ALF revival

[BluBonnet]

Ryan Reynolds Revives ‘ALF’ for His Maximum Effort Channel

ALF is back. And he’s shilling for video doorbells.

The alien puppet (ALF is an acronym for Alien Life Form) has been revived for a series of branded segments on Ryan Reynolds’ Maximum Effort channel.

The Maximum Effort Channel, which is available to stream on platforms like Fubo, Amazon Freevee and Tubi, has acquired the rights to the classic 1980s sitcom starring the puppet, and will weave in the new sponsored segments — which it is calling “Maximum Moments” — during the episodes. The company worked with ALF creator Paul Fusco and Shout! Studios to develop the sponsored segments.

Among the brands that ALF will tout are Mint Mobile (another Reynolds-owned brand, which sold to T-Mobile in a billion-dollar deal), the Amazon-owned video doorbell brand Ring, HIMS, Fubo and MNTN. The spots will begin airing during an ALF marathon July 29, dubbed “Caturday.”

“At Maximum Effort, we love taking risks and blurring the lines between shows and sponsorship because we believe both can be equally entertaining,” said Reynolds in a statement. “Besides my irrational love of ALF growing up, one of the reasons we licensed this show was precisely because Paul, Shout! Studios and our intrepid brand partners wanted to plot with us to bring ALF back to life. Tune in this Caturday!”

The Maximum Effort Channel launched in June, part of a deal the company inked with Fubo. Reynolds is fronting some of the content himself, including a series where he reads bedtime stories to viewers.

However, acquiring the rights to a classic sitcom, and then integrating new content featuring the main character, is a step in a fresh direction for free ad-supported streaming channels, which rely on classic acquired fare, but typically steer clear of original content.