Perfect Strangers is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
sitcom that ran for eight seasons from March 25, 1986, to August 6, 1993, on the
ABCThe American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
television network. Created by Dale McRaven, the series chronicles the rocky coexistence of midwestern American
Larry AppletonLarry Appleton is a fictional character on the television show Perfect Strangers, played by Mark Linn-Baker. Larry was often called Cousin Larry or just Cousin normally pronouncing cousin "cosin" by his cousin Balki...
(
Mark Linn-BakerMark Linn-Baker is an American actor and director famous for his role as Larry Appleton on the television sitcom Perfect Strangers.-Early life and career:...
) and his distant cousin from eastern Mediterranean Europe,
Balki BartokomousBalki Bartokomous is a fictional character on the television sitcom Perfect Strangers, played by Bronson Pinchot. Balki is from the island of Mypos, a fictional country in the Mediterranean Sea.- Character history :...
(
Bronson PinchotBronson Alcott Pinchot is an American actor. He has appeared in several feature films, including Risky Business, Beverly Hills Cop , The First Wives Club, True Romance, Courage Under Fire and It's My Party...
).
Originally airing on Tuesdays for the short six-episode first season in midseason 1986, it moved to Wednesdays in
prime timePrime time or primetime is the block of broadcast programming during the middle of the evening for television programing.The term prime time is often defined in terms of a fixed time period—for example, from 19:00 to 22:00 or 20:00 to 23:00 Prime time or primetime is the block of broadcast...
in the fall of 1986. It remained on Wednesday until March 1988, when it was moved to Friday night. It was there that the show found its niche as an anchor for ABC's original
TGIFTGIF was the name of an American family-friendly prime time television programming block on the ABC network. The name comes from the initials of the popular phrase "Thank God It's Friday"...
Friday night lineup, though it aired on Saturdays for a short time in 1992. In 1989, it produced a successful
spin-offIn media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
, Family Matters, which ran for nine seasons and ended in 1998.
Premise
The series chronicles the rocky coexistence of
Larry AppletonLarry Appleton is a fictional character on the television show Perfect Strangers, played by Mark Linn-Baker. Larry was often called Cousin Larry or just Cousin normally pronouncing cousin "cosin" by his cousin Balki...
(
Mark Linn-BakerMark Linn-Baker is an American actor and director famous for his role as Larry Appleton on the television sitcom Perfect Strangers.-Early life and career:...
) and his distant cousin
Balki BartokomousBalki Bartokomous is a fictional character on the television sitcom Perfect Strangers, played by Bronson Pinchot. Balki is from the island of Mypos, a fictional country in the Mediterranean Sea.- Character history :...
(
Bronson PinchotBronson Alcott Pinchot is an American actor. He has appeared in several feature films, including Risky Business, Beverly Hills Cop , The First Wives Club, True Romance, Courage Under Fire and It's My Party...
). A
WisconsinWisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
native, Larry, who comes from a large family with numerous brothers and sisters, has just moved into a new apartment in Chicago, Illinois, and is experiencing his first joys of newfound privacy when Balki, a hitherto unknown cousin from a
GreekThe Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
-like island in the Mediterranean called Mypos, drops by to live with him. Balki, a
shepherdA shepherd is a person who tends, feeds or guards flocks of sheep.- Origins :Shepherding is one of the oldest occupations, beginning some 6,000 years ago in Asia Minor. Sheep were kept for their milk, meat and especially their wool...
by trade, interprets what little he knows about the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
by relying on his own recollections of American pop culture, which are often out-of-context ("America... Land of my dreams, home of the
WhopperThe Whopper sandwich is the signature hamburger product sold by the international fast-food restaurant chain Burger King and its Australian franchise Hungry Jacks. Introduced in 1957, it has undergone several reformulations including resizing and bread changes...
"). Balki's signature is his "Dance of Joy", a cross between a
DosadoDosado or Dos-a-dos or do-si-do is a basic dance step in such dances as square dance, contra dance, polka, various historical dances, and some reels....
and the
Hokey PokeyThe hokey cokey or hokey pokey , also known as the okey cokey, hokey tokey, or cokey cokey, is a participation dance with a distinctive accompanying tune and lyric structure. It is well known in English-speaking countries...
that Balki performs (with Larry) in celebration of good fortune. It is first performed in the third episode "First Date" at a singles bar by Balki, when he realizes that the song the band is playing sounds like the Dance of Joy.
After initially gently rebuffing his cousin's request to stay at his apartment, Larry, an aspiring
photographer, decides to take Balki under his wing and teach him about American life. However, the neurotic Larry frequently proves to be equally if not more inept in this respect than Balki, often getting the pair into troubles that only his cousin can solve. Major influences on the show include "buddy sitcoms" such as
Laverne & ShirleyLaverne & Shirley is an American television situation comedy that ran on ABC from January 26, 1976, to May 10, 1983...
and Mork & Mindy, both of which were produced by the same team which went on to oversee Perfect Strangers. Quotes by Balki and Larry respectively include, "Don't be ridiculous" and "Watch and Learn".
Often, when Balki has his mind on getting something and Larry refuses, Balki starts crying and making Larry feel guilty until he gives in. (As well as feeling sorry for him).
