ALF: Strangers in the Night

"Ha! Yeah! I kill me!"

- ALF

"Strangers in the Night" is the second episode of the NBC television series ''ALF and first aired on September 29th, 1986. This episode is available on disk one of hte ALF Season One DVD collection.

Synopsis
The Tanners get ready to go out to a bridal shower. Willie is supposed to stay home with Brian, but he suddenly gets a call from the office. They need him to come in to back up the computer systems. They stress over trying to figure out what to do with Brian. ALF volunteers to babysit him, but Willie and Kate do their best to ignore him. They finally decide to ask their snoopy neighbor Mrs. Ochmonek to come over. There is still the question however of what to do with ALF. Willie locks him inside their bedroom and instructs him to stay in the room and to stay quiet. To occupy the rambunctious alien, he provides him with several comic books and a jigsaw puzzle. ALF is miffed because they are airing Psycho on Channel 9 and now he won't be able to see it. Willie pleads with him to behave himself.

Mrs. Ochmonek arrives and Willie thanks her for coming over on such short notice. Curious as ever, she begins asking strange questions concerning Willie's habits. She notes that their television is usually on late into the evening and that their garbage piles seem to be twice that what they normally are. Willie spits out a hurried explanation and rushes out the door.

In the bedroom, ALF entertains himself by eating the jigsaw puzzle pieces until he hears the sounds of Psycho coming from the other room. Unsatisfied with the jigsaw puzzle, ALF telephones Pizza Barge and orders a large special. He instructs the driver to drop it off near the old oak tree. He then decides to go outside to wait for the pizza. He tries climbing out the bedroom window, but falls and lands on the ground. Mrs. Ochmonek hears him shout and grows scared. She telephones her husband Trevor and asks him to rush over. Trevor comes over, but he thinks that his wife is imagining things. They look about the house, but find no evidence of anything suspicious. To put her mind at ease, Trevor checks all the doors and windows. He makes certain the bedroom window is locked so now ALF cannot get back inside. Frustrated, he returns to his house to watch his baseball game.

ALF manages to find a way back inside via Lucky's kitty door. He decides to get himself a light snack before the pizza arrives so he goes to the fridge. In the dark however, he accidentally steps on Lucky and the cat shrieks. Mrs. Ochmonek gets up to investigate, but is distracted when the doorbell rings. She answers the door and finds the pizza delivery driver. He indicates that the pizza is already paid for so she agrees to accept it. She then calls Trevor and asks him if he ordered a pizza and had it delivered to the Tanner house. Trevor doesn't know anything about it, but the promise of pizza is too alluring and he rushes back over. During this time, ALF manages to grab a few slices for himself out of the box. Without taking note of ALF's presence, Travor grabs the rest of the pizza and returns home.

Willie calls the house to check on Brian and is shocked when ALF answers the phone. He wants to talk to Mrs. Ochmonek and ALF volunteers to get her. Willie tells him not to do anything and after hearing more of ALF's antics, decides to return home.

Later, Mrs. Ochmonek hears a strange noise coming from outside and turns towards the window. She sees a shadowy shape darting past the window. Frightened, she calls for the police. The shadow that she had seen belongs to a burglar. The burglar breaks into the bedroom window and begins rifling through Kate and Willie's valuables. ALF is sitting on the bed and begins speaking to him. He admonishes him for his actions, but the burglar dismisses ALF as nothing more than a talking doll. ALF responds with, "Oh yeah? Ever have a talking doll rip out your voice box?” The burglar panics and jumps out the window.

Moments later, Willie, Kate and Lynn all return home at the same time. Mrs. Ochmonek is in a state of near hysteria, saying that strange things have been taking place all night - especially from the bedroom. While Lynn gets the older woman some tea to settle her nerves, Willie and Kate go into the bedroom where they find ALF wearing one of Kate's dresses. Despite his strange appearance, ALF tries to explain that he had set a thief on the run. When they find some of their personal affects missing, they decide to believe ALF.

The police come over with the burglar standing next to them. He says that the guy chased them for three blocks, begging them to arrest him. He claims to have seen a hideous creature with a big nose wearing a blue dress. At which point, Mrs. Ochmonek (who happens to have a large nose and is wearing a blue dress) walks past them and out the door. The police return the Tanners' valuables to them.

Notes & Trivia

 * Mrs. Ochmonek's first name, Raquel, is revealed in this episode.


 * First appearance of Trevor Ochmonek.


 * This episode is the first time that Alf speaks the phrase, "Ha! I kill me!", a quote he repeats frequently throughout the series.