http://www.tvshows.de/alf/images/cast2/john3.jpg

We spoke to "ALF" co-star John LaMotta -- who played the nosy neighbor -- ... he did tell us, "I thought the show "ALF" was a piece of sh*t ... worst work I ever did."


http://www.tmz.com/2010/12/27/alfs-n-bomb-80s-television-politically-correct-john-lamotta-steve-lamar-producer-defend/

you mean he was in other things? LOL

He is best known for that role in ALF. I don't get why he doesn't like it. The show was a sucess and lot opf people loves it.

I'm sick and tired of all these former stars trashing the shows that made them famous. If they don't have anything nice to say then shut up. Alf was a success. It even gathered some good reviews. People today even look fondly on the show. I'm sorry the cast had an awful time making the show but if they don't have anything nice to say then they should remain quiet.

I think the cast is just angry that a puppet got top billing on the show. But after all he was the title character. Like others have said for most of the cast this was the highest profile role they ever had (and probably the biggest paycheck). They should be grateful for the experience and not badmouth it.

Yes, ALF was the main character of the show, and the other cast agreed to make it. ALF is an icon of the 1980's.

I barely remember this guy who's bashing the show, but I sure remember A.L.F.

That should say something right there.

It does.

I barely remember this guy who's bashing the show, but I sure remember A.L.F.

That should say something right there.
Yea at least his tv wife went on to do Seinfeld. lol

I think the cast is just angry that a puppet got top billing on the show. But after all he was the title character. Like others have said for most of the cast this was the highest profile role they ever had (and probably the biggest paycheck). They should be grateful for the experience and not badmouth it.


ditto :wave:

I don't even see why he'd have such a problem on the show since he never interfaced with ALF himself and therefore wouldn't have such a hard time working on the show unlike the actors that had to work with ALF.

Yea at least his tv wife went on to do Seinfeld. lol

Exactly!! :D

I'm sorry, but the "piece of sh*t" reference is funny.:lol:

I have read articles in the past about ALF, with most of the cast members having the same feelings about the show as this guy. One issue was that the stage (mainly the family living room) had trap doors under the floors. This is how the puppet worked. Because of the puppet, the show took longer to do and more takes were required.

The father of the show, Max Wright hated ALF and supposedly left after the last taping and never looked back. The girl who played the daughter became anorexic but is now recovered and out of show business, as well as the boy who played the younger brother.

I agree with him.
But those piece of sh*t shows seem to be what people want .

I'm sorry, but the "piece of sh*t" reference is funny.:lol:

I have read articles in the past about ALF, with most of the cast members having the same feelings about the show as this guy. One issue was that the stage (mainly the family living room) had trap doors under the floors. This is how the puppet worked. Because of the puppet, the show took longer to do and more takes were required.

The father of the show, Max Wright hated ALF and supposedly left after the last taping and never looked back. The girl who played the daughter became anorexic but is now recovered and out of show business, as well as the boy who played the younger brother.
What's so funny about it?

The article you're referring to was a People Magazine article, BTW.

Not to be offensive. I can just see this barely seen character actor with his burley Northeastern accent, deride a show that went off the air almost 25 years ago as a "piece of doodoo."

The man has his opinions, and everyone has one.

If you asked Max Wright, he would say the same thing, having to play second fiddle to a muppet, in a show that was more difficult and demanding to make than most sitcoms. Wright did the last take, picked up his belongings, hit the door and didn't say goodbye, kiss my rear-end or anything.

The other actors have expressed the same feelings, although they have a more positive experience about the show.

If he doesn"t have anything nice to say than he shouldn't say anything. It might have been an experience working on that show. I don't know. The actors say it was so I'll have to agree with them. But the show itself was a fun show that critics liked as did the public. The show was a top 20 hit during much of its run. The only Alf actors that have done anything since the show left the air was Liz Sheridan who had a bit part on Seinfeld and Max Wright who was great on the underrated Norm. I haven't heard about any of the other stars in years. The only time they make headlines is when they diss the show. It sounds like sour grapes to me. It's too bad that John LaMotta didn't have a better career post Alf. On the other hand he wasn't that great of an actor on Alf as it was.

Of course Max has been in the headlines a few times most notably for his string of dui arrests and the Crack smoking incident.

Of course Max has been in the headlines a few times most notably for his string of dui arrests and the Crack smoking incident.

Poor Alf drank, drugged, whored and partied all of his money away too. Other people in the industry like Kermit the Frog tried to set him right path and Alf even went to some AA meetings (with Bob from Soap as a sponsor) but Alf was too far gone. Not even NBC or Charlie Sheen will return his calls.

Now he begs for quarters on the Sunset Strip.

If you asked Max Wright, he would say the same thing, having to play second fiddle to a muppet, in a show that was more difficult and demanding to make than most sitcoms. Wright did the last take, picked up his belongings, hit the door and didn't say goodbye, kiss my rear-end or anything.
Exactly how do you know he feels the show is a piece of ****? Just because he had a hard time working on it hardly means he thought the actual show was garbage. Big difference.

The other actors have expressed the same feelings, although they have a more positive experience about the show.
Actually they seem to be on the same page as Wright, though he did look back at the show and what it did somewhat positively:

"It doesn't matter what I felt or what the days were like," Wright says now. "ALF brought people a lot of joy. They adored it."

Could have been worse. He could have had to work on a Sherwood Schwartz series!

