List of ALF characters

A listing of the characters from the ALF television series that ran between 1986 and 1990.

ALF

Gordon Shumway
ALF character
Gordon "ALF" Shumway in the series ALF
First appearance	"ALF"
Portrayed by	Paul Fusco
Voiced by	Paul Fusco
In-universe information
Alias	ALF
Nickname	ALF
Species	Melmacian
Gender	Male
Family	Bob Shumway (father) Flo Shumway (mother) Curtis Shumway (brother) Augie Shumway (sister)
Nationality	Melmac

ALF (an acronym for "Alien Life Form"), is an alien from the planet Melmac. ALF's real name is Gordon Shumway; he was given the nickname "ALF" by Willie Tanner in the pilot episode.

ALF was born on October 28, 1756 (though he mentions that his birthday is in August in Episode 7, "Help Me Rhonda") on the Lower East Side of the planet. Melmac was located six parsecs past the Hydra-Centaurus Supercluster and had a green sky, pink grass and a purple sun. The commonly used currency is Wernicks, and the substance we call foam is revealed by ALF in the first-season episode, "Baby, You Can Drive My Car", to be as precious on Melmac as gold is on Earth. Lint also has value on Melmac as hinted in the cold open of the same episode, though ALF did not reveal what it corresponded to on Earth in terms of value. It is possible that lint may have corresponded to platinum, as both materials were used in his ship as part of what appears to be basic amenities, specifically the ship's plumbing, and Alf, surprised that the materials had value on Earth, would sell these in order to buy a Ferrari for Lynn.

ALF's body is covered with rust-colored fur (he once described his color as burnt sienna). He has a rippled snout, facial moles, eight stomachs, his heart is apparently located in his head near his ear. He likes to eat cats and had a best friend on his home planet named Malhar Naik. He attended high school for 122 years and was captain of a Bouillabaisseball team (which is played on a normal baseball diamond using fish parts as a ball). He has at least two cousins "Pretty Boy Shumway" and "Blinky", and has had liposuction. During a bout of amnesia, he believed he was an insurance salesman named Wayne Schlegel.

ALF is troublesome, sarcastic and cynical, and sometimes he puts himself at the risk of being discovered while doing some of his often unintentional pranks. However, if things have gone too far, he does as much as possible to make up for his mistakes, generally with good results. In one episode, he tried to help Brian to gain confidence during a school show, because he was too afraid to perform. In another occasion, he helped Dorothy to deal with her husband's death and move on and accept another man's friendship. He also helped Raquel Ochmonek deal with a depression she suffered after she became the laughing stock in a TV show.

Before his life on Earth, ALF was an Orbit Guard for Melmac and was often called upon to fight the villain calling himself "Versus, the Evil Larson Petty". During one such battle, nuclear missiles are used to try to quell the threat of Versus once and for all. Unknown to everyone, the missiles would not only destroy Versus, but the entire planet along with the Melmacians trying to defend their planet. When Melmac exploded, it threw a few orbit guard ships into space, one of them being ALF's. The ship drifted through space for about a year before picking up Willie Tanner's radio transmission and crash landing on earth.

ALF is generally regarded as one of the only Melmacians to survive his home planet's cataclysm. However, a few other Melmacians were shown to have survived the cataclysm. Skip and Rhonda had escaped the explosion in an interstellar space craft. It is stated in the episode titled "Help Me Rhonda" that ALF's other friend Rick got married to a Melmacian named Stella, who opened a tanning parlor on Mercury. In the episode titled "Alone Again, Naturally" ALF sees his cousin "Blinky" in a car on the highway, but Willy says that they haven't seen a car for hours and ALF was just daydreaming, so it's really left up to the viewer if ALF saw Blinky or not. Any other surviving Melmacians are unknown at this point although it is possible that more exist as many other orbit guard ships could have suffered the same fate as ALF's, stranded on other unknown planets.

With ALF being a live-hand puppet, Paul Fusco is assisted in performing ALF by Bob Fappiano and Lisa Buckley. Michu Meszaros stood in for the ALF puppet when full-body shots were needed by wearing an ALF costume (although this idea was ditched in later seasons).

TV Guide ranked ALF # 8 on its "25 Greatest Sci-Fi Legends" list.

ALF in animation

Animated Gordon.

ALF: The Animated Series depicts ALF's life on Melmac before it exploded. As the animated series takes place before ALF's life on Earth, he goes by his real name of "Gordon" here. Each episode depicts ALF and his family in some kind of wacky situation. His family members are his father Bob, his mother Flo, his younger brother Curtis, his little sister Augie, his dog Neep, and his bird Harry. Gordon has two friends named Skip, another named Rick Fusterman, and a girl he adores named Rhonda.

