Gordon Shumway had been living with Eric Tanner and his son Joseph for a couple of weeks now. On one Friday morning, Eric awoke and got out of bed. As he walked towards the bathroom, he glanced at the calendar hanging on the bedroom wall. He gasped.

"They're coming this weekend? I completely forgot!"

"Who's coming?"

Eric's gaze shifted from the calendar to the doorway, where Gordon stood. "I thought you were in the kitchen," Eric groaned. "I was. I'm just waiting for my coffee to finish percolating. Now, who's coming?" Gordon explained. "Nobody. Nothing you should be concerned about," Eric said as he turned his gaze away from Gordon. "Haven't you forgotten, Eric? When someone comes to visit, we have to hide the alien...Which is a major inconvenience to the alien, who has to hide alone downstairs for hours. So, yeah, I think the matter should concern me," Gordon snarkily snapped, crossing his arms. Eric rolled his eyes as he walked into the bathroom.

"If I took a peek at his calendar, he'd never know..." Gordon whispered to himself. Eric came out of the bathroom and closed the bedroom door. As Gordon sighed and turned around, he met Joseph.

"Do you know who's coming here this weekend?" Gordon asked him.

"Maybe. Does Dad want you to know?"

"...No. But he doesn't have to know I know."

Joseph looked at Gordon for a moment, and then mumbled, "See ya' later, Gordon."

As Joseph walked downstairs, Gordon plopped down on the couch, crossed his arms, and scoffed.

"Great. First they keep me alone downstairs for hours, now they keep secrets from me! What's next, they keep me from making PB&J's in the blender?!"


Eric had completely forgotten about his mother and siblings coming to visit for the weekend. He knew Gordon would get excited about it if he was told, which would lead to chaos, so he decided to keep it a secret. Still, he wondered if he should tell Gordon ahead of time, so the damage could already be done before everybody came. That way, there could be time (maybe) to repair everything damaged.

"I wouldn't want anybody else telling him, though...I could keep him under control for a while," Eric thought as he brushed his teeth. Although his mother and siblings were coming over, he hadn't told any of them about Gordon. At first, he just forgot, but now he thought it'd be fun to surprise them. Of course, he could also prove to his mother that aliens really did exist and that he wasn't wasting time with his research.

But, would his family be mad at him for not telling them about Gordon?

As Eric pondered this thought, he shuffled to the kitchen to eat breakfast.


Zack had watched as Blinky was dragged into Edward's Base. He remembered how it went - They take you into the base and question you about your whole life and everything about you. They make you give up secrets you didn't want anybody to know. By the end of your interrogation - which could take weeks - The whole base knew everything about you; Your anatomy, your life, your species, your deepest secrets, everything. When your interrogation was finished, you were drained of all your energy.

Zack's interrogation took a little less than a month, but Gordon's took much longer - maybe two months, if not a little more. Gordon's interrogation was interrupted when Zack was caught and brought to the base, so Zack was the top priority until his interrogation was finished. Afterward, Gordon's interrogation continued.

Zack remembered how Gordon looked when they had finished interrogating him - tired, drowsy, a bit pale, and miserable. He barely talked for several days, either mumbling, saying short phrases, or just staying silent.

That was the first time Zack realized that the base had broken Gordon. They had done the same to himself (just not as badly), and Zack knew that they would do it to Blinky.


Blinky breathed heavily as he was dragged into the base. He had no idea what could happen next. The officers dragging him in were rough.

Blinky's eyes darted around. He saw a short, slim figure in the distance watching him.

The figure was wearing an orange jumpsuit, a metal helmet and ear-caps, black boots, a black rope belt, a pair of gray gloves, and a metal muzzle. Blinky thought it was probably either Gordon or Zack. He lost sight of the figure when he entered the building and met with some Alien Task Force officers. A tall man wearing a navy blue uniform walked up to Blinky. The man had a menacing look spread across his face.

