Shout! Factory has purchased the licensing rights to ALF, the puppet-fronted comedy that aired on NBC from 1986 to 1990 and generated a cartoon show and a huge fan base.
The business plans to bring Alf properties to digital content platforms in the United States in collaboration with Alien Productions. The former owner of the rights, Lionsgate, had arranged for the series to be streamed on Fox’s ad-supported service Tubi, but that deal expired last autumn.
Shout! founders and CEOs Bob Emmer and Garson Foos, as well as Alien Productions partners Paul Fusco and Brian Patchett, confirmed the acquisition. Shout’s EVP of strategy and digital, Gene Pao, and SVP of programming and business expansion, Jeffrey Peisch, were also involved in the purchase.
According to the published movie script, ALF revolves around Gordon Shumway, a hairy, wise-cracking extraterrestrial from the planet Melmac who crashes into the Tanner family’s storage shed. The Tanners give him a home and the moniker ALF, which stands for “Alien Life Form.” Tom Patchett (whose credits include The Carol Burnett Show) and Paul Fusco (who was also the puppeteer for ALF) conceived the show.
Shout! Factory and its multi-platform online streaming, Shout! Factory TV will have exclusive U.S. rights to digital, television, and home theatres bundled media as part of the multi-year partnership. The 102 episodes of the live-action show are included, as well as 26 episodes of ALF: The Animated Series, 21 episodes of ALF Tales, and the TV movie Project: ALF. In North America, the library rights cover home entertainment and digital distribution.
The firms intend to create new ALF-related material and implement digital media efforts like streaming, digital sell-through, and video on demand in the United States.
Shout! Factory Future Plans For ALF
Shout! Factory will use its “unparalleled access” to archives footage and Alien Productions’ original broadcast masters to launch an “aggressive rollout” of ALF-related pop-culture material sometime this year.
“I couldn’t be more excited that Shout! Factory will be marketing and distributing ALF and working with the series’ creators, Paul Fusco and Tom Patchett,” Peisch said. “ALF was an instant classic when it debuted on network television over 30 years ago, and the series stands the test of time and appeals to multiple generations.”
Shout’s expertise working on shows like Mystery Science Theater 3000, The Johnny Carson Show, and The Carol Burnett Show, according to Pao, would be reflected in the business model. “This will not only give existing fans an opportunity to reengage with the show but also appeal to new viewers who missed the show’s initial run on broadcast television,” he said.
Patchett and Fusco called Shout! Factory “the home-away-from-Melmac that ALF has been looking for. We’re looking forward to bringing you ALF in a totally new way — with new content, unseen art, and restored footage not seen in 30 years. This is the moment ALF fans have been waiting for.”
On behalf of Alien Productions, Steven Katz, Shout! Factory’s VP of Business Affairs and Matthew V. Feil of Rowan | Maron | Feil negotiated the contract.
