Paul Fusco Talks Puppets and Alf, and Gives Advice to All Youngsters Chasing Their Dreams

If we’re talking puppets, then there’s no way you can have a conversation without throwing interstellar alien puppet Alf into the mix. Alf is a fun, furry alien from the planet of Melmac who crash landed onto Earth unexpectedly. With an innocent heart and brash commentary that was sometimes just a bit too honest, Alf has become famous for his witty & comedic one-liners.

In this exclusive interview, Paul Fusco, puppeteer of Alf, sits down with Marc Summers to talk about this hilarious cosmic puppet, why this character took the world by storm back in the 80’s, and how it’s possible that Alf still continues to be relevant even in today’s day and age. Covering the origin story of how Alf made it to the big screen, as well as going into depth about how Alf was inspired by the Muppets and crafted after Rolf the Dog from the Jimmy Dean Show, Fusco covers it all in this special interview piece. He even closes out the interview by offering advice to youngsters everywhere who are out there chasing their dreams. In the wise gruff words of Alf, “Find out what you’re not good at, and don’t do it!”

Fusco takes time during this video to display the new Alf puppet that was released through collaboration with Kidrobot, an 18” furry, brown, plush hand puppet that will have kids and adults reeling in delight as they mouth their own crude Alf one-liners. In this interview, Fusco mentions that a whole generation of older fans are turning their kids onto the Alf sitcom, triggering a rebirth of Alf in a brand-new way. With this Alf hand puppet, you bet all the new young Alf fans will be becoming miniature puppeteers themselves, just like Paul Fusco!

 

Read Full Transcription Below: 

Marc Summers: Nobody in the 80s could match the cool vibes of an unlikely comic hero named Alf. He was everywhere from the hit TV show, to commercials, even on a breakfast cereal. The man behind the puppet was my good friend, Paul Fusco. I recently sat down with Paul to chat all things Alf, and the new puppet from Kidrobot. It’s all part of the Haul-a-Thon and it starts now.

Marc: So let's talk a little bit about Alf. You and I met at a place called Grand Junior College. I got there 1971 and somehow you and I ran into each other. I think you were directing the news and for whatever reason you and I sort of bonded instantaneously, and found out that we had similar likes. All of a sudden you start popping up with some puppets in my room and found out that you and I had a fascination with Paul Winchell. Tell me about that.

Paul: Well, I think anybody growing up in the fifties and sixties had to be influenced by Paul cuz my gosh, how many shows did he have? He was on, I think he was on constantly for like maybe three decades. I was hooked, and I think in the background I always wanted to maybe do a magic act and puppets. Alf was the vehicle for which we could be funny. And it was always fun to be able to couch humor through a character rather than to do it yourself. And I think you know, what those puppets did for television, what Jerry Mahoney did, what Charlie McCarthy did, they were able to say things their creators were not able to say. And I think we were kind of lucky to do that with Alf too. I think that was the uniqueness about the show.

Marc: So, was there an inspiration for Alf’s personality? I always think of Don Rickles cuz when you and I and Burt and Alf were together, he gets real crazy. But where did that personality and that sort of insult humor come from?

Paul: Well, I don’t think it was, I never wanted him to be insulting. I've always wanted him to be honest. I mean if he said something inappropriate, okay. He never, it never came from a sense of meanness or, just to get a reaction. I think it came from an innocence which would really help the character. But, you know I think a lot of it had to do with me, he was kind of a gruff character, didn’t know any better. I was inspired by the Muppets and I was inspired by Rolf the Dog which was a great puppet on the Jimmy Dean Show, and Jim Henson did it. Rolf the Dog was kind of this boisterous, flamboyant, tickle in the ol’ ivories. And I kind of liked that character because he was out there, you know he was kind of like that. So I said, you know I kind of like this character, I like this persona. And I kind of developed it into Alf. And I think that's where it came from and I kind of like made Alf his own kinda guy to say, “You know, why you wearing that kinda shirt? You know, you look terrible in it. You know, stripes aren’t good for ya. You’re kinda on the heavy side, you know.” And you know, so it was honesty, it was not, he wasn’t calling the guy fat or anything, he was just telling him you know, you shouldn’t wear stripes. Anyway, that was my inspiration I think. And then as the show, as we started to get into the shows as we did episodes, two or three episodes or four episodes in, I really couldn’t do it anymore – just doing it now my voice is like *clears throat*. So I needed to find a middle ground for the character, and I got into the higher ranges because, also I couldn't play him on that one monotone level. As the script started to get more sophisticated in a way that, we didn't want it to be a one joke type of show where just Alf is walking around insulting people or saying funny things. There were things where we had to put emotion into the show, and Alf needed to react emotionally, and you can’t be emotional when you're talking like this you know. So I found that higher up part of the voice and you know, it sort of just started to come and developed through doing it. By 6 or 7 episodes in I think I got him.

Marc: So Paul, rumor has it that in Target as we speak, a new Alf puppet exists. Do you have one nearby you that you can show us?

Paul: There he is.

Marc: Woah. That’s cool.

Paul: There he is on the box. It’s a collaboration with Kidrobot. It’s going to be available at Target. He’s nice and, oh sorry sorry. He didn’t like that.

Marc: That’s huge. That’s fantastic.

Paul: Yeah yeah.

Marc: Hi there Alf. I haven’t seen you in a long time.

Paul: I know I know I know, what do you think about being rendered in velvet? I don’t know what you put. Yeah, he’s kinda shy.

Marc: So for those of you who grew up watching Alf and introducing a new generation at Target, you can grab this guy and have a ball with him. So Paul, what was it like to be on the set of Alf? I walked in there one day and of course everything was built I don’t know, 4, 5, 6 feet off the ground. But you still were sort of, cramped up and had one arm here and another arm here, and it was technical and crazy. But what was it like behind the scenes? Did the characters off camera, sort of interact with Alf?

Paul: I didn’t like to rehearse.

Marc: Really?

Paul: Because I always felt that the jokes got stale. They weren’t as spontaneous. I used to like to rehearse without Alf, I would walk through the scenes with everybody. I used to like to keep it fresh because there was a lot of room for Alf to figure out, improvise, and not to the point where it threw the characters off, but we would maybe get a take or two in the can and then I would tell the director let’s try it one more time and I’m just going to go off the page here and see what we get.

Marc: What’s the best part of your life and what inspiration can you give to others who have big dreams but don't know how to go about accomplishing them?

 Paul: If anybody said to me, you know what, don’t go into television. You’ll never make it, it’s a hard business. There are no jobs in the industry. If anybody said that to you, if you had the passion, you wouldn’t be discouraged. You would say, you know what, I’m going to do it no matter what you say. And I think that’s the biggest advice, the most important advice. I’d say, find your passion, and conversely, we have an Alf slogan that became very very popular. Alf would say, “Find out what you’re not good at, and don’t do it.”

 Marc: I appreciate Paul for stopping by for a deep dive on everyone's favorite Melmacian. Now the new Alf puppet is available at Target and also at Target.com, and internationally at Haulathon.com. So, what do you say we start shopping? I’m gonna see you next time collectors. Until then, I’m Marc Summers.

@HAULATHON