The abrupt cancellation of Buffy the Vampire Slayer: New Sunnydale, which would have revived the beloved millennial series led by Sarah Michelle Gellar for a new generation, has done nothing to slow the onslaught of upcoming and/or planned television reboots. The success of the Scrubs reboot has given the powers-that-be the courage to greenlight a number of projects, including Baywatch and American Gladiators. Yet some series that should be given the reboot treatment, like Xena: Warrior Princess, remain untouched. One sitcom in particular, which premiered 40 years ago, not only deserves a reboot, but the time to kick one off couldn’t be any better than it is today: ALF.
‘ALF’ Was a Hit On and Off the Screen
ALF premiered in 1986 and was a huge hit from the start, a consistent standout in the Nielsen Top 20 ratings. The wisecracking alien from the planet Melmac, voiced by Paul Fusco, was unlike any TV alien before him, or even since. ALF, aka Gordon Shumway, was legitimately funny – not just as a puppet, but as a performer. The comic timing was pitch-perfect, the pearls about his life on Melmac (watching bouillabaseball, a game like baseball but with fish parts instead of a ball) were amusing, and the frequent yearnings to eat the family cat, Lucky, were darkly humorous. His was a winning blend of pop culture astuteness and trendiness, simple and cerebral laughs, sarcasm, satire, and irreverence, all in an odd-looking, dog-like creature. Offscreen, ALF was a merchandising godsend, with posters, T-shirts, plush dolls (still have mine!), and more. ALF was so big that he even hosted an episode of Hollywood Squares.
Behind the scenes, however, things weren’t nearly as funny. The premise of the series is that ALF crashes his spacecraft into the home of the Tanners, and soon becomes a part of the family. But as Andrea Elson, who played Lynn, the daughter, puts it, there was “tension on the set” because the other actors “had to play second fiddle to a puppet. It was ALF, and then there was the little family.” While they may have known going in that would be the case, they certainly didn’t sign on for the long, grueling hours of filming, with one 30-minute episode taking up to 25 hours, and the limits of performing atop a stage with four puppeteers underneath. Max Wright, who played father Willie Tanner, famously hated the puppet, with Anne Schedeen, who played Kate, the mom, confirming that once filming of the final episode was completed, Wright walked out, went to his dressing room, packed his bags, got in his car, and left without saying a single word to anyone.
The Time Is Now for an ‘ALF’ Reboot
To their credit, the off-screen turmoils were never reflected in the series millions watched faithfully, and the one who loathed ALF the most, Wright, actually gave the series its greatest asset: the dynamic between ALF and Willie, a classic combination in the straight man/comic tradition. ALF remains beloved, and Wright even admitted years later that “ALF brought people a lot of joy. They adored it.” But who knows how things might have played out if the creative team didn’t have those same production problems?
Cue the call for a reboot. Today’s CGI renders the need to work with a puppet unnecessary, and while it can be argued that the tactile puppet is easier to warm up to than a CGI creation, shows like Ted prove that the technology is closer than ever to closing that gap, and closing it outright with a good, solid and funny script. The CGI would eliminate the cringey scenes of ALF running (actor Michu Meszaros in a costume). It also frees the creative staff to create storylines outside the Tanner home, which was largely unavailable in the original, and frees the actors to work the stage without fear of crashing to the ground below.
Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Survival Quiz Which Sci-Fi World Would You Survive? The Matrix · Mad Max · Blade Runner · Dune · Star Wars
Five universes. Five completely different ways the future went wrong — or sideways, or up in flames. Only one of them is the world your instincts were built for. Eight questions will figure out which dystopia, galaxy, or desert wasteland you’d actually make it out of alive.
💊The Matrix
🔥Mad Max
🌧️Blade Runner
🏜️Dune
🚀Star Wars
01
You sense something is deeply wrong with the world around you. What do you do? The first instinct is often the truest one.
02
In a world of scarcity, what resource do you guard most fiercely? What we protect reveals what we believe survival actually requires.
03
What kind of threat keeps you up at night? Fear is useful data — if you’re honest about what you’re actually afraid of.
04
How do you deal with authority you don’t trust? Every dystopia has a power structure. Your approach to it determines everything.
05
Which environment could you actually endure long-term? Survival isn’t just tactical — it’s physical, psychological, and very much about where you are.
06
Who do you want in your corner when things fall apart? The company you keep is the clearest signal of who you actually are.
07
Where do you draw the line — if you draw one at all? Every survivor eventually faces a moment that tests what they’re actually made of.
08
What would actually make survival worth it? Staying alive is one thing. Having a reason to is another.
Your Fate Has Been Calculated You’d Survive In…
Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for. This is the universe your temperament, your survival instincts, and your particular brand of stubbornness were made for.
The Resistance, Zion
The Matrix
You took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You’re a systems thinker who can’t help but notice the seams in things.
You’re drawn to understanding how the system works before figuring out how to break it.
You’d find the Resistance, or it would find you — your instinct for spotting constructed realities is the machines’ worst nightmare.
You function best when you have access to information and the freedom to act on it.
The Matrix built an airtight prison. You’d be the one probing the walls for the door.
The Wasteland
Mad Max
The wasteland doesn’t reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are hard to kill and harder to break. That’s you.
You don’t need comfort, community, or a cause larger than the next horizon.
You need a vehicle, a clear threat, and enough fuel to outrun it — and you’re good at all three.
You are unsentimental enough to survive that world, and decent enough — just barely — to be something more than another raider.
In the wasteland, that distinction is everything.
Los Angeles, 2049
Blade Runner
You’d survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely.
You read people accurately, keep your circle small, and ask the questions others prefer not to answer.
In a city where humanity is a legal designation rather than a feeling, you hold onto something that keeps you functional.
You’re not a hero. But you’re not lost, either.
In Blade Runner’s world, that distinction is everything.
Arrakis
Dune
Arrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards.
Patience, discipline, and political awareness are your core strengths — and on Arrakis, they’re survival tools.
You understand that the long game matters more than any single victory.
Others come to Dune and are consumed by it. You’d learn its logic and earn its respect.
In time, you wouldn’t just survive Arrakis — you’d begin to reshape it.
A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Star Wars
The galaxy far, far away is vast, loud, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn’t have it any other way.
You find meaning in being part of something larger than yourself — a cause, a crew, a rebellion.
You’d gravitate toward the Rebellion, or the fringes, or whatever pocket of the galaxy still believes the Empire’s grip can be broken.
You fight — not because you have to, but because standing aside isn’t something you’re capable of.
In Star Wars, that willingness is what makes all the difference.
Season 2 of Ted could also serve as a template of sorts for an ALF reboot. The second season of the Seth MacFarlane project earned praise for giving the Bennett family time to shine, navigating the waters between leaning on its titular, funny, and sentient teddy bear, while allowing the cast to do more than play second fiddle, a key source of frustration among the ALF cast.
Plans for an ALF movie were raised in 2012, but have seemingly since died. A proper reboot was announced in 2018 but, similarly, has since disappeared, and although Ryan Reynoldsresurrected ALF for sponsored segments on his Maximum Effort Channel in 2023, that exposure is limited. ALF needs to come back to its former glory, a family-friendly series that wasn’t afraid to push the boundaries for a good laugh. And there is no better time than now to do so. Hide the cat.
