ALF Reviews: “Tonight, Tonight: Part 2” (season 3, episode 5)

We ended last week on a riveting cliffhanger: would ALF really devote an entire second episode to showing clips of itself?

Well, breathe easy, dear reader. The answer is yes!

Of course, we can’t hold this against “Tonight, Tonight.” As I mentioned in the last review, this originally aired as a one-hour special. While one hour of continuous ALF clips sounds very much like my own personal hell, it’s not quite as self-indulgent as airing two half-hours of clips on back to back weeks. We also can’t hold it against “Tonight, Tonight” that this particular clip show opens with a recap of last week’s clip show. As fucking bizarre as that is, it’s a quirk of breaking it into time-slot friendly chunks for syndication. I’ll save my venom for the stuff the show actually does wrong, rather than the wrong that gets done to it down the line.

After a reprise of last week’s telephone chat with Johnny Carson, ALF attempts to console the legendary talk show host by offering to spend a night in a hot tub with him. So…that happens. (And I have a revised vision of my own personal hell.)

Again, we don’t hear Carson’s voice, which is fully expected in one way (God knows he was well above this shit), and yet really strange in another…but that observation won’t make sense until later, so I’ll get to it then.

Anyway, Ed McMahon’s first line in the episode is “You’re in big trouble, mister,” because he mistakenly believed he agreed to guest star in that show starring the more famous Tanners. ALF tells him to go fuck himself and then shows five full minutes of clips. Wow, we really blasted right through the episode, didn’t we?

ALF, "Tonight, Tonight (Part 1)"

This string of clips includes one I’ve never seen before. It’s obviously an outtake, because Brian is smiling, but other than that I have no idea what I’m looking at.

ALF pulls on a rope or something while Kate screams at him to stop. He doesn’t, which is hilarious to the recorded sounds of laughing dead people. Then some plaster falls on the table while she holds her son close, resigning herself to the fact that every one of them will die in this house.

I have no idea what episode that clip is from. When I reviewed season one I was stuck using syndication edits, but since then the episodes have been uncut. Maybe it’s something that was trimmed from a season one episode, or maybe it’s yet another case of an ALF clip show “reminding” us of something that hasn’t even aired yet. Guess where I’m laying my bet.

Then we’re back on the set of The Tonight Show, and ALF says he needs to go somewhere. He asks Ed to take over hosting duties, but thinks better of it when he realizes that he can just show clips of himself instead. That way nobody has to stand around asking, “Where’s Poochie?”

There’s a theme to this set of clips, too. “ALF leaving the room.”

No, I’m not joking. We really do get a string of clips that show ALF traveling from one room to the other.

Close your eyes, take a deep breath, and then answer honestly: did this shit really need to be one hour?

ALF, "Tonight, Tonight (Part 1)"

We come back, but ALF isn’t there. Fred De Cordova takes a seat so that he can respect sitcom blocking limitations and asks where ALF went.

“Who cares?” Ed McMahon replies. “At least he’s gone.”

Man, who would have guessed Ed McMahon would turn out to be my soul mate?

Fred’s raising a valid question, but it’s not the question I’m raising. See, I’d prefer to know why the fuck this is still airing. In their universe, The Tonight Show seems to be treated like a live program. I’m willing to accept that as an explanation of why ALF manages to get away with a bit more than he should.

I’m not, however, willing to accept that as an explanation of why they let him go apeshit on their stage for a solid hour in front of a national audience.

I know it’s not good form to interrupt live programming and replace it with something else. You really shouldn’t do it unless there’s some kind of exceptional reason to, but I guess I’m old fashioned because I’d consider a space alien wrecking up the place to fit that definition just fine.

Fred De Cordova shouldn’t be asking where ALF went. He should already have shut down production, and viewers at home should be halfway into a classic Carson rerun.

The number one rule of live television isn’t “don’t stop.” That might be rule number two. Rule number one, however, is don’t, under any circumstances, broadcast a live waste of everybody’s time.

You either need to admit defeat and abandon The Tonight Show with Gordon Shumway, or you need to stab ALF in the brain with a screwdriver and let Ed McMahon take over for the duration.

Anyway, we find out where ALF is and…

ALF, "Tonight, Tonight (Part 1)"

I don’t know what this is.

I don’t.

I have no motherfucking clue what the motherfuck I’m looking at.

