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''Perfect Strangers'' is an American sitcom that ran for eight seasons, from March 25, 1986, to August 6, 1993, on the
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
television network. Created by Dale McRaven, the series chronicles the rocky coexistence of midwestern American
Larry Appleton ''Perfect Strangers'' is an American sitcom that ran for eight seasons, from March 25, 1986, to August 6, 1993, on the ABC television network. Created by Dale McRaven, the series chronicles the rocky coexistence of midwestern American Larry A ...
( Mark Linn-Baker) and his distant cousin from
eastern Mediterranean Eastern Mediterranean is a loose definition of the eastern approximate half, or third, of the Mediterranean Sea, often defined as the countries around the Levantine Sea. It typically embraces all of that sea's coastal zones, referring to commun ...
Europe,
Balki Bartokomous Balki Bartokomous is a fictional character played by Bronson Pinchot in the television sitcom '' Perfect Strangers''. He is from the fictional island of Mypos, which is near Greece and based on Greek culture. Character history Pinchot was firs ...
(
Bronson Pinchot Bronson Alcott Pinchot (; born May 20, 1959) is an American actor. He is best known for playing Balki Bartokomous on the ABC sitcom '' Perfect Strangers'' (1986–93). He also performed in films, such as ''Risky Business'' (1983), ''Beverly Hills ...
). Originally airing on Tuesdays for the short six-episode first season in the spring of 1986, it moved to Wednesdays in prime time in the fall of 1986. It remained on Wednesdays until March 1988, when it was moved to Fridays. The show found its niche there as the anchor for ABC's original '' TGIF'' Friday-night lineup, though it aired on Saturdays for a short time in 1992.


Premise

The series chronicles the relationship of
Larry Appleton ''Perfect Strangers'' is an American sitcom that ran for eight seasons, from March 25, 1986, to August 6, 1993, on the ABC television network. Created by Dale McRaven, the series chronicles the rocky coexistence of midwestern American Larry A ...
( Mark Linn-Baker) and his distant cousin
Balki Bartokomous Balki Bartokomous is a fictional character played by Bronson Pinchot in the television sitcom '' Perfect Strangers''. He is from the fictional island of Mypos, which is near Greece and based on Greek culture. Character history Pinchot was firs ...
(
Bronson Pinchot Bronson Alcott Pinchot (; born May 20, 1959) is an American actor. He is best known for playing Balki Bartokomous on the ABC sitcom '' Perfect Strangers'' (1986–93). He also performed in films, such as ''Risky Business'' (1983), ''Beverly Hills ...
). Larry, a Wisconsin native from a large family, has just moved into his first apartment in Chicago, and is savoring his first taste of privacy when Balki, a hitherto-unknown cousin from a Mediterranean island, "Mypos", arrives intending to move in with him. Balki, who was a shepherd on Mypos, interprets what little he knows about the United States by relying on his own (often out-of-context) recollections of American pop culture ("America: Land of my dreams and home of the Whopper"). Balki's signature is his "Dance of Joy", a cross between the
dosado Do-si-do is a dance move. Description It is a circular movement where two people, who are initially facing each other, walk around each other without or almost without turning, i.e., facing in the same direction (same wall) all the time. In most ca ...
and the hokey pokey that he performs (with Larry) to celebrate good fortune. After initially gently rebuffing his cousin's request to stay at his apartment, aspiring photographer Larry decides to take Balki under his wing and teach him about American life; as time goes on, the disparities between the two create many misadventures and growth opportunities. Initially working at a discount store and living in a small apartment, they eventually develop rising careers working for a respectable newspaper, move into larger residences, date two best-friend flight attendants, and expand their lifestyle through their various experiences; all while learning to balance Balki's wide-eyed enthusiasm and Myposian ways with Larry's real-world ambitions and American pragmatism. Neurotic Larry is frequently as inept as Balki, if not more so, and often gets the pair into situations that only Balki can set right. Major influences on the show include "buddy sitcoms" such as ''
Laverne & Shirley ''Laverne & Shirley'' (originally ''Laverne DeFazio & Shirley Feeney'') is an American sitcom television series that played for eight seasons on ABC from January 27, 1976, to May 10, 1983. A spin-off of ''Happy Days'', ''Laverne & Shirley'' sta ...
'' and ''
Mork & Mindy ''Mork & Mindy'' is an American television sitcom that aired on ABC from September 14, 1978, to May 27, 1982. A spin-off after a highly successful episode of ''Happy Days'', "My Favorite Orkan", it starred Robin Williams as Mork, an extraterres ...
'', both of which were produced by the ''Perfect Strangers'' team.


