Info on ALF - Season Three:
DVD Release date: May 30, 2006 (Lionsgate Home Entertainment)
Color/1988-89
MSRP: $39.98
Number of Discs: 4
Number of Episodes: 27
Running Time: 550 minutes
Total Running Time for Special Features: n/a
Languages and subtitles: English, Closed Captioned.
Special Features: “Interactive Menus Hosted by ALF”
Info on ALF Animated Adventures - 20,000 Years in Driving School:
DVD Release date: May 30, 2006 (Lionsgate Home Entertainment)
Color/1987
MSRP: $14.98
Number of Discs: 1
Number of Episodes: 9
Running Time: 225 minutes
Total Running Time for Special Features: n/a
Languages and subtitles: English, Closed Captioned.
Special Features: None
Info on ALF Tales - ALF and the Beanstalk and Other Classic Fairy Tales:
DVD Release date: May 30, 2006 (Lionsgate Home Entertainment)
Color/1988
MSRP: $14.98
Number of Discs: 1
Number of Episodes: 7
Running Time: 175 minutes
Total Running Time for Special Features: n/a
Languages and subtitles: English, Closed Captioned.
Special Features: None
Introduction:
ALF is back on DVD with Season 3 The Syndicated
Version. We were all outraged when we found out that
Lionsgate used syndicated copies for season one, but
for seasons two and three they label it on the back of
the box (in semi-small print) that this is indeed a
syndicated version of seasons two and three. Anyhow,
the Tanner family is back on DVD with Willie (Max
Wright), Kate (Anne Schedeen), Lynn (Andrea Elson),
and Brian (Benji Gregory). The nosy neighbors the
Ochmoneks (Trevor and Raquel) are also back, 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 three DVD of ALF!
Also available are the first 9 episodes of ALF:
Animated Adventures and the first 7 episodes of
ALFTales both sold separately for $14.98 each. I will
talk about these two sets as well in this review. So
three reviews in one! Can’t beat that!
Memorable Episodes / Notable Guest Stars:
Some famous ALF season three episodes include
“Breaking Up is Hard to Do” where Trevor stays with
Tanners; the one-hour episode “Tonight, Tonight” where
ALF is the host of The Tonight Show; the two-part
episode “Turkey in the Straw” is the Thanksgiving
episode where the Alien Task Force come in; “Fight
Back” is where Willie goes on a consumer advocate
show; “Baby Love” where ALF learns he is allergic to
babies and starts sneezing like crazy; and “Running
Scared” is the one where ALF is being taken as an
illegal alien. Famous guest stars include Ed McMahon
(Himself), Fred De Cordova (Himself), Tommy Newsom
(Himself), Dr. Joyce Brothers (Herself), Joan Embrey
(Herself), Rich Little (Himself) all in “Tonight,
Tonight.” Other guests include David Ogden Stiers
(Flakey Pete) in “Turkey in the Straw,” Kathleen
Freeman (Betty Susla) in “Alone Again, Naturally,” and
Carla Gugino (Laura) in “Standing in the Shadows of
Love.”
The animated sets have the first episodes of the
respective series. ALF: The Animated Adventures set
has the first 9 episodes (there are 47 in total for
the series). ALFTales set has the first 7 episodes
(there are 21 in total for the series).
Packaging:
The packaging is pretty much the same as the first two
seasons for ALF. The box cover is in green this time
with little star like shapes and ALF with drinking an
ice cream milkshake with a cat inside. 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 three credits. There is also a
photo of ALF’s head peaking behind a picket fence
while holding the DVD set! The case also has the same
cover as the box and the same back as the box, like
last time. 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 discs this time are
not overlapping again, and are a little improvement
over season two. 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 green color scheme and have
the ALF logo in red with the words season three in
white. Disc one has ALF’s face 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 and 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 22-27.
Basically all of the photos on the discs are the same
as the previous sets. Each disc has its own holder.
Also inside the case we get a form saying if we buy
season three and either ALF Animated Adventures or ALF
Tales, we get $5 back! This form is also inside the
ALF animation sets.
Menu Design and Navigation:
The menu screens are probably the best thing about the
sitcom ALF DVD! ALF himself hosts the menu screens
again! They are very interactive. This is fun to
watch. Each disc has a different menu screen, with ALF
saying different things. This time ALF is the host of
a satellite radio show. Howard Stern even calls in
(not the real one of course). Just like it was on
previous sets, 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 again really
involved in this DVD, it seems! The 4th disc also has
a credits option, which is the credits for the DVD, on
who was involved basically on the menus and more.
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 5
chapters or so.
As for the animated sets, it is simple--a nice sky
blue background with the characters. The only options
are Play All and Episodes. There are chapter stops.
There is no music on the main menu screen.
Video and Audio Quality:
The video and audio look decent and expect the same as
you did for previous seasons. The set is newly
remastered, so you can tell how crisp the video looks
and how good the audio sounds. The audio is in 2.0
Dolby Digital Surround. I didn’t find any faults in
the audio or video. Each episode runs about 20:30 to
21:30 or so. There is one episode around 19 minutes
only. So, again, these episodes are of the syndicated
versions. It clearly says that on the back of the box.
The one-hour Tonight, Tonight episode clocks in at a
little over 39 minutes—so probably edited, too.
As for the animated sets, ALF Animated Adventures has
decent video and audio. The runtimes for the 9
episodes are: 22:21, 22:10, 21:37, 22:14, 19:00,
22:18, 22:24, 22:33 and 22:26. I’m not sure if they
are edited or not, but I think they might be
unedited—at least most of them. The first episode was
available on the Season 2 ALF set last summer. After
the closing credits, there are some logos: DiC logo
and Alien Productions logo ALF Tales also has decent
video and audio. The runtimes for the 7 episodes are:
24:41, 23:35, 22:29, 23:18, 22:11, 21:48, and 24:44.
As you can see they are all over the place. The first
episode was available on the Season 2 ALF set last
summer and didn’t have closing credits. It is the
same thing here but the rest of the episodes do have
closing credits, followed by a DiC logo and Alien
Productions logo.
Special Features:
There are no special features for season three other
than ALF hosting the menus. The animated sets also
have no extras.
Final Comments:
The set is decently done not counting of course the
syndicated prints. Again, Lionsgatee did explain to us
why they used those prints instead of the originals
(if you do not know, read here:
http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/newsitem.cfm?NewsID=2067).
And they do mention on the box that these are indeed
syndicated versions, but I am not happy getting edited
episodes, so my score again will be down. If you want
to watch ALL the episodes in their entirety, then I
guess this is not for you. ALF hosting the menu is fun
to watch though. The animated sets are good to have
and let’s hope they release every episode from both
series. ALF season four is still left. I hope we get
that by the end of the year, along with more animated
sets!
Final Numbers for ALF - Season Three (out of 5 stars - How our point system works)
Video Quality: 4.5/5
Audio Quality: 4/5
Special Features: 0/5
Menu Design/Navigation: 5/5
Overall: 3/5
Final Numbers for ALF Animated Sets (out of 5 stars - How our point system works)
Video Quality: 4/5
Audio Quality: 4/5
Special Features: 0/5
Menu Design/Navigation: 5/5
Overall: 4/5
-- Reviewed by pavanbadal on 05/26/06
To purchase ALF - Season Three, click below and help support SitcomsOnline.com:
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To purchase ALF Animated Adventures - 20,000 Years in Driving School, click below and help support SitcomsOnline.com:
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To purchase ALF Tales - ALF and the Beanstalk and Other Classic Family Tales, click below and help support SitcomsOnline.com:
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