Should ALF become a honorary Muppet?

[lowercasegods]

Alf was a really good puppet and no doubt was also funny, but I think making him a Muppet (and yes, I realize this is only wishful thinking) would be kind of like making Lambshop an official Muppet, or the Avenue Q puppets or Greg the Bunny puppets as official Muppets. It's not that they wouldn't fit in, it's that they each belong to their own little world, y'know? I like having cool puppet options outside the Muppet empire as well as within. It's kind of like enjoying Disney cartoons but also enjoying Hanna Barbera cartoons. They're great on their own, so why mess with a good thing and combine them?

 

[anythingmuppet]

Well now I see the other side of things and I think maybe ALF's better off with the Tanner family . But that MT idea sounds great!

 

[MWoO]

Why did Jim resent Alf?

I think Alf is the only non-muppet puppet that is treated just like a muppet character. That is he is treated like a living character with a back story and stuff. I can't think of another puppet star like that besides maybe some kids show full body costumes.

 

[Fraggleforever]

I realize now that Alf will never be a Muppet, but that's cool though. Here are some more skits I thought of for the episode of Muppets Tonight.

Dueling saxophones with Alf and Zoot.
Closing number "We built this city on Rock and Roll" with the Muppets and Alf
Gonzo and Alf skit with cannons.
Alf: Are you crazy?!
Gonzo: No, I'm Gonzo.
Alf: Well that's....oh I get it! HA!! You kill me!
Goodnights with Clifford and Alf.
Clifford: Man, an alien gueststar. What next?
[A group of Fraggles pass by] Excuse us.
Clifford: [Stunned] Uh.....goodnight everybody!

 

[Luke]

If you read Bernie Bernstein's autobiography, you know that Jim really resented ALF and resented that Bernie represented him as well as the Muppets.

I don't think you got the tone of Bernies comments right - it's true that Jim didn't think that Bernie should represent another puppeteer but he actually liked ALF as a show and even came over to the set. If there would have been no ALF, there would never have been Dinosaurs, because nobody would have taken a chance on a puppet sitcom.

As to the other people's comments - It is a different type of humour, and the Muppets weren't really going "that far" at the time. If you think about it though, they have really crossed that line now with Pepe and his humor is very ALF'ish. ALF showed you could do hard sarcastic type humor without alienating (get it?) the family audience and that's pretty much where Pepe is at most of the time. Infact ALF would probably fit in with the Muppets of 2005, if his premise and look wasn't completely different that is.

Disney did actually offer millions of dollars to buy ALF outright before the sitcom even began but ALF's creator Paul Fusco turned it down as he felt they would tone the character down and ruin the concept. I don't think ALF would ever be sold to Disney, even now, for the same reasons ... and you have to realize that Fusco IS ALF, and ALF probably wouldn't work without him or without him being in control of what ALF does or says. It would be nice to have a new TV show in the future but i don't think another sitcom would work - the best thing would have been for the talk show to had been picked up by a big network like NBC instead of TV Land. Now that idea is used up, i could see him as a quiz show host if a good concept was found and i think there is some kind of movie in the works.

 

[Vibs]

Actually once my friend's mum thought the ALf show (um, or whatever it's called I've never actually seen it... ish) was the muppetshow.

...um, never mind. I guess he could be their cousin. Or maybe their grand-grand-grandmother's uncle's really good friend's dog's former owner's niece's brother's best friend's mother's husband's son's half-brother's classmate...

Sorry, I'm ruining this thread.

 

[Xela]

Alf and the Muppets are like...two completely different things. At least that's what I think. And because of that, they probably wouldn't be good together...I dunno. That's my opinion.

 

[Luke]

They could have had Kermit phone ALF instead of Triumph in AVMC, that would have been a good way to get an ALF cameo on a Muppet show. I think it'd go a little something like this :-

Kermit - Yo ALF, we're looking for guests to be in our Muppet Christmas Show.
ALF - Kermit my man, count me in. We can have a herd of those dancing chickens getting funky, then i'll come out wearing lederhosen and tear the place down ....
Kermit - (gets excited) Oh wow, ALF, that'd be great. The shows on Christmas Eve, it's gonna have rats, and penguins, and ....
ALF - (interupts) So how much does it pay?
Kermit - Well, we don't actually have any money ....
ALF - No money?. um , i just remembered, I gotta wash my hair that day. (looks down ) it might take a while.
Kermit - We've got a Cat though ... (looks at Gaffer, she runs and screams)
ALF - Does she look good in lederhosen?
Kermit - Ummmm, i'll get back to you!