Alf (1988) 40

The cover is the only thing with a Thanksgiving theme as Alf roasts the network that spurned him.

ALF, or Alien Life Form, aired on NBC from Sept. 22, 1986 to March 34, 1990. By the time the cover-dated April, 1991, Alf 40; issue hit specialty shops and newsstands, the network had already cancelled the series.

Marvel would keep the title going for another 10 issues before ending Alf at number 50.

Alf (1988) 40

While primed with a holiday cover – of sorts – already, the book could also fall into St. Paddy’s day category with Leprechaun Job as the first story.

The Tanner’s Uncle Seamus comes to visit, giving ALF visions of a pot of gold in his dreams. Whether a waking dream or real life, ALF is unable to restrain Seamus and secure his possible fortune.

ALF is left with a parting gift that only causes the Tanners more trouble.

That’s the Way the Cookie Crumbles is a Melmacian history lesson tempered with a dash of Zorro. The tale does little to lessen the ire of Lynn who finds her homemade treat has vanished.

ALF was the brainchild of Tom Patchett and puppeteer Paul Fusco. The four seasons produced 99 episodes including three one-hour episodes, one of which was ALF’s Christmas Special.

A sequel to the final episode entitled Project: ALF (aka Project: ALF, Part 2) aired in 1996 as a made-for-television science fiction film. Though NBC was the home of ALF during its initial run, ABC hosted the furry cat lover in the United States and the CHCH-TV in Canada on February 17.

Only puppeteer Fusco and Beverly Archer appeared from the original series. With the Tanners absent, viewership was down.

When NBC took ALF off the air, it did so with a cliff-hanging:  To Be Continued on the screen. Initially NBC had promised an extra episode to tie up loose threads, but decided against a 100^th show. Viewers were left with ALF under a Melmacian spaceship as the series faded from television.

By the end of the second-part of Consider Me Gone, ALF has been awarded ambassadorship to Earth, giving the series the closure denied it originally.