Paul Fusco | |
---|---|
Born | New Haven, Connecticut, U.S. |
Occupations |
|
Years active | 1972–present |
Employer(s) | Alien Productions HBO |
Spouse | Linda Fusco (m. 1978) |
Children | 1 |
Paul Fusco is an American puppeteer, actor, television producer, writer and director. He is best known as the puppeteer and voice of the title character on the sitcom ALF , [1] for which he also served as creator, writer, producer, and director. [2] He formed the production company Alien Productions with Tom Patchett and Bernie Brillstein.
Fusco had been producing a series of puppet-centered television specials, many centered around the holidays, beginning in the early 1980s. He created the ALF character in 1984 using an "alien"-looking puppet that he had in his house, which he used to annoy his family and friends. He wanted to create a television show based on the character. Through Bernie Brillstein he met Tom Patchett, and together they came up with the concept behind the ALF sitcom. They pitched the idea to NBC's Brandon Tartikoff, who loved the idea and commissioned the show. ALF was a success, beginning in 1986 and lasting four seasons, during which 99 episodes were produced.
Fusco also created and produced two animated series for NBC: ALF: The Animated Series and ALF Tales . A co-production of DIC, Alien Productions, Lorimar-Telepictures, and Saban Entertainment, the cartoons portrayed Gordon Shumway (ALF) and his family in their days on Melmac prior to the planet explosion. Animated segments were hosted by the live-action ALF, who read letters from viewers and told stories about life back home. Space Cats , a Paul Fusco-produced show in association with Marvel Productions, also ran on NBC in the early 1990s, which was another mix of live action puppetry and animation. The episodes would begin with the live action puppetry where Captain Catgut (voiced by Fusco), the leader of the Spacecats, would receive a mission briefing about the trouble at hand. Space Cats lasted one season and produced 13 episodes, being cancelled after NBC withdrew its commitment to Saturday morning cartoons.
NBC unexpectedly cancelled ALF in 1990 after production wrapped for Season Four, leaving the final episode ("Consider Me Gone") as an unresolved cliffhanger. ABC offered Fusco closure to the story arc and produced a television movie in 1996 called Project ALF co-starring Martin Sheen. The movie (produced by Paul Fusco Productions) saw ALF escaping from the military base where he had been held for testing, but the scientist who he thinks will help him is really plotting to expose his existence to the world on a television talk show.
Fusco kept ALF in the public eye as much as possible after Project ALF. Between 1996 and 2001, ALF made many television guest appearances including The Cindy Margolis Show , Talk Soup , and Love Boat: The Next Wave . Fusco continued the trend by featuring ALF on NBC's 75th Anniversary Show and the 2003 TV Land Awards. During 2003–04, he revived his guest spot on Hollywood Squares , and also became the "spokesalien" for phone company 10-10-220. ALF merchandise also returned with posters, figures and T-shirts. The American-Canadian DVD release of the original sitcom was the recipient of much critical and fan backlash due to distributor Lionsgate Home Entertainment's insistence on utilizing syndicated/edited versions instead of remastering the original uncut NBC-TV broadcast versions, resulting in poor sales. [3] The German DVD release included complete episodes for all but three of the 99 entries.[ citation needed ]
The ALF renaissance led to ALF's Hit Talk Show in 2004, created and produced by Fusco for TV Land. The show was a mix of celebrity chat and skits filmed in front of a live audience from Hollywood's Sunset Boulevard and lasted only eight episodes. [4]
In November 2007, ALF appeared as "TV Icon of the Week" on The O'Reilly Factor . In 2016, ALF made appearances on two different television series, Mr. Robot [5] and Young Sheldon , one episode of each.
In August 2012, Fusco confirmed that Sony Pictures Animation had acquired the rights to ALF and would develop the property into a CGI-live action hybrid feature. The Smurfs producer Jordan Kerner would also produce the film, along with Tom Patchett and Fusco. [6] As of April 2024, there have been no updates on the production of this film.