In ALF Tales, he starts the episode featuring the story, and usually appears as the main character of the story.

His animated form also appears in the film Cartoon All Stars to the Rescue.

Main characters

• William Francis "Willie" Tanner (played by Max Wright) is the father figure, and a Social worker by trade.

• Katherine Daphne "Kate" Halligan Tanner (played by Anne Schedeen) is the mother figure and has at least one sister.

• Lynn "Lynnie" Tanner (played by Andrea Elson) is the eldest child of the Tanner family and their only daughter.

• Brian "Bri" Tanner (played by Benji Gregory) is the elder son and middle child of the Tanner family.

Recurring characters

The Ochmonek Family

• Trevor Ochmonek (played by John LaMotta) He is a Master of Arts graduate, who played football for 7 years through high school and he is a veteran of the Korean War, where he served as a pilot.

• Raquel Ochmonek (played by Liz Sheridan) She is very nosy, often spying on the neighbors with a looking glass and spreading rumors.

• Jason "Jake" Ochmonek (played by Josh Blake) is the nephew of Trevor and Raquel who was sent to live with Raquel and Trevor after his father was in jail.

The Deaver Family

• Dorothy Halligan Deaver (played by Anne Meara) is the widowed mother of Kate, the mother-in-law of Willie, and the grandmother of Lynn, Brian, and Eric.

• "Whizzer" Deaver (played by Paul Dooley) is Dorothy's second husband, Kate's stepfather, Willie's stepfather-in-law, and Lynn, Brian, and Eric's step-grandfather.

Others

• Jody (played by Andrea Covell) A blind woman who ALF befriends in the first season of the series.

• Lawrence "Larry" Dykstra (played by Bill Daily) is a shrink who appears in several episodes when ALF and Willie Tanner have problems.

• Neal Tanner (played by Jim J. Bullock) is Willie's younger brother and the uncle of Brian, Lynn, and Eric.

• Eric William Tanner is the younger son of the Tanner family. He debuted in the episode "Having My Baby" from season 3.

• Lucky is the Tanner family's cat. He died in the fourth season, replaced by a kitten adopted by ALF himself.

• Lucky II is the Tanner family's new cat. ALF adopted Lucky II after Lucky died in Season 4.

Minor characters

Luis Mancia

Luis (played by Phillip Gordon) is a Mexican boy who was taken in for one night by Willie. Luis meets ALF when he mistakes him to for the neighbors' dog. They have "tilled together" and "mulched together", according to ALF. Luis is the only one not invited back to ALF's reunion featuring the friends who have met him. After the episode featuring Luis, he is never heard from again.

Fredo Mancia

Fredo The father of Luis Mancia. He moves to Riverside when his farm in San Felipe, Mexico goes under and works in a carpet factory on a work permit. His son, Luis, runs away and tries to get Willie (who works at the Social Services Department of Los Angeles County) to get him on a bus back to San Felipe.

Tiffany

Tiffany (played by Keri Houlihan) In the hour-long episode "ALF's Special Christmas," ALF meets a terminally ill child named Tiffany and they become friends, when they realize that they are both in similar ways alone on this planet.

Uncle Albert

Uncle Albert (played by Elisha Cook, Jr.), is Willie's uncle. He is described as a grumpy, inconsiderate and stingy man, but he changes his ways when he had a heart attack and was hospitalized for over a month. While hospitalized, no one came to visit him or send him a card, which made him realize he brought it on himself due to his past attitude. This inspires Albert to become more considerate towards people and generous with others; giving each member of the Tanner family expensive gifts and paying for dinner. He tragically dies of shock when he discovers ALF staying in a tent in the backyard, arguably triggering a second heart attack. ALF celebrates his death according to Melmacian funeral customs, which sparks a debate between him and Willie over the proper way to show respect for the dead. When ALF realizes that Albert collapsed in shock due to his sight, this causes ALF to believe he is responsible, and isolates himself from everyone like a condemned murderer until Lynn consoles ALF by showing the death was accidental and that Albert was given a chance to mend his past sins, which many do not get to do.

Angel Bob

Angel Bob (played by Joseph Maher) ALF is surprised to see Bob when no one else can, and is somewhat puzzled that his guardian angel is not a Melmacian. After convincing Gordon he is an angel, Bob grants ALF's request for a new life. He previews this new life in an "It's a Wonderful Life" manner. In the end, ALF decides that he doesn't want a new life and wants everything to go back to normal.

Eddie

Eddie (played by Michael Des Barres) a graduate student in architecture, taught history for a while, and is a substitute novelist (he signs books for authors when they are too busy) when Lynn meets him.

