The BIZARRE ALF Episode And its Hidden Meaning
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- Опубліковано 10 лис 2024
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-- Bug Out Eps --
"La Cucaracha*" (ALF)
Season 1, Episode 25
Aired: May 4, 1987
Written by: Jerry Stahl
Directed by: Peter Baldwin
Created by: Paul Fusco and Tom Patchett (The Bob Newhart Show)
The Tanners discover an alien cockroach has stowed away on ALF's ship... but the trouble begins when efforts to kill it only make it grow in size.
Cast: Paul Fusco, Max Wright, Anne Schedeen, Andrea Elson, Benji Gregory, John LaMotta, Doug Warhit.
This episode was written by Jerry Stahl while in the grips of a crippling heroin and cocaine addiction... and some of its story elements draw heavily on his experiences with addiction.
After Alf, Stahl would go on to work on Moonlighting, thirtysomething, and Twin Peaks... until his addiction sidelined his life and career. Once sober, Stahl found redemption writing for CSI: Crime Scene Investigation... penning some of the shows most memorable episodes.
#AlfNightmare #Alf #JerryStahl #PermanentMidnight
FULL EPISODE AVAILABLE @ALFtv
• "La Cucaracha" | ALF |...
Music by Karl Casey / Music by White Bat Audio @Whitebataudio
*Some sources have it spelled the episode's title "La Cuckaracha"
I was addicted to heroin in the 90s. I've been clean for 21 years now. The movie Permanent Midnight was a catalyst to my sobriety. I can never watch it a second time. Never knew it was a true story. Thanks for this!
You’re welcome and congratulations my friend.
my addiction was nowhere near as severe and this may sound silly compared to what you went through but I was addicted to energy drinks for a long time, I drank them incessantly, they fogged my cognition, hurt my heart and made me emotionally unstable and paranoid, I've been clean for 8 months now and I never want another drop again. my fear of the consequences have effectively crushed any desire for it, fear may not be the best way to rule but it's certainly the best way to cure an addiction👍
That’s a great movie.
Read the book.
@beauzer36 ok thanks, didn't know there was a book. But it's hard to get back in that pit mentally. It's the next step in recovery, so I think I will
This is actually a great episode of Alf - I loved it as a kid and it holds up. The jokes land. They probably should have done more "sci-fi" episodes like this one.
Yeah,it’s weird looking back on it that they didn’t
@@erikkibler3466 yeah so many missed opportunities.
Shannon Doherty was in that clip too! I think 😅
I vaguely remember the episode as well.
Permanent Midnight was amazing. Ben Stiller nailed that performance. Jerry Stahl was insane during that Alf run.
I liked the movie, but when I read the book, I realized just how much heavier and funnier the movie could've been.
I’m gonna have to read that
Yeah, the movie threw me off. I didn't realize he had written for Alf. When I saw the movie, and that part came up I was like "wait, is that Alf?". I would wind up having my own battle with severe addiction, so that movie has developed more meaning for me, even as it stuck with me through all these years.
The book was alot darker & funnier. Stiller did good but they merged too many people. That book is amazing.
@@cancelme4200same. One of the few dvds I held on to and still own
Jerry Stahl owes me $350, no bologna, won’t even write me back, it’s been 33 years now
He needs to quit Stahl-in...
@@GODCONVOYPRIMEclever👍🏽
NEVER loan out money to a junkie
best 350 you ever spent then..😂
Never buy gribenes from a mohel
Man, I was obsessed with Alf as a kid during its original run, and I don't remember this at all! Actually, I thought this was about the equally disturbing episode where Alf goes through some sort of "cycle" where he turns extra shaggy and violent and even has the Tanners lock him up because he knows how dangerous he'll become...Wonder if that was written by the same guy? (I remember those tv guide magazine pages, still kinda miss those!)
you probably blocked out the trauma!