Year | Film | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1972 | Mr. Goober | Unknown role | [7] |
1981 | The Crown of Bogg | Prince Milo/ Vandred | Television film |
1982 | The Valentine's Day that Almost Wasn't | Bugsy Slime, Sam Cupid | |
1983 | Santa's Magic Toy Bag | Santa | Television film |
1983 | A Thanksgiving Tale | Tom Turkey | |
1984 | The Moonstone Gem | Unknown role | Television film |
1985 | Dumbo's Circus | Master puppeteer | Episode: "Uncle Lattimer Says "Merci"" |
1985 | Kidstime with T.X. Critter | T.X. Critter | [8] |
1986–1990 | ALF | ALF, Wayne Schlegel, Crime Stoppers Host, Rick Fusterman | Main role |
1987 | ALF: The Animated Series | ALF (voice) | Main role |
1987 | Matlock | ALF | Episode: "The Network" |
1988 | ALF Tales | ALF (voice) | Main role |
1989 | The Wickedest Witch | Ersatz | Television film (also producer) |
1990 | Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue | ALF (voice) | Television special |
1990 | A Very Retail Christmas | Puppet performer | |
1991 | Blossom | ALF | Episode: "The Geek" |
1991 | Space Cats | Captain Catgut (voice and puppeteer) | Main role |
1996 | Project ALF | ALF | Television film |
1999 | Love Boat: The Next Wave | ALF | Episode: "Trances of a Lifetime" |
2000 | The Cindy Margolis Show | ALF | Episode: "Out of This World" |
2002 | NBC 75th Anniversary Special | ALF | 1 episode |
2003 | TV Land Awards: A Celebration of Classic TV | ALF | 1 episode |
2004 | Hollywood Squares | ALF | 1 episode |
2004 | ALF's Hit Talk Show | ALF | 7 episodes |
2007 | The O'Reilly Factor | ALF | 1 episode |
2011 | Good Morning America | ALF | 1 episode |
2012 | The Hub's ALF Week | ALF | |
2016 | Donald Trump's The Art of the Deal: The Movie | ALF | Television film |
2016 | Mr. Robot | ALF | Episode: "eps2.4_m4ster-s1ave.aes" |
2019 | Young Sheldon [9] | ALF | Episode: "A Race of Superhumans and a Letter to ALF" |
2020 | Duncanville | ALF (voice) | Episode: "Sister, Wife" |
2023 | The Simpsons | ALF (voice) | Episode: "The Many Saints of Springfield" |
2024 | Impractical Jokers | ALF | Episode: "ALF" |
ALF Tales is a 30-minute Saturday morning animated series that aired on NBC from September 10, 1988, to December 9, 1989. The show is a spin-off of ALF: The Animated Series that featured characters from that series playing various characters from fairy tales. The fairy tale parody was usually altered for comedic effect in a manner akin to Jay Ward's "Fractured Fairy Tales".
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ALF is an American television sitcom that aired on NBC from September 22, 1986, to March 24, 1990.
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Alfred Ernest Jean III is an American screenwriter and producer. Jean is well known for his work on The Simpsons. He was raised near Detroit, Michigan, and graduated from Harvard University in 1981. Jean began his writing career in the 1980s with fellow Harvard alum Mike Reiss. Together, they worked as writers and producers on television shows such as The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, ALF and It's Garry Shandling's Show.
Adult puppeteering is the use of puppets in contexts aimed at adult audiences. Serious theatrical pieces can use puppets, either for aesthetic reasons, or to achieve special effects that would otherwise be impossible with human actors. In parts of the world where puppet shows have traditionally been children's entertainment, many find the notion of puppets in decidedly adult situations—for example, involving drugs, sex, profanity, or violence—to be humorous, because of the bizarre contrast it creates between subject matter and characters.
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ALF: The Animated Series is an American animated television series that aired on NBC for 26 episodes from September 26, 1987, to January 7, 1989.
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Bernard Jules Brillstein was an American film and television producer, executive producer, and talent agent.
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Project: ALF is a 1996 American made-for-television science fiction comedy film directed by Dick Lowry which serves as a sequel to the final episode "Consider Me Gone" of the 1986–1990 sitcom ALF. It was broadcast in the U.S. by ABC and in Canada on CHCH-TV on February 17, 1996. The film was released on DVD in 2005 and on Blu-ray in 2023.
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Gordon Shumway, also known as "ALF", is the protagonist and title character of the American television series ALF, and its animated spin-offs, ALF: The Animated Series, and ALF Tales. ALF also starred in the poorly received television film Project ALF, and hosted the short lived talk show ALF's Hit Talk Show. The name "ALF" is short for "Alien Life Form". Paul Fusco created and plays ALF, and he also provides the voice for the character. On ALF, Lisa Buckley and Bob Fappiano assisted Fusco with performing the furry brown alien. During the first season of ALF, Michu Meszaros occasionally wore a full costume when full body shots were needed of the character.
Kidstime and Kidstime Express is a local children's television show broadcast by WTXX Channel 20 in Waterbury, Connecticut, in the 1980s and early 1990s. It was originally hosted by Mike Imfeld and his puppet companions with his cohost being T. X. Critter, operated by puppeteer Don Wunderlee. T. X. was the yellow precursor to ALF, created by the puppeteer Paul Fusco, a few years before the hit NBC TV show of the same name. At some point, Imfeld was replaced by Mike Mozart. Mozart was then later replaced by Lauren DeLisa, who remained the host until the show was canceled in 1993.
An Aniform is a two-dimensional cartoon character operated like a puppet, to be displayed to live audiences or in visual media. The concept was invented by Morey Bunin with his spouse Charlotte, Bunin being a puppeteer who had worked with string marionettes and hand puppets. The distinctive feature of an Aniforms character is that it displays a physical form that appears "animated" on a real or simulated television screen. The technique was used in television production.
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