Gordon Shumway is an alien, nicknamed ALF (for Alien Life Form) by William Tanner in the pilot episode. ALF was born on October 28, 1756 on the Lower East Side of the planet Melmac, though he mentions that his birthday is in August in Episode 7 ("Help Me Rhonda"). Melmac was located six parsecs past the Hydra-Centaurus Supercluster and had a green sky, blue grass and a purple sun. The commonly-used currency is a "Wernick" (named after producer Sandy Wernick) which is equal to ten Earth dollars, and the substance we call lint is as precious on Melmac as gold is on Earth (whereas gold and platinum are so common that they're used in place of porcelain to make toilets and sinks, as seen in the episode where ALF sells the gold and platinum plumbing in his ship to buy a Ferrari for Lynn).