"Welcome to Edwards Air Force Base, Blinky Gordon. I am the head of the Alien Task Force organization of this base. You shall call me Mr. Ziegfeld, and nothing else. Let us show you to your cell and get you your jumpsuit. Oh, and you may want to enjoy these last couple of minutes of your 'freedom' - From now on, you will only be referred to as a number. Is that clear, Blinky? Or should I say, #624?" the man greeted with a sneering chuckle.

"Yes, sir," Blinky replied, defeatedly.

He was walked to his cell, his eyes slowly losing the light they once had.


Evangeline and Eric were rushing around the house, cleaning everything that looked the slightest bit dirty. Eric had told Evangeline about his mother and siblings coming to visit, but he hadn't told Gordon. Gordon watched them clean, a look of boredom on his face.

"Is there a reason you're not telling me who's coming over? Is it someone really important, and you aren't telling me because you'll think I'll blab it? Like, if the President's coming to our house, I won't tell. Who do I have to tell, anyway? Earl?" Gordon chattered snarkily.

"Earl? As in Sarah's friend? You've met him?" Evangeline inquired.

"Yeah! He's still not over the shock. But he's a good kid. He wouldn't tell his own parents. We trust him, right, Eric?" Gordon replied, getting up from the couch.

Eric nodded, still staring at the spot on the floor he was scrubbing. "We're still not telling you who's coming. You're going to have to stay downstairs. Find something to keep yourself occupied. Maybe, if we want you to, you can come upstairs later. But first off, you're staying downstairs," Eric explained.

Gordon stared at Eric with a blank expression on his face.

"It's the Alien Task Force, huh?"

"Gordon, it's not the Alien Task Force. It's not any type of danger. And, for the record, I would never call the Alien Task Force on you," Eric sighed.

"Then why do I have to stay downstairs?"


Kate Tanner and her children, Lynn (Tanner) Sherwood and Brian Tanner were on a plane to Cocoa Beach, Florida. It was decided that Lynn and Brian wouldn't bring their spouses so it could be a more personal family gathering - as Eric, the youngest of the three Tanner children, had requested it to be. Eric hadn't told them why, but he was family, so they respected his privacy. The three of them were curious about Eric's intentions.

Clearly, he was hiding something. They just didn't know what.


Gordon was still watching Eric and Evangeline clean. He had a scornful expression, as he was mad that no one would tell him who was coming. Evangeline turned around to look at Gordon.

"Why don't you find something to do? You know, instead of watching us," she asked.

Gordon shrugged. "Sure."

He turned towards the stairs and went to the garage. He looked around for a moment, trying to find something to keep him occupied. After a second, he crouched down and looked under the table. He pulled out a large box and opened it.

"A-ha! Exactly what I needed," Gordon exclaimed as he lifted a large pair of roller skates out from the box. "It is something to keep me occupied," he smirked. After skating around in the garage for a bit, he went into the house.

As destructive as he could be, he was surprisingly light on his feet when he was on roller skates. He would glide around the room, trying all kinds of tricks. Every once in a while, he would break things, but not always. To get up the stairs, he would either carefully step up the stairs (which had carpet on them) or crawl on his hands and knees.

Now, he jumped up from the stairs and started to glide around the living room.

"Hi guys," he murmured as he passed Eric and Evangeline.

"Gordon! What have we told you about skating in the house?" Eric exclaimed.

"Hey, you told me to find something to keep myself occupied! I'm just lucky that I still have my roller skates from Melmac, or else I'd have to get a custom-made pair," Gordon argued.

"Maybe you should find a different hobby. I mean, if you want to roller skate, do it outside. We just cleaned off the scuff marks from last week," Evangeline groaned.

Gordon smirked and then rolled to the stairs. He carefully rolled down the stairs and then began to glide around the room, pondering what to pick up as a hobby.


"47-inch waist..."

Blinky stood in the middle of a small room. An Alien Task Force officer was taking his measurements, as they had to make a jumpsuit for him.