Development
The series was the brainchild of Dale McRaven (who also co-created Mork & Mindy) and producers
Tom Miller and Robert BoyettMiller-Boyett Productions was an American television production company that mainly developed television sitcoms from the 1970s through the 1990s...
. Miller claimed that the inspiration for the series came in the wake of the
1984 Summer OlympicsThe 1984 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Los Angeles, California, United States in 1984...
in
Los AngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, when America was going through a wave of renewed
patrioticPatriotism is a devotion to one's country, excluding differences caused by the dependencies of the term's meaning upon context, geography and philosophy...
sentiment. Their idea for a comedy about an immigrant in America was initially rejected by all three of the major
television networkA television network is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, whereby a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay TV providers. Until the mid-1980s, television programming in most countries of the world was dominated by a small...
s.
In December 1984, Bronson Pinchot garnered notice for his role in
Beverly Hills CopBeverly Hills Cop is a 1984 American comedy-action film directed by Martin Brest and starring Eddie Murphy, Lisa Eilbacher, John Ashton, Judge Reinhold, and Ronny Cox...
as Serge, an effeminate art gallery employee with an unplaceable foreign accent. When Miller and company pitched Pinchot as the star of their immigrant show,
ABCThe American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
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
gayGay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
attorneyA lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
in the
NBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
series
SaraSara is a short-lived American sitcom that aired on NBC in 1985. Starring Geena Davis in the title role, the series featured early performances from several actors who went on to greater acclaim, including Alfre Woodard, Bronson Pinchot and Bill Maher...
alongside star
Geena DavisVirginia Elizabeth "Geena" Davis is an American actress, film producer, writer, former fashion model, and a women's Olympics archery team semi-finalist...
.
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 AndersonLouie Perry Anderson is an American stand-up comedian. Anderson created the cartoon series Life with Louie, has written three books, and was the initial host of the second revival of the game show Family Feud, from 1999 to 2002....
was cast as the immigrant's American cousin. 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?Who's the Boss? is an American sitcom created by Martin Cohan and Blake Hunter, which aired on ABC from September 20, 1984 to April 25, 1992...
and
MoonlightingMoonlighting is an American television series that aired on ABC from March 3, 1985, to May 14, 1989. The network aired a total of 66 episodes...
on Tuesday nights. After running through several actors for the part of Balki's cousin, the producers settled on
Mark Linn-BakerMark Linn-Baker is an American actor and director famous for his role as Larry Appleton on the television sitcom Perfect Strangers.-Early life and career:...
, 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.
Season 1 (1986)
The series commences with Larry living alone in an apartment in
ChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. 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 SabellaErnest "Ernie" Sabella is an American actor, who is best known for his role as the official voice of Pumbaa from the The Lion King.-Life and career:...
), an unscrupulous miser (often referred to as "Twinkie") who doubles as their
landlordA landlord is the owner of a house, apartment, condominium, or real estate which is rented or leased to an individual or business, who is called a tenant . When a juristic person is in this position, the term landlord is used. Other terms include lessor and owner...
. Twinkacetti's incessant berating of his two employees – his pet name for Balki is "turnip" and he refers to Larry as "yo-yo" – is occasionally alleviated by his wife Edwina (
Belita Moreno). In the first season, upstairs neighbor Susan Campbell (
Lise CutterLise Cutter is an American actress.-Filmography:*The Cosby Mysteries as FBI Agent *Murder, She Wrote as Melissa Maddox *Renegade as Reba Cross...
) is a
platonicPlatonic love is a chaste and strong type of love that is non-sexual.-Amor Platonicus:The term amor platonicus was coined as early as the 15th century by the Florentine scholar Marsilio Ficino. Platonic love in this original sense of the term is examined in Plato's dialogue the Symposium, which has...
friend of Larry.
Airing in the coveted time slot between Who's The Boss? and Moonlighting, Perfect Strangers was an instant ratings hit in the spring of 1986, landing in the top ten highest rated shows for the season.
Season 2 (1986–87)
For its second season, Perfect Strangers was moved to Wednesday nights at 8:00 p.m. as a lead-in to the new ABC sitcom
Head Of The ClassHead of the Class is an American sitcom that ran from 1986 to 1991 on the ABC television network. The series follows a group of gifted students in the Individualized Honors Program at the fictional Monroe High School in Manhattan, and their history teacher Charlie Moore...
.
Early in the second season, Susan's character was phased out. Larry and Balki began dating Jennifer Lyons (
Melanie WilsonMelanie Wilson is an American actress best known for her co-starring role as Jennifer Lyons-Appleton in the ABC sitcom Perfect Strangers. Her other television credits include Family Matters, Step by Step, Simon & Simon and The A-Team...
) and Mary Anne Spencer (
Rebeca ArthurRebeca Arthur is an American actress. She is best known as Mary Anne Spencer on Perfect Strangers .-Filmography:* 2000 The Watcher * 1997 Men Seeking Women...
), 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.
Season 3 (1987–1988)
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). External shots clearly depict a new apartment building. According to season 6, episode 13, Larry and Balki's address is 711 Coldwell Street, Apt #209, Chicago, Illinois. The characters never made reference to the move, and Jennifer and Mary Anne were still co-tenants in the new surroundings.
Larry acquires a reporter 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 mail room. They are overseen by the demanding city editor, Harry Burns (
Eugene RocheEugene Harrison Roche was an American actor . He was the original "Ajax Man" in 1970s television commercials.-Personal life:...