I’m broken. ALF broke me. I’ve lost all faith in humanity and want to cry.

I assume this is some kind of stolen Carson bit. I’m also assuming, like “Melmac the Magnificent,” there’s no twist given to the original material at all. Paul Fusco must have a motivational poster on his wall that reads IMITATION IS THE HIGHEST FORM OF PUPPETRY.

I’m assuming there’s no twist because nothing in this sequence has anything to do with ALF, ALF, Melmac, or anything else specific to the character. And I’m assuming it’s a pre-existing Carson bit because ALF does a very obvious vocal impression of him while he sells vitamins or who the fuck fucking fuck fuck.

There is an attractive blonde (the screen grab doesn’t do her justice, I promise) who gets to stand there while ALF insults her repeatedly until the skit ends, at which point she’s required to rub him while he quivers with sexual excitement. It’s quality television.

I don’t have any idea who this woman is, but for fuck’s sake almighty she earned her paycheck.

ALF, "Tonight, Tonight (Part 1)"

Then we get a commercial break, with one of those illustrated title cards. It’s ALF as the Statue of Liberty, reminding you that there is no God. It’s also a near-exact copy of a title card from the previous episode, and a near-exact reprise of the Mt. Rushmore gag we see in a clip from “Hail to the Chief.” Even by clip show standards, this is some lazy-ass bullshit.

Back in host-mode, ALF calls Ed McMahon “Edipus.” That’s sure to lead to some interesting explanations from the parents of the kids watching at home.

Then he introduces another set of clips and…well, I’ve got to be honest: I like them.

No, I do. I mean it.

They’re clips of ALF reciting a bunch of my Melmac Facts, and that actually works.

See, Melmac lore* is far from important to the show, but it adds a lot of flavor. New viewers may enjoy having this unfamiliar culture fleshed out for them, and current fans may enjoy the reminders of all the little details they’ve forgotten. It’s a condensed history of a civilization that makes up a huge, largely-unspoken part of ALF’s background…and which we’ve never seen, outside of a single scene in “Help Me, Rhonda.”

This is one of the very, very few things that actually deserves to be recapped. What’s more…they’re actually funny. Unlike most clips — which are obviously carved from a larger storyline and therefore feel out of place — these work perfectly well in isolation. They’re setup and punchline in one, not weighed down by their original contexts in the show and perfectly suited to being parceled out.

In one of the clips, ALF says, “On Melmac, some guy called me a snitch just because I turned him in to the Secret Police.” That’s a damned solid line, and it doesn’t matter what episode it comes from.**

By no means am I arguing that ALF needed a clip show, but I will say that as long as ALF is doing a clip show, this is exactly the sort of thing it should contain. Especially when the alternative is clips of ALF falling off of things and burping.

ALF, "Tonight, Tonight (Part 1)"

Shockingly, this perfectly-good series of clips is followed by the framing story’s first legitimately funny moment.

Ed McMahon informs ALF that their next guest, Pope John Paul II, is waiting backstage. ALF says, “Great! Let’s bring him out!”

To the strains of Ave Maria, the curtains part to reveal His Holiness.

At which point ALF says, “…right after I play these clips,” and the curtain falls right back in the pope’s face.

It’s an easy visual gag, but it’s perfectly timed. It works because it has exactly the right rhythm. It’s also a great, absurd way to parody the conventions of the talk show format…which is what a better sitcom would have been doing all along, rather than having its lead character buy right into it with no interesting spin whatsoever.

A moment like this belongs…well, it belongs in a comedy. What does it say about “Tonight, Tonight” that this qualifies as an exception? Well, it says what it’s been saying all along: this isn’t a comedy. It’s Paul Fusco’s late night pitch package.

ALF, "Tonight, Tonight (Part 1)"

Very strangely, this selection of clips includes one of ALF murdering Willie’s uncle. Is that really something that needs to be spotlighted? Is causing the death of a nice old man truly one of ALF’s most beloved moments?

How strange.

Rich Little*** then shows up on the set of The Tonight Show because Carson called him and asked him to go take over from ALF. I’m sure glad Johnny gave a shit about the fact that they’re broadcasting this trainwreck live, because nobody else working on it seemed to.

But, of course, Rich doesn’t take over. He just shows off his Johnny Carson impression for a few lines and steps back so ALF can have the spotlight again.

