Greetings From Melmac: ALF Creator Paul Fusco on His Star Alien and Potential Comebac

[Brian Damage]

** ALF in Space **

Paul Fusco was promised a TV movie by NBC in order to tie up ALF’s storyline, a consolation for not getting a fifth season. But when Tartikoff went to run Paramount Pictures, he lost a major ally, and with him went any chance of making the film.

“I remember having breakfast with Tartikoff, and he actually told me he regretted it,” Fusco remembers. “He said, ‘I gotta tell you something: It was a big mistake that we canceled your show, because you guys had at least one or two more seasons left.’”

Ultimately, ABC came calling, aware that the Peacock hadn’t lived up to its promise. They had a Movie of the Week slot to offer, which would become Project: ALF; it acted as the repository for those military base storylines, including Martin Sheen as a decorated officer working to incinerate the Melmacian interloper.

The TV film would be ALF’s final feature performance for eight years. Fusco took him on special appearances -- he featured in a run of collect-call number 10-10-220 commercials, guested on an episode of The Love Boat, appeared in a spot on Good Morning America and another on The Cindy Margolis Show -- but it took until 2004 for ALF to get another series order.

It was a TV Land talker called, ironically, ALF’s Hit Talk Show, and featured the furry alien cracking jokes behind a desk with McMahon by his side, as co-host.

"We just thought it would be campy that ALF chose Ed McMahon because Ed did it for Johnny," Fusco laughs. "ALF’s just as good as Johnny, so he said, ‘You’re coming to work for me now.’ We thought it would be nostalgic at the same time, and Ed was like the nicest guy in the world."

From the start though, the concept got twisted.

“Originally the concept of it was, it’s TV Land, if you’re going to do a talk show, it would be great to bring on people from TV Land, not current stars, but people who were in shows over the years. And that’s how we pitched the story, pitched the idea,” he says.

The network wanted more current guests, against which Fusco protested -- “We tried to explain to them that it’s TV Land and it’s going to be very hard; you’re not going to get Brad Pitt” -- but the brass insisted. They ended up recruiting guests such as Tom Green, a pre-Breaking Bad Bryan Cranston, Tom Arnold, Drew Carey, Doris Roberts and Merv Griffin (with whom ALF got to sing a duet).

The show lasted only eight episodes, the minimum order from the golden oldies network.

And so it went, back to special appearances from time to time, most of which are pitched to Fusco. He's picky about where he brings the character -- most aren't the right fit, he says -- and ALF has popped up in recent years in some unlikely places, including Bill O'Reilly's Fox News program (which edited out the best bits of the interview, he says) and Larry King's show on CNN.

"I just love the idea of people flipping through the channels and seeing ALF on Larry King and saying, ‘What the hell is he doing on Larry King?’ " Fusco laughs, embracing the insanity of cable news. "You just never know where he’s going to show up, and I kind of like that. In the most unexpected place, you’ll see ALF. That to me is a lot of fun."

They're all treats for the serious ALF devotees, who have powered a series of fan sites that have cropped up over the past few years. Although rough in design, they evidence impressive dedication to the character, boasting the most minute trivia about the original series and full-on episode guides that offer the perfect example of the possibilities of an endless Internet and boundless niche enthusiasm.

Fusco has quite a bit of communication with a few of the sites, especially ALFtv.com, but not even he was aware of the fledgling viral campaign to have ALF win the presidential election this November.

He’s not surprised, though; he still receives fan letters to this day, including one that told the story of a fan who was risen from a coma after his family pressed play on a few taped episodes in his hospital room.

** ALF’s Comeback **

In the meantime, Fusco has worked on a series of TV specials and pilots, though none has taken off like his alien series; ALF is clearly his reason for being in Hollywood, his creative mission. And Fusco doesn't resent that, either; the experience and fan feedback clearly thrills him to this day, so much so that he's making another go at it.

After spending the better part of the past four years formulating ideas and trying to put together the right team, Fusco will be pitching an ALF feature film to a major studio, and he has high hopes for its potential.

“I think the timing is right. That’s a big important thing, timing,” he says, quite confident in his prediction. “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.”

As for the plot, it’s clear that the concept would need an update -- a multicamera, housebound sitcom doesn’t quite translate on the big screen, especially 25 years later -- but that’s the part that excites Fusco the most.