), who also played a guest role as a bank clerk in season 2 (episode in which Balki opens his first bank account). By the end of the third season, Burns is phased out of the show. Eventually, by the fifth season, the paper's publisher, Mr. Wainright (F.J. O'Neill), takes over the role of Larry and Balki's boss, appearing through season seven.
Balki's immediate supervisor is Sam Gorpley (
Sam AndersonSam Anderson is an American actor.-Early life:Anderson was born in Wahpeton, North Dakota. He is a graduate of the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks. During the 1970s, Sam taught drama at Antelope Valley College in Lancaster, California.-Career:Anderson is perhaps best known for his roles...
), the head of the mail room. 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 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
WoodwardRobert Upshur Woodward is an American investigative journalist and non-fiction author. He has worked for The Washington Post since 1971 as a reporter, and is currently an associate editor of the Post....
and
BernsteinCarl Bernstein is an American investigative journalist who, at The Washington Post, teamed up with Bob Woodward; the two did the majority of the most important news reporting on the Watergate scandal. These scandals led to numerous government investigations, the indictment of a vast number of...
) in season four. Larry's relationship with Jennifer begins to mature as well.
Working as an elevator operator is Harriette Winslow (Jo Marie Payton-France). Her husband Carl (
Reginald VelJohnsonReginald VelJohnson is an American actor of film, stage and television, well known for his role as Carl Winslow on the sitcom Family Matters, where he was the only cast member to appear in every single episode. He also portrayed LAPD Sgt...
) is introduced in the fourth season episode, "Crimebusters," in which the couple is moving into Larry and Balki's apartment building.
In February 1988, midway through the season, ABC moved Perfect Strangers from its successful Wednesday night slot to Friday nights at 8:00 p.m. before
Full HouseFull House is an American sitcom television series. Set in San Francisco, the show chronicles widowed father Danny Tanner, who, after the death of his wife, enlists his best friend Joey Gladstone and his brother-in-law Jesse Katsopolis to help raise his three daughters, D.J., Stephanie, and...
. This was a key development in the formation of the ABC Friday night comedy block that would later become known as
TGIFTGIF was the name of an American family-friendly prime time television programming block on the ABC network. The name comes from the initials of the popular phrase "Thank God It's Friday"...
. Later moving to the 9/8c slot on Friday nights in the fall of 1989, Perfect Strangers would remain an anchor of ABC's Friday night programming until it was unsuccessfully moved to Saturday nights in February 1992.
Seasons 4-6 (1988–1991)
In the fall of 1989, after two seasons on Perfect Strangers, Harriette's character was given her own spin-off series,
Family MattersFamily Matters is an American sitcom about a middle-class African-American family living in Chicago, Illinois, which ran on national television for nine full seasons. The series was a spin-off of Perfect Strangers, but revolves around the Winslow family...
. Joining Perfect Strangers in the TGIF lineup, Family Matters would eventually run longer than its parent show, for nine seasons. 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. Carl became a main character on Family Matters.
Shortly after the sixth season opened, the producers attempted to add a child character to the show. Tess Holland, as played by
Alisan PorterAlisan Porter is an American actress, singer and dancer.-Life and career:Porter was born in Worcester, Massachusetts. Porter is Jewish. Her maternal grandmother, whose father Joseph Klein was a prominent Worcester rabbi, ran the Charlotte Klein Dance Center in Worcester...
(who had starred on ABC's short-lived
Chicken SoupChicken soup is a soup made by bringing to a boil and then simmering chicken parts and/or bones in water, with various vegetables and flavorings. The classic chicken soup consists of a clear broth, often served with small pieces of chicken or vegetables, or with noodles or dumplings, or grains such...
the previous fall), was introduced as the trouble-making-but-immensely-cute little girl who lived upstairs from Larry and Balki. Tess appeared in the second episode of the season, "New Kid on the Block", when Balki agrees to babysit her, causing an uproar both at home and at the Chronicle. While Porter was supposed to be on full-time, and even credited in the opening title sequence of the episode, she was suddenly dropped, never to be seen again. The experiment of adding a child to the cast was partially influenced by the network as well, since ABC's TGIF lineup was wishing to incorporate the child-and-preteen demographic into its audience. While the content of Perfect Strangers could often appeal to the family as a whole, it had never, up to that point, had children in the regular cast. A similar infusion happened a few months later on sister show Going Places, which, too, had started out with a more adult tone.
While Larry and Jennifer's romance blossomed, Balki and Mary Anne's relationship moved more gingerly. At times, the two would get real close, but after fleeting moments of passion, they would each back off for a while, but then slowly move back into affection. As a result, many viewers' predictions came true when, in the spring of 1991, Larry was the first of the cousins to propose to his respective love, after feeling competition from Jennifer's old flame who was trying to woo her back. Jennifer accepted Larry's proposal, and a wedding was in the midst. As the 1990-91 season closed, it was clear that somehow, the cousins would not be apart.
Season 7 (1991–92)
With the beginning of season 7 in September 1991, the marriage of Larry and Jennifer meant that Perfect Strangers would move in a different direction that fall. Larry and Jennifer end up buying a large
VictorianThe term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...
house which they discover they could not afford without additional roommates – Balki and Mary Anne. At the Chronicle, midway into the season, Balki receives a promotion-leaving the mail room when he is asked to draw a weekly comic strip based on his stuffed sheep, Dimitri. Gorpley and Lydia still made occasional appearances throughout the season. However, as their characters have little relevance to 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.
