ALF is Back and Advertising Hair Growth Supplements & Mobile Phones

ALF, Alf, 1986-90
Alien Productions/Everett Collection

ALF is back! Actor Ryan Reynolds has brought back ALF with a series of advertisements on his new Maximum Effort Channel. The channel launched in June with Fubo and acquired the rights to the ALF sitcom, popular in the late ’80s. The show, starring Paul Fusco, Max Wright, Anne Schedeen, and Andrea Elson, saw the Tanner family welcome an alien named ALF into their home after his spaceship crashes in their garage.

ALF, ALF, 1986-90

Everett Collection

Reynolds said that he wanted to bring ALF back because it was one of his favorite shows growing up. He said, “We love taking risks and blurring the lines between shows and sponsorship because we believe both can be equally entertaining. Besides my irrational love of ALF growing up, one of the reasons we licensed this show was precisely because (ALF co-creator) Paul (Fusco), Shout! Studios and our intrepid brand partners wanted to plot with us to bring ALF back to life.”

Reynolds shared a sneak peek of the ads, in which ALF and his human friend Eric, advertise things like Mint Mobile, the doorbell camera Ring, hair growth supplements from hims, and more. The ads will be incorporated into reruns of the original series, available to stream on Amazon Freevee and Tubi.

ALF, (clockwise from top left): Andrea Elson, ALF, Anne Schedeen, Max Wright, Benji Gregory, 1986-90

Alien Productions/Everett Collection

This isn’t the first time that ALF has been rebooted in a way. After the original series only ran for four seasons, a made-for-TV movie came in 1996 to try to give the show a proper ending. In addition, an animated series came about in the late ’80s as well and served as a prequel. It focused on ALF and his friends before their planet Melmac exploded. In 2004, a short-lived talk show called ALF’s Hit Talk Show came about featuring Ed McMahon as his sidekick on TV Land. There have been talks about a new movie and a rebooted show over the years, but nothing has come to fruition except for these new ads.

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June 2023

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