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ALF.S04E05.UNCUT.DVDRip.XviD-FLAiR

INFO

Release

Title  [ ALF S04E05: Mind Games

Release  [ 2013-05-08        Source  [ Retail DVD
Retail  [ 2010-10-15        iMDB  [ 7.1/10 (14909)
Runtime  [ 24 mins           Size  [ 175MB / 13x15MB
Genre  [ Comedy/Drama/Family/Sci-Fi

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090390/

Encoding

Audio  [ 107kb/s VBR Stereo
Video  [ 592 x 448 @ 784kb/s 25.000fps

PLOT

ALF is getting antsy from boredom and the Tanners call
Larry for advice. Larry suggests that the Tanners show
ALF that they think of him as an adult by asking him for
advice on things. This causes ALF to go overboard
psychoanalyzing the family.

RIP NOTES

We love the 80s, and few things epitomize it more than
ALF. Check out any "Best of the 80s" list, and you are
bound to find him there. Who doesn't love a
wise-cracking cat-eating 255 year old alien?

ALF was (and is) the brainchild of Paul Fusco, who has
voiced and performed him since day one. After gaining
puppeteering experience from doing several specials,
today sadly mostly forgotten, he started developing the
character at home, until he eventually had the idea of
trying to pitch him for a full half hour show. He
enlisted the help of his agent, the late Bernie
Brillstein, also the agent for another puppeteer you
might have heard of (Jim Henson), and they started to
set up meetings. The project was green-lighted by
legendary NBC head Brandon Tartikoff, who loved the
meeting he had with ALF so much that he said yes on the
spot. Brandon Tartikoff had an eye for good TV. We owe
thanks to him for everything from Cheers to Seinfeld to
Punky Brewster, a show he helped develop, named after a
childhood friend of his. This was all the way back when
the peacock used to be synonymous with quality, in no
small part thanks to him.

ALF was the subject of much hype, thanks to the
massive advertising sponsored entirely by Coleco, who
was looking for their next big thing after the Cabbage
Patch Kids. Thousands of ALF dolls and other merchandise
had been produced for the 1986 Xmas season, before the
first episode had even aired, and certainly long before
anyone knew it would be the smash hit it turned out to
be. Although Coleco folded halfway through the show's
run, their early efforts had ensured that everyone, of
all ages, knew ALF was landing.

Shooting the show was a grueling experience for
everyone involved, and although you couldn't tell by the
final product, ALF came to be notorious for wearing its
cast down. The lack of a reunion show is no coincidence,
and human lead Max Wright is said to have simply left
the set without a word after shooting the final scene of
the series finale. The entire set was built on an
elevated platform, and covered in hidden trap doors to
allow Paul and his co-puppeteer Lisa Buckley places to
pop-up from. The cast members had to always be aware of
these while shooting, as falling down one would likely
cause you to break your neck. Add to that the fact that
each scene had to be shot from precisely the right
angle, as any trap door, or puppeteer, or really any
foreign object, would break the illusion. This, of
course, lead to endless reshoots, long days, and an
increasing animosity towards a demanding puppeteer who
insisted on remaining in character between takes. ALF
was to be considered a real person, don't ever expect to
see any behind the scenes footage like Jim Henson would
allow with The Muppets.

As we all know, ALF was a huge hit, and by the end of
the first season, production began to become more
streamlined. Michu Meszaros, the uncredited drunken
Hungarian circus midget who had donned an ALF suit in
full body shots (look for him in the intro), left the
show - apparently putting in long days in a full suit
under studio spotlights, suffering endless retakes and
essentially working blind, wasn't his idea of a good
time. Jerry Stahl, who infamously wrote a few episodes
(and would later write about the experience in his
autobiography Permanent Midnight, adapted for film by
actor-director Ben Stiller), was let go after they
learned of his heroin addiction, and he became
increasingly unreliable. ALF had quickly become a pop
culture icon, and was making cameos left and right.

