Perfect Strangers (TV series)
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.
The series begins in
1986 with Larry living in an apartment somewhere in Chicago (a few different addresses were mentioned â€" 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.
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 Roche 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 musical montage of memorable scenes from the series.
Full early season intro: (still picture of Larry and Balki side by side) Larry leaves his
Wisconsin family and drives to
Chicago while Balki leaves his Mypos family; upon arriving in the
United States via boat, he sees the
Statue of Liberty.
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).
"Nothing's Gonna Stop Me Now"Written by
Jesse Frederick and
Bennett SalvayPerformed by
David PomeranzAlong with other
TGIF shows, still remembered by TV fans of the late
1980s and early
1990s, especially children of the era who are college students now.
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.
Perfect Stangers will be seen in August 2006 on
i: Independent Television.
Mypos is the fictional island country in which Balki Bartokomous is from. It has some customs which are unusual by American standards. In one episode Balki wears a traditional necklace that is in the shape of the island, which looks exactly like a
pork chop. Cuisine includes:
*
halkidiki: a Myposian travel food which consists of milk, eggs, flour, honey, and goat spleen set out at room temperature until it gets that "little green fur" (as Balki described it).
*
booglie muzacman: pig
bladder stuffed with
cheese.
*
bibbibabka: A Myposian delicacy which must be prepared very carefully or it will explode. As Balki puts it, "The bibbibka... goes blooey."
*
dingding mahkmood: pig snout with saffron.
Customs include a bed time: in the middle of the day, someone rings a bell, and each person lays down to take a nap wherever they happen to be. On Mypos when it is a person's birthday, the person whose birthday it is gives presents to other people.
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.
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.
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.
*Mark Linn-Baker directed some episodes of
Family Matters.
*Both produced by
Lorimar Television, distributed by Miller/Boyett Productions and Warner Brothers Television, and aired on ABC.
*Both included saxophone/guitar music, similar to their "theme song" score, to end or begin acts from commercial with an outside street view of the apartment, house, or setting.
*Both series had sad slow music as characters learn from their trials/tribulations, with
Perfect Strangers using harmonica music.
*Larry moved from Los Angeles to
Chicago to pursue his career in journalism, so his last name was inspired by the Wisconsin city
Appleton.
*Balki's catchphrase (
"Of course not, don't be ridiculous!") is a reference to Bronson Pinchot's character in
Beverly Hills Cop, Serge, who says
"Of course not, don't be stupid!"*Bronson Pinchot's
identical twin brother Justin had a guest role on the episode titled "It Had to Be You". Ironically, the character he played (named Nico) was identical to Balki and dated Mary Anne while Balki dated a woman identical to Mary Anne.
Referenced In:*Theme song used in both opening and end credits of
The Simpsons episode,
Treehouse of Horror XV. In addition, in the episode
Barting Over,
Bart and
Lisa watched a fictional-plot of Balki giving an engagement ring to a goat, as well as Balki dancing in the toilet. Larry asked, "Balki, you're dancing in the toilet!" with Balki answering, "Haven't you ever heard of
Flushdance?!"
*In an episode of
Beavis & Butthead, the title characters' nerdy friend Stuart watches TGIF, at one point cheering upon seeing Balki.
Two different themes were used throughout the series, the theme song used in season 1 sounded different than the other theme that was used, and the opening of the theme song has a longer instrumental ,which features scenes from the show.
The second theme is similar but doesn't have all the special effects magic used in the first version.
*
Perfect Strangers Online*
A tribute page for Balki*
Perfect Strangers: The Legacy Continues*
TangmaN'z Perfect Strangers the TV show page*
Perfect Strangers: The Webpage*
Balki Bartokomous shirt at RetroDuck.com*
Valentine for Perfect Strangers, viral video parody*
Perfect Strangers on in2tv