By the fall of 1991, ABC had been reaping the rewards of the successful TGIF and wanted to capitalize on the pre-teen and younger demographic for the lineup. An industry insider reported that ABC was looking for a reason to cancel Perfect Strangers, because it was becoming too costly to produce and was considered an aging program that did not fit into the new TGIF target demographic of pre-teen or lower age group viewers. ABC also believed that the only reason Perfect Strangers ratings had increased in the last three seasons, not experiencing the typical decline that most network series do as they age, was because of its scheduling that followed Full House and Family Matters. The plan was to cancel Perfect Strangers and replace it with another "youth oriented" program that could possibly have even higher ratings and would be a better fit with the other shows. However, ABC knew that Perfect Strangers ratings were still too high to justify its cancellation. In fact, the ratings had continued to increase to series highs in the previous 1990-91 season. The series' presence on TGIF was beneficial overall, since ABC had been struggling to maintain a strong Friday lineup until Perfect Strangers moved to that night.
In late December 1991, ABC came up with an effective way to fulfill their agenda. Youth-oriented sitcom Baby Talk, which had aired in the 9:30 TGIF slot for the most part since its March 1991 premiere, had continued to see weak ratings, even after the show was revamped with a new cast. Wanting to utilize the new hit TGIF sitcom Step By Step (from Miller/Boyett) even further, ABC moved Baby Talk to 9/8c in early January 1992, in hopes of having it benefit from a Step By Step lead-in. This caused Perfect Strangers to move to 9:30/8:30. Airing one time slot later, Perfect Strangers ratings dropped to #42, but still not low enough for ABC to justify cancellation. In late January, the network rolled out the final plans to launch a similar family-friendly comedy block for Saturday, also helmed by TGIF creator Jim Janicek. It was announced that Perfect Strangers would move from TGIF to join this new lineup to help it take off. On February 1, 1992, Perfect Strangers began airing in the 9pm slot of I Love Saturday Night, the new TGIF sister lineup. It was then that the series experienced a drastic decline in ratings. It dropped to #65 for the remainder of the season, as it was the direct competition of time slot winner Empty Nest (NBC). Even though Perfect Strangers experienced this decline after moving to Saturday, it was still way ahead in viewers of the other programs ABC was airing on that night (except for freshman drama
The CommishThe Commish is a television series that aired on ABC in the United States from 1991 to 1996. The series focused on the work and home life of a suburban police commissioner in upstate New York....
, which aired at 10/9c and was a surefire candidate for renewal), showing that there were a dedicated following that moved with the show.
Now with substantially decreased ratings, ABC had their reason to cancel the long-running series after its seventh season. In August 1992, with Baby Talk having left the air for good, ABC chose to move Perfect Strangers back to Fridays at 9 p.m. ET to fill the old timeslot with reruns until the new TGIF season began. The reruns that were aired on Friday during that month again won their time slot as they had before, which was not typical of an already cancelled program.
That summer, loyal fans had heard that the series was nearing the end of its long run and quickly launched a national campaign to save the series from its impending cancellation. The story announcing the cancellation was printed on TV schedule inserts in most national newspapers. The response was overwhelming, flooding ABC's offices with fan mail. In response to the campaign, ABC decided to not cancel the series but instead put it on hiatus from the fall 1992 schedule. They ordered only six episodes and planned to air them as a mid-season replacement series. Mid-season entries were usually designated to new pilots to test them out with the audience, but was not always the rule. Due to its viewers' wishes, ABC agreed to give Perfect Strangers a chance to close its storylines and say a final "goodbye" to its large and dedicated fanbase, many of whom had just became fans in the previous few seasons as it continued to grow in the ratings.
Season 8 (1993)
As a result of a letter writing campaign, ABC renewed the series for an eighth season at the last minute, but it was put on hiatus. As originally planned, it was omitted from the 1992-93 ABC fall primetime schedule and was given the status of "mid-season replacement series". The final six episodes were subsequently filmed in the fall of 1992 but did not air for almost a year afterwards and became the final episodes of the long-running ABC series. The final season aired on ABC over a five-week period which began on July 9, 1993. Airing again on Fridays in its old 9 p.m. ET timeslot, it won its timeslot every week leading up to the two-part series finale, which aired on August 6, 1993. Each of the final six episodes were ranked in the Nielsen top 20 ratings of programs every week in which they aired.
The first episode of season eight 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 were phased out, with the series shifting its full attention to the home life of the characters. The series ended with a two-part episode "Up In The Air", with each heralding the birth of a baby (first Robespierre, son of Balki and Mary Anne, and then Tucker, son of Larry and Jennifer). The last scene segues in and out of a musical montage of memorable scenes from the series to the tune of "
Unforgettable"Unforgettable" is a popular song written by Irving Gordon. The song's original working title was "Uncomparable". The music publishing company asked Irving to change it to "Unforgettable". The song was published in 1951....
" by
Nat King ColeNathaniel Adams Coles , known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American musician who first came to prominence as a leading jazz pianist. Although an accomplished pianist, he owes most of his popular musical fame to his soft baritone voice, which he used to perform in big band and jazz genres...
