The whole story starts here as Gordon Shumway, a Melmacian who escaped his planet before it was destroyed, crash lands into the garage of the Tanner family. The Tanners call him "ALF" because he is an Alien Life Form and they decide to keep his presence a secret so that the U.S. Government will not take away the space being and subject him to experiments. From the beginning, there is no sanity for the Tanner family.
A grad-school dropout finds herself bunking on her brother's couch after one of them suffers a major loss; and they help each other navigate the intricacies of love, loss and work.