Robert

Robert Sherwood a street performer at the beach. He is also a caterer's assistant for Rex Savage. His talents include twirling fire batons and pantomime. Robert takes an immediate interest in Lynn and the two start dating soon after meeting.

Randy

Randy (played by Mark Clayman) a center for the high school football team. His trouble in English seems to stem from a poor vocabulary, as when Willie casually asks Randy how he is doing, Randy responds with simple monosyllabic words (although in later episodes it does appear Lynn's tutoring is working as Randy does grasp more complex words). Lynn tutors him in English but is not romantically interested in him. She uses Randy as a cover to see Eddie behind her parents' backs.Randy has a mild romantic interest in Lynn and a scene ensues when Lynn agrees to go to a dance with him, as friends, as Danny Duckworth is interested in going steady with Lynn. Due to a misconstrued phone call answered by ALF, Danny is outraged that Lynn was supposedly two-timing hi with Randy. When Danny and Randy nearly end up fighting, Lynn chastises Danny for treating her like his turf, but also says that Randy does not have to be macho for her sake. Lynn defuses the fight on the basis that she was dateless for the dance and so was Randy, and Danny gives his approval, whereupon he allows Randy to take Lynn to the dance as his date knowing that the two are going as friends.

Cathy Berry

Cathy Berry a friend of Lynn's. Randy and Lynn go to a party at her house and Lynn comes home with Eddie, who she is seeing behind her parents' backs. Cathy was possibly the same girl that was planning on going to a Pretenders concert with Lynn and who felt better if she stood by the curb to wait for Lynn, before she learned that the car had broken down.

Jimbo

Jim "Jimbo" Hutchinson (played by Todd Susman) a co-worker of Willie's at the Social Services Department of Los Angeles County. He prefers to go by "Jimbo," but when he reveals that he is in the Federal Witness Protection Program for testifying against counterfeiters in the Cleveland Syndicate, he confesses that his real name is Steve (though he prefers to be called "Steverino"). According to his cover story, he is an orphan who was born in Seattle. He graduated from NYU in 1974 and previously worked in record promotions. His hobbies are saving the whales and driving his Delorean. He claims that his Delorean is in the shop and comes up with a number of excuses not to return to his own apartment. Fortunately he is at the Tanner residence when an agent from the Cleveland Syndicate arrives with fake FBI identification to find him, as ALF captures him with a homemade trap.

Nick "The Fish" Mints

Nick "The Fish" Mints (played by David Leisure) is a bookie with which Dorothy places bets on The Gambler. Following her lead, ALF places bets with Nick Mints in order to help the Tanner family pay their balloon payment. Unfortunately, ALF loses a large bet resulting in owing $6000 to Nick Mints. Nick visits the Tanner household to demand his money and breaks a vase to intimidate Willie. The Tanners are able to raise the money to pay the gambling debt by renting his spaceship to Carl Buck, a set decorator for the movie Jupiter Guys.

Garland

Garland the best man at Whizzer's wedding to Dorothy. He goes home with Trixie, the stripper at Whizzer's bachelor party, and consequently arrives late to the wedding. After the wedding it seems that he (and probably Trixie) are headed to Tijuana.

Andrea

Andrea (played by Rebecca Booneis) one of the guests that attended Kate's surprise baby shower. She brings her baby Elliot since she can't find a babysitter. The baby is left in the crib, and when ALF gets near it, he begins sneezing violently, leading him to believe that he is allergic to babies.

Elliot

Elliot the name of Andrea's baby that she brings to the baby shower. ALF begins sneezing when he gets near Elliot and believes that he is allergic to babies. ALF, consequently, decides to try to move in with Jake Ochmonek next door.

Maura

Maura Norris (played by Dorothy Lyman) Kate's college roommates. In college, she earned the nickname "boilermaker" because she drank 14 boilermakers in a single night. She is a successful lawyer and has tried cases before the state's supreme court. Kate and Lynn both have tremendous respect for her. Lynn even read her comments in "People vs. Fusco." She had a falling out with her husband and stayed with the Tanners for the night, where she mistook ALF for her imaginary drinking buddy Sammy, who she had been seeing for seven years.

Betty

Betty (played by Stephanie Hagen) Kate's college roommates. She sells houses on the west side. Kate meets with her and other college friends for dinner at Summa Cum Lately, and feels somewhat inadequate when she perceives that her college friends have achieved more than she has.

Sylvia

Sylvia (played by Hilary Thompson) Kate's college roommates. She says that she sold her card shop and bought a stationery store, which she sold to by a paper mill, which she sold to buy a forest. Presumably the forest part is a joke. She resides in Portland.