Synopsis


Development

The series was the brainchild of Dale McRaven (co-creator of ''
Mork & Mindy ''Mork & Mindy'' is an American television sitcom that aired on ABC from September 14, 1978, to May 27, 1982. A spin-off after a highly successful episode of ''Happy Days'', "My Favorite Orkan", it starred Robin Williams as Mork, an extraterres ...
'') and producers Tom Miller and Robert Boyett. Miller claimed that the series' inspiration came in the wake of the
1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...
in Los Angeles, when America experienced a wave of renewed
patriotic Patriotism is the feeling of love, devotion, and sense of attachment to one's country. This attachment can be a combination of many different feelings, language relating to one's own homeland, including ethnic, cultural, political or histor ...
sentiment. Their idea for a comedy about an immigrant in America was initially rejected by all three major commercial television networks operating in the U.S. at the time (
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
,
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
, and
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are ...
). In December 1984, Bronson Pinchot garnered notice for his role in ''
Beverly Hills Cop ''Beverly Hills Cop'' is a 1984 American buddy cop action comedy film directed by Martin Brest, screenplay by Daniel Petrie Jr., story by Danilo Bach and Daniel Petrie Jr., and starring Eddie Murphy as Axel Foley, a street-smart Detroit cop w ...
'' 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, ABC signed on to the project, originally titled ''The Greenhorn''. By this time, Pinchot was unavailable, as he had taken the role of a
gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...
attorney in the NBC series ''
Sara Sara may refer to: Arts, media and entertainment Film and television * ''Sara'' (1992 film), 1992 Iranian film by Dariush Merhjui * ''Sara'' (1997 film), 1997 Polish film starring Bogusław Linda * ''Sara'' (2010 film), 2010 Sri Lankan Sinhal ...
'' alongside star Geena Davis. ''Sara'' failed to find an audience and was canceled by May 1985. With Pinchot now available, Miller and Boyett developed the show in earnest. By November it was retitled ''Perfect Strangers'' and comedian
Louie Anderson Louis Perry Anderson (March 24, 1953 – January 21, 2022) was an American stand-up comedian, actor, author and game show host. Anderson created the cartoon series ''Life with Louie'' and the television sitcom '' The Louie Show'', and wrote four ...
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?'' and ''
Moonlighting Moonlighting may refer to: * Side job, a job taken in addition to one's primary employment Entertainment * ''Moonlighting'' (film), a 1982 drama film by Jerzy Skolimowski * ''Moonlighting'' (TV series), 1985–1989 American television series, s ...
'' on Tuesday nights. After running through several actors for the part of Balki's cousin, the producers chose 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. It premiered on ABC on March 25, 1986.


Season 1 (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 soon joins Larry as a clerk at the Ritz Discount Store, located on the ground level of their apartment building. Their boss is Donald "Twinkie" Twinkacetti (
Ernie Sabella Ernest Sabella (born September 19, 1949) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his role as Pumbaa from ''The Lion King'' franchise, voicing the character in all media except the 2019 film. Sabella's TV roles include Mr. Dona ...
), an unscrupulous miser who is also their landlord. Twinkacetti's incessant berating of his two employees (he calls Balki "Turnip" and Larry "Yo-Yo") is occasionally alleviated by his wife Edwina (
Belita Moreno Aurabela "Belita" Moreno (born November 1, 1949) is an American actress best known for her roles as Benita "Benny" Lopez on the ABC sitcom ''George Lopez'' and Edwina Twinkacetti and Lydia Markham on '' Perfect Strangers''. Early life Aurabela M ...
). In the first season, upstairs neighbor Susan Campbell (
Lise Cutter Lise Cutter (born July 31, 1959) is an American actress who is known for her roles as Susan Campbell on '' Perfect Strangers'', and as Gina McKay on '' Dangerous Curves''. Filmography Film Television External links * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cu ...
) is Larry's platonic friend. Airing in the coveted timeslot between ''Who's The Boss?'' and ''Moonlighting'', ''Perfect Strangers'' was an instant ratings hit in the spring of 1986, with five of the six episodes landing in the weekly Nielsen top 10 highest-rated programs.


