Alf was first broadcast into our homes on 1986. The series aired in many different countries including Germany, Italy, Austria, Belgium, France, Holland, Poland, Spain, Great Britain, Argentina, Australia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Israel, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, and South Africa...to name a few. Although it aired from 1986-1990 in the US, it aired in Italy from 1994-1996 and in Germany until 1995.

Gordon Shumway was born on October 28, 1756, on the planet Melmac by Flo and Bob Shumway. He went to Melmac High School, where he studied software and pedestrian crossing. He also played Bouliball for three years, which is baseball with fish, later becoming an orbit guard.

On September 22, 1986, Alf's spaceship crashed into a garage at 136 Hemdale Avenue in Los Angeles, the Tanner residence. The Tanners welcomed him and nicknamed him Alf, meaning Alien Life Form. From them on, this alien with an appetite for cats made us all laugh with his wise cracks and antics.

I took a survery in my high school asking people a nice piece of Alf trivia, "Do you think Alf was a person in a costume or a puppet?" Don't know? It was a person. Most of them said puppet though...shows how much the average teenager knows about good old Alf..

As for Alf merchandise, it was everywhere. He showed up on everything from dolls and t-shirts to a series of Alf cards and cassette tapes. He even rewrote some of our favorite stories, with, of course, some added songs. How could we ever forget the Alf classic Little Red Riding Alf?

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