WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.799 Welcome to today's deep dive. We've taken the 00:00:02.799 --> 00:00:05.200 sources you provided to us and we actually have 00:00:05.200 --> 00:00:07.240 a really unique mission for you today. We do. 00:00:07.419 --> 00:00:10.220 We're going to extract the absolute most fascinating 00:00:10.220 --> 00:00:12.359 nuggets of knowledge from the Wikipedia page 00:00:12.359 --> 00:00:15.259 for the fourth and final season of the classic 00:00:15.259 --> 00:00:18.679 television sitcom ALF. Yeah. Consider this your 00:00:18.679 --> 00:00:21.679 personal shortcut to being perfectly well informed 00:00:21.679 --> 00:00:26.530 about a Truly bizarre, highly watched piece of 00:00:26.530 --> 00:00:29.089 television history. And trust me, it is a history 00:00:29.089 --> 00:00:31.629 that ends in one of the most infamous, shocking 00:00:31.629 --> 00:00:34.549 cliffhangers ever broadcast. Totally. It serves 00:00:34.549 --> 00:00:37.750 as an incredible snapshot of late 80s and early 00:00:37.750 --> 00:00:40.250 90s television. Like when looking at the raw 00:00:40.250 --> 00:00:42.789 data and the broadcast history from this specific 00:00:42.789 --> 00:00:45.890 season, which ran from late 1989 into early 1990, 00:00:46.189 --> 00:00:49.289 a picture really emerges of a media landscape 00:00:49.289 --> 00:00:51.429 that operated by completely different rules than 00:00:51.429 --> 00:00:53.229 the ones we're used to today. Right. But before 00:00:53.229 --> 00:00:55.210 jumping into that data, let's do a quick refresher 00:00:55.210 --> 00:00:57.689 for you listening just to ground us in the basic 00:00:57.689 --> 00:00:59.909 premise of the show. Good idea. So the entire 00:00:59.909 --> 00:01:03.000 foundation of this series. was a wisecracking, 00:01:03.079 --> 00:01:06.859 cat -eating alien from the planet Melmac crashing 00:01:06.859 --> 00:01:09.599 his spaceship into the garage of a completely 00:01:09.599 --> 00:01:12.659 average, middle -class suburban family, the Tanners. 00:01:12.859 --> 00:01:15.540 Which is such a classic 80s setup. Yeah, exactly. 00:01:15.739 --> 00:01:17.739 The comedy revolves around them trying to hide 00:01:17.739 --> 00:01:19.719 him from the government and their nosy neighbors. 00:01:20.379 --> 00:01:23.060 Simple enough, right? Okay, let's unpack this, 00:01:23.099 --> 00:01:24.920 starting with the sheer scale of the show at 00:01:24.920 --> 00:01:27.260 that time. Paint a picture of the TV landscape 00:01:27.260 --> 00:01:30.420 for me in 1989. Like, how big of a footprint 00:01:30.420 --> 00:01:32.459 did this show actually have? To give you an idea 00:01:32.459 --> 00:01:34.599 of the scale, the fourth season premiered on 00:01:34.599 --> 00:01:38.120 NBC on September 18th, 1989. And that single 00:01:38.120 --> 00:01:41.640 premiere episode titled Baby, Come Back, it pulled 00:01:41.640 --> 00:01:44.780 in 22 .5 million viewers in the United States 00:01:44.780 --> 00:01:47.590 on a single night. 22 .5 million. Yeah. That 00:01:47.590 --> 00:01:49.569 number is just difficult to wrap the mind around 00:01:49.569 --> 00:01:51.590 when comparing it to today's fragmented media 00:01:51.590 --> 00:01:55.030 environment. A show pulling in 22 .5 million 00:01:55.030 --> 00:01:58.209 concurrent viewers on a random Monday night is 00:01:58.209 --> 00:02:00.109 unfathomable now. And according to the sources, 00:02:00.189 --> 00:02:02.109 that wasn't even the peak for this season. Not 00:02:02.109 --> 00:02:05.489 even close. If we look at episode 19, titled 00:02:05.489 --> 00:02:08.680 When I'm 64. which aired in February of 1990, 00:02:09.060 --> 00:02:13.400 the show drew a massive 29 .3 million viewers. 