Fluffy Alien Life Forms are OK with us

Based on television ratings, fluffy space aliens are a hit.  Well, “ALF” was anyway. Remember “ALF” (which stands for Alien Life Form)? It’s streaming on various platforms.

Short-statured, voracious appetite (his favorite food being cats … though he could never catch the family cat Lucky), smart-mouthed and needy, Alf put a hilarious spin on our collective worry for invaders from other planets. Apparently, Melmac, Alf’s home world, produced a bumbling sort of intergalactic explorer. Just feed him a sandwich and lock up the cat. All is well.

Mork, from “Mork and Mindy,” was brought to life by Robin Williams (also somewhat furry). His portrayal of Mork spun the threat out of the alien character like an out-of-control washing machine cycle. Nanu-nanu. Mork hatched Robin Williams’ career. Turns out the fast-talking nuttiness wasn’t a contrivance of the actor necessarily. That was Robin’s shtick. He went on to greatness, building on the colorfully weird clothing and lightening quick improv as the foils of his humor (or humour as my Canadian sister-in-law would type).

“Third Rock from the Sun” not only capitalized on a wildly inventive script, but it threw together some stellar talent to blast its off-the-wall comedy and innuendo into our living rooms. The zany characters’ interpretation of human culture twisted our perspective to laugh at ourselves for our often ridiculous ideals and inventions.

I’d like to know what happened to that style of sitcom. Where did those writers go? Did the cost of hiring live actors for 26 weekly shows get out of hand? Did streaming platforms eclipse that form of network TV? Well?

OK, CGI can be pretty cool. Look at James Cameron’s “Pandora” series. Gorgeous. Just pure eye candy. And, they brought back “Lilo and Stitch.” Also pretty good. Nice message. But, movies. And animation. The situation comedies of the past have melted away, it seems. They were funny and clean. Drama was minimal. Something to bring the temperature down if you’d had a bad day. Like UFOs, maybe they are still out there. Yet, for network and streaming channels, there’s not much for sci-fi sit-coms. Yes, lots of reruns, which is good if you haven’t seen those from the past few decades. No new ones. Having begun my childhood with black and white television and the early years of that industry, my opinion is a bit tainted, I suppose.

  Look at the evolution of the 1939 version of “The Wizard of Oz,” the Judy Garland original that was nominated for six Academy Awards that year, including best picture. L. Frank Baum’s book has since been reinterpreted into a Broadway sensation and then CGI’d into “Wicked” (with a few remakes in between. Nods to Diana Ross and the Muppets.). Who could have imagined that progression almost 80 years ago? It must have been a cinematic achievement back then. It was shot in Technicolor, but mostly viewed on black and white television until color TVs began proliferating American homes in the 1960s. Not Aliens, per se, but fantastical characters just the same. As a kid, I didn’t like it. Too scary. The witch and flying monkeys were just too frightening for me.

I like “ALF.” Funny, furry, loads of laughs. I’ll take that sort of alien diet every time. Maybe I should try my hand at writing a sit-com. Fade in from purple screen. Modern day home. From left of screen, black and white long-haired cat strolls into the kitchen.

Zoom in on cat. Cat jumps up onto counter and sits. Tail swishing. Turns his head, facing front. Opens its mouth and says: “What?“ in an annoyed tone. Voiceover is Harrison Ford. Cat nudges a bud vase with a Gerbera daisy off the counter, watches it fall. (Audible sound of glass breaking). Cat faces front again. “Have you seen my furst mate?  Big furry oaf? Goes by Chewbaca?”