PERFECT STRANGERS (TV SERIES)

'''Perfect Strangers''' is an American sitcom that 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 (or vice versa). The series is rich in slapstick physical comedy based on Laurel & Hardy and Abbott & Costello-like situations.
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. 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). Larry's catch phrase is, ''"I have...a plan,"'' usually with Balki injecting ''"Oh, God"'' during the pause. Balki and Larry occasionally celebrate good fortune by dancing the "Dance of Joy," a silly cross between a Dosado and the Hokey Pokey.

Contents

Synopsis

Decline

Cast

Theme song and Opening credits

DVD request and fan base

Mypos

Episodes

''Family Matters''

Trivia

In countries other than the United States

References from popular culture

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 "Twinkie" Twinkacetti (Ernie Sabella), who is also their landlord. In the beginning, the show has a very '80s flavor, with Balki singing songs from that era 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 had previously played Twinkie's wife during the first season), 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.

Decline

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''. By February 1, 1992, ''Perfect Strangers'' had moved from its traditional Friday night slot on ABC's TGIF to a new '''I Love Saturday Night''' 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 (eighth) season of six episodes. The last season of off-the-wall episodes had their impact diminished by the facts 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 the cast bowing one last time before the studio audience and a musical montage of memorable scenes from the series. Fittingly, Jo Marie Payton, whose ''Family Matters'' became a staple on the Friday lineup thanks to the Urkel craze, hosted ''TGIF'' on the night of the ''Perfect Strangers'' finale.

Cast

★ John Anderson (actor)

★ Sam Anderson

★ Rebeca Arthur

★ Jeff Corey

★ Peter Crombie

★ Diane Delano

★ Amy Hill

★ Eva LaRue

★ Mark Linn-Baker

★ Tom Lister, Jr.

★ Kenneth Mars

★ Ted McGinley

★ Candi Milo

★ Belita Moreno

★ Marianne Muellerleile

★ Jo Marie Payton

★ Bronson Pinchot

★ Doris Roberts

★ Kimmy Robertson

★ Eugene Roche

★ Tim Rossovich

★ Ernie Sabella

★ Mindy Sterling

★ Holland Taylor

★ Ken Thorley

★ Reginald VelJohnson

★ Melanie Wilson

Theme song and Opening credits

There were two main versions of the opening sequence and theme music during the series' run.
During seasons one and two, the opening sequence begins with images of Balki and Larry wiping sideways from opposite sides of the screen to meet in the middle, with the series title superimposed on top. Larry is shown saying goodbye to his family as he leaves his home in Wisconsin and drives to Chicago in his old red Ford Mustang. The sequence then shifts to Balki, who is shown making his own farewells on Mypos before being driven off on the back of a horsecart, sitting alongside a box mislabeled "America or Burst". Balki is next seen on the tramp steamer as he sights the Statue of Liberty, then on a bus, presumably making his way to Chicago. After a brief shot of Larry driving under a "Welcome to Chicago" sign (actually located outside O'Hare Airport), the sequence ends with the same shot of Balki and Larry together that began the sequence. The first season featured a script font for the series title and credits. Footage of Lake Shore Drive is actually shown inverted, making it appear that the John Hancock Building is south of downtown proper (rather than north). For the second season, the show's title appears more similar to later seasons, and the script font is replaced with the font used in the remaining seasons. The Lake Shore Drive footage is now shown correctly. Additionally, the Larry and Balki sequences are shortened so that brief clips from some of the early episodes could be shown.
For season three, the theme and opening sequence were overhauled. The sequence begins with a closeup on Larry and Balki on the back of a tour boat heading east down the Chicago River, then zooming out to show them traveling under the Irv Kupcinet Bridge. (The Wrigley Building and the now-demolished Sun-Times building can be seen in the background.) A much larger version of the second season series title is superimposed on this image. During the third season only, light sparkles across this title. The sequence briefly recaps Larry and Balki's journeys to Chicago using footage from the earlier seasons. When Larry passes under the "Welcome to Chicago" sign this time, the sequence cuts to new footage of Larry and Balki around Chicago, including jogging in Lincoln Park, braving a wind gust on a city street, attending a Chicago Cubs game at Wrigley Field, and messing around in a revolving door. After a view of an El train moving over the city street, the sequence concludes with Larry and Balki emerging from the subway to attend the Chicago Theater. The theater marquee shows, appropriately enough, Neil Simon's ''The Odd Couple''. The new location shots were filmed on September 11 and 12, 1987. This sequence remains the same from season three through the end of the series at season eight.
The theme song, "Nothing's Gonna Stop Me Now", was written by Jesse Frederick and Bennett Salvay, and was performed by David Pomeranz. While the lyrics and music remained unchanged for season three, the vocals (still by Pomeranz) and instrumentation are all new, with a more soaring feel than in seasons one and two. This theme also remains through the end of the series.
As a brief salute to its parent series, in the early-season opening credits of the spinoff series ''Family Matters'', the Winslow family is shown riding bicycles over the Irv Kupcinet Bridge as seen from the exact same vantage point as in the opening ''Perfect Strangers'' sequence.

