Alf appeared in 1986 TV series called ALF Sitcom. Alf was a wise-cracking, cat-eating puppet alien, stranded on Earth. In 1987, he received a spin-off, an animated series based on the character's life on his home planet of Melmac, under his given name of Gordon Shumway. A second animated series, Alf Tales, followed in 1989, adapting fairy tales and classic literature featuring the alien characters, and a comic book series was published by Marvel Comics from December 1987 to January 1992. The puppet version would later be revived, in the 1996 TV movie Project: ALF and the 2004 TV Land series Alf's Hit Talk Show.
In his biography Where Did I Go Right?, executive producer Bernie Brillstein reveals that David Lazer once told him that Jim Henson was not happy that Brillstein was executive producer and part owner of the show. Brillstein felt that the situation of him representing two very different puppets was reminicisent of an earlier situation between two shows Brillstein was heavily involved with, Saturday Night Live and Fridays. Henson did have a sense of humor about the situation however, as evidenced by his cracking a joke about booking Miss Piggy and Kermit on ALF, during a roast of Brillstein.