@clonaztevedreamkiller5277I was a child and watching hardcore horror films. Never got scared. Then I would hear other kids getting scared at Disney movies or Alf? That’s weird and weak asf.
You don’t sound,how you think you sound 😂🤣
I don't remember this episode, nor did I ever see the last episode where Alf gets captured by the US Air Force, presumably to be taken in for vivisection.
@@dx1450 I think that Air Force thing was a movie they put out because there was no finale to the series. But that's just relying on my memory so who knows?
for anyone who didn't hear, the actor who played the young boy on ALF was one of the 8 or 9 celebs who died over the weekend. He was 46
What's up with that? Crazy stuff!
Benji Gregory. Passed a little over a month ago. Supposedly he had a sleep disorder (very common among veterans) and died of heat stroke after falling asleep in his car in Arizona. Guy was only 3 years older than me. That's sad as hell.
The fake news media loves to profit from the deaths of minor celebrities
www.foxnews.com/entertainment/alf-child-star-benji-gregory-46-found-dead-car.amp
I wonder if he took "The Jab" and had a case of the "Suddenly"?
Do you remember Alf? Well he's back! In Pog form!
Milhouse, right?
Classic.
@@whoisjohngalt4880I was thinking more cringe than anything else.
Oh, and ALF is an acronym, so it’s capitalized.
@@Adarkane325xi it's a Simpsons joke. Just jump next time
I used to be such a big fan when I was 8 years old. I had a copy of ALF on the Sega Master System. It must've been a year or so when I found out if you stick around the bedrooms too long, a bug comes after you. Kinda freaked me out. This must have been where they got the idea
The opening theme to ALF is sublime. One of my favorite TV show tunes. Always loved the hack comedian vibes he had. Around this time, I buying joke books from these scholastic order forms at school, and hearing ALF tell lame jokes was so great. Rodney Dangerfield for sure. I remember hearing about the writer dude's problem as an adult, and wanting to learn a bit more about it. Specifically, I wanted to check out that Ben Stiller movie. Never got around to it though. Crazy to think he got clean during the LA riots. It was a trip seeing that stuff on TV, so IRL must have been even more trippy.
Nice vid.
Thanks!
The most surreal aspect of this entire story is that Stahl moved from NYC to LA to further his dreams of being a novelist......
Wikipedia said it was because his job at Hustler moved their headquarters to California
that roach first-person view brought back a flood of memories
My Science teacher had a full sized cardboard cutout of ALF.
I have a life size Billy Barty poster
This was my favorite alf episode when i was a kid. Me and my friend used to re enact the roach chasing alf in my back yard wed take turns who played the roach and who played alf
That was my favorite episode of the entire series.
Mine as well.
Great vid! I never thought about that way. I'm gonna try to speedball at work so I can be the best me that I can. You have inspired me my good sir.
No, it only works when you write insane pointless television programs.
😂😂😂😂
5:28: RIP Shannen Doherty 😢
Wait what?
Yup passed away a day ago.
taken too soon F
I was never a fan of "Alf" but I REALLY enjoy great storytelling and equally enjoyed this episode.
You've got a subscriber!
Thanks!!
It makes you wonder what a two-part episode of the full script would have been like.
Very sad the son Brian and his service dog passed of heat stroke last Month. I still watch ALF whenever its on. I love the 80's
I knew a guy a few years older than me that claimed he had submitted a screenplay for an episode of A.L.F. and that they stole it. I never believed him until learning about Stahl's crazy addict's life through Permanent Midnight.
I was a heroin addict and am a Burroughs fan. This was an amazing story I never heard this. Great content! 😎👌
If you havent seen permanent midnight, I recommend it.
@@jmcburney658 Hey thanks I'll check it out. 😎👍
I know a lot of Gen X addicts(smack mostly) that have the same interests and overlapping artists that they love.
The line "All my heroes are heroin addicts" is very familiar.