"Same as #324's waist...When he first got here," a guard standing at the doorway of the room commented.

"What did you do to him? What do you mean 'when he first got here'?" Blinky asked anxiously.

The officer measuring Blinky leaned over to the guard and whispered into his ear, "Use the excuse."

"#324 was killed during a failed experiment," the guard deadpanned.

Blinky looked aghast. "What?"

The officer nodded.

"No...It can't be true. Gordo's always been so strong...No..." Blinky muttered, his voice trailing off.

As Blinky hid his face behind his hands, the officer smiled mischievously.

Blinky would be so easy to manipulate…as long as Zack kept his mouth shut.


The Tanners-Cummings were dressed in their best attires. Gordon was downstairs, trying to figure out a new hobby.

Eric tapped Joseph on the shoulder and asked, "Could you please go downstairs and tell Gordon to stay down there until further notice?"

"Yep. I'll get right to it."

"Thanks."

Joseph ran down the stairs and knocked on the door to the basement. "Come in," Gordon's voice echoed.

Joseph came in and saw Gordon, his roller skates still on, standing at a mannequin. On the mannequin was a Hawaiian shirt, but it hadn't been sewn together yet. "Hey," Gordon murmured, pinning the sleeve and the shirt together.

"Hey, Gordo. Dad says you're gonna have to stay down here until further notice. Can you please do that?" Joseph explained.

"No problem! You won't have to worry about the ole' ALFer!…There I go again…But anyway, I've picked up sewing. Do you think this shirt looks good?" Gordon rambled.

He rolled around the mannequin and put a hand on the shoulder of the mannequin, his other hand in a gesture of display.

"Yeah. Looks great. Listen, just don't blow up anything, okay? We're probably going to go out to eat with," Joseph paused, and quickly corrected himself, "…With some people from the school system."

Gordon looked at Joseph with an air of confusion, then smirked. "You Earthlings are so strange," he said as he rolled to Joseph and crossed his arms.

Gordon shook his head as Joseph went up the stairs. When it sounded like the family had left, Gordon chuckled to himself.

"I know humans. They aren't going to eat with some people from the school system…But who they are going to eat with? Beats the dickens out of me."


After a short while, Eric, Joseph, Evangeline, and Sarah met Kate, Lynn, and Brian as the three got off the plane with their luggage. "Mom! It's so good to see you! How've you been?" Eric exclaimed.

Kate looked him up and down, and then replied, "Fine. And you?"

"Perfectly fine. I don't know if I've ever introduced you to Evangeline Cummings, my girlfriend," he said as he put his arm around Evangeline's waist.

"She must be able to put up with you...Anyways, what plans did you have for us tonight?" Kate commented.

"We'll go eat at the local diner first. They have great food, trust me. Then, we'll go home and have a chat. After that, who knows?" Eric answered excitedly.

"Maybe we'll show Gordon to them," Sarah whispered under her breath. Joseph elbowed her gently as a way of saying, "Shut up before they hear you." Sarah sniffed and looked back towards Kate.

"Well, it's been a while. Let's go to this diner, and we'll have a chat!" Lynn exclaimed, changing the subject. The group of them headed towards the airport exit and to their car. Joseph and Sarah trailed behind the adults.

Joseph nudged Sarah and whispered in her ear, "You better get used to Aunt Lynn. She's an optimist, but, like, the annoying kind. Dad says she wasn't like that during the old days. Then again, she was a teenager. We should know that, right?"

Sarah glared at Joseph and then looked at Lynn. Evangeline had told Sarah that Lynn was a yoga instructor, married to a former mime who now works as a performing arts teacher. Also, Brian was a physical therapist and married to a grade school teacher.

"At least he's not married to a former mime," Sarah thought.

Eventually, the whole bunch squeezed into the little car and drove off to the diner. They had a wonderful dinner and a chat, but they soon went home.

