Perfect Strangers (TV series)

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Perfect Strangers is an American sitcom which ran for eight seasons from 1986 through 1993 on ABC. The show was moved around in the prime time lineup and eventually landed on Fridays as part of TGIF. It is about Larry Appleton (Mark Linn-Baker), a high-strung Chicago resident, sharing his apartment with his distant cousin Balki Bartokomous (Bronson Pinchot), a shepherd from the (fictional Greek-style) island nation of Mypos. Balki is naive, idealistic, and new to America; he often misunderstands the culture (with humorous results). Many episode plots involve Larry's schemes getting the better of him, causing him to subsequently need Balki's rescue. The series is rich in slapstick physical comedy.

Although Balki's home country of Mypos is discussed as an independent nation on the show, it is evident that it is based on the Greek isles. The Myposian accent Pinchot performed in the series was originally based on a Greek accent, but later into the show is morphed into more of a Russian dialect. Balki's catch phrase is, "Of course not, don't be ridiculous!" (usually said in response to having been found out for something he did). Balki and Larry occasionally celebrate good fortune by dancing the "Dance of Joy", a silly cross between a Dosado and the Hokey Pokey.

[Spoiler warningSpoiler warning]: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Contents

1 Synopsis
2 Theme song
3 DVD Request and Fan Base
4 Mypos
5 Episodes
6 Family Matters
7 Trivia
8 External links

Synopsis

The series begins in 1986 with Larry living in an apartment somewhere in Chicago (a few different addresses were mentioned — the actual building, which has since been torn down, was on the south side of downtown Los Angeles). Balki moved in with Larry in the first episode. Their apartment is above the Ritz Discount Store, where they work for Donald Twinkacetti (Ernie Sabella), who was also their landlord. In the beginning, the show has a very '80s flavor, with Balki singing songs and making references that have become somewhat dated. Susan (Lise Cutter) is a neighbor of Larry and Balki who was in a few of the early episodes of the series. At the beginning of the second season, Jennifer Lyons (Melanie Wilson) and Mary Anne Spencer (Rebeca Arthur), who live upstairs together, are introduced into the series, as the girlfriends of Larry and Balki, respectively.

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At the beginning of the third season, in 1987, Larry and Balki get jobs together in the basement of the Chicago Chronicle, a fictitious newspaper, with Larry Burns (Eugene Roche) as their boss. Larry worked as a journalist and Balki worked in the mailroom. They worked with Sam Gorpley (Sam Anderson), who was head of the mailroom and Balki's boss, and Lydia Markham (Belita Moreno), who Balki usually referred to as "Miss Lydia", who wrote an advice column for the chronicle. They also worked with Harriet Winslow (Jo Marie Payton-Noble), who was the elevator operator at the Chronicle in the third and fourth seasons. She left the show in 1989 to do the show Family Matters where she played the same character (see Family Matters section below). Mr. Wainwright (F. J. O'Neill) was Larry's boss at the Chronicle, after Eugene Roache left the show.

At the beginning of the seventh season, in 1991, Perfect Strangers began to change. Larry and Jennifer got married at the beginning of the season, moved into a house along with Mary Anne and Balki as roommates. Balki and Mary Anne got married at the end of the season. More emphasis was placed on the romantic relationships, and Larry's "plans" became more far-fetched. By this point, the flavor of the series had changed completely; by some it is considered to have jumped the shark when Larry and Balki married their girlfriends, moved into a huge castle-like house, and were promoted to the top floor at the Chronicle. On February 1, 1992, Perfect Strangers had moved from its traditional Friday night slot on ABC's TGIF to a new I Love Saturday lineup, along with Who's the Boss, Growing Pains and Capitol Critters.

The show went on hiatus in August 1992 (the last first-run episode aired before this was on April 18, 1992). The show did not return from its hiatus until July 9, 1993 for its final (eigth) season of six episodes. The last season of off-the-wall episodes had their impact diminished by the fact that the series had been on hiatus for around a year, and that the last season was aired during the summer, when most shows are in reruns. The series ended on August 6 with a two-part episode where Larry, Balki and Jennifer went up in a hot-air balloon to try to induce labor, after Mary Anne had already given birth before Jennifer. After both families had given birth, the show ended with a heartwarming musical montage of memorable scenes from the series.

Theme song

["Nothing's Gonna Stop Me Now"] ([file info])
Problems playing the files? See .

Later season intro with cut verse: (with Larry and Balki on a tour boat) Both are in Chicago, probably traveling under the bridge of the Family Matters family bicycling credits, touring the city and walking up stairs to attend the theater (where they see, interestingly enough, Neil Simon's The Odd Couple).

DVD Request and Fan Base

As of March 2006, the show is not yet available on DVD and has been removed from Nick at Nite, USA Network, and other cable or local syndication stations. In December 2005, fans on SitcomsOnline.com have been asked by those affiliated with Warner Brothers for their top 10 episodes for a June 2006 "Best of" TV Favorites DVD including with six episodes. However, the release was pushed back and there is no idea when it will be coming, if ever.

Currently, only an email alert waiting list on an Amazon.com page for the yet-to-be-released 1st season is available. Only the Warner Brothers' first season DVD of Night Court contains one official DVD episode.

Episodes of Perfect Strangers along with many other shows produced/distributed by Warner Bros. Television can currently be seen on AOL's In2TV video-on-demand service.

Mypos

The king of Mypos was King Ferdinand, who was king until 1991. It is not known when he became king, but it was prior to 1986. After King Ferdinand died in 1991, the queen of Mypos was Queen Cookie.

From the episode "The Lottery", if Balki won the jackpot he would pay off the Mypos national debt of $635.

Other than during the opening credits when Balki waved goodbye, Mypos was only shown in one episode "Citizenship" in Season 7. Including convincing the travel agent that there was such a country, Larry traveled there to convince Balki's mother that her son, who became a U.S. citizen, is happier, back in Chicago.

Episodes

There were a total of eight seasons of the series. The first and last seasons were six episodes each, and the second through seventh seasons had between 22 and 24 episodes each. There were a total of 150 episodes in the series.

Family Matters

Perfect Strangers spawned the spinoff series Family Matters, also set in Chicago, which ran from 1989 to 1998. The connection is that Harriette Winslow was a co-worker of Larry and Balki at the Chicago Chronicle. It is revealed in the third episode of Family Matters that they fired Harriette from the Chronicle because they decided to switch to a self-service elevator, eliminating her job.

In a Nov. 1997 episode, Mark Linn-Baker appeared in episode #202 of the final seasons of Family Matters, however playing a completely different character, as Harriet's mean boss. Oddly enough, after reuniting with Mark Linn-Baker for that episode, Jo Marie Payton was replaced by actress Judyann Elder a few episodes later (#207), and Elder would continue to play Harriet until the series was cancelled. It is rumored from a Parade magazine at the time that one of the reasons Jo Marie Payton left the series was that the show did not let her write or direct an episode.

Perfect Strangers (TV series)

Synopsis

Theme song

DVD Request and Fan Base

Mypos

Episodes

Family Matters

Trivia

External links