Man!! What a sight for sore eyes! A much needed nostalgic video about the one and only Gordon Shumway!!!😂😂😂👏👏👏👏❤️❤️❤️
5:36 ...Is that Bill Sienkiewicz's art?? Also, interesting note about the Shining door ref, but I believe that comes from a time when King was also dealing with his addiction demons. As obvious as that might be from that story, he claims that he didn't recognize it at all, until he got clean, reread his own work, and realized he'd been writing about his addictions all along!
The producer looked like Harrison Ford, impersonating David Cronenberg.
“Never trust a junkie”
-Ministry Just One Fix
Ahh explained alot of my life i was 6 to 7 years old in 87 , also fox began with the Simpsons and bundys , never had a chance did i lol
Spooky... I had never even heard of the movie Permanant Midnight, until a week ago. Simce then, it has come to my attention like three times now and this video just happened to be in my feed as I scroll down UA-cam? Ok, FINE, I'll watch the movie!
I think it’s on Tubi!
It's worth the watch.
it's just UA-cam brainwashing
It's really weird when that happens. Happening a lot more lately.
I dont want to get all religious on you but thats something greater than yourself telling you something or trying to open a different road for you to travel. I know it may seem inconsequential "just some movie"(I havent seen it) but there may be a reason for it.
or its the algorithm.
I believe there were numerous "Just Say No" ads starring ALF.
That's because if there's one thing druggies love more than drugs, it's Alf.
Excellent dive into this interesting footnote in the history of Alf. As a horror fan, I've always particularly liked the episode. Knowing all this, it will resonate even more now.
Thanks very much!
@@tvsbesteps I'm happy I found your channel. You talk about a lot of interesting subject matter, and you do it very well.
What kind words; thank you! And welcome!
I THOUGHT this was connected to Permanent Midnight! So glad you provided the clips to reassure my theory.
This episode gave me the creeps as a kid. I loved it! This one and the pizza episode are the two defining ALF moments to me. R.I.P., Benji Gregory!
Been watching Alf on crackle recently love all the older shows
What an arc. Great story. Thankyou 🇬🇧
Why would you move from New York to Los Angeles to be a novelist and you don't want to write for television? Shouldn't that be the other way?
I thought the exact same thing 😅
Same type of person that thinks it's a good move to be a junkie.
@@tomlotti240 well, fair enough 😅
Some writers are funny they think its hollow or selling out on their craft cuz their writing is not being read, heard so.e of them re write their favourite i fluences work to feel how it mechanicly felt to write it
Great episode. Love Stahl & permanent midnight is the wildest memoir!
growing up i used to play a lot of video games .. i was one of the few kids in america that owned an sega master system .. and a copy of the ALF game .. which is kinda weird cause i also owned a 2600 and the ET game too .. anyway .. my favorite part of the ALF game was the part when you go in the basement and shoot up a massive amount of heroin and cocaine in the speedballin' mission ..
no wait .. that was just me and my friends getting high while playing ALF the video game on the SMS ...
Brother! Is that you??
I had a master. Shinobu, Ninja Gaiden,KID Icararis,the built in shooting game that was way cooler than duck hunt...
La Cucaracha is my absolute fave episode of ALF! I think the show would've been that much better, if they'd had more sci fi/horror themed episodes, like that one. It's interesting learning that Jerry Stahl wrote the episode as a metaphor fot his addictions. When seeing the thumbnail for this video, i assumed the episode about ALF getting addicted to eating cotton, was the one that this video was gonna be about. I'll be amazed if Stahl didn't write that one, too!! I also think he had a hand in writing the "wild thing" episode, as well. Permanent midnight was an amazing film, that i now must track down & watch again! Hmmmm, Mr. Stahl has a drug induced hallucination of ALF trying to beat down the door, to stop him from doing drugs. Then 4 years later, the animated version of ALF stars in an anti drug PSA tv movie, cartoon all stars to the rescue! What a frightening coincidence!!! Lol
Ironically this was my favourite episode.