Laverne

Laverne Litwhack (played by Nancy Lenehan) a lady that lives in the Tanner's neighborhood. She helps Raquel plan a surprise baby shower for Kate, but almost immediately breaks and tells Kate. Raquel criticizes Laverne for not twisting the streamers when she decorates.

Laura

Laura (played by Carla Gugino) Jake's girlfriend. Her dad is a policeman and she has a pet named Fluffy. Jake was at first too shy to even speak to her. When ALF learns of his shyness, he helps Jake out by writing love poems on his behalf. She is impressed with the poems and thinks he's cute, so they go on a date together. Jake is uncertain if he is going to continue going out with her because she has a high-pitched, whiny, and annoying laugh.

Blinky

ALF One of ALF's cousins. He eats light bulbs. ALF thinks he has found Blinky when he reads in The National Inquisitor that a couple in Barstow claims to have a space alien living with them that eats cats, frozen yogurt, and light bulbs

Nick Susla

Nick Susla (played by Richard McKenzie) He is not enthusiastic about going back on the road with the freak show and would like to enjoy a quiet retirement. He decides to play along with ALF and Willie and pretends that ALF has unimaginable powers, so that they can escape.

Betty Susla

Betty Susla (played by Kathleen Freeman) A woman in Barstow who used to have a traveling freak show. She was featured in an article in The National Inquisitor in which she claims to have a space alien that fits the description of ALF's cousin Blinky. Willie and ALF go to investigate and ALF gets captured. Betty's husband Nick Susla lets them go, because he wants to enjoy his retirement rather than going back on the road with the freak show

Mrs. Lyman

Mrs. Lyman (played by Marcia Wallace) the principal of the Franklin Elementary School where Brian attends. Mrs. Lyman first appears as the emcee for the Nutrition Follies where Brian and Spencer sing the Asparagus song ("It Isn't Easy Bein' Green"). In Mrs. Lyman's second appearance, she forbids Brian's science project from being included in the science carnival because of its inclusion of the planets Dave and Alvin (unknown to humans) at ALF's insistence. Mrs. Lyman relents and allows the project to be included after Consumer Ed shows up at the Tanner house. ("Weird Science"). She only appeared in two episodes of Season 1.

Kelly

Kelly an orderly or nurse at the hospital, who helps Richard load his camera equipment on the elevator when the door closes and Denise gets stuck. He goes to fetch Mr. Foley to repair the elevator.

Mr. Foley

Mr. Foley the name of a man that allowed Willie's family (when Willie was a child) to stay at his cabin after Willie's father lost his job and their house was repossessed. One Christmas the Tanners rent Mr. Foley's cabin in order to relive Willie's old-fashioned Christmas. Mr. Foley repairs old toys and delivers them to children at the hospital dressed as Santa Claus.

Gravel Gus

Gravel Gus (played by Tracey Walter) a hobo on the train that ALF and Willie jump on. He is called Gravel Gus because he "ate gravel" on his first few attempts to jump a train. He assures Willie that it is not as bad as how his friend Cesspool Steve got his nickname. Other acquaintances of Gravel Gus who ride the Rock Island Line include Litchfield and Flatcar, who have no teeth. Gravel Gus introduced himself with a spurious tale of working on Madison Avenue until one day he decided to chuck the ad game. He immediately reveals that this story is untrue.

Hannah

Hannah (played by Nicole Dubuc) a little girl who is the owner of the lost dog Brian found.

Felicia Burke

Felicia Burke the wife of Walter Burke. She heckles Brian by always telling him, "You're growing up too fast!", which is why Brian doesn't like Halloween parties where she is invited.

Walter Burke

Walter Burke Willie's boss at the Social Services Department of Los Angeles County. Willie gets angry at Mr. Burke for taking him off of a teen runaways project to search for a missing cooler and fears that he has lost his chance at a promotion. Mr. Burke hurts his back trying to limbo at ALF's request at the Tanner's Halloween party.

Myrna Byrd

Myrna Byrd a widow that lives in the Tanner's neighborhood at 148 Hemdale. She is part of the neighborhood watch, has no sense of humor, and advocates strict punishment for the burglar. She becomes an unofficial leader for the mob outside of the Ochmonek residence, inciting them to chant "tear gas!" and "SWAT team!"

Steve Michaels

Steve Michaels an administrator for Sendrax. His real name is Stefanovich Migleriski. He offers Willie a job in PR to get him to stop his (in reality, ALF's) boycott campaign. Steve is let go from his position at Sendrax, and he calls Rob Jacobs at the Baton Rouge plant and tells him to stop producing CFCs immediately.

