A little bit of nostalgia: behind the scenes of the series "Alf" (10 photos)

On March 24, 1990, the last episode of the television project about the adventures of an alien guest in an ordinary American family. The series had good audience ratings and received 4 seasons, numbering 102 episodes. In 1996, the continuation of Project Alf was released, which is no longer had past success.





For the first time, the thought of a furry alien collapsing on head of a simple American family, visited by Paul Fusco in 1984. WITH with this idea, he turned to Disney and to the creator of The Muppets, Jim Henson, but was rejected in both cases. Finally, in 1986, he built Alpha on NBC and received permission to film the pilot episode.



In the first episodes, Alpha was played by midget Mihai Meszaros, and in later series began to use an expensive electronic doll. Therefore, Alpha was mainly shown only to the waist. live actor was involved only in case of need to show an alien in full growth in motion. The voice of Alpha belongs to Paul Fusco.





Peace and love reigned in the Tanner family on the screen, however the backstage environment was far from ideal. Great amount technical difficulties during filming greatly delayed the process of creating series, which negatively affected the mood of the actors and the film crew group. Each scene involving Alpha took several hours, and the production of one thirty-minute episode required several days.



Ann Shedin was surprised that fans never suspected in what difficult conditions their favorite show was filmed. She compared the film crew to a large but divided family in which quarrels constantly broke out

Max Wright was unhappy that all the best lines got a meter doll, and he played a supporting role. Besides filming in "Alpha" destroyed Max's marriage: his wife was tired of constant spouse's delays at work. Several times the actor threatened to leave directly in the middle of filming.



By the fourth season, the tension on the site had reached its peak, and, According to Anne Schedeen (Kate), the actors simply couldn't take another season. The quality of the new series began to decline steadily, followed by - and ratings. In early 1990, the management of the TV channel finally disappointed in the once popular project and decided to close TV series. At the end of the last day of filming, Max Wright silently walked into dressing room, packed up and left without saying goodbye to anyone.



When the series was closed, Fusco agreed with his superiors that at the beginning of the new TV season, he will be allowed to release at least one special an episode in which the further fate of the alien would become clear. That's why The last episode of the fourth season ended with a sharp plot twist: Alf fell into the hands of the US military, and the inscription appeared on the screen "To be continued…"

However, there was no continuation. In the summer of 1990 NBC leadership has changed, and the new bosses did not perform previous promises.



In August 2018, Warner Bros. announced the decision restart the series. The new series was supposed to be a direct sequel original. According to the plot, the alien Alf returns to Earth, in this since he will fall into a completely different middle-class American family and will adapt to modern realities. Scenario again designed by Paul Fusco and Tom Patchett, who handled the original show. The project was not implemented.



The team of the STS channel, which worked on the voice acting of the series.



Last day of filming.