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The Tonight Show starring ALF
Tonight, Tonight is the fourth and fifth episode of ALF's third season. It originally aired on Oct. 24, 1988.
Plot Summary[]
ALF guests hosts the Tonight Show. This two-part episode (originally an hour-long special) is unique in that the events are separate from the story arc of the ALF TV series. In it, ALF is treated as if he is an actor in his own show rather than playing the character and storyline of the TV series.
Part One[]
Intro[]
Ed McMahnon introduces ALF as the guest host and says that the special guests will be Dr. Joyce Brothers, Joan Embry and Pope John Paul II
ALF tells some jokes and Ed welcomes him to the show. He says hi to Tommy Newsome, and then engages the audience to do one of his jokes.
Act One[]
ALF is at Johnny's desk drumming with some pencils. ALF then jokes with Ed about the Publishers Clearinghouse Sweepstakes, and then Ed talks to ALF about his show. They run some clips from the show. ALF then shows still photos from the show and pretends they were him auditioning for Obi Wan Kenobi, FDR,and McGruff the crime dog. Ed calls him out on this and ALF sends him to refill his cup. More clips are shown, Ed returns to see ALF wearing Johnny's Carnac the Magnificient turban. He then does Johnny's envelopes routine several times.
Act Two[]
ALF has Ed do his "Hiyo!" yell, and ALF brings out his first guest, Dr. Joyce Brothers, but Ed tells him the Pope should come first, Dr. Brothers comes out anyway. ALF wonders what happened to her accent and realizes he got her confused with Dr. Ruth Westheimer. ALF runs some more clips from the show. ALF then asks Joyce what she thinks and tells ALF he has trouble meshing with the family unit. He then puts her down and she walks off the set in a huff. Ed the chides him for this and the producer, Fred DeCordova comes out to tell ALF the Pope should have been there first. ALF then calls out the Pope but a tech reveals he's in the bathroom because he drank a lot of coffee waiting to be called out. He then brings out Joan Embry instead and she's carrying a cat which Ed notices looks a lot like Lucky. ALF then asks for more clips to be shown, all of which involve cats and ALF's desire to eat them. Joan storms off and says she'll report him to the ASPCA. Ed then chides ALF again, and ALF breaks Johnny's coffee mug. Fred comes out with a red telephone and it's Johnny Carson.
Epilogue[]
ALF is on the phone with Johnny to apologize for breaking the cup, and Johnny threatens to have a nearsighted veterinarian to come over and make some clips of his own
Cliffhanger
Part Two[]
Intro[]
A recap of the cliffhanger ending in the previous part is shown
Act One[]
Ed mentions ALF is in trouble and he has clips of himself in trouble shown, It then goes to montage of ALF breaking things with the finale of the 1812 Overture playing. ALF then show clips of him leaving the room, and then ALF dresses as Art Fern and imitates his Tea Time routine.
Act Two[]
ALF talks to Ed briefly about his home planet Melmac, and runs clips of him discussing it. Ed thinks Johnny will never speak to him again
Ed then suggests bringing the Pope out and just as he walks onto stage, ALF decides to run some more clips. Rich Little then shows up saying he got a call from Johnny to get rid of and replace ALF as the guest host. ALF runs another set of clips
Epilogue[]
ALF asks for a vote on if this was the best show ever, and then realizes he forgot to bring out the Pope. He has 30 seconds left. He then thanks all the guests who came out and wishes the audience a good night. As the credits roll, Rich hands the phone to Ed and the Pope who all decline to talk to whoever is on the line.
Title Reference[]
"Tonight" is a song from the musical West Side Story, the chorus of which begins "Tonight, Tonight..."
Trivia[]
- This episode showed flashback from a season 1 episode Going Out of My Head Over You.
- This episode showed flashbacks from all season 2 episodes except ALF's Special Christmas and Varsity Drag.
- ALF eventually have his own talk show, ALF's Hit Talk Show less than sixteen years later that was on Nick at Nite's TV Land with Ed McMahon as his sidekick and announcer. It from July 7th to December 17th, 2004.
- One of the flashback sequences was a scene deleted from an unknown episode. It has ALF pulling on some ropes and causing something to fall onto the dining room table.