Warning: ALF Season 1 cut!

I finally caved in and bought this set yesterday for $30 w/ tax, I was fiending for some Alf...


Nevermind the syndicated cuts, but this is beyound any shadow of a doubt the absolutely worst DVD I own in my entire collection!


What the hell is up with making us listen to that stupid Alf commentary about his show not being on DVD for close to two whole minutes every single time you want to pop the disc in and watch an episode?!

There's not even a proper menu screen... after waiting for the disc to load and than sitting through the studio logos and warning messages that can't be skipped over... it's just a video clip of Alf talking... looped over and over... and you can't skip ahead!

and than finally when he's ready to shut his mouth, a button pops up titled "episodes"...

Do we really need to listen to Alf complaining about his show not being on DVD EVERY SINGLE TIME we want to watch an episode... I was ready to stand up and shout at the TV... "This is why it's not on DVD, cause the morons who own the rights can't produce one for their lives!"

On top of that, there's not even a "Play-All" feature either... you'd think Lionsgate had never heard of TV shows on DVD before.

And than there's the packaging... I own bargain bin public domain titles with more thought put into the packaging than this thing! An oversized keepcase with overlapping hubs which leave the discs falling out all over the place and an ugly cheap looking slip cover which is identical to the insert cover underneath.

I can't believe what a horrible set this is... what a shame considering the show is so great (or what's shown of it)!

Considering the fact that they used edited episodes, these other bad things don't surprise me.

Did anyone notice Lionsgate is releasing "Moonlighting" later this year. That'll be verrry interesting.

Frightening would be a much better word for it. Moonlighting is my favorite show of the decade. If its screwed up, I'm not going to freak out as I have them all on great quality off-air records. So, if the DVDs are well done, great, if not, not.

re: Moonlighting: "Lions Gate is taking great care with the series"

What a pity it took the desecration of ALF to wake them up to what devotees are really after.

Well, Lion's Gate is doing the same crap that they did with Alf: Season 1 on the release of Alf: Season 2.

According to http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/newsitem.cfm?NewsID=3074 , Lion's Gate will be releasing Season 2 of Alf with the syndicated episodes & they use the same excuse which is:

that the syndicated episodes were in better condition, so they decided to release those instead of the poorer quality broadcast versions

No sale for me.

I wonder what the possibility of another company making ALF season sets with uncut episodes? Its unfortunate lions gate is still spatting the bs about the conditions of the masters. Its their way of dodging the issue and trying to convince consumers that its better this way. But in reality they would rather make more money that offer quality product to consumers. If it could be done on the ALF files DVD then lions gate could have used the origional airing to make the DVDs. Its this kind of thing that makes me want to see a company like lions gate fall into oblivion and the decision makers go bankrupt for their stupidity. It would appear that all of the negative publicity and letters they recieved had no impact if they even read any of it at all. They probably just chucked it all out the window.

I wish we could force every one not to but the DVDs. With this news I will never buy any products from lions gate unless they rectify ALF or another company makes uncut sets of it taking the rights from lions gate to further profit off of crap they pawn off to consumers.

I've talked to them, and here's the story, right from their mouths.

(1) This stuff is crap.
(2) If you like it, you're an idiot.
(3) Idiots will buy anything.
(4) Since idiots will buy anything, why should we spend the money and effort to give you a good product? Anybody who would buy ALF, or Laurel & Hardy, or HIGH SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL is too dumb to know the difference -- since it's all crap anyway, if we spend extra money to make it better, it's just putting shellac on crap, and why do that?
(5) Those people that DO complain are pains in the asses, and are to be ignored at all costs. Hopefully, they'll go away and leave us to count our year-end profit sharing plan.

I kid you not, my friends.

That's the thing that bothers me the most. My first thoughts were releasing uncut episodes would probably double their sales and judging by negative feedback around maybe triple it.
The only possible answer I can think of is maybe we anti-cut ALF supporters aren't as big in numbers as I thought. The fact they're releasing a second season seems to indicate they made enough profit with the first season, cuts and all.
Why not go to the effort of pleasing everyone.
Anyway, it's NO SALE for me as well.

I think the best thing to do is wait for the license agreement to end and get the DVDs when another company puts them out the right way. That may be several years away, but it seems to me the only way to get the show the way we want it and to not reward half-assed DVD productions like this one. This is bigger than just Alf -- if other companies see that we won't buy cut episodes of a show they will be less likely to do the same thing.

Just netflixed season one and while I honestly don't remember enough to know if it was cut or uncut, I forgot how enjoyable the show was back in the day.

Re: Warning: ALF Season 1 cut!