00:02:13.719 --> 00:02:16.879 Wow. Over 29 million people tune in at the exact 00:02:16.879 --> 00:02:19.580 same time to watch an episode where this furry 00:02:19.580 --> 00:02:22.340 puppet alien sneaks into a retirement home and 00:02:22.340 --> 00:02:25.419 convinces an elderly woman named Louise to share 00:02:25.419 --> 00:02:27.659 her life experiences. What's fascinating here 00:02:27.659 --> 00:02:30.479 is just how massive a cultural footprint an audience 00:02:30.479 --> 00:02:33.060 of nearly 30 million people represents. This 00:02:33.060 --> 00:02:36.099 wasn't some niche cult program. It was a dominant 00:02:36.490 --> 00:02:38.689 monolithic force in American living rooms. It 00:02:38.689 --> 00:02:40.830 really was. An audience of that size means the 00:02:40.830 --> 00:02:43.210 show is a shared cultural event. People were 00:02:43.210 --> 00:02:45.030 going to work or school the next day and talking 00:02:45.030 --> 00:02:47.289 about this alien sneaking into a retirement home. 00:02:47.449 --> 00:02:50.009 It highlights the incredible unifying power of 00:02:50.009 --> 00:02:51.810 the major broadcast networks during that era, 00:02:51.930 --> 00:02:54.210 dictating the national conversation. But the 00:02:54.210 --> 00:02:56.409 sources also highlight how precarious that power 00:02:56.409 --> 00:02:58.449 could be, right? Because this show had traditionally 00:02:58.449 --> 00:03:02.330 aired on Mondays at 8 .00 p .m. Eastern Standard 00:03:02.330 --> 00:03:05.370 Time. Right, a prime slot. Exactly. Then, right 00:03:05.370 --> 00:03:06.270 at the very... At the very end of the season, 00:03:06.330 --> 00:03:09.349 beginning with episode 22, NBC abruptly shifted 00:03:09.349 --> 00:03:11.569 the schedule. They moved the final three episodes 00:03:11.569 --> 00:03:15.430 to Saturdays at 8 p .m. Tell me about the mechanics 00:03:15.430 --> 00:03:17.849 of a move like that. Why is shifting to a Saturday 00:03:17.849 --> 00:03:20.810 such a drastic measure? So in television broadcasting 00:03:20.810 --> 00:03:24.550 terminology, moving a family sitcom from a prime 00:03:24.550 --> 00:03:27.509 weekday slot to a Saturday night is often referred 00:03:27.509 --> 00:03:31.110 to as a death slot. A death slot. Yikes. Yeah. 00:03:31.150 --> 00:03:34.509 It is widely considered a severe downgrade. Historically, 00:03:34.569 --> 00:03:36.610 target demographics, especially young adults 00:03:36.610 --> 00:03:39.189 and families, were way less likely to be home 00:03:39.189 --> 00:03:41.050 watching television on a Saturday night. Because 00:03:41.050 --> 00:03:43.530 they're out doing things. Exactly. Networks typically 00:03:43.530 --> 00:03:45.830 used that weekend real estate as a dumping ground. 00:03:46.030 --> 00:03:47.770 They would send shows there when they were losing 00:03:47.770 --> 00:03:59.870 faith in their own. I want you to imagine that 00:03:59.870 --> 00:04:02.949 scenario for a second. Think about your absolute 00:04:02.949 --> 00:04:05.229 favorite television show right now. You've been 00:04:05.229 --> 00:04:07.349 following it for four years, you are deeply invested 00:04:07.349 --> 00:04:10.509 in the characters, and suddenly, right before 00:04:10.509 --> 00:04:13.550 the highly anticipated series finale, the network 00:04:13.550 --> 00:04:17.110 just... picks it up and drops it into a weekend 00:04:17.110 --> 00:04:19.709 death slot. It's brutal. It demonstrates how 00:04:19.709 --> 00:04:21.810 ruthless the business side of television could 00:04:21.810 --> 00:04:24.649 be, pulling the rug out from under a show that 00:04:24.649 --> 00:04:27.290 had recently commanded an audience of 29 million 00:04:27.290 --> 00:04:30.310 people. It strips away the illusion of creative 00:04:30.310 --> 00:04:33.220 sanctity, for sure. Behind the storytelling, 00:04:33.579 --> 00:04:35.779 television is fundamentally a business driven 00:04:35.779 --> 00:04:38.800 by scheduling strategies and advertising demographics. 00:04:39.339 --> 00:04:41.860 But putting the abrupt schedule shift aside, 00:04:42.240 --> 00:04:44.279 the creative choices happening within the show 00:04:44.279 --> 00:04:46.779 itself during this fourth season were incredibly 00:04:46.779 --> 00:04:49.420 distinct. Oh, absolutely. The writers were making 00:04:49.420 --> 00:04:51.779 some very deliberate structural decisions. They 00:04:51.779 --> 00:04:54.160 really were. That brings us to a stylistic choice 00:04:54.160 --> 00:04:56.540 the creators made for season four that immediately 00:04:56.540 --> 00:04:59.240 jumps out from the page. Out of the 24 episodes 00:04:59.240 --> 00:05:01.800 in this final season, almost all of the episode 00:05:01.800 --> 00:05:04.740 titles are named after popular songs. It creates 00:05:04.740 --> 00:05:07.399 a very specific musical motif that runs through 00:05:07.399 --> 00:05:09.939 the entire season's architecture. Looking through 00:05:09.939 --> 00:05:13.000 this list, it reads like a fantastic 80s mixtape. 