice to watch. The special features
were decent, as well. I hope we get all seasons on
DVD very soon. I’d like to see some episodes of the
two animated series as extras on future releases. Of
course, more bloopers would be nice. ALF should do
commentary or interviews, too. Though, he was great
on the menu screens on this set. Something very
different and no other set that I am aware of has ever
done. Interviews with the cast would be great for
future sets as well. So, I do recommend you buying
the DVD, but don’t put it near any cats! Haaaaaa!!!!
Final Numbers (out of 5 stars):
Video quality: 4.7/5
Audio quality: 4.7/5
Special Features: 4.5/5
Menu Design/Navigation: 5/5
Overall: 4.7/5
-- Reviewed by pavanbadal on 07/30/04
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