I just transferred a bunch from my NBC masters and they run about 24:05, give or take a few seconds. What's the time on the DVDs?

Re: Warning: ALF Season 1 cut!

Hate to revive such an old thread and pick old wounds, but I DVR'd the WGN mini-marathon of ALF tonight, and it seems that some of the episodes may be unedited. The first one was not, but second one has the complete theme song (in the key of D Major [it is in C Major in the syndie versions and missing a few bars] and with the refrigerator scene, which was removed from syndication) and NBC "In stereo where available" IDs. I timed it (using the DVR on-screen clock; not the most reliable one) and there seem to be only 6 minutes of commercials and has the original end-of-act bumpers, which suggests to me that these are at least longer than the DVD editions.

And guess what, they looked pretty damned good if I do say so myself, except the first episode of the night which looked washed out and had the Warner Bros. logo, suggesting that we can expect a mix of cut and uncut episodes in the future.

Re: Warning: ALF Season 1 cut!

I just thought of something. Does anyone else think it might be possible that the presence of the NBC Stero logo on the uncut masters may have something to do with why the syndication versions were used? Maybe Lionsgate didn't want to pay royalties to NBC to use it?

Re: Warning: ALF Season 1 cut!

Somehow, I think that's possible. The way I read it, any artifacts of the originals (including the NBC "In Stereo" stinger) are not worth saving, at least to Lionsgate. They think (at least with a lot of people's memories of the series), "better incompatible than compatible."

Re: Warning: ALF Season 1 cut!

I don't care. I bought Season 1 at Wal Mart for $15 and I have plans on buying Season 2 and Season 3 at Barnes and Noble and picking up another title for their buy 1 get 1 free sale. The series is still hilarious, even with their syndicated and cut episodes. Who cares about cut episodes as long as I can get the seasons for a cheap price.

Re: Warning: ALF Season 1 cut!

I don't care how hilarious the bastardized versions are, I ain't buying 'em.

Yeah, I haven't seen the show in 20 years, and that was when I was a young child, so I honestly don't remember ALF at all. But I won't buy cut up syndicated versions.

I'd love to see this show again, but not until I can see the full show and not something with 2 to 4 minutes hacked from each show.

So, who cares if the episodes are butchered as long as they're cheap? I do!

I've passed on WKRP, My Three Sons S1V2, and won't even bother trying to get into The Fugitive for the same reason.

Re: Warning: ALF Season 1 cut!

There is no reason to pay for what you can get for free on WGN and Hulu.

As for the NBC In Stereo logo, VSC had no problem with it on "The ALF Files" 3 episode compilation disc, and Odyssey just covered them with their own logo. And the very few uncut episodes that have mysteriously made it onto WGN have them intact along with the original bumpers. This was, and still remains, a churn-it-out effort all around.

This is still on my no-touch list along with, and for the same reasons as, WKRP in Cincinnati, Mama's Family, My Three Sons, The Fugitive, and all the other clusterf--- TV DVDs. While there's nothing I can legally do to stop you from buying these discs, doing so sends the message to studios that it's okay to cut corners.

Re: Warning: ALF Season 1 cut!

As do I. And it's not just that all the episodes are edited for syndication (and in some instances quite clumsily so. I mean that opening of the first episode with the frozen image is just ridiculous). There are loads of additional edits - probably due to music rights. I remember one episode only running 17+ minutes). And we're talking about a show that used to run at least 23-24 minutes originally.

That's why I never bought any sets past season 1.

Re: Warning: ALF Season 1 cut!

I also have stayed away from purchasing these sets. I was in Rogers Video the other day and they had all seasons available for only $15 a-piece. I didn't even bat an eye. I still say Lionsgate's excuse as to why they used the syndicated cuts is absolutely rediculous......and adding fuel to the fire by releasing the subsequent seasons in the same manner (even after the public outcry) just further proved that they could care less about pleasing their customers. I love the show and would definitely love to own it, but I refuse to cave. It's the network versions or nothing. IMO, VSC should've been the company to release those sets. The "Alf Files" disc was stellar.

Re: Warning: ALF Season 1 cut!

Butchered? To claim that you make it sound like they did a horrible hatchet job on the episodes and they didn't. So they released the syndicated versions instead of the broadcast episodes. Who cares.

There is a reason why syndicated episodes exists and apparently everyone seems stuck up about syndicated episodes. You know that they'll never ever release broadcast episodes so while everyone moans and complains about syndicated episodes ... at least I bought my copy of these sets ... and so did a lot of other people.