But now, Eric had that icky feeling in the pit of his stomach - He would soon have to break the truth to his family that he had found Gordon.


In the basement of the Tanner-Cummings house, Gordon roller-skated around his mannequin. His fingers were covered in Band-Aids.

"Sewing's harder than I thought...And a lot more painful, too," he thought.

He looked at the mannequin, which was now clothed in a blue tuxedo. The tux had long tails, almost touching the ground. Gordon picked a piece of lint off of the shoulder. He dragged his finger along the seam at the beginning of the sleeve, which was roughly pinned to the base of the tux.

"Let's see...I've got to sew this together, and after a few finishing touches, Voila! The finished design will be a Shumway trademark," Gordon boasted to himself.

Gordon had gotten very bored while the Tanner-Cummings were away - He had gotten into storage containers and rummaged through them. He had discovered a sleek black belt with a radio-like box attached to the front of it. He hadn't been able to investigate it, though. Now that he was finished sewing for the night, he decided to try the belt on.

Gordon rolled over to the bed, where the belt was lying, and picked it up. It seemed familiar, but he couldn't quite place where he had seen it before. He flipped it over and saw his name engraved on the inside of it.

"Oh, now I think I know what it is!" Gordon exclaimed as he wrapped the belt around his waist. It was almost a perfect fit, although Gordon had lost a couple of inches or so on his waistline. He reached his hand towards a dial on the box and stared at it curiously.

"Now, if I just remember how this works..." He twisted the dial and turned to a full-length mirror.

Nothing happened for a few moments, but then the effects took place. Gordon watched in the mirror as his face slowly molded into something more humanoid, which then refined to look seamlessly human. His height increased, the human figure retaining the same clothing Gordon was wearing. After a few more seconds, this strange transformation was complete. Gordon admired this new human look in the mirror.

"I haven't seen this thing in years. The Holo-Humanizer must have been in Eric's storage the whole time I was at that base! Well, not the whole time, but probably most of his adult life," he mused.

Gordon's body hadn't morphed - A human-like hologram had been formed over Gordon's body.

"Affective, yes, but this thing probably won't last long," Gordon grumbled, turning the dial again. The hologram slowly disappeared, and he took off the belt shortly afterward.

Gordon smoothed his ruffled hair down and looked at the belt, wondering about its battery life. It ran on Melmacian batteries, and those certainly didn't exist anymore. Gordon tapped his chin inquisitively.

"Well...They didn't call me 'Mr. Science' on Melmac for nothing."


Zack stared into Gordon's empty cell. Although Gordon had pretty much lost his sense of humor, he would still wisecrack about the conditions at the base.

Were they actually wisecracks, or was it a sign that Gordon was depressed?

Zack imagined Gordon talking to him in a slow, sad voice; "Why do they hate us so much? I mean, they don't know what it's like to lose your family, your home, your entire life...I just don't understand..."

"Yeah, those were definitely not wisecracks," Zack thought.

Suddenly, he heard the rattling of keys in the cell door and sat up straight. After a few seconds, he realized it wasn't his cell door they were opening, nor was it Gordon's old cell. It was the cell on the other side of Zack's cell, the one that had been empty, even while Gordon was still at the base. Zack bounded over to the window connecting his cell and the opening cell. He slowly and carefully slid it to the side.

The first thing that caught his eye was Blinky, who was clothed in a tight jumpsuit. Blinky carried a helmet in his hands. He plopped down on the small bunk and hung his head low. Zack watched as Andrew pushed a cart of food into the cell, but Blinky didn't even glance up.

"You better eat, #624. You've only got 10 minutes," Andrew warned as he walked out of Blinky's cell.

"I'm not hungry..." Blinky muttered. Andrew entered Zack's cell with another cart of food and exited soon after. Zack needed no warning; He had been used to this kind of stuff. He grabbed a bowl of gruel and a spoon and then clambered up to the window.

"Hey, Blinky. You finally decided to come join me, huh?" Zack joked.

