Customer Reviews

ALF - Season Three

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I have been very tolerant with previous ALF releases. They have all contained syndicated episodes. I didn't care so much about the first season, because I just figured that since the show was no longer on TV, the DVDs were the only way to see the show.

Then the second season came out, again in syndication. I bought it because the show still was not on the air. Then I saw something shocking. During one of the episodes in the second season, there was music substituted, and the episode was shorter than I'd seen on TV Land. That was downright unacceptable.

So now we're at season three. Syndicated episodes again. This time one episode ran for under 19 minutes! I love ALF, and hate to see him get treated this way.

The episodes are all fantastic, and I'm still happy to own the DVDs, but the syndication thing has got to stop.

Unfortunately, this seems to be a recurring pattern with TV show box sets. The first season sets of both Roseanne and The Cosby Show were released in syndicated form. No studio in the world would ever dream of releasing edited movies, so why would so many want to release edited TV series? It's just wrong.

Season four will be out in September, or so I hear. I will probably buy it just to complete the set.

Again, Lionsgate plans to release the episodes in their syndicated format despite the anguish of longtime ALF fans such as myself. Will they ever learn?

The episodes synopeses are:

Stop in the Name of Love
Lynn goes on a date at a drive in theater but Alf is unknowingly in the car.

Stairway to Heaven
Alf has a dream that his guardian angel shows him an alternate life where he is head of a cosmetics company.

Breaking Up Is Hard to Do
Trevor ochmonk is kicked out of his house by his wife and stays with the Tanners

Tonight, Tonight
Alf Hosts the Tonight Show.

Promises, Promises
ALf and Lynn get in a fight when he tells Kate her parents that she is continuing to date a man they don't approve of.

Turkey in the Straw
The Tanners celebrate Thanksgiving with the Ochmoneks

Changes
Kate gets a job which is in jeapordy when she discovers she is pregnant.

My Back Pages
Willie has a dream that Alf was his roomate in college.

Alone Again, Naturally
After reading a tabloid, Alf thinks his cousin Blinky is living on Earth in Barstow.

Do You Believe In Magic
Alf gets a magician's kit and tries to perform tricks for the Tanners.

Hide Away
Willie's coworker spends the night at their home and he is being chased by some gangsters.

Fight Back
An uncreupulous auto mechanic is caught trying to gyp the Tanners.

Suspicious Minds
Alf thinks that a neighbor is Elvis Presley

Baby Love
A baby shower is held in anticipation for the Kate's baby

Running Scared
Alf gets a phone call from someone claiming he knows that Alf is an alien and tries to blackmail him.

Standing in the Shadows of Love
Jakes has a crush on a girl at school and Alf writes letters to her on Jakes behalf

Superstition
Alf accidentally burns a history book which causes bad luck on Melmac and he starts having bad luck

Torn Between Two Lovers
Lynn's boyfriend us unable to take her to a school dance so she invites someone else and her boyfriend gets jealous,

Funeral For a Friend
Alf gets an ant farm but accidentally kills them by leaving then on a windosill.

Don't Be Afraid of the Dark
Alf, Jake, and Brian camp out in the backyard

Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing in the Shadow?
Jake's mother visits but Jake is unhappy that this happens. When she steals a cameo brooch from Kate, Jake confronts her.

Like an Old Time Movie
Alf and Jake write a script for a silent film starring the Tanner family

Shake, Rattle & Roll
An earthquake hits and Alf then worries about other disasters that might harm him

Having My Baby
Alf is anxious to help Kate with the birth of her baby.

The show is good but is unfortunate that edited versions of the episodes are being released.

I do not want cut-up versions like these - do the job with respect for Alf and the customers and release the original full versions.

