ALF Tales
ALF Tales is a 30-minute Saturday morning animated series that aired on NBC from September 10, 1988 to December 9, 1989.[1] The show is a spin-off of ALF: The Animated Series which featured characters from that series playing various characters from fairy tales.[2] The fairy tale was usually altered for comedic effect in a manner akin to Jay Ward's "Fractured Fairy Tales".[3]
| ALF Tales | |
|---|---|
| Created by | Paul Fusco Tom Patchett |
| Starring | Paul Fusco Peggy Mahon Tabitha St. Germain (as Paulina Gillis) Thick Wilson Dan Hennessey Rob Cowan Ellen-Ray Hennessy Noam Zylberman |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 21 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 minutes per episode |
| Production companies | DIC Animation City Saban Entertainment Alien Productions |
| Distributor | Lorimar-Telepictures |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Original release | September 10, 1988 – December 9, 1989 |
Each story typically spoofs a film genre, such as the "Cinderella" episode done as an Elvis Presley film. Some episodes featured a "fourth wall" effect where ALF is backstage preparing for the episode, and Rob Cowan would appear drawn as a TV executive (who introduced himself as "Roger Cowan, network executive") to try to brief ALF on how to improve this episode. For instance Cowan once told ALF who was readying for a medieval themed episode that "less than 2% of our audience lives in the Dark Ages".
Cast
- Paul Fusco – ALF (Gordon Shumway)/Rick Fusterman
- Tabitha St. Germain (as Paulina Gillis[4]) – Augie/Rhonda
- Peggy Mahon – Flo
- Thick Wilson – Larson Petty/Bob
- Dan Hennessey – Sloop
- Rob Cowan – Skip
- Ellen-Ray Hennessy – Stella the Waitress
- Noam Zylberman – Curtis (1988)
- Michael Fantini – Curtis (1989)
Episodes
Season 1 (1988–89)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Robin Hood" | September 10, 1988 |
| 2 | 2 | "Sleeping Beauty" | September 17, 1988 |
| 3 | 3 | "Cinderella" | September 24, 1988 |
| 4 | 4 | "Legend of Sleepy Hollow" | October 1, 1988 |
| 5 | 5 | "Jack and the Beanstalk" | October 8, 1988 |
| 6 | 6 | "The Aladdin Brothers" | October 15, 1988 |
| 7 | 7 | "Rapunzel" | October 29, 1988 |
| 8 | 8 | "Rumplestilskin" | November 12, 1988 |
| 9 | 9 | "The Princess and the Pea" | November 19, 1988 |
| 10 | 10 | "John Henry" | December 3, 1988 |
| 11 | 11 | "The Three Little Pigs" | December 10, 1988 |
| 12 | 12 | "Alice in Wonderland" | December 17, 1988 |
| 13 | 13 | "Peter Pan" | January 7, 1989 |
Season 2 (1989)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | 1 | "Hansel and Gretel" | September 16, 1989 |
| 15 | 2 | "The Wizard of Oz" | September 23, 1989 |
| 16 | 3 | "The Elves and the Shoemaker" | September 30, 1989 |
| 17 | 4 | "The Emperor's New Clothes" | October 14, 1989 |
| 18 | 5 | "Goldie Locks and the Three Bears" | October 28, 1989 |
| 19 | 6 | "Little Red Riding Hood" | November 11, 1989 |
| 20 | 7 | "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" | December 2, 1989 |
| 21 | 8 | "King Midas" | December 9, 1989 |
Home media
The first seven episodes were released on DVD on May 30, 2006 in Region 1 from Lionsgate Home Entertainment in a single-disc release entitled ALF and The Beanstalk and Other Classic Fairy Tales.
References
- Hyatt, Wesley (1997). The Encyclopedia of Daytime Television. Watson-Guptill Publications. p. 4. ISBN 978-0823083152.
- Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. p. 72. ISBN 978-1476665993.
- Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 20–21. ISBN 978-1538103739.
- Damian Inwood. "Pi Theatre, Independent Vancouver Theatre >> The Baroness and the Pig". Archived from the original on April 25, 2012. Retrieved October 30, 2011.
That's what Vancouver actresses Diane Brown and Tabitha St. Germain do with the delightful black comedy, The Baroness and the Pig. (...) St. Germain – better known to Vancouver audiences as Paulina Gillis – plays the Baroness as a naïve gentlewoman, full of prissy mannerisms and twittering, bird-like movements.