. The closing credits showed the cast bowing before the studio audience, with co-stars Pinchot and Linn-Baker doing the "Dance of Joy" one last time.
Cast
Main cast
- Bronson Pinchot
Bronson Alcott Pinchot is an American actor. He has appeared in several feature films, including Risky Business, Beverly Hills Cop , The First Wives Club, True Romance, Courage Under Fire and It's My Party...
- Balki BartokomousBalki Bartokomous is a fictional character on the television sitcom Perfect Strangers, played by Bronson Pinchot. Balki is from the island of Mypos, a fictional country in the Mediterranean Sea.- Character history :...
- Mark Linn-Baker
Mark Linn-Baker is an American actor and director famous for his role as Larry Appleton on the television sitcom Perfect Strangers.-Early life and career:...
- Larry AppletonLarry Appleton is a fictional character on the television show Perfect Strangers, played by Mark Linn-Baker. Larry was often called Cousin Larry or just Cousin normally pronouncing cousin "cosin" by his cousin Balki...
- Melanie Wilson
Melanie Wilson is an American actress best known for her co-starring role as Jennifer Lyons-Appleton in the ABC sitcom Perfect Strangers. Her other television credits include Family Matters, Step by Step, Simon & Simon and The A-Team...
- Jennifer Lyons (seasons 2-8)
- Rebeca Arthur
Rebeca Arthur is an American actress. She is best known as Mary Anne Spencer on Perfect Strangers .-Filmography:* 2000 The Watcher * 1997 Men Seeking Women...
- Mary Anne Spencer (seasons 2-8)
- Belita Moreno - Lydia Markham (seasons 3-7) /Edwina Twinkacetti (seasons 1-2)
- Ernie Sabella
Ernest "Ernie" Sabella is an American actor, who is best known for his role as the official voice of Pumbaa from the The Lion King.-Life and career:...
- Donald Twinkacetti (seasons 1-2)
- Lise Cutter
Lise Cutter is an American actress.-Filmography:*The Cosby Mysteries as FBI Agent *Murder, She Wrote as Melissa Maddox *Renegade as Reba Cross...
- Susan Campbell (seasons 1-2)
- Sam Anderson
Sam Anderson is an American actor.-Early life:Anderson was born in Wahpeton, North Dakota. He is a graduate of the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks. During the 1970s, Sam taught drama at Antelope Valley College in Lancaster, California.-Career:Anderson is perhaps best known for his roles...
- Sam Gorpley (seasons 3-7)
Recurring cast
- Jo Marie Payton
Jo Marie Payton is an American television actress, and singer, who starred most notably as Harriette Winslow on the ABC sitcom, Family Matters, and its parent series Perfect Strangers. From 2001 to 2005 Jo Marie Payton provided the voice for Suga Mama Proud on Bruce W. Smith's The Proud Family,...
- Harriette Winslow (seasons 3-4)
- F.J. O'Neil - Mr. Wainwright (seasons 3-7)
- Eugene Roche
Eugene Harrison Roche was an American actor . He was the original "Ajax Man" in 1970s television commercials.-Personal life:...
- Harry Burns (season 3)
Production notes
Perfect Strangers was produced by Miller-Boyett Productions in association with Lorimar-Telepictures, which later became Lorimar Television in 1988.
Theme song
The show's theme song, "Nothing's Gonna Stop Me Now", was written by
Jesse FrederickJesse Frederick is a film and television composer best known for writing and performing the themes to popular television shows such as Perfect Strangers, Full House, Family Matters, and Step By Step.-Early years:...
and Bennett Salvay (who also composed the show's musical score for the entire first two seasons and periodically for the remainder of the show's run (rotating with Steven Chesne and/or Gary Boren, who composed the musical score intermittently during the remaining seasons), and wrote the themes for other Miller-Boyett series, including
Full HouseFull House is an American sitcom television series. Set in San Francisco, the show chronicles widowed father Danny Tanner, who, after the death of his wife, enlists his best friend Joey Gladstone and his brother-in-law Jesse Katsopolis to help raise his three daughters, D.J., Stephanie, and...
, Step by Step and Perfect Strangers
spin-offIn media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
Family Matters). The theme was performed by
David PomeranzDavid Pomeranz is an American singer, composer, lyricist, and writer for musical theatre. He is also ambassador for Operation SmileBorn in Reno and raised on Long Island, Pomeranz expressed interest in music from an early age, singing in the synagogue choir, learning to play the piano, guitar, and...
. The music was rearranged and the lyrics re-recorded for season three and the music was rearranged slightly in season five. The full opening theme used for season one and most episodes of season two lasted 90 seconds. Starting with season three, the repeat of the second chorus near the end of the theme was cut to allow more airtime, reducing it to 72 seconds.
Two additional shortened versions were also used occasionally when episodes ran over the allotted time: the version used in a few episodes of season two cut half of the first stanza and the entire second, going directly to the first chorus following the verse, "Sometimes you just get a feeling/Like you need some kind of change...", reducing the length to 65 seconds, but the version used from season three onward used all but the second stanza, reducing the length to 48 seconds; the season four short version added a shorter harmonica portion near the end, which was absent in the season three short version. It has been a common misconception that the theme was reduced to the 48-second version from season three onward but that version was only used in syndicated reruns to allow stations added commercial time. The 72-second version was used for all episodes originally broadcast on ABC from seasons 3–8, with exceptions where ABC airings used the 48-second version when episodes ran over the allotted time. A shorter instrumental version of the theme, also composed by Frederick and Salvay, was also used as a closing theme in all but a few episodes (and was dropped entirely for season eight), which was rearranged in season three to sound nearly identical to the main theme, with another rearrangement for season five that saw it elongated from 30 seconds to 40 seconds.