I really don't understand why people like Max Wright were upset over the idea that ALF got all of the funny lines. I mean, ALF for all intents and purposes, was the show and the de facto star (the show afterall was called ALF, not The Max Wright Show or Meet the Tanners). Rowdy C on TV Trash (who says that ALF was his favorite TV show growing up) compared it to the human actors on Sesame Street complaining about Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch outshining them.

max wright is a kickass actor



too bad he's got some real demons in his personal life (picking up homeless dudes for gay sex & crack smoking)

Max Wright did all that stuff. I didn't know he did crack or had DUI's. Wow, that's pretty shocking. Doesn't really seem like that type of guy.

As far as calling the show garbage, hey, if it makes you a lot of money, what do you care? I think John is still getting paid because the show is on The Hub and don't you get royalities if the show airs?

As far as the girl, I didn't know she had an eating disorder. Thats really too bad. I thought she was good on the show.

I find it rude that Max Wright just went to his dressing room after the final taping, grabbed his stuff, hit the door, and didn't look back. You just spent 4 years with a small intimate group of actors as your second family; don't you think it would be nice to at least give a closure "goodbye" to them after the final scene?


I agree with him.
But those piece of sh*t shows seem to be what people want .

It's hard to imagine anyone would find a show with great writing and great casting/acting to be that bad. This show still holds up well today.

Now, something like Small Wonder, on the other hand...

It's also a shame that John What's-his-name felt that way (he's so unknown, unlike Liz Sheridan, that it's hard remembering his name, lol). He did a great job in his appearances as Trevor.

I find it rude that Max Wright just went to his dressing room after the final taping, grabbed his stuff, hit the door, and didn't look back. You just spent 4 years with a small intimate group of actors as your second family; don't you think it would be nice to at least give a closure "goodbye" to them after the final scene?




It's hard to imagine anyone would find a show with great writing and great casting/acting to be that bad. This show still holds up well today.

Now, something like Small Wonder, on the other hand...

It's also a shame that John What's-his-name felt that way (he's so unknown, unlike Liz Sheridan, that it's hard remembering his name, lol). He did a great job in his appearances as Trevor.

I'm willing to give Max Wright a small benefit of the doubt giving how absolutely grueling it was to make ALF. And plus, it had to have been a blow to one's ego to essentially play the straight-man and always play the subordinate to a puppet. Would it have been nice and the "right thing" to do to say goodbye to everybody (granted, at the time, it wasn't at all certain that NBC was going to cancel the show after the 1989-90), of course.

It's hard to imagine anyone would find a show with great writing and great casting/acting to be that bad. This show still holds up well today.

Now, something like Small Wonder, on the other hand...


:lol: So true!

I'm willing to give Max Wright a small benefit of the doubt giving how absolutely grueling it was to make ALF. And plus, it had to have been a blow to one's ego to essentially play the straight-man and always play the subordinate to a puppet.

True about the tough production, but even so, Paul Fusco says "the actors were paid a significant amount of money". Hopefully though that means more than fellow actors on comparable shows so that at least that would be a cushion to them.

I can't give him the ego thing though. They knew it was centering on Alf himself, and Max did such a damn great job as Willie, that he's very memorable from the show. He really made a lasting impact. He may have been the straight man, but he was a very funny straight man. I'm binging on the DVDs now and I vividly remember his tone, speech patterns, mannerisms, and brilliant and hilarious reactions to Alf that I remembered entertaining me 30 years ago.


Would it have been nice and the "right thing" to do to say goodbye to everybody (granted, at the time, it wasn't at all certain that NBC was going to cancel the show after the 1989-90), of course.

Hmm, well, the way Anne Schedeen says it in the People article from 2006, she is talking about the last night of filming as though they knew it was their last show. It would be interesting to know the exact details of when NBC decided to axe Alf.

I find it rude that Max Wright just went to his dressing room after the final taping, grabbed his stuff, hit the door, and didn't look back. You just spent 4 years with a small intimate group of actors as your second family; don't you think it would be nice to at least give a closure "goodbye" to them after the final scene?

Maybe Max was just fixin' to score some crack and man sex?

It does not surprise me since as I understand it the situation on the set was very bad! According to the Actress who played Kate in an interview a few years ago the kids were great but the other actors questionable. Further the set up of the set made matters worse

I agree with him.
But those piece of sh*t shows seem to be what people want .

I'm right there with you.

i found out he passed away on 2014 not sure of what may he rip.

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0483767/

i found out he passed away on 2014 not sure of what may he rip.

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0483767/

The joke is on him. He is best remembered for his role on ALF. Looks like he did absolutely nothing notable in his final 25 years

The joke is on him. He is best remembered for his role on ALF. Looks like he did absolutely nothing notable in his final 25 years
Well he was more of a character actor having steady gigs in various TV and movies.

You know I never watched Alf and I this co-star I guess can choose to hate whatever work he has been involved in, but I can tell you all one thing though I bet he cashed every single check that came from this show Alf. I bet he loved that part of it. Actors like steady work and from the header this show was on the air for 4 seasons.

ALF as a show probably doesn't hold up very well because ALF was surrounded by a bland and boring supporting cast. I don't know if that was intentionally by design, but it appears that little if any effort was made to write jokes for them.

In fact, the actors themselves such as Max Wright, complained that ALF always got all of the punchlines and was the only one who was allowed to be funny while the Tanners and other human characters were merely the straight-people.

And most of the humor in itself seemed to just that ALF an alien, so you don’t need an actual character. All really ALF is as a character when you get right down to it, is a wisecracking louse, who just so happens to be an extraterrestrial. You can't really live and die on that alone if you want your sitcom to have a strong shelf-live.