Season 3 sees the show reach its peak as it begins to weave in more complex storylines amidst the comedic situations. With two seasons behind them, Paul Fusco and the actors hit their stride and are completely comfortable with their characters. Thus, there's a naturalness to everyone's performances. Alf is for all intents and purposes real. Also, with Alf's clumsiness and general mayhem more subdued (after being the focus for two seasons), the show is able to actually touch upon far more serious fair without sacrificing the traditional Alf style of humor. Concepts such as losing (or clinging to)moral integrity (My Back Pages), fear of absolesence (Baby Love, Stairway to Heaven), abject loneliness (Alone Again Naturally, Standing in the Shadows of Love), catastrophic expectation (Shake, Rattle and Roll), and even grief and death (funeral for a friend). Even those episodes that aren't as weighty have more complex and intresting elements, eg., "Like an Old Time Movie" which has Alf and Jake constructing a script starring the Tanners that plays out like an old silent movie (and brilliantly so); "Have You Seen My Mother Baby" has Jake confront his mother who he discovers is a thief; "Running Scared" deals with a blackmailer inside the FBI... There's a lot of really good writing going on this season!

ALF was a show that always mixed somewhat childlike (or childish depending on your POV) low-brow humor with heart, but with the third season and the onset of far more somber themes, the show actually transcends its premise and becomes something much more affecting. And as a result, the humor is that much funnier, emerging as it does from human emotions and situations. Alf's fears of being the only one of his kind is genuinely moving; his concerns that we should savor life because we all might "croak" tomorrow is touching because it's real; his sorrow at the fact that a new infant in the house will leave him without any attention or love is understandable (it's also a great thematic continuity nod to the second season's episode about the lost dog.)

Some will complain because all they want out of the show are the more crass elements (Alf burping and breaking things), while others will deride the fact that the producers and writers even attempt to rise above the show's "station" as basically junk TV. But what the critics fail to see is that ALF is essentially escapist entertainment -- and there is a place for that -- but not one without heart, and not one that can't at times touch upon the human condition. And when the show does rise to more complex themes, it works and it works well, becoming funnier and more memorable.

The bottom line is that ALF is great family entertainment that won't leave you feeling brain-dead or like you've ingested too many sugar substitutes. The only criticism is the DVD release itself which presents the edited syndicated versions (which had to cut some scenes to make room for more commercials.) The show is still great, but it's unfortunate to not have the full versions.

If you're looking at this review, it's because you are obviously interested in purchasing this DVD set. Let me say, if you like ALF, do it! This is the third season in what was a great television show. While the acting by the human actors is kind of hokey, ALF makes the show worth watching. The comedy is a little situational, a little slap stick, and a little punny. It's a show that's safe for the family, and you should laugh out loud at least once every show.

As far as the DVD's go, there is a little left to be desired. I would love to see more extras that pull back the curtain on the creation of ALF and some interviews with the people who starred in the show. The episodes seem to be out of order as Kate is pregnant for a while, then has the baby, then a few episodes later...SHE'S preggers again!!!

Overall though, this is a great purchase and loads of fun.

"Thokis" has a pretty good suggestion in his review: hold out and stick it to Lions' Gate---who is consistently ignoring the outrage of series fans ticked off at the cut versions of the DVDs-- by NOT BUYING it. Down the road, a RESPONSIBLE studio will no doubt pick up the slack and release the complete series, uncut. It may be "only" a few minutes cut here and there, obviously not important to some people, but one editor's "expendible" snip is some fan's favorite line or scene. And these guys at Lions' Gate claim to be in the entertainment industry. Shame on 'em.

I now officially own all the ALF seaons on DVD. I love love love the show and will happily continue to enjoy it for years to come. However, I have a complaint against Lionsgate (aside from the whole syndication issues) - the last disc of this season, they screwed up the order of the shows. Kate is pregnant, the baby is born, and then in the next episode they appear to have shoved the baby back in because she's pregnant again. Apparently when they edited this DVD, they didn't notice the discrepancy. I was only six when this season would have aired, so I have no idea if the shows were actually in that order, but I'm pretty sure the person making the collaboration put them in the wrong order. Otherwise it's a great set.

I loved this DVD collection. It was excellent and in great condition. It made us laugh and laugh. A must see if you liked the 1980's.

Alf is his usual hilarious self in these episodes. I loved the show when it was on TV and I am glad that I can share it with my children.

One of the few past tv shows that are worth having in your personal collection. Alf is a character that can make you laugh out loud on your worst day.