“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 says. “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.”



http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/new...-melmac-327330

[hawkeye123]

Originally Posted by Brian Damage

** ALF in Space **

Paul Fusco was promised a TV movie by NBC in order to tie up ALF’s storyline, a consolation for not getting a fifth season. But when Tartikoff went to run Paramount Pictures, he lost a major ally, and with him went any chance of making the film.

“I remember having breakfast with Tartikoff, and he actually told me he regretted it,” Fusco remembers. “He said, ‘I gotta tell you something: It was a big mistake that we canceled your show, because you guys had at least one or two more seasons left.’”

Ultimately, ABC came calling, aware that the Peacock hadn’t lived up to its promise. They had a Movie of the Week slot to offer, which would become Project: ALF; it acted as the repository for those military base storylines, including Martin Sheen as a decorated officer working to incinerate the Melmacian interloper.

The TV film would be ALF’s final feature performance for eight years. Fusco took him on special appearances -- he featured in a run of collect-call number 10-10-220 commercials, guested on an episode of The Love Boat, appeared in a spot on Good Morning America and another on The Cindy Margolis Show -- but it took until 2004 for ALF to get another series order.

It was a TV Land talker called, ironically, ALF’s Hit Talk Show, and featured the furry alien cracking jokes behind a desk with McMahon by his side, as co-host.

"We just thought it would be campy that ALF chose Ed McMahon because Ed did it for Johnny," Fusco laughs. "ALF’s just as good as Johnny, so he said, ‘You’re coming to work for me now.’ We thought it would be nostalgic at the same time, and Ed was like the nicest guy in the world."

From the start though, the concept got twisted.

“Originally the concept of it was, it’s TV Land, if you’re going to do a talk show, it would be great to bring on people from TV Land, not current stars, but people who were in shows over the years. And that’s how we pitched the story, pitched the idea,” he says.

The network wanted more current guests, against which Fusco protested -- “We tried to explain to them that it’s TV Land and it’s going to be very hard; you’re not going to get Brad Pitt” -- but the brass insisted. They ended up recruiting guests such as Tom Green, a pre-Breaking Bad Bryan Cranston, Tom Arnold, Drew Carey, Doris Roberts and Merv Griffin (with whom ALF got to sing a duet).

The show lasted only eight episodes, the minimum order from the golden oldies network.

And so it went, back to special appearances from time to time, most of which are pitched to Fusco. He's picky about where he brings the character -- most aren't the right fit, he says -- and ALF has popped up in recent years in some unlikely places, including Bill O'Reilly's Fox News program (which edited out the best bits of the interview, he says) and Larry King's show on CNN.

"I just love the idea of people flipping through the channels and seeing ALF on Larry King and saying, ‘What the hell is he doing on Larry King?’ " Fusco laughs, embracing the insanity of cable news. "You just never know where he’s going to show up, and I kind of like that. In the most unexpected place, you’ll see ALF. That to me is a lot of fun."

They're all treats for the serious ALF devotees, who have powered a series of fan sites that have cropped up over the past few years. Although rough in design, they evidence impressive dedication to the character, boasting the most minute trivia about the original series and full-on episode guides that offer the perfect example of the possibilities of an endless Internet and boundless niche enthusiasm.

Fusco has quite a bit of communication with a few of the sites, especially ALFtv.com, but not even he was aware of the fledgling viral campaign to have ALF win the presidential election this November.

He’s not surprised, though; he still receives fan letters to this day, including one that told the story of a fan who was risen from a coma after his family pressed play on a few taped episodes in his hospital room.

** ALF’s Comeback **

In the meantime, Fusco has worked on a series of TV specials and pilots, though none has taken off like his alien series; ALF is clearly his reason for being in Hollywood, his creative mission. And Fusco doesn't resent that, either; the experience and fan feedback clearly thrills him to this day, so much so that he's making another go at it.

After spending the better part of the past four years formulating ideas and trying to put together the right team, Fusco will be pitching an ALF feature film to a major studio, and he has high hopes for its potential.

“I think the timing is right. That’s a big important thing, timing,” he says, quite confident in his prediction. “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.”

As for the plot, it’s clear that the concept would need an update -- a multicamera, housebound sitcom doesn’t quite translate on the big screen, especially 25 years later -- but that’s the part that excites Fusco the most.

“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 says. “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.”



http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/new...-melmac-327330

Thanks for sharing.I thought Alf should of gone on awhile longer myself.But why not just make a movie now? I'd go see it.