I expected some Alf trivia... What a story!
I don't remember this episode at all and I used to watch Alf all the time. To be honest though, the snippets you showed wouldn't have scared me as a kid either, I mean in theory the episode is scary but they managed to put a family spin on it to tone it down quite a bit. But yeah, if you frame it from a druggie's perspective, then sure it seems a lot scarier. Anything would.
Alf was so dumb.
I cannot believe they ever put ut on the air.
Same with Small Wonder.
What were they thinking.
Small Wonder was ultra creepy!
I do not believe I ever watched a full episode.
Agreed, but at least they don’t rely on already established IPO’S.
8:38 - Cybill Shepherd is a miserable person in general.
I loved that episode! Haven't thought about it in 35+years.
Wow!! I'm impressed by your dive into this.
Thanks!
My late wife was obsessed with Alf. She passed from suicide xmas eve. One day our neighbors come over with a bunch if Alf stuff.... they had no idea Kim loved Alf, we barely talked to these people. So now we have a shrine of Alf in our basement with a full on cross and and burning candles and we pray to him to return from melmac and we will feed him all the kitties.
5:11 The kid from ALF just died. So did Shannen Doherty.
R.I.P. Benji Gregory, & Shannon.
i'M a fan of Jerry Stahl. I have all his books. I had a feeling when I seen the title it was about him. He wrote 3 Alf episodes total.
WOW this man wrote a lot of episodes of TV shows that I liked sadly he was on lots of drugs I pray that he is getting better. My favorite show was csi
Alf always looked like a demon I saw in my bedroom when I was a kid. I still remember that darker version of alf that did not make smart quips but growled at me from atop my bed. Bending over with evil red eyes and yellow fangs.
I feel alone in a generation of 2000s kids who weren’t subjected to repeat viewing of the entire Alf series as their only tv
Love the artwork
one of the funniest episodes actually, i remember it vividly
I’m gen x.
Watched Alf on tv.
Later, watched PERMANENT MIDNIGHT…
Not until this day I knew they were connected.
I didn't either, when I first watched Permanent Midnight. Apparently, Mr. Chompers is supposed to be ALF.
I wish Alf had more sci-fi related episodes.
Cant remember this on UK telly when I was young but we had the kids program The Magic Roundabout. Best episode was when Dougal the Dog discovers some magic mushrooms.
Big up Dougal and Dylan maaaan.
I loved this episode, it's probably one of my favorites.
What confuses me about ratings is this : People gonna sit down and watch their show. They don't know "wait, Alf this week is going to be better than Happy Days [whatever. sue me.]" They already know they like Alf or Fonzie more and will sit down and watch that show. When it's over they might say "that one was weak." And the shows are short. It's not like you get a chance to contemplate, sample, and decide. "Alf came it at number boo that week." Yeah, so? Isn't that a sign that word of mouth for the show was good based on THE PREVIOUS episode?
"Well some people channel hop." And they are channel hoppers. "OMG bug. Wow. Okay, what's on Happy Days [whatever. sue me.]" Channel hopper isn't going to tell you the episode was good, only that it had something more eye catching than whatever was on a different channel at that second.
I don’t know. If “people gonna sit down and watch their show” wouldn’t that show have the same rating every week? And so why would networks bother running promos? And why would the networks care about ratings (which they very much did). If I’m a casual TV viewer and I’m watching, say, Family Ties and a promo comes on for Alf fighting a giant cockroach? I’m circling that in TV Guide. You’re also presuming that people had every half hour of every night locked in. Most don’t. Thanks for the comment but your premise is flawed.
You write like someone high on cocaine.
Probably my favorite episode.
Definitely mine!!!
Interesting video. Dig it!
Thanks!
Most notably, ALF specifies that they didn't have bug spray on Melmac ... Which explains his surprise when the bug responded like it did to a dousing of chems (like radioactivity does in old B movies)
I just put it together for the first time: Jack Klugman was on the early black and white Twilight Zone episodes! Crazy!