00:05:13.139 --> 00:05:15.240 Let's hear some of them. Okay, so episode three 00:05:15.240 --> 00:05:18.339 is called Wanted Dead or Alive, a direct nod 00:05:18.339 --> 00:05:21.740 to the Bon Jovi anthem. Episode nine is titled 00:05:21.740 --> 00:05:25.000 Live and Let Die. taking its name from the Paul 00:05:25.000 --> 00:05:27.279 McCartney Bond movie theme. Then you have episode 00:05:27.279 --> 00:05:30.360 16, True Colors, named after the Cyndi Lauper 00:05:30.360 --> 00:05:33.879 hit, and episode 22, Hungry Like the Wolf, pulling 00:05:33.879 --> 00:05:35.899 straight from Duran Duran. It's quite a lineup. 00:05:36.139 --> 00:05:38.439 Are they just leaning into a gimmick here, or 00:05:38.439 --> 00:05:40.420 is there a deeper thematic reason to wrap these 00:05:40.420 --> 00:05:43.779 episodes in massive radio hits? Looking closely 00:05:43.779 --> 00:05:46.779 at that artistic choice, using human pop culture 00:05:46.779 --> 00:05:49.180 artifacts to title stories about an alien from 00:05:49.180 --> 00:05:51.439 another world actually perfectly mirrors the 00:05:51.439 --> 00:05:53.560 entire premise of the show itself. Oh, that makes 00:05:53.560 --> 00:05:56.540 sense. Yeah. The comedy of ALS was always rooted 00:05:56.540 --> 00:05:59.019 in this clash between extraterrestrial oddity 00:05:59.019 --> 00:06:02.500 and everyday American pop culture. By wrapping 00:06:02.500 --> 00:06:04.839 the episodes in the titles of ubiquitous pop 00:06:04.839 --> 00:06:08.180 songs, the creators found a clever meta way of 00:06:08.180 --> 00:06:10.899 reinforcing that theme before the episode even 00:06:10.899 --> 00:06:14.360 begins. It grounds the alien absurdity in something 00:06:14.360 --> 00:06:17.240 intimately familiar to the human audience. Here's 00:06:17.240 --> 00:06:19.040 where it gets really interesting, because while 00:06:19.040 --> 00:06:21.620 those titles were grounded in fun, familiar pop 00:06:21.620 --> 00:06:24.399 songs, the actual plots of these season four 00:06:24.399 --> 00:06:26.660 episodes were taking some jarring turns. Jarring 00:06:26.660 --> 00:06:28.899 is a great word for it. The storylines were surprisingly 00:06:28.899 --> 00:06:32.899 weird, mature. and remarkably complex for a family 00:06:32.899 --> 00:06:35.399 sitcom. The source material outlines a fascinating 00:06:35.399 --> 00:06:37.699 mix of themes for this final stretch of episodes. 00:06:37.980 --> 00:06:40.220 A noticeable running thread of addiction and 00:06:40.220 --> 00:06:42.420 obsession emerges, paired with some surprisingly 00:06:42.420 --> 00:06:44.720 heavy existential questions about mortality. 00:06:45.160 --> 00:06:47.180 Let's delve into the addiction themes first, 00:06:47.259 --> 00:06:49.879 because the scenarios presented are so bizarre. 00:06:50.360 --> 00:06:54.000 In episode four, We're in the Money, ALF gets 00:06:54.000 --> 00:06:56.879 his hands on the Tanner family patriarch, Willie's 00:06:56.879 --> 00:06:59.410 home computer. This is a classic setup. Right. 00:06:59.509 --> 00:07:01.430 And he discovers the stock market and becomes 00:07:01.430 --> 00:07:04.129 hopelessly addicted to making high stakes financial 00:07:04.129 --> 00:07:07.110 deals. It acts as a perfect time capsule of a 00:07:07.110 --> 00:07:10.629 very 1980s concept. The novel introduction of 00:07:10.629 --> 00:07:12.910 the early home computer being used for day trading, 00:07:12.990 --> 00:07:15.410 but filtered through the destructive impulses 00:07:15.410 --> 00:07:18.290 of an alien character who doesn't grasp the real 00:07:18.290 --> 00:07:20.870 world consequences of financial ruin. But it 00:07:20.870 --> 00:07:23.250 gets significantly stranger two episodes later. 00:07:23.740 --> 00:07:27.060 In episode six, Hooked on a Feeling, ALF develops 00:07:27.060 --> 00:07:29.500 a severe addiction to eating cotton. Literally 00:07:29.500 --> 00:07:32.079 cotton balls. Yes, it escalates to the point 00:07:32.079 --> 00:07:34.560 where Willie is forced to literally hold a support 00:07:34.560 --> 00:07:36.139 group meeting right there in the family living 00:07:36.139 --> 00:07:39.459 room just to try and curb ALF's cotton consumption. 