DVD request and fan base

Along with other ''TGIF'' shows, the show is still remembered by TV fans of the late 1980s and early 1990s, especially children of the era who were college students in the late 1990s to early 2000s.
As of December 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 of the show at SitcomsOnline.com were asked by 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.
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 but can't be accessed outside the United States.
''Perfect Stangers'' was one of several shows whose airing rights were picked up by ION in a series of 2006 deals, however, the network has yet to air the show.

Mypos

'Mypos' is the fictional island country which Balki Bartokomous is from. Its exact location is never specifically stated, but it is clearly modeled on the Greek Isles and so is presumably located near Greece in the Aegean, Ionian or Mediterranean seas. 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 resembles Cyprus.
Mypos neighbors the also fictional island of Skeptos to the west and the fictional island of Pathos to the east. Together the three islands form the Tri-Island Area.
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.

★ 'dingding mahkmood': pig snout with saffron.

★ 'bibbibabka': A Myposian delicacy which must be prepared very carefully or it will explode. As Balki puts it, "If you don't make the bibbibaka in the traditional Myposian way, The bibbi in the babka... goes BOOM!." Balki has a mnemonic device to aid in the preparation of bibbibabka in the form of a song: "When you rolling out the dough, just make sure you roll it slow. If you make the dough too quick, bibbibabkas make you sick..." etc.
Customs include a bed time: in the middle of the day, someone rings a bell, and each person lies 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.

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 second episode of ''Family Matters'' that they fired Harriette from the ''Chronicle'' because they decided to switch to a self-service elevator, eliminating her job. Both series were produced by Lorimar Television, distributed by Miller/Boyett Productions and Warner Bros. Television, and aired on the ABC network. Mark Linn-Baker also directed some episodes of ''Family Matters''.
In a Nov. 1997 episode, 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 article 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.

Trivia

★ ABC aired reruns of the show in its daytime lineup from August 1989 to July 1990 at noon (EST). It was replaced by a new version of Match Game.

★ Larry's 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". The character he played (named Nico) was identical to Balki and dated Mary Anne while Balki dated a woman identical to Mary Anne.

★ A musical Off Broadway version based on Perfect Strangers was briefly run in St. Louis in 1997.

In countries other than the United States

★ When the show was aired in Brazil, Balki was renamed "Zecca" (a Brazilian nickname) and his nationality was changed to Brazilian, in a blatant adulteration of the character and the storyline itself. The show was called Primo Cruzado ("Cousin Cruzado", where "cruzado" was the name of Brazilian currency from that time). Even today, the public in that country is mostly unaware of the show's and Balki's original backgrounds.

★ In the fall of 2006 the Russian TV station Ren TV launched a remake of Perfect Strangers featuring Andrei, from a remote former Soviet republic, who moves in with his cousin Ivan, a Moscow resident.

★ The show was aired 1988 until 1994 in TVRI Indonesia

★ In the German dubbing, Balki was said to be an actual Greek and Mypos being a Greek island. Even the show was called "Ein Grieche erobert Chicago" ("A Greek captures Chicago") and in the opening credits he said that he became bored with his sheep in Greece, so he went to America to visit his cousin.

★ Other translations of the title were: "Barki e Larry - due perfetti americani" (Italy), "Dos perfectos desconocidos" (Latin America), "Larry et Balki" (France), "Primos lejanos" (Spain), "Volmaakte vreemden" (The Netherlands) and Perfektni Pribuzni (Slovakia).

★ Aired in Turkey by Turkish Radio and Television Corporation in Turkish.

★ Aired in Pakistan by Pakistan Television Corporation in its original form.

References from popular culture

★ 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.

★ Referenced in a Deleted Scene from an Episode of Family Guy with Mark Linn-Baker reprising his role as Larry. In the scene, Larry is confronting Balki (Voiced by Seth MacFarlane) about the legitimacy of the Island of Mypos and also discovers drugs stashed inside Balki's toy sheep. After which Balki's tone of voice becomes more sinister, and he threatens Larry not to reveal his newfound information to anyone or else.

★ In the episode "The Home Show" of Growing Pains, Jason Seaver said that if the respective events of the episode were happening on ''Perfect Strangers'', Balki would tell Maggie Seaver not to be ridiculous. Maggie responded by telling Jason she hated that show.

External links

★ 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

★ Perfect Strangers on In2tv