Yea he was!
I loved Gordon Shumway.
What drugs? All the drugs.
Lol Jerry Stahl is one of my favorite writers. Permanent Midnight and Perv- A Love Story are great
Perv is laugh out loud funny. Not many authors, or anyone, can make me laugh out loud. The "f**kin soakin condom". Amazing books.
Great history lesson, thanks.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Oddly enough this is the only episode that stuck with me since I was a child and I saw it. I remember I kept wanting to see what it looked like. I was so upset when they never showed it. Lol
It didn't give us nightmares. We were sufficiently literate as Gen-X to recognize the homage to Franz Kafka.
C.S.I.
A.L.F.
That's funny. But seriously, as the threat of nuclear war looms greater than it has since Alf was being made I feel its loosely veiled meditation on WWIII is still under appreciated. It might have been crap but it explored deep existential dread in a manner so approachable to children that it spawned an even worse cartoon. Alf is still on broadcast television several nights a week. C.S.I. ruined television. It reminds me of how most sober musicians' best work is behind them. Nobody polishes a turd like a junky.
J.F.F-Burroughs' Junky is definitely worth a read.
Permanent Midnight is one of the best autobiographies I have ever read.
I couldn't separate the addictive couch foam episode from this one in my mind, the one that turned Alf into Frank Sinatra for the length of the buzz
This is a great episode
I always found it pretty interesting and disturbing that the Alf fans hated the sequel tv movie that came out after the cancellation of the show. They would rather believe that Alf got cut apart and stuff by the government then acknowledge the sequel tv show as existing.
Grandma hated Alf, said he was hideous... i had a floppy alf record from burger king, melmac girls.
I'd watch the cartoon again.
Heroin Junkie? thats disgusting. they shouldnt let a guy on heroin write for a kids sitcom.....or a comedy., He was clearly not a comedy writtting ot kid friend, i dont understand why he was hired. Have you notice how no one cares about junkie artist anymore, the 60's vibe ha well and truly dissappeared and i think people just look as herion addicts as disgraceful people as a apose to potenial artist evn tho theres loads of very good artist on herion. Hes very lucky to grew up in a an age were people thought that was cool. if he was a writting start out today doing the saying things, he'd get no where and youd never hear from him. hes very uky to have the carear he does dispite his addictions. Iv seen permant midnight clips but never the film. ill go watch that. he would of never worked on the david lynch show well. lynch doesnt do drugs, al the trippy stuff comes from TM meditation which woiuld be weakened by drugs
This episode was kinda stupid without this backstory but going to watch again now
ALF is one of the best Sitcoms of all time imo
My favorite episode of ALF.
I'm obviously gonna watch this.
I never watched Alf but a friend in LA had a girlfriend who was a producer on it. I asked him how the show was doing in the ratings and he said “well we’re kicking MacGyver’s ass”.
I used to watch ALF when I was a teenager, mainly because of Andrea Elson.
No one can kick MacGyver's ass, except maybe Chuck Norris.
@tullymahin Chuck Norris can unscramble an egg.
One time Chuck Norris threw a grenade killing fifty men.
Then the grenade went off.
Wow, that was my favorite episode 😂
One weird episode that scared the crap out of me was that show "Weird Stories", i think, and the episode was the high school kid that imvented a goop that could bring any magazine cover to life and he ends up spilling some on an adult magazine and it turns the cover girl into a giant that tries to sleep with him. Thats not the scary part lol.
Later on, the guy falls asleep and the bottle falls over on another magazone, but instead of too much being on it, there was too little, and it brings this woman out of the front cocer with her back turned, and when he turns her around she has like a dried put corpse or skeleton face with a human body 🤣 🤣 🤣!!
Man, that episode scared me so bad I never eatched the series again. Second was the intro to "Tales from the Darkside" 😆. 90's tv scared the crap out of me 🤣 🤣 🤣
Thank you!!!