ALF, "Tonight, Tonight (Part 1)"

…and this is why I’m confused by the fact that we didn’t hear Johnny on the phone earlier. If you’ve already paid Rich Little — and he’s already doing that impression in your episode — why not have him actually play Johnny in that conversation?

It’s weird that we have ALF doing a Carson impression, and then Little doing a Carson impression, but when Carson himself calls nobody is doing a Carson impression.

Maybe having Little-as-Little on the show instead of Little-as-Carson could have worked, but not just to trot him out and forget about him.

Perhaps Little could have done his Carson impression, just as he does here, followed immediately by ALF telling him that his impression sucks dick. Then the two of them could start competitively impersonating Johnny…kind of like Steve Coogan and Rob Bryden with their Michael Caine impressions in The Trip.****

But that would require Paul Fusco having to share the spotlight, and God fuckin’ forbid. Instead Little gets a few seconds to do his thing, and then we’re back to clips.

Jesus.

ALF, "Tonight, Tonight (Part 1)"

We get our final title card (mercy of small mercies), and then ALF says, “Let’s put it to a vote. Was this the best Tonight Show ever?”

The audience, of course, applauds wildly. See that, network executives? ALL THIS COULD BE YOURS

And that’s pretty much the end of the show. This half was far more clip-heavy than the first, which makes it feel lazier but also makes it a hell of a lot more watchable.

A friend pointed out to me last week that Fusco’s egotism is in overdrive here and, necessarily, in the “We Are Family” Late Night scene. After all, he doesn’t just make ALF the guest on a talk show — which certainly would have made a lot more sense in either context — he makes him the host. ALF isn’t just popular enough to be featured on great shows…in Fusco’s mind, ALF should be the great show. Not because he earned it, but because he’s ALF.

To Fusco, ALF is already “bigger” than his own show. He appears here not in a fantasy sequence or a dream or anything like that…he’s just ALF, the real-world celebrity. Notice who hasn’t been invited to this networking luncheon? That’s right…literally anybody else from the show ALF. By no means is ALF in this together with the Tanners. The moment he, and Fusco, can shed them, they will be shed.

ALF is a prefabricated icon, designed to be plugged into everything imaginable. That lousy sitcom that bears his name? That’s just one thing of many that he does…or will do. He’s destined for bigger things…not like those limited supporting players Max Wright, Anne Schedeen, Benji Gregory, or Andrea Elson. They should be glad to spend 80 hours a week in danger of breaking their spines for the honor of filming a show with him. They should be thanking him.

It says a lot that only ALF invites only himself to this hour-long celebration of ALF. The other actors could all have been killed in a bus accident (on their way, no doubt, to film on-location in the desert for “ALF’s Passable Passover”) and neither ALF nor Fusco would have been any worse for the loss. They were designed to be disposable.

In the comments for last week’s review, Casey reminded us that Kermit the Frog once hosted The Tonight Show. He was kind enough to leave a link, which I encourage you to click, but I confess I didn’t have the time to watch it between then and now.

I will, however, make a very confident assumption: it was a lot better than this.

ALF, "Tonight, Tonight (Part 1)"

Jim Henson was a skilled improvisor. He had to be; he worked with children an awful lot on Sesame Street. No matter how much you rehearse or write in advance, something is going to turn out differently than expected. Henson learned over the course of a long (but still far too short) career how to handle situations as they arose, and I can very easily see him making Kermit a fitting enough host for The Tonight Show.

Also worth noting, though, is that Henson was invited to perform Kermit as the host of that show. That, too, was the result of a career built on talent. Talent for comedy, talent for puppetry, talent for characterization. He advanced step by step through the entertainment world not because he forced it, but because there were people at every landing that recognized his talent and helped him forward.

Compare this, again, to the prefabricated nature of ALF. Kermit was invited to host The Tonight Show because The Tonight Show wanted him there; ALF was foisted upon The Tonight Show because Paul Fusco wanted him there.

But perhaps the most important difference is this: Kermit is a Muppet. ALF was just ALF. This meant that Kermit wasn’t some one-off oddity; he came with an entire world and culture behind him. And that world was populated by other Henson characters, as well as the characters of other performers. Kermit may well be the most famous Muppet, but if you ask 100 people about their favorite Muppet memories, you’re going to hear a lot about Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo, Cookie Monster, Bert and Ernie, Big Bird, Scooter, Oscar, Grover, Bunsen and Beaker, Rowlf, Statler and Waldorf…the list goes on.