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 MustangThe Ford Mustang is an automobile manufactured by the Ford Motor Company. It was initially based on the second generation North American Ford Falcon, a compact car. Introduced early on April 17, 1964, as a "1964½" model, the 1965 Mustang was the automaker's most successful launch since the Model A...
. 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 LibertyThe Statue of Liberty is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, designed by Frédéric Bartholdi and dedicated on October 28, 1886...
, 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. For the second season, the show's title appears more similar to later seasons, and the script font is replaced with the fonts similar to that 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.
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 RiverThe Chicago River is a system of rivers and canals with a combined length of that runs through the city of the same name, including its center . Though not especially long, the river is notable for being the reason why Chicago became an important location, as the link between the Great Lakes and...
, then zooming out to show them traveling under the Irv Kupcinet Bridge (the
Wrigley BuildingThe Wrigley Building is a skyscraper located directly across Michigan Avenue from the Tribune Tower on the Magnificent Mile...
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 ParkLincoln Park is an urban park in Chicago, which gave its name to the Lincoln Park, Chicago community area.Lincoln Park may also refer to:-Urban parks:*Lincoln Park , California*Lincoln Park, San Francisco, California...
, braving a wind gust on a city street, attending a
Chicago CubsThe Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...
game at
Wrigley FieldWrigley Field is a baseball stadium in Chicago, Illinois, United States that has served as the home ballpark of the Chicago Cubs since 1916. It was built in 1914 as Weeghman Park for the Chicago Federal League baseball team, the Chicago Whales...
, and messing around in a revolving door. After a view of an
El trainA rapid transit, underground, subway, elevated railway, metro or metropolitan railway system is an electric passenger railway in an urban area with a high capacity and frequency, and grade separation from other traffic. Rapid transit systems are typically located either in underground tunnels or on...
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 SimonNeil Simon is an American playwright and screenwriter. He has written numerous Broadway plays, including Brighton Beach Memoirs, Biloxi Blues, and The Odd Couple. He won the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play Lost In Yonkers. He has written the screenplays for several of his plays that...
's
The Odd CoupleThe Odd Couple is a 1965 Broadway play by Neil Simon, followed by a successful film and television series, as well as other derivative works and spin offs, many featuring one or more of the same actors. The plot concerns two mismatched roommates, one neat and uptight, the other more easygoing and...
. 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 spin-off series
Family MattersFamily Matters is an American sitcom about a middle-class African-American family living in Chicago, Illinois, which ran on national television for nine full seasons. The series was a spin-off of Perfect Strangers, but revolves around the Winslow family...
, the Winslow family is shown riding bicycles over the Irv Kupcinet Bridge, as seen from exactly the same vantage point as in the opening Perfect Strangers sequence.
First apartment building
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 AngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, 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.
Second apartment building
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, ChicagoLincoln Park, is one of the 77 community areas on Chicago, Illinois North Side, USA. Named after Lincoln Park, a vast park bordering Lake Michigan, the community area is anchored by the Lincoln Park Zoo and DePaul University...
, and little has changed in appearance today.
Chicago Chronicle
The Chicago Chronicle building is in actuality known as the
London Guarantee BuildingThe London Guarantee Building, formerly known as the Stone Container Building, is a historic building located in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois. It is known as one of the four 1920s flanks of the Michigan Avenue Bridge . It stands on part of the former site of Fort Dearborn...
, located at 360 North
Michigan AvenueMichigan Avenue is a major north-south street in Chicago which runs at 100 east south of the Chicago River and at 132 East north of the river from 12628 south to 950 north in the Chicago street address system...
in downtown
ChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
.
Episodes
There were a total of eight seasons in 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.
Ratings
Unlike most long-running primetime series of the era who first saw high ratings then suffered drastic viewer losses in later seasons, Perfect Strangers
' ratings remained steady, usually ranking among Nielsen's top 40 programs for its first six seasons; not a massive hit, but consistently in a comfortable upper middle spot in the ratings, and it usually won its time slot on Friday nights. In January 1992, for a four-week period, it was moved to 9:30 p.m. ET on Fridays in order to help the new series Baby Talk, which had less than desirable ratings when it first aired at 9:30 p.m. ET since its premiere the previous spring. The move to 9:30 p.m. ET on Fridays cost the show some viewers apparent in the season average ranking which had dropped to #42 for the half season from September 1991 to January 1992 from the previous seasons #32 ranking.