Bernice

Bernice is the name of a woman that attends the Tanner Halloween party dressed as a cowgirl. ALF called all of the guests beforehand and told them to wear costumes so that he could attend the party under the name "Gordo" by wearing a zipper on his torso. Bernice is particularly impressed with Gordo's Elvis impersonation.

Bert

Bert the tow truck driver who tows the Tanners ' car home when it breaks down. Bert's tow truck also breaks down in the process. Bert feels bad about the inconvenience and helps the Tanners bring in the groceries.

Carl Buck

Carl Buck a set decorator for the movie Jupiter Guys. He rents ALF's spaceship for $6000. Carl Buck's arrival was serendipitous in that ALF was in very big trouble over a $6000 gambling debt that he owed to Nick "The Fish" Mints for losing a bet at horse racing.

Lynn's boyfriends

Scott

Scott Maynard (played by Kurt McKinney) Scott asks Lynn to store his instruments in the Tanner garage. Scott's band was called the "G-men", but when they found out that another band already claimed that name, they changed it to the "Doors".

Lizard

Lizard (played by Geoffery Blake) His nickname "Lizard" comes from his removing a tumor from a lizard in biology class. His true love is quantum physics. Willie is so pleased with this, that he preemptively gives "Lizard" permission to marry Lynn. He got a job at the Weiner on a Stick restaurant at the mall, where Willie ate dinner on the night of its grand opening. He appeared on the episode "Some Enchanted Evening" in which he meets ALF at the Tanners' Halloween party. ALF asks him what he thinks extraterrestrials might be like. When he says that they would be very advanced and intelligent, ALF says "thank you."

Danny

Danny Duckworth (played by Ricky Paull Goldin) He plays on the high school baseball team. ALF tries to set Lynn up on a date with him and accidentally sets her up with Danny's cousin Donny Duckworth, the waterboy, by mistake.

Consumer Ed

Consumer Ed A TV reporter that ALF calls in to investigate the warranty on the Tanner's TV (which had to be shipped to Libya in order to be repaired under the conditions of the warranty). When Consumer Ed arrives at the Tanner residence, Brian's principal Mrs. Lyman is there to discuss Brian's science carnival project. Consumer Ed ends up doing his story on this instead.

Aaron King

Aaron King (played by Pete Willcox) was a reclusive neighbor and truck driver from Tupelo, Mississippi, who ALF is convinced is Elvis Presley in hiding in the Season 3 episode "Suspicious Minds". He reaches this conclusion after reading a book on conspiracy theories of Elvis being alive. ALF goes as far as calling Mr. King with a fruit basket and makes grilled peanut butter and banana sandwiches for him. After seeing him eat them, He has a dream where he enters Mr. King's home and sees it is filled with Elvis memorabilia, further convincing him he met Elvis, despite Mr. King's objections.

Howie Anderson

Howie Anderson (played by John Pinette) A comedian who highlights his own obesity in his stand up routine. When ALF has a dream about becoming a comedian, he suggest to Howie that he should use his weight as part of his routine. Later when ALF becomes a washed-up has-been, Howie comes back and ridicules him.

Marilyn

Marilyn a journalist for The National Inquisitor. She comes after ALF sends several letters to the newspaper to correct erroneous information about alien races. ALF inadvertently peeks through the kitchen window when the photographer Phil takes a picture, so Willie has to stall them by making up stories about aliens while ALF infiltrates the van and destroys the film.

Mr. Polniakoff

Mr. Polniakoff the owner of a club in Catskills where ALF becomes the house emcee after he becomes a washed-up has-been.

Julius

Julius a mortician with a morbid sense of humor. Mr. Rasmussen tries to play matchmaker by introducing him to Lynn, but Lynn is not interested in him and instead shows interest in Robert Sherwood, Rex Savage's assistant.

Brandon Tartikoff

Brandon Tartikoff a head of programming at NBC. He is moved to a smaller office after ALF alters the television ratings to send the nearly cancelled show Polka Jamboree to number 1. Bill Cosby, whose show was at number 1, calls him to complain about the situation. Later, ALF fantasizes about being a comic and Brandon Tartikoff offers him a show on NBC.