Henson never wanted to be a celebrity as much as he wanted an outlet for his creativity. He wanted to experiment. He wanted to test his own boundaries. Sometimes, to be totally honest, he failed. But let me be totally honest once more when I say that that doesn’t matter. Henson is — and surely will be for a long time — loved, revered, and remembered. He was by all accounts a great man who cared about the work he did and inspired more lives and careers than we could ever hope to count. He didn’t want to rocket himself to stardom and spit on the people below; he wanted to take everyone along with him.

You know that scene at the end of The Muppet Movie? The one where they reprise “The Rainbow Connection” and we see a massive throng of Muppets crammed together, performing it? That was Henson’s idea of heaven. Everyone was there. Nobody was more important than anybody else. Everybody had something to be thankful for.

By contrast, you know those scenes that I recapped this week and last? The ones where ALF is the star and he gets off on bossing people around and pissing them off? That was Fusco’s idea of heaven.

I’ll end with one more very illustrative (in my humble opinion) difference between Fusco and Henson.

As I’ve mentioned before, Paul Fusco never wanted anyone to see ALF as a character, or a puppet. ALF was ALF. This caused Tina Fey no end of logistical headaches as a minor ALF appearance on the NBC Anniversary Special meant investing far too much planning in ways to get ALF into shot without anyone seeing that he wasn’t real. It also explains why in all of the ALF outtakes I’ve seen (yes, even the racially charged diatribes), Fusco stays in character as ALF; he doesn’t talk to his costars between takes, he talks to them through the puppet. Because ALF is real.

A few years ago, I read The Wisdom of Big Bird, which is an absolutely lovely little book by Caroll Spinney, who played and still plays that Muppet. He relayed a story that, at the time, struck me the same way it seemed to strike Caroll. I have to paraphrase, so I apologize for any details that I get wrong, but Caroll and Jim Henson were together in an office, talking about some issue or another on Sesame Street. Henson got up to get something, and in doing so he kicked the Ernie puppet out of the way. Caroll was aghast. Reading it, I was too. Caroll said, “You kicked Ernie.” And Jim Henson, flatly, said, “Caroll. It’s a puppet.”

Only now, seeing that as the polar opposite of Fusco’s attitude, does it make sense to me. Henson wasn’t being disrespectful to his creation. To us, yes, Ernie is a character, but to him, it’s a puppet. At least, it’s a puppet until he’s giving it life.

Ernie had no inherent right to popularity or success. He was a creation of felt, staples, and cloth. Whatever audiences saw in him (which was a lot, as evidenced by Caroll’s reaction to seeing him get kicked around) was not innate; it had to be brought about through hard work on Henson’s part.

In other words, Henson knew he had to earn everything. Ernie didn’t have to, Kermit didn’t have to, Guy Smiley didn’t have to. But Jim Henson had to. And the more he let himself remain aware of the fact that the puppets were nothing without his gift of life, the more invested he became in working hard to develop them, and to make them the enduring characters they still are today.

ALF didn’t endure. And ALF couldn’t endure. Because, as far as Paul Fusco was concerned, he was fine on his own.

There was no reason to work at it; ALF had a bright future ahead of him. It was just a question of getting him out there and letting it happen.

We all see where that got him.

—–
* No relation to Adam.
** “Hit Me With Your Best Shot,” though…just in case you were in danger of losing sleep.
*** I was curious about whether or not Rich Little was still alive. It turns out he is. In researching that fact, though, I discovered
Rich Little’s Christmas Carol. Forty five seconds of that garbage was enough to make me feel seasonal depression all over again. Look it up if you must…but know this: it’s so bad, even I am not cruel enough to include it in next year’s Xmas stream.
**** Or the same pair with their Al Pacino impressions in
Tristram Shandy. Both are highlights of their respective films.

16 thoughts on “ALF Reviews: “Tonight, Tonight: Part 2” (season 3, episode 5)”

  1. Answers to your questions: The Carson bit being parodied is Art Fern, and the woman is Teresa Ganzel.

    Absolutely love your thoughts on Jim Henson in comparison to Paul Fusco.

    1. Thanks! Now that I’ve looked up Art Fern, the very first clip I found reveals that ALF not only stole the idea for the bit, but stole specific jokes from it, word for word. Blaaaaaah.

