DVD Review: ALF, Season Three

Here Kitty, Kitty, Kitty…. “Nice planet, when do we eat?” ALF is back!!! Even though it is ALF, and ALF has a cult following, this is by far the worst season put out, or so says the website dedicated to the show's legacy. My research discovered that this season boasts 6 out of the top ten shows by ratings for the entire run of the sitcom. "Turkey And The Straw", "Running Scared", "Standing In The Shadows Of Love" and "Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing In The Shadow?" take up four of the top five all time rated spots for the show, and quite frankly, I enjoyed this Box Set quite a bit.

ALF, for those of you who never met Gordon Shumway, was a furry little creature found stranded on the sitcom family's garage. ALF stands for Alien Life Form and is the moniker given to him by his new family, who took him in and hid him from the rest of the world and from nosy neighbors, the Ochmoneks (Trevor and Raquel), who always seem to find something fishy going around in the Tanner household. The Tanners are the proud new family of ALF, having been graced by his crash landing; they are Willie (Max Wright), Kate (Anne Schedeen), Lynn (Andrea Elson), and Brian (Benji Gregory).

The show first aired in 1986 and ran for four great seasons until June 1990. The Third season set includes 27 episodes, including two memorable episodes where Alf hosts "The Tonight Show" with Ed McMahon! I remember growing up and the charged sarcasm of Alf emanating from the television, the humor was cutting edge dry and irreverent for the time, and the medium of a stuffed animal as a sitcom star was a natural breakaway from the period's fame of the Muppets.

The DVDs are 4:3 Full Screen Version, 2.0 Dolby Digital Surround, and have Interactive Menus Hosted by ALF. The only technical thing I find to be a negative is that there are a lot of complaints on this and the first two seasons as well, being released in the cut syndicated versions. The website abounds with grumblings at Lion's Gate's choice not to release the full versions of each episode. Whether you hate cats (ALF's favorite snack), miss Melmac (ALF's home planet), or just have a thing for cosmic comedians, this set is sure to bring back memories to some, and guaranteed to bring laughs to all!

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