Perfect Strangers (TV series)

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Perfect Strangers
Title card for Perfect Strangers
Perfect Strangers opening title from its later seasons
Format Sitcom
Created by Dale McRaven
Starring Bronson Pinchot
Mark Linn-Baker
Melanie Wilson
Rebeca Arthur
Opening theme "Nothing's Gonna Stop Me Now" by David Pomeranz
Country of origin Flag of the United States United States
No. of seasons 8
No. of episodes 150 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive
producer(s)		 William Bickley
Michael Warren
Thomas L. Miller
Robert L. Boyett
Howard Adler
Robert Griffard
Running time 24 minutes 30 seconds
Broadcast
Original channel ABC
Original run March 25, 1986 – August 6, 1993
External links
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Perfect Strangers is an American sitcom that ran for eight seasons from 1986 through 1993 on ABC. It chronicles the rocky coexistence of "gorson" Larry Appleton (Mark Linn-Baker) and his distant cousin Balki Bartokomous (Bronson Pinchot). Originally airing on Tuesdays and then Wednesdays in prime time, the show eventually found its niche as an anchor for ABC's original TGIF Friday night lineup. Comic legend Lucille Ball considered the show among her favorites. [1] It eventually produced a highly-successful spin-off, Family Matters, in 1989.

Contents

[edit] Premise

The series chronicles the rocky coexistence of Larry Appleton (Mark Linn-Baker) and his distant cousin Balki Bartokomous (Bronson Pinchot). A Wisconsin native, Larry has just moved into a new apartment in Chicago when Balki, a hitherto unknown cousin from an island in the Mediterranean called Mypos, drops by to live with him. Balki, a sheepherder by trade, interprets what little he knows about the United States by relying on his own recollections of American pop culture, which are often out-of-context ("America... Land of my dreams, home of the Whopper"). Balki's signature is his "Dance of Joy", a cross between a Dosado and the Hokey Pokey that Balki performs in celebration of good fortune.

Larry, an aspiring photographer, decides to take Balki under his wing and teach him about American life. Frequently, however, the neurotic Larry proves to be equally if not more inept in this respect than Balki. Major influences on the show include "buddy sitcoms" such as Laverne & Shirley and Mork & Mindy, both of which were produced by the same team which went on to oversee Perfect Strangers.

[edit] Synopsis

[edit] Development

The series was the brainchild of Dale McRaven (who also co-created Mork & Mindy) and producers Tom Miller and Robert Boyett. Miller claimed that the inspiration for the series came in the wake of the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, when America was going through a wave of renewed patriotic sentiment.[2] Their idea for a comedy about an immigrant in America was initially rejected by all three of the major television networks.

In December 1984, Bronson Pinchot garnered notice for his role in Beverly Hills Cop as Serge, an effeminate art gallery employee with an implacable foreign accent. When Miller and company pitched Pinchot as the star of their immigrant show, ABC signed on to the project, originally entitled The Greenhorn. By this time, however, Pinchot had become unavailable, as he had taken on the role of a gay attorney in the NBC series Sara alongside star Geena Davis.

Sara failed to find an audience, and was canceled by May 1985. With Pinchot now available, Miller and Boyett began to develop the show in earnest. By November, comedian Louie Anderson was cast as the immigrant's American cousin.[3] A pilot episode was put into production, but in the end Anderson was not considered right for the role.

Development was placed into overdrive when ABC President Brandon Stoddard offered the producers a prime tryout slot for the spring of 1986 between the hit shows Who's The Boss? and Moonlighting on Tuesday nights.[4] After running through several actors for the part of Balki's cousin, the producers struck gold with Mark Linn-Baker, whom they had recently seen in a guest appearance on Moonlighting. Linn-Baker displayed immediate chemistry with Pinchot, and the series raced into production under the new title Perfect Strangers. It premiered on ABC on March 25, 1986.

[edit] Season one (1986)

The series commences with Larry living alone in an apartment in Chicago. In the pilot episode, Balki unexpectedly shows up at Larry's door claiming to be his distant cousin. Balki joined Larry as a clerk at the Ritz Discount Store, located on the ground level of their apartment building. Their boss is Donald Twinkacetti (Ernie Sabella), an unscrupulous miser who doubles as their landlord. Twinkacetti's incessant berating of his two employees is occasionally alleviated by his wife Edwina (Belita Moreno). In the first season, upstairs neighbor Susan (Lise Cutter) is a platonic friend of Larry's.

