Paul Fusco

Fusco created the ALF character in 1984 using an alien-looking puppet that was putzing around his house, which he used to annoy his family and friends. He wanted to create a television show based on the character and through Bernie Brillstein he met Tom Patchett, and together they came up with the concept behind the ALF sitcom. They pitched the idea to NBC's Brandon Tartikoff, who loved the idea and commissioned the show. ALF was a huge success, beginning in 1986 and lasting four seasons, during which 99 episodes were produced.

NBC unexpectedly cancelled ALF in 1990 after production wrapped for Season Four, leaving the final episode ("Consider Me Gone") as an unresolved cliffhanger. ABC offered Fusco closure to the story arc and produced a television movie in 1996 called Project ALF co-starring Martin Sheen. The movie (produced by Paul Fusco Productions) saw ALF escaping from the military base where he had been held for testing, but the scientist who he thinks will help him is really plotting to expose his existence to the world on a television talk show.

The ALF renaissance led to ALF's Hit Talk Show in 2004, created and produced by Fusco for TV Land. The show was a mix of celebrity chat and skits filmed in front of a live audience from Hollywood's Sunset Boulevard. In November 2007, ALF appeared as "TV Icon of the Week" on The O'Reilly Factor.

In August 2012, Fusco confirmed that Sony Pictures Animation has acquired the rights to ALF and will develop the property into a CGI-live action hybrid feature. The Smurfs producer Jordan Kerner will also produce the film, along with Tom Patchett and Fusco.