In February 1992 it was moved to Saturdays at 9 p.m. ET, where the ratings plummeted, and for the 1991-1992 season it was ranked #61 in the ratings. It was first announced at the end of the 1991-92 season, that Perfect Strangers would be picked up for another full season and would also return to its longtime Friday spot. However, ABC officials decided in late summer to only use the show as a mid-season replacement series and only ordered six episodes. In its six-episode final season, which was filmed in the fall of 1992 but broadcast in the summer of 1993, it was rated in the top 20 with its series finale attracting 15 million households and rated #11 for the week of August 1, 1993. The average Nielsen ratings for the entire run of eight seasons was #27.
| Season | Episodes | First airdate | Last airdate | Nielsen ranking |
| Season 1 |
6 |
March 25, 1986 |
April 29, 1986 |
#13 |
| Season 2 |
22 |
September 17, 1986 |
April 1, 1987 |
#31 |
| Season 3 |
22 |
September 22, 1987 |
March 25, 1988 |
#48 |
| Season 4 |
22 |
October 14, 1988 |
May 5, 1989 |
#38 |
| Season 5 |
24 |
September 22, 1989 |
May 4, 1990 |
#34 |
| Season 6 |
24 |
September 28, 1990 |
May 3, 1991 |
#32 |
| Season 7 |
24 |
September 20, 1991 |
April 18, 1992 |
#61 |
| Season 8 |
6 |
July 9, 1993 |
August 6, 1993 |
#19 |
Syndication
From August 28, 1989 to July 13, 1990, reruns of the first four seasons of Perfect Strangers aired on ABC's
daytime program blockABC Daytime is a programming block on the ABC Network which has historically encompassed soap operas, game shows and talk shows.-Schedule:...
. Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution syndicated the series on various broadcast television stations from September 1990 to September 1997.
USA NetworkUSA Network is an American cable television channel launched in 1971. Once a minor player in basic cable, the network has steadily gained popularity because of breakout hits like Monk, Psych, Burn Notice, Royal Pains, Covert Affairs, White Collar, Monday Night RAW, Suits, and reruns of the various...
aired reruns of the show from September 1997 to September 11, 1998.
The WB 100+The WB 100+ Station Group was a group of primarily non-broadcast local cable television outlets for The WB Television Network, for markets below the top 100 television media markets in the United States. Dayparts with no WB programming were programmed by the network...
carried the series from September 17, 2001 to December 2002.
The series aired on
Nick at NiteNick at Nite is the nighttime Cable network that broadcasts over the channel space of Nickelodeon on Sundays from 8.p.m.-7.am., Monday through Fridays from 9 p.m.-7 a.m. and Saturdays from 10 p.m.-6 a.m. . Though it shares channel space with Nickelodeon, A.C. Nielsen Co...
, first with a 6-episode marathon on July 14, 2000, and then a special airing in November 2000; the series aired regularly in late nights from February 3 to September 20, 2003.
TV LandTV Land is an American cable television network launched on April 29, 1996. It is owned by MTV Networks, a division of Viacom, which also owns Paramount Pictures, and networks such as MTV and Nickelodeon...
aired reruns from August 2, 2002 to September 28, 2002 and January 3 to February 1, 2003 as part of its now-defunct "TV Land Kitschen" weekend late night block, though special episodes aired on the channel in December 2000, April and December 2001, December 2002, January and December 2003 and June 2005. From October 1 to November 1, 2007, ION Television aired reruns of Perfect Strangers on its primetime lineup Monday-Thursday nights at 8:30 p.m. (ET/PT). It is not currently broadcast on either broadcast or cable television in the U.S..
Various episodes were seen on AOL's
In2TVIn2TV was a website offering ad-supported streaming video of classic TV shows in the USA only .The main appeal of the service was that it made available numerous old shows which were rarely, if ever, aired on broadcast television...
video-on-demand service starting in March 2006, though after AOL's June 2009 announcement of its split with
Time WarnerTime Warner is one of the world's largest media companies, headquartered in the Time Warner Center in New York City. Formerly two separate companies, Warner Communications, Inc...
, the series was moved to the AOL Video site.
Outside of the United States, the series aired in the Netherlands by public TV, in
TurkeyTurkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
by the
Turkish Radio and Television CorporationThe Turkish Radio and Television Corporation, also known as TRT , is the national public broadcaster of Turkey and was founded in 1964. Around 70% of TRT's funding comes from a tax levied on electricity bills and a sales tax on television and radio receivers...
dubbed in
TurkishTurkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
. In
PakistanPakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, reruns were carried by
Pakistan Television CorporationThe Pakistan Television Corporation is Pakistan's national television broadcaster. The first live transmission of PTV began on November 26, 1964, in Lahore...
in its original form. In
BangladeshBangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
, reruns were carried by
BTVBangladesh Television , also known by the acronym BTV, is the state-owned Television network in Bangladesh. It started broadcasting as Pakistan Television in what was then East Pakistan on 25 December 1964. It was renamed Bangladesh Television after the independence in 1971. Broadcasts in full...
in its original form. The series aired in the United Kingdom (on BBC1), Australia and New Zealand (on Channel 2, now called TV2) in its original form; reruns aired in Australia on
7TWO7TWO is an Australian free-to-air standard definition digital television channel which was launched by the Seven Network on Sunday 1 November 2009 at 12pm....
between March and October 2011. The series aired in
BulgariaBulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
by BTV and in the
Bulgarian languageBulgarian is an Indo-European language, a member of the Slavic linguistic group.Bulgarian, along with the closely related Macedonian language, demonstrates several linguistic characteristics that set it apart from all other Slavic languages such as the elimination of case declension, the...