Blinky slowly raised his head.

"Zack? Is that you?"

"In the fur. Now, how've you been?"

"Life was great...before I came here."

"No, don't get all depressed like Gordon was. Be optimistic! Eat your supper, too. They spoil you the first night."

Blinky perked up a small bit and began to eat his dinner. For the rest of the ten minutes, the two chatted silently, making sure Andrew couldn't hear their conversations. After Andrew came by to pick up their dishes, Blinky decided to embark on a more serious topic.

"So...Gordie's...dead..." he muttered. Zack's eyes widened.

"Wait, really? They caught him? Last I saw him, he had decided to run away."

"Well...The guards told me he was killed during a failed experiment. They...Lied to me?"

Zack chuckled. "Oh, Blinky...You innocent fool. I don't know where Gordon is! Of course, this means nobody knows where he is...But for now, act like he's dead, okay? That's what they want you to believe."

"Why would they want me to believe that?"

Zack's eyes shifted to the side.

"Humans are strange creatures, Blinky. Gordon knows that better than any of us."


The Tanner-Cummings, along with Kate, Lynn, and Brian, had eaten supper at the Ocean Mist Café, a small diner in town. Now, the group was prepared to go to Eric's house and rest a bit. They would probably talk more about deeper topics, now that they weren't in a public place.

Eric was getting apprehensive about the discussion about his father, which would make them delve into his father's obsession with science and space, and then they'd talk about the existence or non-existence of aliens, and then Kate would hush him and warn him about the discussion of Gordon, and then...It would be chaos.

Could his mother handle it? Could his siblings handle it? Could Gordon even handle it?

The apprehensive feeling had made Eric forget he had already pulled into his driveway. Everyone had already gotten out of the car and were waiting at the garage door.

"We can't go through the garage!" Eric exclaimed as he jumped out of the car.

"Why? Nothing's gonna hurt us. It's not like we're hiding-" Brian glanced over at Evangeline and Sarah, "You know...A-L-F."

Eric's eyes widened, but he just nervously chuckled. They all clambered up the stairs. Eric's hands were sweaty and fidgety while trying to unlock the door.

"Is there something wrong, Eric?" Kate inquired.

"Nothing! Not like we're hiding anything..."

Kate just gave him a confused look.

"Okay..."

They all walked into the beach house. Eric could've sworn he heard Gordon rustling around downstairs. So, they all had a seat, Evangeline put on a pot of coffee, and they chatted for a while.

Then the subject got onto his father...And then onto his father's science obsession...And then...Oh, no.

"You know, Willie always believed in aliens. He was always a bit eccentric, bless his soul. Aliens don't exist, and that's a fact," Kate chatted.

Sarah's eyes lit up. "Maybe aliens do exist. We can't say they don't exist if we haven't ever seen one," Sarah rebutted.

Kate swerved her head toward Eric. "She doesn't know about...No, he never existed. He was just a figment of Willie's imagination..." Kate whispered, correcting herself mid-way through.

Eric thought he saw Sarah head towards the stairs. He gripped the armchair's armrests.

"Where's she going?" Lynn asked.

"Who knows..." Evangeline breathed. They all stared at each other for a while, until they suddenly heard music blaring, slowly coming up the stairs.

"If you change your mind, I'm the first in line. Honey, I'm still free, take a chance on me..."

They all looked around to see Sarah with a portable radio in her hand.

"May I have the honor of introducing Mr. Gordon NoProblem Shumway, of the distant former-planet Melmac!"

In only a few seconds, Kate's jaw dropped open, Lynn and Brian's eyes widened, Joseph facepalmed, and Evangeline and Eric groaned.

Gordon appeared at the top of the stairs.

He had his huge roller skates on, and then he started to roll around the room.

No one said a word - even Gordon, which was surprising.

After a moment, Gordon got over the initial shock.

"Hi B! Hey Lynnie! How ya' doing, Katydid?" he joked.

