nostalgia

A complete ranking of all of ALF's many out-there outfits from the '80s series

The many faces of TV's most distinct alien being.

Feb 1, 2018, 4:11PM By MeTV Staff

When ALF crash-landed into the Tanner house, he found himself lodged into their hearts as well, quickly becoming part of the family (thanks to Kate's ceaseless patience). Throughout the series, as ALF gets comfortable on Earth, we were treated to a parade of costumes that not only showed ALF discovering traditions - like Christmas! Graduation! Woodstock! - but also demonstrated how fiercely stylish the Melmac invader really was, owing much to the bold, attentive work of ALF costumer Jason Cort, who was with the show from the pilot on.

Do you have a favorite ALF look from the series' four seasons? We decided to go back through every single episode and rank them all by the impression they made on us as viewers.

To get down to the really good outfits, we decided to rule out some outfits that ALF wears a lot. That includes a bunch of leisure looks as the alien prepared for bed each night, as well as proper suits any time ALF needed to look professional. Here's a quick snapshot of all the ways we typically saw ALF, when he seemingly arbitrarily decided to put clothes on, that is.

We also would never rob you of a chance to tour ALF's colorful array of shirts, mostly checkers, plaid and Hawaiian floral prints, so here's another collage that shows some of his best and most frequently worn tops:

But now that we've covered the more typical ALF closet, let's take a deeper dive into some of his wildest costumes he donned on the show. Enjoy the ALF fashion show below.

1. Season 3, "My Back Pages"

Because this hippie look inspired by Willie's younger days just suits ALF the idealist to the core, we had to put this peace and love costume at the top.

2. Season 1, "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue?"

In one of ALF's first fantasy sequences, he imagines himself as all the members of a rockin' band. Lead guitarist ALF is our favorite look.

3. Season 1, "It Ain't Easy Bein' Green"

ALF dons this amazing asparagus suit with plans to fill in for Brian in the school play, but luckily the boy overcomes his stage fright first.

4. Season 2, "Take a Look at Me Now"

When ALF is discovered by a neighbor, he decides to confirm her suspicions of alien life forms on Earth by making this video to spook her. Yes, he's wearing whisks from his ears, which is a dead giveaway he's Earthbound, but maybe they use whisks on Melmac, too?

5. Season 1, "Looking for Lucky"

By the third episode of ALF, Gordon Shumway had gone full Risky Business in the Tanner household.

6. Season 1, "I've Got a New Attitude"

Psychic ALF is a total fraud, FYI.

7. Season 2, "Some Enchanted Evening"

ALF is stoked to go trick-or-treating for the first time until Kate bursts his bubble by saying it's unsafe. He ends up going out anyway, dressed in his "natural costume"—hiding in plain sight, as himself!

8. Season 2, "ALF's Special Christmas: Part 1"

Ah yes, who can forget that one Christmas when ALF donned scrubs to deliver a baby?

9. Season 3, "Tonight, Tonight: Part 1"

This is like the Turducken of ALF costumes, with the alien seen hosting The Tonight Show inside this suit that's inside an elaborate turban-and-cape costume.

10. Season 4, "Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades"

This is another awesome ALF daydream episode, where he imagines a future that finds him in this precarious, yet shiny, position.

11. Season 4, "Make 'em Laugh"

This is the most overboard ALF goes in his fantasies as a TV host, seen here as a successful stand-up who NBC awards his own show. Dig the pompadour!

12. Season 4, "Hungry Like the Wolf"

ALF morphs into "The Wolf" in this late episode after he attempts to cut out meat. We can hardly blame ALF for falling for at least one '80s diet craze.

13. Season 4, "True Colors"

ALF thinks he's a genius painter for an entire episode, when in reality Lynn's teacher just compliments his paintings to get closer to the college-aged Tanner daughter.

14. Season 3, "Funeral for a Friend"

ALF donned black to preside over the funeral when he loses some unconventional friends in an episode.

15. Season 2, "Wedding Bell Blues"

That's right. At one point, ALF takes a vow of silence as a monk.

16. Season 3, "Turkey in the Straw: Part 2"

ALF puts a feather in his cap (err ... headband) to put on a Thanksgiving play with Brian.

17. Season 4, "Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades"

Here's another colorful glimpse into how ALF sees the future from season 4. As ALF wore on, the costumes became more and more frequent, sometimes as many as four in one episode!

18. Season 1, "Jump"

ALF digs up a box of Willie's old photos from high school and college and it spawns this daydream where he imagines his own graduation day.

19. Season 2, "We Gotta Get Out of This Place"

"Who's that girl?" we found ourselves whispering when we saw ALF lookin' like a classic Hollywood starlet.

20. Season 2, "ALF's Special Christmas: Part 1"

By the look on his face, would you guess ALF as Santa is being naughty or nice? If you guessed nice, you're correct!

21. Season 3, "Promises, Promises"

ALF helps Lynn deal with dating troubles by dressing up as a messenger to deliver these romantic gifts.

22. Season 3, "Promises, Promises"

In the same episode, he also busts the guitar back out to serenade Lynn.

23. Season 1, "For Your Eyes Only"

This is our first glimpse of ALF in a trenchcoat that by the series end becomes pretty significant. We'll get to that soon.

24. Season 1, "Strangers in the Night"

ALF's very first costume comes in episode 2 when he cross-dresses and freaks out the neighbor Mrs. Ochmonek, who, quite fittingly to ALF's outfit, is watching Psycho while she babysits Brian.

25. Season 2, "Can I Get a Witness?"

ALF throws a surprise party no one wants, but we get to see him in his party hat, so it all evens out.

26. Season 3, "Stairway to Heaven"

It's referee ALF! Would you trust him to make the calls for your favorite sports team?

27. Season 3, "Like an Old Time Movie"

ALF dons a suit in this episode where he writes his own silent movie (scroll up to the suit collage above to take a closer look again), but we're bigger fans of this slovenly look he's got going on when he emerges from his moviemaking imagination.

28. Season 4, "Wanted: Dead or Alive"

ALF wears this tye-dye shirt kind of a lot in the last two seasons, but our favorite appearance was here in the fourth season, with that glorious blonde-bobbed wig.

29. Season 4, "Gimme That Old Time Religion"

Willie and Kate renew their vows, and guess who suits up to help them do it?

30. Season 1, "Border Song"

Because who doesn't love ALF in overalls? Any time ALF goes country bumpkin, it brings a smile to our face.

31. Season 2, "Oh, Pretty Woman"

Coach ALF makes things tough on Lynn when he enters her in a beauty pageant, then attempts to whip her into winning shape.

32. Season 4, "Mind Games"

Speaking of workout ALF, he looks like he's ready to go the Suzanne Somers route after the sitcom ends.

33. Season 2, "Movin' Out"

We see ALF in lots of pajamas and robes throughout the series, but here he's got a nice paisley robe he's slipped on and it's really spiced up his usual striped PJs, don't you think? (Perhaps he felt pressured to dress to the nines like his dummy.)

34. Season 1, "Oh, Tannerbaum"

In this Christmas episode, ALF arrives dressed as a serviceman, prepared to go to work fixing the Christmas tree he accidentally diced into firewood.

35. Season 4, "Consider Me Gone"

As promised, we've circled back to the trenchcoat, which appears for the final time in the last episode of ALF. It's the last outfit we see him in before the Alien Task Force gives the series an ending that's as unexplainable as the TV alien's existence itself.