00:07:39.899 --> 00:07:42.000 I'm just picturing the mechanics of this scene, 00:07:42.060 --> 00:07:44.600 a serious, dramatic family intervention, the 00:07:44.600 --> 00:07:46.819 kind you would see in a gritty drama, but everyone 00:07:46.819 --> 00:07:48.740 is sitting around pleading with a furry alien 00:07:48.740 --> 00:07:51.060 who can't stop eating bathroom supplies. That 00:07:51.060 --> 00:07:53.819 is completely absurd. It borders on the surreal. 00:07:54.079 --> 00:07:57.139 A puppet eating cotton balls requiring a serious 00:07:57.139 --> 00:07:59.660 living room intervention demonstrates how the 00:07:59.660 --> 00:08:02.220 writers were taking standard dramatic television 00:08:02.220 --> 00:08:04.860 tropes like the family addiction intervention 00:08:04.860 --> 00:08:08.399 and applying them to this ridiculous extraterrestrial 00:08:08.399 --> 00:08:11.480 context. It's so weird. It subverts the audience's 00:08:11.480 --> 00:08:13.879 expectations of what a very special episode is 00:08:13.879 --> 00:08:15.839 supposed to look like. But then right alongside 00:08:15.839 --> 00:08:18.759 that surreal absurdity, they tackle actual mortality. 00:08:19.339 --> 00:08:22.300 In episode two, Lies, the plot leans into pure 00:08:22.300 --> 00:08:25.040 farcical comedy. A tabloid photographer accidentally 00:08:25.040 --> 00:08:28.040 gets a picture of ALF. A classic sitcom problem. 00:08:28.220 --> 00:08:30.339 Right. So ALF has to sneak into their van to 00:08:30.339 --> 00:08:32.679 eat the physical film. While Willie distracts 00:08:32.679 --> 00:08:34.860 the paparazzi by using his memories of old Star 00:08:34.860 --> 00:08:38.360 Trek episodes to make up fake stories about extraterrestrials. 00:08:38.440 --> 00:08:40.620 And amazingly, the paparazzi actually believe 00:08:40.620 --> 00:08:43.539 him. It's light. It's classic sitcom hijinks. 00:08:43.600 --> 00:08:45.799 Right. Very standard. But contrast that with 00:08:45.799 --> 00:08:48.580 episode 12, Fever. Willie catches the common 00:08:48.580 --> 00:08:51.620 cold, and he passes it to ALF. Because ALF is 00:08:51.620 --> 00:08:53.539 an alien, he doesn't show any signs of recovery. 00:08:53.840 --> 00:08:56.620 The Tanner family actually begins to fear that 00:08:56.620 --> 00:08:59.940 a simple earth cold might end ALF's life. Facing 00:08:59.940 --> 00:09:02.039 the potential death of the title character from 00:09:02.039 --> 00:09:04.799 a mundane illness is a remarkably heavy premise 00:09:04.799 --> 00:09:08.179 for a primetime family show. It shifts the stakes 00:09:08.179 --> 00:09:10.259 from hiding an alien to desperately trying to 00:09:10.259 --> 00:09:12.559 keep him alive against a biological threat they 00:09:12.559 --> 00:09:14.580 don't understand. They push that existential 00:09:14.580 --> 00:09:17.820 dread even further in episode 18. Future's so 00:09:17.820 --> 00:09:21.360 bright, I gotta wear shades. In this one, ALF 00:09:21.360 --> 00:09:24.600 reckons with his Milmashian lifespan. He realizes 00:09:24.600 --> 00:09:27.379 that because of his alien biology, he is going 00:09:27.379 --> 00:09:29.720 to naturally outlive the entire Tanner family. 00:09:30.059 --> 00:09:33.039 That's incredibly bleak. He has to sit and consider 00:09:33.039 --> 00:09:35.519 a future where the humans he has come to love 00:09:35.519 --> 00:09:38.340 are long gone, and he is still around, alone. 00:09:38.720 --> 00:09:40.980 Think about that from the perspective of a viewer 00:09:40.980 --> 00:09:43.220 tuning in on a random weeknight. You're not expecting 00:09:43.220 --> 00:09:46.440 that. No. This mix of deep existential dread 00:09:46.440 --> 00:09:48.860 realizing you will outlive your loved ones plays 00:09:48.860 --> 00:09:51.200 right alongside absurd comedy like holding a 00:09:51.200 --> 00:09:53.600 support group for eating cotton. Going and expecting 00:09:53.600 --> 00:09:55.580 a simple puppet show and finding a meditation 00:09:55.580 --> 00:09:58.279 on grief and immortality is exactly what makes 00:09:58.279 --> 00:10:01.100 diving into older pop culture so rewarding. It 00:10:01.100 --> 00:10:03.480 highlights the sheer ambition of the writers' 00:10:03.559 --> 00:10:06.100 