"No...No, he didn't..." Kate mouthed.

"ALF! You're alive!" Brian exclaimed, jumping up from his seat.

"Oh, how we've missed you!" Lynn chuckled, getting up and rushing over to him.

"Why wouldn't I be alive?"

"The Alien Task Force kidnapped you. Don't you remember?"

"Oh, that. Don't you worry about the Ole' ALFer. He's got it under control."

"Did they finally let you go?"

"Well...Not exactly. I ran away. They have no idea where I am."

"Gordon?" Eric blurted. "I thought you didn't like being called ALF."

Gordon chortled, "The only name these guys ever called me was ALF. That's what they're used to, that's what they can call me."

"I would prefer to call you 'Pest'."

Gordon's eyes narrowed at Kate's words.

"What's your problem, Kate-of-Spades?"

"I thought you would be gone...Forever."

Gordon's ears bent downward. "I knew you just slightly disliked me, but...I thought we got along...Didn't we?"

Kate shifted her glaring gaze towards Gordon. He looked at her with big puppy-dog eyes.

"Don't try that on me, Shumway. You won't convince me to like you any better," Kate sneered with a slight smile on her face.

"Oh, is that a smile? Has young Gordon Shumway made Kate Tanner see the light?" Gordon blurted playfully.

"Maybe...It's just that...Well, the night they took you away...That memory's always going to be engraved in my mind. After they took you away...Willie was just so melancholy, as we all were...It reminds me of Willie. I never wanted him to be melancholy just like he was that night, so I tried to block out all memories of you. I'm sorry, Gordon..." Kate explained, tears welling in her eyes.

Gordon reverted to his puppy dog eyes as Eric stated, "Mom...I never knew that's why you never told me about Gordon..."

"I'm sorry, Eric. I'm so sorry to you, Lynn, and Brian..."

"It's alright, Mom. I think we all understood that Dad was hit the hardest when Gordon was captured," Brian consoled.

Gordon flopped down on the floor in the center of everyone.

"...W-w-where's Wilheim? You know, my best friend, Willie?" he asked.

Everyone's face became dark at that moment.

"I've never told him..." Eric muttered.

"Dad's...Well...Gone," Lynn announced, breaking the silence.

Gordon hugged his knees to his chest, shaking his head.

"You mean, like, dead?"

Lynn nodded.

"No, no, no! Not my Goomba!" he exclaimed, his voice cracking.

Everyone was silent at that moment, except for Gordon.

He was sprawled out on the floor, bawling his eyes out.

"Not my Willie..."


"Gordo?"

Eric knocked on the door that separated the basement from the garage. Gordon had locked himself in the garage so he could grieve over Willie.

"He's not himself. In the 80s, he would never have wanted to stay in the garage," Lynn sighed.

"Poor little guy...I haven't seen him like this since he learned he was born in wedlock," Kate smirked.

"This is worse. He didn't bawl his eyes out nearly as much then," Brian commented.

"Can we come in, Gordon?" Eric asked. Gordon sniffed loudly.

"Fine...Come in," he groaned.

"The door's locked, Gordon."

"Give me a break!" Gordon exclaimed as he swung the door open.

The four of them looked at Gordon, who looked particularly disheveled. His shirt was unbuttoned, his hair was messy, and his face was highlighted with the trails of tears.

"Oh, ALF, don't cry," Lynn pleaded as she held her arms out. Gordon ran into her embrace and stayed there for a while.

"I miss Willie," he mumbled, "Eric, do you have a handkerchief?"

Eric pulled out a handkerchief while replying, "Yeah, right here."

Gordon grabbed it, blew his nose for a good ten or more seconds, and then handed it back to Eric.

"You keep it," Eric said, a look of disgust on his face. After a few silent moments, Eric realized what this was probably about.

"Guys, I think me and Gordon need to have a private conversation, if you don't mind," he explained. The three others nodded in an understanding way and walked out of the garage.