[edit] Season two (1986-87)

Early in the second season, Susan is phased out. Larry and Balki began dating Jennifer Lyons (Melanie Wilson) and Mary Anne Spencer (Rebeca Arthur), respectively, after meeting them through a local gym. In later episodes it was revealed that both Jennifer and Mary Anne are airline stewardesses who happen to live in the same apartment building as Larry and Balki.

[edit] Seasons three through six (1987-1991)

At the start of the third season, beginning in the fall of 1987, Larry and Balki found themselves in a newer, larger apartment, where Balki had his own room (previously he had been sleeping on a fold-out sofa).[5] External shots clearly depict a new apartment building. Interestingly, the characters never made reference to the move, and Jennifer and Mary Anne were still co-tenants in the new surroundings. Larry acquires a job working out of the basement of the Chicago Chronicle, a fictional metropolitan newspaper. He then helps Balki land a job alongside him in the mailroom. They are overseen by the demanding Harry Burns (Eugene Roche). By the end of the third season, Burns is phased out of the show and the paper's publisher, Mr. Wainright (F.J. O'Neil), takes over the role of Larry and Balki's boss for the remainder of the series.

Balki's immediate supervisor is Sam Gorpley (Sam Anderson), the head of the mailroom. Gorpley never warms to "the Mypiot" and constantly plots ways to get Balki fired. Lydia Markham is an advice columnist for the Chronicle. Thin-skinned and beset with various phobias and neuroses, Lydia is played by Belita Moreno, the same actress who had played Edwina Twinkacetti character in the first two seasons. Although Larry physically remains at his typewriter in the basement, he joins the investigative reporting team of Marshall & Walpole (loosely based on the famed Washington Post duo of Woodward and Bernstein) in Season Four. Larry's relationship with Jennifer begins to mature as well. During season six, the two became engaged to be married.

Working as an elevator operator is Harriette Winslow (Jo Marie Payton). Her husband Carl (Reginald VelJohnson) is introduced in one fourth season episode, and the couple eventually moves into Larry and Balki's apartment building. After two seasons on Perfect Strangers, Harriette's character was given her own spin-off series, Family Matters, in the fall of 1989. Joining Perfect Strangers in the TGIF lineup, Family Matters would eventually run longer than its parent show. Harriette was not seen again on Perfect Strangers, although it was explained on an early episode of Family Matters that she had been fired as the elevator operator, only to be re-hired as chief of security at the Chronicle.

[edit] Season seven (1991-92)

After four seasons, the marriage of Larry and Jennifer meant that Perfect Strangers would move in a new direction in the fall of 1991. Larry and Jennifer end up buying a large Victorian house which they discover they could not afford without additional roommates - Balki and Mary Anne.

At the Chronicle, midway into the season, Balki leaves the mailroom when he is asked to draw a weekly comic strip based on his stuffed sheep, Dmitri. Gorpley and Lydia still made occasional appearances throughout the season. However, as their characters have little relevance to the Larry and Balki's new career paths, they are phased out by the end of the season.

With Larry and Jennifer happily married, the series begins to focus on the ambiguous relationship between Balki and Mary Anne. In the last several episodes of the season, Mary Anne stops seeing Balki and moves out of the house. In the season finale, aired in April 1992, Balki and Mary Anne resolve their differences and get married in a whirlwind ceremony. At the end of the episode, with the two newlyweds on their way to an extended honeymoon in Mypos, Jennifer reveals to Larry that she is pregnant.

[edit] Season eight (1993)

The first episode picked up several months after the end of season seven, by which time Jennifer is visibly pregnant. Balki and Mary Anne returned from Mypos, revealing that Mary Anne was also well into a pregnancy. For the eighth season, the Chronicle storylines are phased out, with the series shifting its full attention to the home life of the characters. The series ended on August 6 with back-to-back episodes in which Larry, Balki, and Jennifer take off in a hot-air balloon to try to induce her into labor after Mary Anne had already given birth. Once both babies arrive, the show ends with a musical montage of memorable scenes from the series to the tune of "Unforgettable" by Nat King Cole. The closing credits showed the cast bowing one last time before the studio audience.