room during this era. They were constantly pushing 00:10:06.100 --> 00:10:08.179 the boundaries of what a show with this premise 00:10:08.179 --> 00:10:10.980 could conceptually handle. However, pulling off 00:10:10.980 --> 00:10:13.700 that delicate balance of tone, moving from physical 00:10:13.700 --> 00:10:17.080 comedy to existential grief, required a very 00:10:17.080 --> 00:10:19.720 specific and grueling set of physical mechanics 00:10:19.720 --> 00:10:21.980 behind the scenes. Let's talk about those physical 00:10:21.980 --> 00:10:25.179 mechanics and the cast dynamics. Bringing ALF 00:10:25.179 --> 00:10:27.139 to life was not just a matter of an actor slipping 00:10:27.139 --> 00:10:30.490 into a costume. According to our sources, Paul 00:10:30.490 --> 00:10:33.509 Fusco was the voice and the main puppeteer for 00:10:33.509 --> 00:10:36.509 ALF. But he couldn't do it alone. No, it required 00:10:36.509 --> 00:10:39.990 a highly coordinated team. Lisa Buckley and Bob 00:10:39.990 --> 00:10:43.370 Fappiano served as assistant puppeteers. It took 00:10:43.370 --> 00:10:45.690 three people working in tandem just to make this 00:10:45.690 --> 00:10:48.029 character breathe. talk, and interact with the 00:10:48.029 --> 00:10:50.330 physical world. Consider what that means conceptually 00:10:50.330 --> 00:10:52.750 for the production process. The human cast Max 00:10:52.750 --> 00:10:55.370 Wright as Willie and Shadeen as Kate, Andrea 00:10:55.370 --> 00:10:58.090 Elson as Lynn, and Benji Gregory as Brian were 00:10:58.090 --> 00:11:00.950 essentially acting against a massive three -person 00:11:00.950 --> 00:11:03.690 mechanical performance in every single scene. 00:11:03.870 --> 00:11:06.309 That sounds exhausting. They weren't just memorizing 00:11:06.309 --> 00:11:08.970 lines. They were navigating complex physical 00:11:08.970 --> 00:11:11.669 blocking around frenches built into the floor 00:11:11.669 --> 00:11:14.529 for the puppeteers, ensuring eyelines matched 00:11:14.529 --> 00:11:16.980 up with a piece of fabric while maintaining the 00:11:16.980 --> 00:11:19.620 emotional core of a scene about, say, the fear 00:11:19.620 --> 00:11:22.000 of death. You have to imagine the inherent tension 00:11:22.000 --> 00:11:24.360 of acting in that environment all day, every 00:11:24.360 --> 00:11:27.340 day. And the human dynamics within the narrative 00:11:27.340 --> 00:11:30.679 were shifting this season, too. The sources note 00:11:30.679 --> 00:11:32.820 the introduction of a new character, Willie's 00:11:32.820 --> 00:11:35.919 brother Neil, played by Jim J. Bullock. He moves 00:11:35.919 --> 00:11:38.019 into the house and immediately starts causing 00:11:38.019 --> 00:11:41.159 friction and tension. A classic shake -up. Meanwhile, 00:11:41.379 --> 00:11:43.740 the Tanner's nosy neighbors, Trevor and Raquel 00:11:43.740 --> 00:11:46.320 Ackman, make a very quiet exit from the series 00:11:46.320 --> 00:11:49.159 as the season progresses. The shifting of secondary 00:11:49.159 --> 00:11:51.799 characters is a classic network tool to inject 00:11:51.799 --> 00:11:54.559 new life and conflict into a show entering its 00:11:54.559 --> 00:11:56.899 fourth year. Bringing in a disruptive family 00:11:56.899 --> 00:12:00.120 member allows for fresh storylines when the dynamic 00:12:00.120 --> 00:12:02.399 between the core cast members has settled into 00:12:02.399 --> 00:12:04.850 a predictable rhythm. But what stands out even 00:12:04.850 --> 00:12:07.129 more prominently in the source material is the 00:12:07.129 --> 00:12:10.970 incredibly eclectic, almost random list of guest 00:12:10.970 --> 00:12:13.070 stars that appeared throughout this season. The 00:12:13.070 --> 00:12:15.610 guest stars present such a fascinating snapshot 00:12:15.610 --> 00:12:19.210 of 1989 and 1990 pop culture. You have David 00:12:19.210 --> 00:12:21.490 Alan Greer playing an FBI agent. You have Fran 00:12:21.490 --> 00:12:24.029 Drescher making an appearance. Legendary radio 00:12:24.029 --> 00:12:26.929 host Casey Kasem plays himself. Casey Kasem? 