ALF (TV series)

ALF is an American science fiction sitcom that aired on NBC from September 22, 1986 to March 24, 1990. It was the first television series to be presented in Dolby Surround.

The title character is Gordon Shumway, a friendly extraterrestrial nicknamed ALF (an acronym for Alien Life Form), who crash lands in the garage of the suburban middle-class Tanner family. The series stars Max Wright as father Willie Tanner, Anne Schedeen as mother Kate Tanner, and Andrea Elson and Benji Gregory as their children, Lynn and Brian Tanner. ALF was performed by puppeteer/creator Paul Fusco.

Produced by Alien Productions, ALF originally ran for four seasons and produced 99 episodes, including three one-hour episodes which were divided into two parts for syndication totaling 102 episodes.

Plot

ALF is an alien from the planet Melmac who follows an amateur radio signal to Earth and crash-lands into the garage of the Tanners. The Tanners are a suburban middle-class family in the San Fernando Valley area of California. The family consists of social worker Willie (Max Wright), his wife Kate (Anne Schedeen), their teenage daughter Lynn (Andrea Elson), younger son Brian (Benji Gregory), and their cat Lucky.

Alf (album)

Alf is the debut solo studio album of British singer-songwriter Alison Moyet, her first since leaving early 1980s synthpop duo Yazoo (also known as Yaz). Released on 9 November 1984, the album, which took its title from the singer's nickname, went to No. 1 on both the UK and New Zealand album charts and includes three hit singles; "Love Resurrection", "Invisible" and "All Cried Out".

The summer of 1985 saw the release of the non-album single "That Ole Devil Called Love", originally performed by Billie Holiday in the 1940s, in some European territories followed by a remixed version of "For You Only".

In 2006, "Love Resurrection" appeared in the popular video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories. The song can be heard on a fictional pop/rock/New Wave radio station called Flash FM.

Track listing

All tracks written by Steve Jolley, Alison Moyet and Tony Swain (Copyright Control/Rondor Music Ltd.-London/J&S Music) unless otherwise noted.

Side A:

List of ALF characters

A listing of the characters from the ALF television series that ran between 1986 and 1990.

ALF

ALF (an acronym for "Alien Life Form"), is an alien from the planet Melmac. ALF's real name is Gordon Shumway; he was given the nickname "ALF" by Willie Tanner in the pilot episode.

ALF was born on October 28, 1756 (though he mentions that his birthday is in August in Episode 7, "Help Me Rhonda") on the Lower East Side of the planet. Melmac was located six parsecs past the Hydra-Centaurus Supercluster and had a green sky, pink grass and a purple sun. The commonly used currency is Wernicks, and the substance we call foam is revealed by ALF in the first season episode, "Baby, You Can Drive My Car", to be as precious on Melmac as gold is on Earth. Lint also has value on Melmac as hinted in the cold open of the same episode, though ALF did not reveal what it corresponded to on Earth in terms of value.

ALF's body is covered with rust-colored fur (he once described his color as burnt sienna). He has a rippled snout, facial moles, eight stomachs, his heart is apparently located in his head near his ear. He likes to eat cats and had a best friend on his home planet named Malhar Naik. He attended high school for 122 years and was captain of a Bouillabaisseball team (which is played on a normal baseball diamond using fish parts as a ball). He has at least two cousins "Pretty Boy Shumway" and "Blinky", and has had liposuction. During a bout of amnesia, he believed he was an insurance salesman named Wayne Schlegel.

Mathematical game

A mathematical game is a game whose rules, strategies, and outcomes are defined by clear mathematical parameters. Often, such games have simple rules and match procedures, such as Tic-tac-toe and Dots and Boxes. Generally, mathematical games need not be conceptually intricate to involve deeper computational underpinnings. For example, even though the rules of Mancala are relatively basic, the game can be rigorously analyzed through the lens of combinatorial game theory.

Mathematical games differ sharply from mathematical puzzles in that mathematical puzzles require specific mathematical expertise to complete, whereas mathematical games do not require a deep knowledge of mathematics to play. Often, the arithmetic core of mathematical games is not readily apparent to players untrained to note the statistical or mathematical aspects.

Some mathematical games are of deep interest in the field of recreational mathematics.

When studying a game's core mathematics, arithmetic theory is generally of higher utility than actively playing or observing the game itself. To analyze a game numerically, it is particularly useful to study the rules of the game insofar as they can yield equations or relevant formulas. This is frequently done to determine winning strategies or to distinguish if the game has a solution.

Blaufränkisch

Blaufränkisch (German for blue Frankish) is a dark-skinned variety of grape used for red wine. Blaufränkisch, which is a late-ripening variety, produces red wines which are typically rich in tannin and may exhibit a pronounced spicy character.

The grape is grown across Central Europe, including Austria, Czech Republic (in particular southern Moravia where it is known as Frankovka), Germany, Slovakia (where it is known as Frankovka modrá), Croatia (frankovka), Slovenia (known as modra frankinja), and Italy (Franconia). In Hungary the grape is called Kékfrankos (also lit. blue Frankish) and is grown in a number of wine regions including Sopron, Villány, Szekszárd, and Eger (where it is a major ingredient in the famous red wine blend known as Egri Bikavér (lit. Bull's Blood) having largely replaced the Kadarka grape). It has been called "the Pinot noir of the East" because of its spread and reputation in Eastern Europe. In America this grape is grown in Idaho, Washington State and the Finger Lakes region of New York State, where like in Germany it is known as Lemberger, Blauer Limberger or Blue Limberger.

Simulation video game

A simulation video game describes a diverse super-category of video games, generally designed to closely simulate aspects of a real or fictional reality.

A simulation game attempts to copy various activities from real life in the form of a game for various purposes such as training, analysis, or prediction. Usually there are no strictly defined goals in the game, with players instead allowed to freely control a character. Well-known examples are war games, business games, and role play simulation.

From three basic types of strategic, planning, and learning exercises: games, simulations, and case studies, a number of hybrids may be considered, including simulation games that are used as case studies.

Comparisons of the merits of simulation games versus other teaching techniques have been carried out by many researchers and a number of comprehensive reviews have been published.

History

While many credit simulation games beginning with Will Wright and SimCity in 1989, the true progenitor of the genre was "Fortune Builder", released in 1984 on Colecovision. Certain games such as SimLife and SimEarth were subsequently created and are capable of teaching players the basics of genetics and global ecosystems.