It's not like the very small democratic of internet surfers is going to have an effect on the sales of Alf sets ... obviously the studio is making money from it and I'll continue watching my store bought copies. :lol:

Re: Warning: ALF Season 1 cut!

Good for you. If you can enjoy half a show, I've got a copy of Godfather 2 to sell you that cuts out all the footage of Vito Corleone set in the past. It should be just as entertaining without all that pointless stuff set in the past.

The reason why syndicated episodes exist? Money. older shows were longer, they had minutes cut off of them so stations could make more advertising money. So, they're not hacked up for some artistic reasons, they're hacked up for greed. I'm paying for these DVDs, so I want the full episode, not something chopped up so local stations can make more money. Local stations and syndication have nothing to do with DVD.

And by buying and supporting chopped up sets, you're just rewarding companies that provice this hacked up crap instead of releasing these shgows the way they were originally intended to be seen.

But, hey, it's your money, if you enjoy seeing half the show, more power to you, have fun with it.

BTW, I've also got a 45 minute copy of Citizen Kane you might enjoy... none of that "Rosebud" crap to bog down the story.

Re: Warning: ALF Season 1 cut!

It's not half a show. Since when does less than one minute or two constitute half of a 24 minute episode. Last I checked, and my math skills are pretty good, half designates 50%. At half a show, that would mean each episode would be, what, 11 minutes? Each episode in each set is like 22 minutes long.

Syndicated episodes do not exist because of money. Sydnicated episodes are used when a show is sold to networks across the world. Other networks use the syndicated episodes so that they can squeeze in more advertisers into the allotted time for that show.

And, you're right, I support these companies releasing these shows and they are not chopped up. They are carefully edited. Do you have first hand experience of what goes on in the editing room? If you do, please share it with us.

Re: Warning: ALF Season 1 cut!

Why do you think they want more advertisers? Money.

I'm the first guy to say that it's a business and they want to make money but the reason that they edit shows in syndication is to have more time for commercials so they can make more money.

Re: Warning: ALF Season 1 cut!

You're right... it's not like half a show. But there are still parts missing. Would you buy a 300 page book with pages 7, 16, 25, 41, 49, 58, 69, 80, 90-94, 107, 121, 140, and more missing?


Okay, so syndicated episodes are used so networks can squeeze in more advertisers into the allotted time for that show... to make more money on advertising.

Not to mention, shows are syndicated to make the companies that own them money by re-airing them instead of just letting them sit in a vault.

So, Syndicated shows exist to make money.


I don't care if they're "chopped up", or if the person editing these shows for syndication does it with the utmost attention, care, and hugs a copy of each print going out of the door, they're still missing footage, which to me says "hacked up", "butchered", and "incomplete".

And people accepting incomplete shows makes the studios think it is acceptable to release incomplete shows, and then we wind up getting shows with entire scores replaced.

But, as I said before, it's your money, if you want to pay for an incomplete product, and you enjoy it, good for you.

Re: Warning: ALF Season 1 cut!

You're making a screwed up analogy. Syndicated vs Broadcast epsiodes are the same as an abridged novel compared to an unabridged novel, not missing pages. At least get your analogies right.

Just look at movies that are broadcast on television. It's the same thing. Why do people watch a movie being broadcast on television that has been edited for content and allotted time when they have the unedited version on DVD or home video? There's no real difference.

There are a lot of people who buy the syndicated versions on DVD and there's nothing anyone can do to get the studios to release to broadcast episodes.

Like I said before, this is the only way to get Alf. If you want to support bootleggers by ordering those complete sets for $60, go right ahead. But, I support the official releases and Alf is one of my favourite 80's shows and the epsiodes are still hilarious.

Re: Warning: ALF Season 1 cut!

Why stop at cutting just 4 minutes? Why not cut 15 minutes? Hell, why don't we release a whole season of Sony-style Minisodes instead?

And in some cases the episodes are SHORTER than the syndicated versions. The uncut versions were good enough for NBC, Odyssey network, and a no-name Canadian company.

What's on DVD is not ALF. It's LF.

Re: Warning: ALF Season 1 cut!

I had the chance to buy all 4 seasons for only $14.99 and I passed and will always pass.

Re: Warning: ALF Season 1 cut!

It's Alf and it will always be Alf. I suppose if someone lost their leg you would tell them to kill themselves because life isn't worth living.

Despite what you want to believe, Alf continues to be a profit maker for Lion's Gate. Even Amazon.com lists the Alf DVD series as the top sellers in its category of Movies and Television > Comedy.

You can stomp your feet all you want but it will remain a solid performer for the studio as there are fans who continue to buy the DVD's. Matter of fact, I have to order three more sets for family members.