00:12:27.009 --> 00:12:29.250 Yeah. David Spade shows up as a character named 00:12:29.250 --> 00:12:31.990 Larry Slotkin. And then there's Dan Castellaneta, 00:12:32.090 --> 00:12:35.620 who's... appearance is tied to a really inventive 00:12:35.620 --> 00:12:38.440 plot. His specific role highlights the kind of 00:12:38.440 --> 00:12:40.940 bizarre narrative avenues the show is willing 00:12:40.940 --> 00:12:43.879 to explore. It happens in episode 21, Stayin' 00:12:43.879 --> 00:12:47.159 Alive. ALF gets outraged about a pollution -producing 00:12:47.159 --> 00:12:49.279 company called Sendrax, so he starts writing 00:12:49.279 --> 00:12:51.559 them these nasty, aggressive letters. So truly. 00:12:51.840 --> 00:12:54.039 The company executives are so taken with the 00:12:54.039 --> 00:12:56.000 letter writing that they actually end up offering 00:12:56.000 --> 00:12:58.559 Willie a lucrative job based on ALF's correspondence. 00:12:59.820 --> 00:13:01.659 The executive who makes the offer, Steve Michaels, 00:13:01.899 --> 00:13:04.659 is played by Dan Castellaneta. It's a wildly 00:13:04.659 --> 00:13:06.919 convoluted plot just to get a guest star into 00:13:06.919 --> 00:13:09.059 the Tanner living room. The complexity of those 00:13:09.059 --> 00:13:12.220 episodic plots also reflects another interesting 00:13:12.220 --> 00:13:14.500 aspect of television production from this era. 00:13:14.860 --> 00:13:17.519 The creation and airing of these episodes was 00:13:17.519 --> 00:13:20.899 rarely perfectly linear. A great production quirk 00:13:20.899 --> 00:13:22.899 found in the source material perfectly illustrates 00:13:22.899 --> 00:13:25.879 that. Two of the episodes that aired during Season 00:13:25.879 --> 00:13:29.919 4, Episode 5, Mind Games, and Episode 12, Fever, 00:13:30.039 --> 00:13:33.019 were actually produced during Season 3. They 00:13:33.019 --> 00:13:35.169 were just held back. Right. When we say production 00:13:35.169 --> 00:13:37.590 wasn't linear or that episodes were held back, 00:13:37.730 --> 00:13:40.590 it means the network essentially banked these 00:13:40.590 --> 00:13:42.549 episodes. They filmed them a year prior, put 00:13:42.549 --> 00:13:44.429 them on a shelf and used them in season four 00:13:44.429 --> 00:13:47.230 to fill scheduling gaps. The broadcast order 00:13:47.230 --> 00:13:49.570 often had very little to do with the chronological 00:13:49.570 --> 00:13:52.200 production order. The networks viewed the episodes 00:13:52.200 --> 00:13:54.519 as modular assets that could be deployed whenever 00:13:54.519 --> 00:13:57.320 it best suited their scheduling needs. But regardless 00:13:57.320 --> 00:13:59.519 of when the episodes were filmed, everything 00:13:59.519 --> 00:14:01.639 the network and the creators were doing in season 00:14:01.639 --> 00:14:04.220 four was ultimately building toward the season 00:14:04.220 --> 00:14:06.379 finale. So what does this all mean? Where was 00:14:06.379 --> 00:14:10.240 this massive 29 million viewer pop song titled 00:14:10.240 --> 00:14:13.220 Existential Dread Inducing Alien Show actually 00:14:13.220 --> 00:14:16.480 heading? That brings us to the climax of today's 00:14:16.480 --> 00:14:20.320 deep dive. Episode 24. Consider me gone. This 00:14:20.320 --> 00:14:22.539 specific episode is where the history of the 00:14:22.539 --> 00:14:25.120 show takes its most infamous, enduring turn. 00:14:25.460 --> 00:14:27.879 Let's lay out the plot of this finale. Over the 00:14:27.879 --> 00:14:30.100 course of the episode, ALF finally makes contact 00:14:30.100 --> 00:14:32.779 with his alien friends, Skip and Rhonda. They 00:14:32.779 --> 00:14:34.580 inform him that they have successfully established 00:14:34.580 --> 00:14:38.159 a new colony in space called New Melmac. A new 00:14:38.159 --> 00:14:40.820 home. Right. They send an invitation to ALF, 00:14:40.899 --> 00:14:42.679 asking him to leave Earth, leave the Tanners, 00:14:42.820 --> 00:14:45.120 and come live with his own kind again. After 00:14:45.120 --> 00:14:47.720 four years of hiding in a suburban house, ALF 00:14:47.720 --> 00:14:50.179 decides to go. He is finally going to get his 00:14:50.179 --> 00:14:53.279 happy ending. It seems perfect. But then, the 00:14:53.279 --> 00:14:55.639 climax of the episode completely pulls the rug 00:14:55.639 --> 00:14:58.019 out from under the audience. Just as ALF is out 00:14:58.019 --> 00:15:00.039 in the field about to board the spaceship, depart 00:15:00.039 --> 00:15:02.539 Earth, and finally find happiness, the U .S. 00:15:02.539 --> 00:15:04.799 Air Force's alien task force, led by a character 00:15:04.799 --> 00:15:07.200 named Colonel Halsey, played by guest star Richard 00:15:07.200 --> 00:15:09.899 Fancy, swoops in out of nowhere. Out of nowhere. 