; Bulgarians know Balki mostly as a
GreekThe Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
. It aired in the Philippines by
RPN 9DZKB-TV, channel 9, is the flagship station of Philippine television network Radio Philippines Network. Its studios are located at Broadcast City, Old Balara, Capitol Hills, Diliman, Quezon City, with its transmitter situated along Panay Avenue, Quezon City....
in its original form, it aired with
ArabicArabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
subtitles in
KuwaitThe State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...
on KTV2 and in
LebanonLebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
on Télé Liban (TL). The series aired in
IrelandIreland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
by RTÉ on Network 2 in its original form.
Family Matters
Perfect Strangers had a spin-off series, the highly rated, long-running family sitcom Family Matters, which aired from September 22, 1989, to July 17, 1998. The series was centered around Harriette Winslow (
Jo Marie PaytonJo Marie Payton is an American television actress, and singer, who starred most notably as Harriette Winslow on the ABC sitcom, Family Matters, and its parent series Perfect Strangers. From 2001 to 2005 Jo Marie Payton provided the voice for Suga Mama Proud on Bruce W. Smith's The Proud Family,...
) in the role she originated on Perfect Strangers (Harriette was played by
Judyann ElderJudyann Elder is an American actress, director, and writer. She is a veteran of stage and screen who has appeared in scores of theatrical productions throughout the United States and Europe as well as popular television shows, including Family Matters, Martin, and Murphy Brown.- Biography :Judyann...
for the second half of season nine after Payton's departure), her cop husband Carl (
Reginald VelJohnsonReginald VelJohnson is an American actor of film, stage and television, well known for his role as Carl Winslow on the sitcom Family Matters, where he was the only cast member to appear in every single episode. He also portrayed LAPD Sgt...
, the character was initially introduced on Perfect Strangers in the fourth season episode "Crimebusters") and their family. The series, which initially garnered modest ratings for most of its first season, became a ratings hit after the Winslow's annoying, accident-prone, budding inventor next-door neighbor
Steve UrkelSteven Quincy Urkel, generally known as Steve Urkel or simply Urkel, is a fictional character on the ABC/CBS sitcom Family Matters, portrayed by Jaleel White...
(
Jaleel WhiteJaleel Ahmad White is an American actor and screenwriter. He is best known for his role as Steve Urkel from Family Matters and voicing the character of Sonic the Hedgehog and other characters for Sonic the Hedgehog media....
), was introduced midway through the show's first season.
Neither Family Matters nor Perfect Strangers featured a crossover with the other, though Mark Linn-Baker and Melanie Wilson each guest starred on the show, as a different character, and Linn-Baker directed another episode.
DVD release
The season four episode "Maid to Order" was released as part of a limited edition bonus disc of the complete first season DVD of
Night CourtNight Court is an American television situation comedy that aired on NBC from January 4, 1984, to May 20, 1992. The setting was the night shift of a Manhattan court, presided over by the young, unorthodox Judge Harold T. "Harry" Stone...
on February 8, 2005 by Warner Home Video.
On February 5, 2008,
Warner Home VideoWarner Home Video is the home video unit of Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., itself part of Time Warner. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Video . The company launched in the United States with twenty films on VHS and Betamax videocassettes in late 1979...
released seasons 1 and 2 of Perfect Strangers on DVD in Region 1. Seasons 1 and 2 have also been released in Region 2 and Region 4. It currently unknown if the remaining seasons will be released or not.
In an article on TVShowsOnDVD.com regarding TV series with stalled DVD releases, it was mentioned that the main hold-up for any subsequent releases of Perfect Strangers is not poor sales but rather high music licensing costs. It is noted that the series sometimes featured popular songs within certain episodes, though the versions by the artists who originally performed them were usually not used, instead they were commonly sung acapella by Mark Linn-Baker and/or Bronson Pinchot's characters whenever the script called for Balki and/or Larry to sing within the episode.
| DVD Name |
Ep # |
Release dates |
| Region 1 |
Region 2 (GER) |
Region 4 |
| The Complete First and Second Seasons |
28 |
February 5, 2008 |
March 14, 2008 |
September 3, 2008 |
Foreign versions
- When the show was aired in Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, 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 NiteNick at Nite is the nighttime Cable network that broadcasts over the channel space of Nickelodeon on Sundays from 8.p.m.-7.am., Monday through Fridays from 9 p.m.-7 a.m. and Saturdays from 10 p.m.-6 a.m. . Though it shares channel space with Nickelodeon, A.C. Nielsen Co...
schedule.
- In the fall of 2006, the Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n 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 MoscowMoscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
resident.
- The show was aired 1988 until 1994 on TVRI
Televisi Republik Indonesia Televisi Republik Indonesia (TVRI) Televisi Republik Indonesia (TVRI) (formerly known as Televisi Indonesia (Indonesian Television in English) and Radio Indonesia (Indonesian Radio in English) is a state-owned television station, the oldest television station in...
IndonesiaIndonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
- From the late 1980s into the mid 1990s, the show was aired by Channel 2 in Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
- In the German
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
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. In the German version, Balki has no foreign accent and speaks the same native-accented German as Larry.
- 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), Vărul Din Strainatate (Romania), Napulno Nepoznati (Bulgaria), Perfektni Pribuzni (Slovakia), Potpuni stranci (Croatia) and Mükemmel İkili (Turkey).
External links