"Gordon...Are you upset because...You think I won't tell you anything?" Eric asked, sitting on the floor beside Gordon, whose arms were crossed.

"Exactly, Eric! You never tell me anything because...You think I can't handle it. You didn't tell me that Kate and the kids were coming...And then you didn't tell me that Willie died! Do you understand how frustrating that is to an alien who hasn't seen the good side of humans since 1990?" Gordon exclaimed, tugging on the sleeves of his shirt.

Eric placed his hand on Gordon's shoulder, saying, "I understand. It's just that...Well, you never seemed like the person to be affected by this stuff. You're always so happy-go-lucky. I never thought you would be hit so hard by this."

Gordon looked reluctantly at Eric, tears still in his eyes. "Don't you realize how much I've been through? Melmac went kablooey, I lost everything, then I came here. I grew so attached to the Tanners. They were like my own family. Then I was taken away from them. I didn't even get to tell them 'Goodbye' properly! The Alien Task Force ripped me of my life, my personality, and my privacy. Everything. I mean, I escaped, but the scars are still there."

Gordon lifted the side of his shirt to Eric.

There, Eric saw a large dark green scar in a hairless patch of Gordon's torso.

"Both figuratively and literally," he commented, pulling his shirt back down. He looked away from Eric.

"I didn't even get a chance to say 'Farewell' to Willie. I think that's the worst part of it all," Gordon whimpered.

"I'm so sorry I didn't tell you, Gordon. I just...didn't know how deeply the matter was to you," Eric sighed. Gordon turned his gaze back towards Eric, not saying a word. He nodded his head silently.

"How about a hug from the Ole' ALFer?" Eric chuckled. Gordon smiled his four-toothed smile as he threw himself into Eric's arms.

"No hard feelings, Gordo?"

"Nah. It's fine."

There was a silence. Eric looked over at Gordon.

"Now earlier you said something about making PB&J's in the blender..."


Eric, Evangeline, Joseph, Sarah, Kate, Lynn, Brian, and Gordon gathered in the living room in front of the television. Gordon and Eric were fumbling with a VHS tape player, hooking it up to the TV. They soon had it successfully connected.

"Hey, you need this?" Sarah asked, holding out a VHS tape.

"Of course," Gordon smirked, taking the VHS tape and handing it to Eric. Eric smiled upon taking the tape out of the cardboard case.

"This is a generational gem," he mumbled to himself.

He read the worn-out, faded label taped to the VHS cassette - "You're The One That's Out Of This World, written and performed by that musical genius, Gordon 'ALF' Shumway".

Eric then turned the TV and VHS tape player on, popped the cassette into the player, and turned the volume up. "I hope this baby still works. It's been a while since I've played it," he commented.

The screen filled with static, causing everyone to groan. Gordon went to the TV and pounded on it with his fist. Static crackled across the screen for a few seconds and then gave way to a shot of a garage.

"It's just a picture of a garage."

"Not just any garage, the Tanners' garage!"

"Still, it's just a picture of the garage."

"It's an establishing shot! Now pay attention."

The screen zoomed into a drum set with a decal of Gordon's face. Below it, it read "ALF".

"It's Gordon!"

"Of course! Why do you think we consider this a generational gem?"

Gordon appeared on the screen, playing a variety of instruments. Then, the music began.

For the rest of the night, all of the members of the family - whether they be a Tanner, Sherwood, Cummings, or even a Shumway - chattered happily as the music played.


Take a look at me, and tell me what you see, just another pretty face,

Some clown from outta town who came to hang around and look a little out of place,

You say you wonder what on Earth I'm doin' here, but I'm only here to tell you, Girl,

I may be an unknown from the Twilight Zone,

But you're the one who's out of this world!

You're the one who's out of this world, sweet baby,

You're the one who's out of this world!

I'm spinnin' in an orbit I ain't ever been in,

But you're the one who's out of this world!