As the show progressed, quality started to decline
slightly. Writing within the limitations of ALF
essentially unable to leave the house, and the cost of
building complex sets allowing for ALF's presence,
proved challenging. Following standard sitcom strategy,
weaker supporting characters were introduced, and by the
fourth season it was becoming clear that things needed
to be shook up significantly. The cast, some of whom
would never again work in TV after the ALF experience,
wanted out. We won't spoil the ending for you, but
suffice it to say it ended with a huge cliffhanger, a
real game changer. And then it got cancelled. Paul had
been promised another season, or at least a chance to
wrap up the storyline, but apparently NBC wanted
something fresh for ALF's timeslot, and awarded it
instead to a prince from Bel Air. They never made good
on their promise, and Paul broke off his working
relationship with them. Brandon Tartikoff stepped down
the following year.

Thankfully for Paul, and for fans, fin-syn rules
ensured that Paul and his production company Alien
Productions retained all rights to everything ALF,
including the character, all episodes, and all
merchandising. This allowed him to take ALF to ABC, who
in 1996 - six years after the show ended - allowed him
to produce the feature length matinee "Project: ALF"
(starring Martin Sheen!), explaining what had actually
happened to ALF and his family. Unsurprisingly none of
them made an appearance - they were said to have been
relocated to Reykjavik, Iceland by the government.

Since then, ALF has been making TV appearances
whenever he can, and even got his own (sadly
short-lived) talk show on TV Land in 2004, lasting only
7 episodes. While ALF's quips and quick wit are well
suited for a talk show format, the technical challenges
involved in production are perhaps less so. It was
certainly enjoyable, but might have lacked some of the
spontaneous nature one expects on a talk show. ALF
himself is as fresh as ever though, and Paul refuses to
make him dated. He's an icon and he knows it, not just
some relic from a forgotten time.

In recent news, Sony Animation have secured the rights
for a new ALF feature film. That's right, we said Sony
Animation, not Sony Pictures. As in, the people who
brought us the recent Smurfs film.. And it's gonna be
CGI. Sadly, we're not too excited either, but it's a lot
better than nothing, even though we're not quite sure
whether we're hoping for it to be a hit or not. Here's
hoping they will let Paul continue to voice, and have
strong creative input, or it is bound to be a mere
shadow of anything that has come before. The world does
not need yet another Alvin and the
Chipmunks/Scooby-Doo/Garfield/Yogi Bear/Marmaduke CGI
atrocity - ALF deserves far better!

ALF has been on DVD since 2004, but sadly, the
original Lionsgate releases weren't what fans had hoped
for. Supposedly, the original broadcast masters were not
in great condition, so they opted instead to release the
newly digitally remastered syndicated cuts. And boy were
they cut; appx. 2 minutes were missing from each
episode! Furthermore, music rights caused the regular
set of problems, leading to even further cuts. Paul
himself verified for the 25th anniversary there were no
plans for North American uncut releases, and the
Canadian full series release from last April confirms
this.

We, of course, find this unacceptable. The syndicated
masters might be higher quality, but that's still no
excuse for losing out on 3.5 hours worth of laughs. So
we're bringing you the full series, uncut whenever
possible, from the best sources available. Most episodes
are sourced from German releases, some from OOP Canadian
releases, some material even from the US Lionsgate
releases. We've done our best to correct the dull colors
and remove noise from the inferior masters, and bring
you the best and most complete uncut ALF releases
possible.

Enjoy!

WHO WE ARE

Since 2003, FLAiR has been dedicated to preserving
the neglected titles of an entertainment era long gone.
A time of classic kids flicks, painstaking hand-drawn
animation and countless cheesy low-budget horrors. A
time when pop had a King, and rock had a Queen. A time
when special FX wizards ruled, and CGI was just one of
their many tools.

Driven by nostalgia and memories of better days, we
seek to relive those times, and share those memories.
While our belief is that the 80s represent the very
pinnacle of pop culture, we will not limit ourselves
to one decade, or any single genre. We will not ignore
the movies considered insignificant or even embarrassing
by the studios. We will not disregard a timepiece just
because it is dated.

Whereas most groups rely solely on digital sources,
there are still thousands of rare and out of print
titles, many of which have no planned digital release.
We've made it our mission to dig these out, clean them
up using the best hardware and techniques available to
us, and share them with the world. Be it VHS, Laserdisc
or more exotic formats, we're here to bring you the best
(and worst!) of decades past. So sit back and enjoy as
we uncover and pay tribute to an age of cinema we will
never get back.

THANKS

To everyone that has supported us over the years and
managed to keep this fun!

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