Elaine Ochmonek

Elaine Ochmonek (played by Randee Heller) Jake's mother. She suffers from kleptomania. She lives in New York City, but visits Jake hoping that he will come back and stay with her. Jake insists that she receive professional help for her kleptomania before he will consider coming back home to live with her. By sheer mistake, ALF witnessed Mrs. Ochmonek stealing some of Kate's jewelry when his need to use the bathroom was overpowering. Fortunately, ALF remained hidden from her sight, but when he attempted to reveal this to Jake, a disappointed Jake says he believes ALF but tries to explain the concept of kleptomania to ALF as opposed to robbery for greed or envious purposes (such as the burglar's). ALF is less successful telling Kate and Willie about this, believing him to be making slanderous stories until Kate says her brooch was indeed stolen. Jake later confronts his mother about the larceny. Upset, he states she has more progress to make to cure her condition before he will live with her again. This is also shown when she steal Trevor's coin collection.

She is Trevor's sister-in-law. Trevor's brother (Jake's father) is in jail for five years for fixing horse races.

Denise

Denise a pregnant woman who gets stuck in an elevator when going into labor, with only ALF there to help. ALF assists her through the labor and suggests naming the baby Tiffany. Denise's husband Richard is loaded with camera equipment and books when assisting Denise into the hospital.

Richard

Richard is Denise's husband. While loading his camera equipment into the elevator at the hospital, his wife gets stuck in the elevator where she delivers her baby with ALF's assistance. When they first arrive at the hospital, Richard is so consumed with get all of the bags, the camera equipment, and change to make phone calls, that he nearly forgets to help Denise out of the car.

Rex

Rex a caterer hired by the Tanners to plan their luau. His assistant's name is Robert Sherwood. ALF tries to get some of Rex's pig before all the guests eat it without exposing himself, which proves difficult. It is strongly implied that Rex is a homosexual, and that James (who he claims is his pastry chef) is actually his partner or ex-partner.

Spencer

Spencer a boy in Brian's class at school (who he doesn't particularly get along with). They sing the asparagus song, composed by Willie, as a duet for the school play. He appeared in the episode It Isn't Easy Bein' Green. He is quite spoiled, showing off an expensive toy given to him by his seldom-seen father (by way of the father's secretary), and criticizes Brian for making mistakes on the song and getting nervous, Spencer claiming that he is "too good" to work with such amateurs. Spencer ultimately gets his comeuppance when he goes onto the school stage by himself and tries telling jokes, only to be humiliated.

Bill Lowman

A sales manager at Rancho Estates. He is very greedy and desires as much profit as possible. He showed a slide show for the Tanners to watch an advertisement to live at Rancho Estates, where the Tanners were temporarily staying on their vacation with the Ochmoneks. He wanted Lynn to tell Willie that she wants to stay at Rancho Estates and play tennis, which Lowman stated Lynn is terrific at. Willie ordered Lowman to stop bothering Lynn, so Lowman tries to digress and announces an upcoming presentation. Lowman claims that he is concerned several people at Rancho Estates come back only for the free Roman shellfish. In the end, he is unable to get his desires of getting paid by the Tanners since they were kicked out.

Senior Citizens

Jack (played by Phil Leeds), Bernie (played by Eric Christmas), Rebecca (played by Amzie Strickland), and Louise Beaumont were four senior citizens in a retirement home that ALF sneaks into to meet Louise as seen in "When I'm 64." They meet ALF by accident, but become friends with him almost instantly.

Mr. Fusco

Mr. Fusco is one of the suspects brought in for questioning after the TV show Crimestoppers airs a photograph of a polygamist that resembles Willie. Mr. Fusco does suspicious things that imply that he might by the guilty one. For example, he asks if he can vote for himself when the room full of suspects starts a gambling pool to guess who the guilty one is. He also tries to pretend that he is Willie, when Willie's story checks out, and attempts to leave pretending that he is him.

Old Cat Lady at 165

Old Cat Lady at 165 (played by Nedra Volz) at 165 (Hemdale presumably) when Willie takes him trick or treating. It is too late for ALF to get any candy, but when he sees that she has lots of cats, he requests a yellow one and she promptly shuts the door on him.

Brothers of the Peaceful Dominion

The Brothers of the Peaceful Dominion are silent monastic order that ALF joins when he discovers that he was born in wedlock (a disgrace on Melmac). Their pamphlet describes the brotherhood as a place where "peace and tranquility allow for the contemplation of life's vicissitudes."

TV Guests on ALF

Gilligan's Island

The castaways from Gilligan's Island appeared on the episode Somewhere Over the Rerun from season 2.

Gilligan

Gilligan (played by Bob Denver) Gilligan is a crewman of the S. S. Minnow who worked for the Skipper. He is well-meaning but bumbling, and he always seems to inadvertently mess up the castaways' escape. He wears a red shirt, light blue pants, and a white sailor's hat.

