ALFsplaining

"ALF spends his first Christmas on Earth." ITTTSSSS CHRRIIIIIIISTTTMMAAAASSSSSS! Wait, no it isnt. Its bloody May. Still thats how it used to be back in the old TV days and to prove it, ALF is on the lookout for snow. Despite living in California. Ben Baker and John Matthews are on hand to unwrap ALF's many gifts and if you fancy sending one yourself, support the show via our smashing Patreon which is full of bonus stuff such as audio, video and obscene research data. Go to https://www.patreon.com/ALFsplainingExtra

"Willie suggests that they go to San Diego on vacation. Kate is all for it, but the family is unsure what to do with ALF." ALF and the Tanners on holiday in a tiny camper? Why the stink must be unbearable! Also: holiday adventures apparently just next to Christmas, a guest turn for some meat-enthusiast woodsman and a running ALF that has to be seen to be believed. Or heard. Your hosts as ever are premier ALFsmen Ben Baker and John Matthews and you can ogle their new Patreon via this link: https://www.patreon.com/ALFsplainingExtra

"ALF buys a car for Lynn after the family car continues to be unreliable." Was it your dream to imagine our favourite Melmacian crusing down the freeway in a very expensive sports car bought for a teenager? Of course it was, you're just regular people like John Matthews and Ben Baker who navigate through the bees to bring you their reaction to this very strange episode. And if you like them, maybe chuck a few bees at our new Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ALFsplainingExtra

"For Willie's birthday, ALF gives him a box he found in the basement full of photos from high school and college. There is also a menu, on the back of which Kate and Willie both made lists of things they wanted to achieve in life. Kate actually did the things on her list, but Willie did not. This starts to haunt him so badly that he decides to do the list..." And Daddy Tanner will make you...erm, feel confused at the pacing of the episode mostly but Ben Baker and John Matthews are holding his hand all the way for the Toppest Willie episode yet. Even if NFL legend Joe Namath has to fight through the longest dream sequence to assist... Want to support the podcast and get neat bonus stuff? Support the ALFsplaining Extra Patreon here: ⁠https://www.patreon.com/ALFsplainingExtra

"Lynn is excited because her boyfriend Scott wants to keep all his band equipment in the Tanners' garage. ALF is not happy because he was supposed to be redecorating his room with Lynn. And he also has a crush on Lynn, so he proceeds to sabotage Scott's time with Lynn while trying to come up with something to impress her..." Yeah, thats the premise and ooft, its a doozy. But does ALF pull it off? Well, join Ben Baker and John Matthews for their regular tiptoe through the terrific and troublesome to find out. Just dont tell the lead singer of The Doors (Ian Doors)! Want to support the podcast and get neat bonus stuff? Support the ALFsplaining Extra Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/ALFsplainingExtra

"Brian's 7th birthday is approaching and it gets ALF depressed because he realizes he is never going to see his friends on Melmac again — he was finally going to get together with his true love Rhonda and then the planet exploded." Innit typical? You finally get to snog on a lass and your whole civilization crashes into oblivion! Still, Ben Baker and John Matthews are here with a comforting word, a Top Willie and a look at DEM GAMS. And if you want to support the podcast and get bonus stuff, support the ALFsplaining Extra Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/ALFsplainingExtra

In 1989, the German voice of Tommi Piper released an album that was to change the face of the world forever. "ALF - Alles Paradiso" took the world of our hairy pal one stage further with his musings on relaxing, doing very little, hanging about and, of course, becoming leader of the country. The tracks we look and listen at are from Side A of the original record and are: ALF Wird Unser Bundeskanzler (ALF Becomes Our Chancellor) Tujujahe (Es Tut So Wohl, Schön Faul Zu Sein) (Tujujahe (It's so good to be lazy)) ALF-Superstar (erm...ALF Superstar) Leben Ist Gold (Life Is Gold) ALF's Geburtstags-Boogie-Woogie (ALF's Birthday Boogie-Woogie) Plus a look at the phenomena of ALF in Germany, who this Piper chap is and what these songs dont sound like despite the insistance of users on GermanCharts.de... Thrilled? Filled with the spirit of boogie woogie? Want the second half? Well, its a great time to join our brand spanking new Patreon then! Support the podcast and get bonus stuff too here: https://www.patreon.com/ALFsplainingExtra

"ALF meets a blind woman named Jody" Nudge nudge, wink wink...its Willie and Kate's anniversary and apparently ALF isnt part of it. Ben Baker and John Matthews arent either but that gives them extra time to discuss spoiling Nicholas Nickleby, censored Chipmunks and whether the old ALFer watches the Tanners at it from the cupboard. Spoilers: he definitely does.

"To solve the Tanners' money problems, ALF gets a job selling make-up." Ben Baker and John Matthews are your special Terry Faith girls for this very strange episode which is sort of about pyramid selling but mostly about ALF giving facials. No, stop that. He's just trying to make a pound note!

"After ALF uses the shortwave radio to call the President about the nuclear disaster, and Willie gets blamed and is thrown in jail." Yeah that standard sitcom trope! Ben Baker and John Matthews sing hail to the chief as ALF sorts out the little hand on the world's doomsday clock. There's a famous voice guest too, plus some humourous terrorism fun and Tootsie on HBO for all.

"When Lucky, the Tanner's family cat, disappears, ALF is accused of eating him. ALF must search for Lucky to prove his innocence." Welcome to ALFsplaining with Ben Baker and John Matthews - the programme that always has cat endangerment on mind. But only after ALF tidies up this goddamned mess, the risky businessman. But who is the real Fugitive in this situation...?

Its our first ALFsplaining trip out and where better to go than the famous Puppet Workshop of Phil Fletcher, the man behind such fuzzy faced legends as Josh, Terry Mole, Swads and, of course, Titty Bob. He's also pals with Hacker T Dog from CBBC somehow. Normal men, innocent men etc. Phil is a big fan of ALF's puppeteer Paul Fusco and talked to us about his early years, memories of ALF on the telly and his marches to stop it in his youth. Expect some mild rudery but nothing your nan would keel over from. We'll have more side episodes like this coming up soon as part of our Patreon. More details on that in the next few weeks.

"Everybody but Brian and ALF are leaving the house for the evening. Kate does not want ALF to babysit Brian, so Willie asks their ever-snooping neighbour, Mrs. Ochmonek." Ben Baker and John Matthews are hiding behind the sofa this week as ALF tries to watch "Psycho" without alarming the neighbours. Nobody mentioned there'd be pizza though... linktr.ee/alfsplaining

"Gordon Shumway, a Melmacian who escaped his planet Melmac before it was destroyed, crash lands into the garage of the Tanner family." Where it all began...for ALF that is. We started the other day but dont let that out you off Ben Baker and John Matthews looking at the pilot episode of "ALF" from September 1986. There's trivia, silly jokes, appreciation of a Top Willie, our most impenetrable pop culture moments and the judging of the episode MVP which probably stands for Melmac's Valuable Player or something.

Welcome to a new series called "ALFsplaining", a not especially serious podcast by Ben Baker and John Matthews exploring our mutual fascination with the American sitcom ALF which ran on NBC between September 1986 and April 1990. And boy are its legs tired! In this preview episode, Ben and John talk about how they got into this ridiculous situation, the world ALF crash landed into and the state American and British TV were in when he did.