[edit] Cast

The Cast of Perfect Strangers in season 4. Front row (left to right): Melanie Wilson, Mark Linn-Baker, Belita Moreno, and Bronson Pinchot, Rebeca ArthurBack row (left to right): Jo Marie Payton, and Sam Anderson
The Cast of Perfect Strangers in season 4. Front row (left to right):
Melanie Wilson, Mark Linn-Baker, Belita Moreno, and Bronson Pinchot, Rebeca Arthur
Back row (left to right): Jo Marie Payton, and Sam Anderson

[edit] Opening Credits

[edit] First version (seasons one and two)

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 good-bye 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.

[edit] Second version (seasons three through eight)

For season three, the opening sequence was overhauled. The sequence begins with a close-up 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 remained the same from season three through the end of the series in season eight.

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.

[edit] Theme song

The theme song, "Nothing's Gonna Stop Me Now", was written by Jesse Frederick and Bennett Salvay, and was performed by David Pomeranz. The lyrics and music were re-recorded for season three.

[edit] Production note

Perfect Strangers was produced by Miller-Boyett Productions in association with Lorimar-Telepictures, which later became Lorimar Television in 1988.

[edit] Exterior shot locations

[edit] First apartment building

Larry & Balki's first apartment, September 2006
Larry & Balki's first apartment, September 2006

The building used for the exterior shots of Larry and Balki's apartment for the first two seasons was the now non-existent Santa Rita Hotel, located at the south corner of S. Main St. and E. 11th St. in downtown Los Angeles, California. Since the series, the building has been remodeled and the upper stories removed. What remains of the building now houses several small shops and importers.

[edit] Second apartment building

Larry & Balki's second apartment, March 2008
Larry & Balki's second apartment, March 2008

The apartment building seen in the exterior shots from seasons three through six is located at the northwest corner of West Dickens Avenue and North Clark Street in Lincoln Park, Chicago, and little is changed in appearance today.

[edit] Chicago Chronicle

The Chicago Chronicle building is in actuality known as the London Guarantee Building, located at 360 North Michigan Avenue in downtown Chicago.

[edit] Family Matters

Main article: Family Matters (TV series)

Perfect Strangers spawned a spinoff series entitled Family Matters. The series was centered around Harriette Winslow and her family.

[edit] Episodes

Main article: List of Perfect Strangers episodes

There were a total of 8 seasons in the series. The first and last seasons were 6 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.

[edit] DVD release

On February 5, 2008, Warner Home Video released seasons 1 and 2 of Perfect Strangers on Region 1 DVD in the United States.

DVD Name Ep # Release Date
Seasons 1 & 2 28 February 5, 2008

[edit] Fan base and syndication

In the United States, 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 Strangers was one of several shows whose airing rights were picked up by the ION Network in a series of 2006 deals. The show began airing on ION at 8:30 p.m. EST in September 2007 but has been pulled from their lineup. An email from an iON representative explained that they were giving the series "a rest", but that it would return to the schedule eventually.[citation needed]

[edit] Foreign versions

  • When the show was aired in Brazil, Balki was renamed "Zeca" (a Brazilian nickname) and his nationality was changed to Brazilian, specifically from the state of "Minas Gerais", 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. That version is currently being re-aired on the Brazilian Nick at Nite schedule.
  • 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
  • From the late 80's onto the mid 90's, the show was aired by Channel 2 Saudi Arabia
  • In the German dubbing, Balki was said to be an actual Greek and Mypos a Greek island. Even the show was called Ein Grieche erobert Chicago (A Greek captures Chicago), and in the opening credits Balki 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), Varul Din Strainatate (Romania), Napulno Nepoznati (Bulgaria) 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.
  • Aired in Australia and New Zealand in its original form.
  • Aired in Bulgaria by BTV and in Bulgarian language. Bulgarians know Balki mostly as a Greek.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Holston, Noel (June 26, 1986), “Timing looks good for Lucy's return”, Orlando Sentinel 
  2. ^ Hodges, Ann (August 3, 1986), “ABC gets perfect series from two "Perfect Strangers"”, Houston Chronicle 
  3. ^ Gendel, Morgan (November 30, 1985), “'Tis the mid-season for new TV series”, Los Angeles Times 
  4. ^ TV Guide, September 27, 1986 
  5. ^ Bawden, Jim (August 15, 1987), “TV repairs”, Toronto Globe 

[edit] External links

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