00:15:10.039 --> 00:15:12.679 The military surrounds the field. The spaceship 00:15:12.679 --> 00:15:15.509 is forced to flee. And the military forces capture 00:15:15.509 --> 00:15:17.950 ALF. If we connect this to the bigger picture, 00:15:18.149 --> 00:15:21.470 the tragedy of this dark ending is entirely rooted 00:15:21.470 --> 00:15:23.549 in the corporate decisions happening behind the 00:15:23.549 --> 00:15:25.929 scenes. According to the broadcast history, this 00:15:25.929 --> 00:15:28.809 episode originally concluded with a to -be -continued 00:15:28.809 --> 00:15:31.629 notice flashing on the screen. The creators fully 00:15:31.629 --> 00:15:34.049 intended to resolve this cliffhanger and likely 00:15:34.049 --> 00:15:37.190 rescue the character in a fifth season. However, 00:15:37.389 --> 00:15:41.110 NBC made the decision to cancel ALF only after 00:15:41.110 --> 00:15:43.789 this broadcast had already aired. Think about 00:15:43.789 --> 00:15:46.190 the emotional betrayal for the viewer. Let me 00:15:46.190 --> 00:15:48.029 emphasize the sheer numbers for everyone listening. 00:15:48.350 --> 00:15:51.570 21 .7 million viewers tuned in to watch this 00:15:51.570 --> 00:15:54.710 season finale. Over 21 million people watched 00:15:54.710 --> 00:15:57.250 this lovable, wisecracking alien who they had 00:15:57.250 --> 00:15:59.169 invited into their homes every week for four 00:15:59.169 --> 00:16:02.370 years get surrounded, trapped, and captured by 00:16:02.370 --> 00:16:05.049 a shadowy government military task force. And 00:16:05.049 --> 00:16:07.470 then the show simply ceased to exist. The audience 00:16:07.470 --> 00:16:10.610 was left on a permanent, incredibly bleak cliffhanger 00:16:10.610 --> 00:16:13.090 where the protagonist essentially loses his freedom 00:16:13.090 --> 00:16:15.250 to the government. It was years before the narrative 00:16:15.250 --> 00:16:17.549 was eventually resolved in a follow -up television 00:16:17.549 --> 00:16:21.740 movie called Project, ALF. But for the regular 00:16:21.740 --> 00:16:23.779 television viewer sitting in their living room 00:16:23.779 --> 00:16:27.240 in March of 1990, that unresolved military capture 00:16:27.240 --> 00:16:30.440 was the absolute end of the road. This raises 00:16:30.440 --> 00:16:32.000 an important question about the relationship 00:16:32.000 --> 00:16:34.120 between television networks and their audiences 00:16:34.120 --> 00:16:36.659 in the pre streaming era. It really does. How 00:16:36.659 --> 00:16:39.649 did networks handle audience trust? Canceling 00:16:39.649 --> 00:16:42.029 a massive, beloved show with tens of millions 00:16:42.029 --> 00:16:44.750 of viewers without allowing the creators to provide 00:16:44.750 --> 00:16:48.210 a proper planned conclusion is a profound violation 00:16:48.210 --> 00:16:51.029 of the unwritten contract between a storyteller 00:16:51.029 --> 00:16:54.009 and the audience. You spend four years investing 00:16:54.009 --> 00:16:56.070 in the emotional stakes of keeping this character 00:16:56.070 --> 00:16:59.090 safe, and your reward is watching him get hauled 00:16:59.090 --> 00:17:01.710 away by the government forever with zero resolution. 00:17:02.070 --> 00:17:04.609 It serves as a stark reminder of the ultimate 00:17:04.960 --> 00:17:07.779 unilateral power the networks held over the narrative 00:17:07.779 --> 00:17:10.279 life cycle of these massive cultural touchstones. 00:17:10.440 --> 00:17:13.140 Let's take a breath and briefly recap the incredible 00:17:13.140 --> 00:17:15.779 journey we've mapped out in this deep dive. We 00:17:15.779 --> 00:17:18.599 started by looking at the staggering 29 million 00:17:18.599 --> 00:17:21.539 viewer peaks this show was hitting, cementing 00:17:21.539 --> 00:17:24.180 its place as a dominant force in late 80s television. 