      And Teresa Ganzel was in a lot of things that I’ve seen! I didn’t even realize that. Very glad to see she’s become a fairly regular Pixar voice actor, too.

  2. I’m having some difficulty researching this, but were they already trying to figure out who Carson’s replacement would be by the time this episode aired? Was this episode perhaps meant as ALF’s tongue-in-cheek audition to be the next Tonight Show host, and the joke got lost in the shadow of Paul Fusco’s ego?

    1. I…don’t think so. But someone who remembers better can absolutely correct me. It looks like Carson stepped down from the show in 1992, and this episode aired in 1988. It’s possible that Carson knew he’d leave the show four years before he actually did, but I don’t know that there was any kind of earnest search for a replacement so far in advance.

      That’s just guesswork on my part, though. Anyone who knows better, please chime in!

  3. This has nothing to do with ALF – but with Jim Henson. I created The Unofficial Captain N Home Page, a site dedicated to an NBC Saturday morning cartoon series (1989-1992), and it went up on February 27, 1997. On January 26, 2002, I interviewed Jeffrey Scott, the writer of the entire first season (thirteen episodes). Here’s what he has to say:

    Interesting story. I had written several series for Andy Heyward at DIC, and he asked me to write the Captain N series. It was my m.o. at the time to write entire series. I had been doing this, on and off, for about 13 years. So I agreed to do the series. But the Vice President of Childrens Programming at NBC, Phyllis Tucker-Vinson, somehow got the idea in her head that I wasn’t that great of a writer. She told Andy that all of my Muppet Babies scripts had to be rewritten. I wanted to write the series, but more importantly, I wanted to disabuse her of the idea that my Muppet Babies scripts were heavily rewritten. So I called Jim Henson, who was shooting a movie in London. It’s a testament to the quality of Jim’s character and kindness that he took the time to actually call Phyllis and set her straight about my contribution to Muppet Babies. The next day I got the job.

    1. That’s… Amazing? Admirable? Wonderful? I got that Jim Henson was a terrific guy but DAMN I have no idea what the appropriate word is for that. I saw a documentary on Kevin Clash – Elmo, for those who don’t know – and he consistently spoke of how great Henson was. Sometimes you get the impression that he was being overly appreciative since Elmo’s now such a huge deal and Clash wouldn’t wanna be taking the credit single handed, but I guess the truth is Jim Henson was just a really stand up guy.

  4. This has nothing to do with anything, but whatever writer decided that all of these episodes should be titled with song titles has either made it so I walk around humming that song for a week (Genesis, anyone?), or I end up running to Wikipedia and YouTube to find out what that week’s song is about (and no, the song never matches that week’s plot. That would make the writers *clever*). I guess it’s just some strange side effect of this show that I’m learning music trivia on the side.

    “We also can’t hold it against “Tonight, Tonight” that this particular clip show opens with a recap of last week’s clip show.”
    It’s cool. I’ll do it for you.

    “After a reprise of last week’s telephone chat with Johnny Carson, ALF attempts to console the legendary talk show host by offering to spend a night in a hot tub with him.”
    All I can think of is the poor dude who has to clean gobs of wet orange fur out of the filter later on. And the PTSD he’ll have for years afterward.

    “They’re clips of ALF reciting a bunch of my Melmac Facts, and that actually works.”
    I would watch that. The Melmac facts are some of the only interesting things about this show. Toss in the fact that ALF is about as reliable a narrator as the Chief from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and now we’re getting somewhere. “Is that actually true, or is he fucking with us?” Both work well.

    “ALF isn’t just popular enough to be featured on great shows…in Fusco’s mind, ALF should be the great show. Not because he earned it, but because he’s ALF.”
    ALF the sitcom was treated as a stepping stone to other things. Somebody gave Fusco a Christmas special, probably based on his talent, which is surprisingly solid. Then based on that shitty Christmas special, they gave him a sitcom. But he wanted a celebrity status that he could plug in anywhere, for any purpose, so he developed a half-assed alien puppet character that sort of fit that bill, and didn’t bother to develop any of the other characters, because he probably figured that it didn’t matter. It makes me wonder what his end-goal was. Sitcom, poorly-received talk show, cartoon show, products. All of the above? Dude was looking to make a Paris Hilton of the eighties, where he could hit a spectrum of projects to plug his puppet into. Those rarely have any kind of lasting impression, though, because when you ask yourself what you liked about that person, all you can say was, “Um, I had a t-shirt and some Happy Meal toys, and sometimes I would watch the show, but I don’t recall much of what it was about.” That’s pretty telling.