Skipper

The Skipper (played by Alan Hale, Jr.) His real name is Jonas Grumby and he is the captain of the S. S. Minnow. He is well over-weight, leading to numerous fat jokes from Gilligan. Such an instance is when the Professor and Gilligan are helping him into a wetsuit: the Skipper says that he just has big bones, to which Gilligan adds: "and they're covered in big meat." Whenever he gets frustrated with Gilligan, he swats him in the head with his hat.

Mary Ann

Mary Ann Summers (played by Dawn Wells) A farm girl from Winfield, Kansas. Not much is said about her before she gets to the island. She is portrayed as a typical "girl next door" and does most of the laundry and cooking with some help from Ginger. She is famous for her coconut cream pies which usually end up on Gilligan's face. She also appears to have a slight crush on Gilligan.

Professor

Professor (played by Russell Johnson) His real name is Roy Hinkley and he was a high school teacher before being stranded on the island. He has numerous scientific degrees and uses his knowledge to build many things on the island out of bamboo and other materials. He is the most well-educated of the group and always has a logical answer to everything (although not always correct).

The Tonight Show

ALF was the host on The Tonight Show and he met with the cast that appeared on the episode Tonight, Tonight from Season 3.

Ed McMahon

Ed McMahon an American comedian, actor, singer, game show host and announcer.

Mr. Tommy Newsom

Tommy Newsom a saxophone player.

Joan Embery

Joan Embery an animal and environmental advocate.

Joyce Brothers

Joyce Brothers an American psychologist, television personality and columnist, who wrote a daily newspaper advice column.

Pope John Paul II

Pope John Paul II appeared as a guest when ALF was the guest host. ALF delays calling him to the panel and when pressured by producer Frederick De Cordova to bring him out, the Pope is in the restroom. At the end, he had to open the curtains on the Pope before the show ends.

Matinee Lady

Matinee Lady (played by Teresa Ganzel) the lady who gives the testemonail for Pecs 'R Us gym during the Tea Time Movie segment of The Tonight Show when ALF guest hosts.

Frederick De Cordova

Frederick De Cordova he appeared on the show and sternly warns ALF that if he does not call the Pope out as his next guest that he will be in breach of contract and will not get paid.

Villains

Alien Task Force

Various actors appeared in the ALF TV series as the Alien Task Force in many episodes, such as the ALF pilot (both versions), and the Thanksgiving special. Also, many police officers appeared at their house whenever there was chaos in the neighborhood, including when a notable actor appeared as a thief in an episode of Season 1. Air Force One appeared in an episode in Season 1, where it shows two men monitoring phone calls made by ALF, until we finally hear Ronald Reagan's voice, but the President does not appear in the show. Two FBI agents showed up at their house when they found out ALF was making phone calls to the President, which were misconstrued as threatening, when in fact Alf was trying to convince the president to disassemble the nuclear weapons program due to nuclear war being the cause of the destruction of Melmac, something he feared would happen to Earth as well if countries continued to stockpile nuclear weapons.

Andrew Seminick

Andrew Seminick (played by Larry Hankin) When Raquel comes over to sit for Brian, a burglar breaks into the house through Kate and Willie's room where ALF is hiding. The burglar thinks ALF is a talking doll, to which ALF replies "Ever have a talking doll rip out your voice box,' to which the man chases a police car down the street.

Keith

Keith (played by Darwin Joston) an animal shelter worker that captures ALF in an alley using a rope over his neck. He believes that ALF is a dog. When a grumpy girl coming to buy a pet came, she told Keith, "What is that monstrosity?" when she saw ALF. The girl then got a cat, and asked what Keith's name was. The girl decided not to name the cat Keith, and when ALF kept making noises by tapping a pan, Keith opened ALF's gate, which allowed the alien to run away and take the cat (who the girl named Damien). When he learns that the girl's father is a producer he says that he was in a commercial with one of the cats in the shelter where he did the voice, saying, "Oh boy! Salmon chips! They're purr-fect!" He also invites the producer to a workshop production of Extremities where he is the one in the fireplace.

Rodney

Rodney was a Melmacian Cockroach that escaped to planet Earth in ALF's spaceship. ALF and Brian named him after Willie's brother. Although in the beginning Rodney was small and relatively harmless, exposure to certain chemicals found in Earth bug sprays caused him to grow to the size of a Human and become very dangerous. After many failed attempts that only resulted in Rodney growing larger and larger, ALF finally managed to kill the creature using Kate's perfume.

Lenny Scott

Lenny Scott (played by Raye Birk) the host of a local television talk show. He brings on strange people and ridicules them and he has Raquel Ochmonek on the show after she sees ALF and humiliates her. His puppet sidekick Mr. Cuckoo calls Raquel "cuckoo." ALF calls the show to defend Raquel and gets voted "cuckoo of the week," a title he had earned before.