00:17:24.440 --> 00:17:27.440 Huge numbers. We explored the unique pop song 00:17:27.440 --> 00:17:30.480 themed episode titles that subtly mirrored the 00:17:30.480 --> 00:17:33.759 show's human alien dynamic. We unpacked the bizarre 00:17:33.759 --> 00:17:36.880 narrative extremes, swinging wildly from a cotton 00:17:36.880 --> 00:17:39.579 -eating addiction intervention to the heavy existential 00:17:39.579 --> 00:17:43.000 dread of an immortal alien realizing he will 00:17:43.000 --> 00:17:45.640 outlive his human family. The tonal whiplash 00:17:45.640 --> 00:17:48.380 is crazy. And finally, we arrived at that brutal, 00:17:48.559 --> 00:17:51.500 unresolved military capture of a beloved pop 00:17:51.500 --> 00:17:54.579 culture icon, dictated entirely by shifting network 00:17:54.579 --> 00:17:57.200 schedules and cancellations. It remains a uniquely 00:17:57.200 --> 00:17:59.740 fascinating case study in the unpredictable mechanics 00:17:59.740 --> 00:18:02.420 of network television storytelling. For you, 00:18:02.460 --> 00:18:04.460 the listener, we hope this dive reminds you that 00:18:04.460 --> 00:18:06.339 beneath the surface of what looked like a simple 00:18:06.339 --> 00:18:09.339 dated puppet sitcom, there lies a really complex 00:18:09.339 --> 00:18:12.559 history of massive storytelling risks and jarring 00:18:12.559 --> 00:18:14.680 corporate decisions. And before we go, I want 00:18:14.680 --> 00:18:16.440 to leave you with a final provocative thought 00:18:16.440 --> 00:18:18.880 to mull over on your own time. Okay, let's hear 00:18:18.880 --> 00:18:21.259 it. This is based on a detail found in the other 00:18:21.259 --> 00:18:23.539 media section of the source material. The sources 00:18:23.539 --> 00:18:25.980 note that the ALF franchise spawned multiple 00:18:25.980 --> 00:18:28.960 animated series, specifically ALF, the animated 00:18:28.960 --> 00:18:31.839 series, and ALF Tales. It also spawned video 00:18:31.839 --> 00:18:35.900 games, like ALF, The First Adventure. The merchandising 00:18:35.900 --> 00:18:38.960 machine surrounding the character was vast. Now, 00:18:38.960 --> 00:18:41.480 consider this detail if the live -action show 00:18:41.480 --> 00:18:45.460 ended its run in March of 1990 with a horrifying 00:18:45.460 --> 00:18:48.619 narrative reality of ALF being hunted down and 00:18:48.619 --> 00:18:50.700 permanently captured by the government's alien 00:18:50.700 --> 00:18:53.720 task force. Wait, let me rephrase that permanently 00:18:53.720 --> 00:18:56.220 captured by the alien task force. How surreal 00:18:56.220 --> 00:18:58.200 is it that the character's legacy simultaneously 00:18:58.200 --> 00:19:01.140 continued right alongside that trauma in the 00:19:01.140 --> 00:19:03.000 form of Saturday morning cartoons and colorful 00:19:03.000 --> 00:19:05.799 video games aimed directly at children? It creates 00:19:05.799 --> 00:19:08.420 a profound cognitive dissonance for anyone paying 00:19:08.420 --> 00:19:10.960 attention to the overarching narrative. It invites 00:19:10.960 --> 00:19:12.960 you to really think about the bizarre disconnect 00:19:12.960 --> 00:19:15.720 between a franchise's incredibly dark narrative 00:19:15.720 --> 00:19:18.660 reality on primetime television and its cheerful 00:19:18.660 --> 00:19:21.920 multimedia merchandising machine operating in 00:19:21.920 --> 00:19:24.559 parallel. Right. The kids happily playing ALF. 00:19:25.019 --> 00:19:28.019 The first adventure on their home computers were 00:19:28.019 --> 00:19:31.180 essentially playing as a character who... in 00:19:31.180 --> 00:19:33.640 the official live -action canon was currently 00:19:33.640 --> 00:19:36.819 sitting in a military lockdown facility undergoing 00:19:36.819 --> 00:19:40.200 government testing. It's an absolutely wild disconnect 00:19:40.200 --> 00:19:42.740 to consider when thinking about how pop culture 00:19:42.740 --> 00:19:44.799 properties are managed. It really makes you see 00:19:44.799 --> 00:19:47.180 the whole franchise in a different light. Thank 00:19:47.180 --> 00:19:48.859 you so much for joining us for this deep dive. 00:19:49.039 --> 00:19:51.279 We hope you enjoyed extracting these hidden nuggets 00:19:51.279 --> 00:19:54.339 of television history. Keep exploring, keep questioning 00:19:54.339 --> 00:19:56.519 the media history around you, and we will catch 00:19:56.519 --> 00:19:57.039 you next time.