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I'm Your Puppet is the twenty-third episode of ALF's second season. It originally aired on March 21, 1988.

Paul

ALF names his dummy Paul. "Paul" and "Son of a Paul" are derogatory terms on Melmac.

Plot[]

ALF gets a ventriloquist dummy as a new toy and he gets out of control playing with it

Teaser[]

ALF constructs a small go-kart, and when Kate tells him to get it out of the room, he accidentally craashes it into a wall

Act One[]

A package has arrived for ALF and it's a ventriloquist's dummy that he ordered after enjoying seeing one on TV. ALF tried to talk to the dummy but thinks the dummy is a mute.


ALF then says he's going to send Willie some flowers but Lynn tells him that he needs to stop spending people's money. Lynn then explains to ALF how the dummy works and demonstrates it effectively. Kate comes in with a vaccuum cleaner and tells ALF to clean up the styrofoam that he spilled on the floor when opening the box. ALF tells Lynn wants to name his dummy Paul. Lynn shows ALF the tutorial booklet that came with the dummy.

When ALF starts to annoy Lynn, she gets up and leaves to do her homework elsewhere.Then, Brian comes in asking ALF to play a computer game with him. ALF wanted Brian to learn ventriloquism, he wanted him to do his chores and he walks away. As everyone is gone, ALF wanted to ask anyone if he is going to have fun. His dummy Paul started to talk and said "I do" when ALF asked everyone a question.


That night, ALF and Paul are putting together a puppet show through the plot window. The family is annoyed at first, but then ALF cracks some silly, harmless jokes with the dummy and they laugh. Later, ALF and Paul show up to watch Willie and Kate in bed. They tell him to leave. as ALF and Paul do some more jokes instead. When Willie gets up in the middle of the night and goes into the kitchen for a snack. Paul tells him it's gone and that ALF is sleeping.

Act Two[]

The next day, ALF and Paul are in the garage packing. Brian comes in the garage to check on ALF to see what is he doing. ALF told Brian that he is running away. Brian tries to ask ALF why is he running away but Paul tells him it's not his business. He nervously leaves the garage and tells Willie about it. Paul continues to talk to ALF until Willie and Kate confront those two. ALF and Paul leave, the Willie tells Kate that he's contacting Larry the psychologies to help. In the living room, Lynn is very annoyed while she watches TV, because of ALF's behavior with Paul and when he refuses to stop, she storms out of the room,


Larry arrives and meets with Kate and Willie in the kitchen. Willie tells him that ALF's dummy Paul has gone worse. Larry enters the living room to check on ALF and he meets Paul. Paul complains to Larry about the rules, and then bonks Larry on the knee with his head He then hears back to the kitchen, and explains to Willie and Kate that since ALF arrived, he's had to be on his best behavior and that he's using the dummy to blow off steam, and that Paul is exhibiting ALF's bad side.


Larry decides that ALF needs to have a few minutes of breaking the rules that he feels so oppressed by. He specifically suggests letting ALF eat the cat, but they ultimately decide instead to let ALF break a bunch of plates and throw food everywhere. Willie, Kate, and Larry smash up some dishes and encourage ALF to do the same. He’s reluctant, but eventually trusts them enough to do it, and so ALF reverts back to his “normal” bad behavior of breaking things and making a mess. It does end up in a fest of destruction, and ALF's enthusiasm for this that allows him to decide to get rid of Paul.

Epilogue[]

Lynn walks up to ALF and hears him speak Paul's voice which startles her.. She says that she's glad that Paul is gone. ALF told her that he gave him a traditional Melmacian funeral. Lynn finds Paul stuffed in the freezer which startles her when she opens the door.

Title Reference[]

"I'm Your Puppet" is a song recorded by James & Bobby Purify.

Cast[]

  • Paul Fusco – ALF (puppeteer, voice) and Paul (voice) (uncredited)
    • Lisa Buckley - ALF (assistant puppeteer)
    • Bob Fappiano - ALF (assistant puppeteer)
  • Max Wright – Willie Tanner
  • Anne Schedeen – Kate Tanner
  • Andrea Elson – Lynn Tanner
  • Benji Gregory – Brian Tanner
  • Bill Daily – Larry
  • Fred Goss – Delivery Man

Trivia[]

  • Paul looks similar to Slappy from Goosebumps.
  • The go-kart epilogue is cut as a whole in distributions of ALF made for Brazil and Japan. Instead, the very first part of Act One before Lynn teaches him to manipulate Paul is the epilogue instead.
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