ALF’s Popularity in Germany

ALF was a hit in the United States, but it became a huge success in Germany when it premiered there in 1988. The show aired on ZDF until 1991, and would switch channels over the years. (Premiere, SAT.1) 

The loveable alien even appeared on multiple covers of Bravo, a popular German teen magazine. He was quite the youth model, with Bravo also showcasing the latest in ALF fashion.

A book series, by Rainer Büttner, recounted storylines from some of the TV episodes.

With the show’s popularity, a municipality in Germany named Alf had its road sign stolen several times throughout the 1980s, resulting in them producing copies of the sign to sell. To distinguish them from officially posted signs, the municipal stamp and the mayor’s signature were added on the back.

With the town gaining more attention, the actor who voiced ALF, Tommi Piper, became a German pop star! He recorded two albums and had four hit singles between 1988 and 1991. One tune that stayed on the German pop charts for twelve weeks was “Rhonda,” a love song about ALF’s Melmacian girlfriend of the same name.

Not only did Tommi sing, but he rapped, too! In his first album titled Alles Paradiso!, Tommi started off the album with the song “ALF Wird Unser Bundeskanzler,” or, “ALF Will Be Our Chancellor.” 

Along with the albums, there were also radio plays by Siegfried Rabe, who translated the show into German. 

In 1991, there was an attraction that featured ALF called Gremlins Invasion at Warner Brothers Movie World Germany (now Movie Park Germany). You first entered the ride by being escorted into a small theater where you’d watch a blooper reel of classic movies (hosted by Sandra Bullock). After the montage, ALF was shown wrapping up a scene in the kitchen. He spotted Lucky (the family cat) and chased him into the cabinets. To ALF’s surprise, an evil Gremlin popped out! More Gremlins jumped out of various spots in the kitchen and started destroying the home. The clip ended with the film ripping and additional Gremlins shenanigans.

You were then escorted to the loading area where you boarded the ride vehicle. You saw ALF and his co-host, Gizmo, observing security footage of the Gremlins in different parts of the studio, and proceeded into the film archives. The second ALF animatronic was present, along with Gremlins destroying film reels in the archives. Next was the editing room where even more Gremlins had taken over. The third room was a set, where various Gremlins were in costumes and the third ALF animatronic was behind bars on a Western jail set. The film lab was next, where you’d quickly pass by ALF and Gizmo to the costuming room. Then you’d see ALF and Gizmo again using a control panel to shock the Gremlins as the ride came to an end. As you exited, ALF was in a firetruck, waving goodbye. A very abrupt ending to a ride that had no story at all. Neither ALF or Gizmo came in to save the day, and the chaos continued behind you.

You can watch a ride through of this attraction here and feast your eyes on all six ALF animatronics.

The attraction closed in 2004 and was replaced with a Van Helsing’s Factory indoor roller-coaster. I sometimes wonder what happened to those ALF animatronics, but I imagine they were destroyed or repurposed for parts.

In 1996, six years after the show was canceled, Paul Fusco and Tom Patchett took a chance and gave the audience a follow-up to the season 4 cliffhanger with a TV special named, “Project ALF”. In the States, it only aired on ABC. But in Germany, it was released in theaters under the name ‘ALF Der Film’. Which makes sense since it was co-produced by UFA-Fernsehproduktion GmbH, which was dedicated to the Bertelsmann Group or CLT-UFA. 

Just like in the U.S., it did not find success with the local audience. Around 250,000 people watched it in cinemas. When it hit video stores a few months later, the results weren’t much better. But two years later, on July 21, 1988, it aired on German TV in the prime-time slot of 8:15pm on RTL TV, and the ratings were amazing. About 3.2 million viewers tuned in, which is impressive considering a World Cup match was also airing at the same time.

So just like in the U.S., Germany had ALF fever. It’s fascinating to see an American character become popular in other countries and see what type of variations they produce.