You're welcome!!!
Ok. Ok. OK. I grew up watching Alf. I honestly don't know this episode mentioned but I and every kid my age were fans of Alf. I loved the movie Permanent Midnight. What's blowing my mind.... the 90's... 6K!?!?! That's so much heroin!!! There has to be somebody sharing it. That's so much. That's so much. His veins had to be pumping sludge for years. That's so so much. The math alone is making me tired. Oh my God
"Well I'm feeling a little needy myself". I think I'll skip his novels.
Same.
I remember this. This brought back the memories, but it never scared me. Thought it was more silly.
Outstanding piece.. but just glossing over made me want to dig deeper
Oh man, I remember this episode.
I was here for that shot of Aggedor standing in for ALF.
This was the video I needed, there’s also some good Alf episodes on immigration reform
This is going to sound hugely mean-spirited... but Jerry Stahl's story does not impress me in the least. I'm sorry, I do sympathize with people who suffer from addictions. But I've known lots of people dealing with that shit, and a lot of them--maybe all of them--started out as less-than-stellar people to begin with. Mainly they often seem to be the kind of person who thinks they're "better" than everyone else, and constantly act like it, and can't wait to treat others like garbage. It seems like the growing addiction maybe comes from some inner voice telling them their life is a lie, that they're really not better than everyone else... but they don't have the strength to face it or admit it or grow some %$#@ing humility.
Maybe these people turn out okay in the end. I haven't kept up on any such people, but I'd hope they not only kicked their addiction but also became better human beings in the process.
But what also irks me about people like Stahl--writing and some other creative fields are full of these people--is that they fall ass backwards into opportunity that others would want, if just for the chance to start *somewhere*... and they not only blow it almost on purpose, but start from day one with the attitude of how all this is beneath them. And yet... they're shooting heroin in a closet or whatever.
I mean, someone below asked, "who goes from NY to LA to become a novelist, and doesn't expect to end up working in TV?" or something like that. And I agree. It's ass backwards. Maybe Stahl couldn't cut it in NY, and he knew it. And the addiction was his way of not facing it.
Anyway, I mean... I'm happy for him that he seemed to have found his way and finally produced some good stuff. But I don't find his story impressive or "inspiring" or any BS like that. Rather, it makes me wonder who *didn't* get hired in Stahl's place who maybe could have used the opportunities he stumbled into and then threw away. It just makes me wish we'd stop lionizing shitty people and people whose lives are train wrecks of their own making because oh wow they did this one cool thing.
Who are you and how do you produce such excellent videos?
Just a guy. Thanks for the compliment!
Alf was the bomb back in the day. I watched every episode when i was little. I had a HUGE crush on Lynn. I heard Lynn now pratices Yoga with Yoda (From Empire Strikes Back fame)
"we were all pretty drunk and buzzed at that time.."
I can’t watch Perm Midnight. First time I seen it I was trying to go cold turkey from H and just thinking of that movie or Alf now takes me back to that feeling.
I remember those pics of Willy smoking some rock, it was in the Inquirer or something, I got whole routine I do about it.
Yeah, it's crazy how nobody ever talks about that! Was Max ever able to conquer those demons??
you should review some of Fraggle Rock's best episodes, I can recommend you some✌
Let's get down to fraggle rock
@@ChandlerBinge yes✌
I thought this would be about the episode where Alf was addicted to eating cotton. That one was way more bizarre
I used to watch Alf. I don't remember that episode. I'm not quite sure how regularly I used to watch all those old shows. I probably watched Knight Rider more consistency.
I thought this was the episode where Alf gets high on cotton. That was a messed up show. He starts laughing hysterically at night and I remember he goes through redrawals of the actors performing "New York, New York." No, this cockroach episode was a hilarious episode when I saw it.
I'm almost 40 and I've never seen crystal meth in real life but I've seen it at least a dozen times on UA-cam.