Mr. Cuckoo

Mr. Cuckoo is Lenny Scott's sidekick on his television show. When Raquel appears on the show, Lenny Scott brings out Mr. Cuckoo to ridicule her.

Ethel Buttonwood

An old lady that claims the dog Alfina under false pretenses. ALF gives it to her because he is tired of Alfina getting more attention and affection than him. When Willie goes to get Alfina back, Ethel tries to sell her to him for $500. Her ex-boyfriend Vince is extremely jealous and violent.

Vince

Vince (played by Logan Ramsey) is Ethel Buttonwood's extremely jealous and violent ex-boyfriend. He enters group therapy for his anger issues. Willie is at Ethel's house trying to retrieve the dog Alfina, which ALF had given to her, when Vince arrives. Willie has to jump out the window to avoid being attacked by Vince.

Mr. Duncan

Mr. Duncan (played by Martin Doyle) a surly man of short stature. He is a scrap metal dealer. He is sensitive about being short and his profession. His indignance causes Willie to become angry, calling him "shorty," and then throwing him out of the house, crashing into the garbage cans. When word gets out of what Willie did, Trevor and Raquel come to see him. Willie tries to explain that he is not a violent person, but the Ochmoneks praise Willie for his actions, as Mr. Duncan was considered the neighborhood lowlife. Willie invites him back to apologize, thinking he got off on the wrong foot. Rather than being angry, Mr. Duncan comes to have some respect for Willie and says that fighting and violence are good qualities. He ends up insulting Kate, to which she ends up throwing him out herself.

Paul

Paul is the name that ALF gives to his ventriloquist dummy. Apparently "Paul" and "son of a Paul" are derogatory terms on Melmac. ALF projects negative emotions through Paul, and Dr. Larry Dykstra is called in to alleviate the situation.

Pete "Flaky" Finnegan

Pete Finnegan (played by David Ogden Stiers) was a hobo who hung around the Tanner house and spotted ALF during Thanksgiving, while the family was over at the Ochmoneks having Thanksgiving Dinner. Pete first calls the Alien Task Force on ALF. But as the two bond, Pete realizes that like him, ALF is on his own. After realizing this, he turns himself into the Alien Task Force and they consider it a prank by a homeless man.

Melmacians

Most Melmacians appear in ALF: The Animated Series. However, Rhonda, Skip, Rick, and Stella have appeared in the live-action series.

The Shumway Family

Bob Shumway (voiced by Thick Wilson) - Gordon's father

Flo Shumway (voiced by Peggy Mahon) - Gordon's mother.

Curtis Shumway (voiced by Michael Fantini) - Gordon's little brother.

Augie Shumway (voiced by Paulina Gillis) - Gordon's little sister.

Harry - The Shumway family's pet bird.

Neep - The Shumway family's pet vespa (a species like a dog).

Rhonda

Rhonda (performed by Lisa Buckley in the live-action series, voiced by Paulina Gillis in the animated series) - Gordon's girlfriend. She appeared in the episode of the live-action series titled "Help Me, Rhonda." Before the destruction of Melmac, Skip saves Rhonda by taking her away in his spaceship. When performing Rhonda, Lisa Buckley is assisted in performing her by Scott Hopper, Steve Lamar, John Lovelady, Richard J. Schellbach, and Randy Simper.

Skipper "Skip" III

Skipper "Skip" III (performed by Bob Fappiano in the live-action series, voiced by Rob Cowan in the animated series) - One of Gordon's friends. He appeared in the episode of the live-action series titled "Help Me, Rhonda." Before the destruction of Melmac, Skip saves Rhonda by taking her away in his spaceship. When performing Skip, Bob Fappiano is assisted in performing her by Scott Hopper, Steve Lamar, John Lovelady, Richard J. Schellbach, and Randy Simper.

Rick Fusterman

Rick Fusterman (performed and voiced by Paul Fusco in both TV series) - One of Gordon's friends. He appeared in the episode of the live-action series titled "Help Me, Rhonda." Following the destruction of Melmac, Rick got married to Stella and they opened up a tanning parlor on Mercury. When performing Rick, Paul Fusco is assisted in performing her by Scott Hopper, Steve Lamar, John Lovelady, Richard J. Schellbach, and Randy Simper.

Stella

Stella (voiced by Ellen-Ray Hennessy) - A coffee shop waitress on Melmac. Following the destruction of Melmac, Stella got married to Rick Fusterman and they opened a tanning parlor on Mercury.

Larson Petty

Larson Petty (voiced by Thick Wilson) - The primary villain of the animated series. He has tried to invade Melmac many times only to be thwarted by ALF.