    1. The Melmac facts being the best thing about the show just goes to prove Phil’s point all the more. Use the fucking hook in your show, you morons! Suddenly, when the show’s about a fucking ALIEN from SPACE coming to terms with life on Earth, with a Human Family, the show picks up. But when it’s about “Crazy Old Uncle Pedobear” it’s complete garbage, and sadly that’s 99% of the time (might be being a bit generous there).

      1. I love “Crazy Old Uncle Pedobear” and even more because it’s an acronym for coup, which is essentially what ALF did to the Tanner house

        1. You caught up fast!

          …now that people are actually reading this crap, I guess I need to do a better job of publishing them on time.

  5. interesting thoughts on your comparison of jim henson to paul fusco. in many ways it seems paul just wanted to create a character that would make him lots of money rather then a character that be loved by all audiences that watched the show so he never really fleshed out as a well in depth character which is really a shame because ALF really could a great character. but also in a way the opposite can be said about him because he wanted to believe his character was real as possible and wanted his audience to believe that too, probably the reason why there never very much behind the scenes stuff on ALF because he thought if the audience saw ALF was just a puppet, it might kill the illusion that he is real. again, it kind of goes into the dark side of being really egoistic over your own creations and in a way it kind of backfired on him because he kind of forced his character to become popular and not just let it become popular on it’s own. paul wanted to rocket to being famous and didn’t care much if he had to step on the little people to get there. so really the sitcom was just a device in hopes of getting him there and for short while it did work out. in some way ALF can be seen as just a pop star of his time, you remember him being famous but don’t remember why and as time goes on can start to lose it’s relevance.
    still I can’t fault for what paul fusco was trying to do, everyone wants to be famous in some form or another and some have to try harder at it then others. i still don’t paul as that bad of a person, just someone when fame went to his head a little too quickly.

  6. man i can’t believe i haven’t heard of this blog sooner. discovered this site while surfing the net, and your reviews are brilliant. i used to watch ALF all the time as a child but aside from a few choice scenes i remember almost nothing about it. well, there was ALF, obviously, and the disposable family, but damn… the whole thing’s almost a complete blank. i didn’t even remember the ochmoneks before i started reading these reviews. don’t remember this episode either.

    fun fact: a friend of mine bought me ALF DVDs as gag gifts. never opened them, but i’m tempted to give some episodes a watch.

    1. Many thanks! I don’t remember if I mentioned it in the reviews, but I definitely didn’t remember the Ochmoneks either. So little of this show made an impression on me…even though I loved it. What a bizarre time to be a kid.

      Here’s hoping you stick around, kristin! Sorry it took you so long to find the blog, but there’s plenty of ALF left. :(

      1. But here’s the thing… what do you remember from ANY show that you watched as a kid? Because I don’t remember much of anything. I watched Dogtanian, I remember Pip, Juliet and the Muskerteers, as for the stories, no nothing. I vaguely remember Dogtanian fighting someone with a sword. Yet, I loved it as kid! Really, you could do this for anything! The A-Team, I remember the great theme song and a few catch phrases, oh and they usually built something out of nothing in most episodes. But that’s it!

        Okay, what about a modern acclaimed show – Breaking Bad! I remember the caravan, the meth (obviously), Jesse had a girlfriend who was a drug addict (Jessica Jones) and a scene where Walter is having a break down under a floor. Then there’s the guy in the wheelchair who rings a bell. But yeah, that’s about it!

        Most TV goes in one ear and out the other, which is why it’s such a waste of bloody time.

  7. One of the more disturbing things to contemplate about these two episodes: They present ALF as a raging egomaniac who ignores everyone else, makes no attempt to do his job with any degree of competence and instead engages in a prolonged masturbatory fantasy celebrating how wonderful he is.

    Did Paul Fusco really have so little self-awareness he didn’t realize….?

  8. “in all of the ALF outtakes I’ve seen (yes, even the racially charged diatribes), Fusco stays in character as ALF; he doesn’t talk to his costars between takes, he talks to them through the puppet. Because ALF is real.”

    It’s not true. Yes Fusco messed around with ALF between takes but there are outtakes where he’s apologising to Max, as Paul.

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