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 Class ''Head of the Class'' is an American sitcom television series that ran from 1986 to 1991 on the ABC television network. The series follows a group of gifted students in the Individualized Honors Program (IHP) at the fictional Millard Fillmo ...
''. Susan's character was phased out early in this season. Larry began dating Jennifer Lyons ( Melanie Wilson) and Balki began dating Mary Anne Spencer (Rebeca Arthur), after meeting them through a local gym. In later episodes, it is revealed that both women are flight attendants who live in Larry and Balki's building.


Seasons 3–4 (1987–1989)

The start of season 3 in late 1987 found Larry and Balki in a new, larger apartment where Balki had his own room instead of sleeping on a fold-out sofa. External shots clearly depict a new apartment building. 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, and helps Balki get a job in the ''Chronicle'' mail room. They are overseen by demanding city editor Harry Burns (
Eugene Roche Eugene Harrison Roche (September 22, 1928 – July 28, 2004) was an American actor and the original " Ajax Man" in 1970s television commercials. Personal life Roche was born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Mary M. (née Finnegan ...
). Burns is phased out of the show by the end of season 3; the paper's publisher, Mr. Wainwright (
F.J. O'Neill FJ may refer to: Places * Fiji (ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code) ** .fj, the country code top level domain (ccTLD) for Fiji ** Fijian language (ISO 639-1 language code) * Fujian, a province of China Vehicles * FJ Fury, an early Cold War fig ...
) is introduced later in season 3, and takes over as Larry's boss after Eugene Roche leaves the show. Mr. Wainwright appears through season 7. Balki's immediate supervisor is mail room head Sam Gorpley (
Sam Anderson Sam Anderson (born April 2, 1947) is an American actor. He is best known for his character roles such as Sam Gorpley on '' Perfect Strangers'', Holland Manners on ''Angel'', dentist Bernard Nadler on '' Lost'' and in film, as the principal in ' ...
, who had portrayed a bank clerk in the season one episode "Check This" in which Balki opens his first bank account). Gorpley never warms to Balki (he sometimes calls him "the Mypiot") and insults him regularly. Lydia Markham is the ''Chronicles thin-skinned, multi-phobic advice columnist; she is played by
Belita Moreno Aurabela "Belita" Moreno (born November 1, 1949) is an American actress best known for her roles as Benita "Benny" Lopez on the ABC sitcom ''George Lopez'' and Edwina Twinkacetti and Lydia Markham on '' Perfect Strangers''. Early life Aurabela M ...
, who had previously played Edwina Twinkacetti in the first two seasons. Although Larry physically remains at his typewriter in the basement, he joins the investigative team of Marshall and Walpole (loosely based on the famed '' Washington Post'' duo of Woodward and Bernstein) in season 4. Larry's relationship with Jennifer matures as well. Working as an elevator operator is
Harriette Winslow '' Family Matters'' is an American sitcom revolving around the Winslow family, a middle-class African-American family living in Chicago. The series ran for nine seasons (eight of which were broadcast on ABC, one on CBS) and is a spin-off of '' ...
( Jo Marie Payton-France). Her husband
Carl Carl may refer to: * Carl, Georgia, city in USA * Carl, West Virginia, an unincorporated community *Carl (name), includes info about the name, variations of the name, and a list of people with the name * Carl², a TV series * "Carl", an episode of ...
(
Reginald VelJohnson Reginald VelJohnson (born Reginald VelJohnson; August 16, 1952) is an American actor. He is best known for playing police officer characters, such as Carl Winslow on the sitcom ''Family Matters,'' which ran from 1989 to 1998, and LAPD Sergeant ...
) is introduced in the fourth-season episode "Crimebusters", in which the couple moves into Larry and Balki's apartment building. In March 1988, midway through the third season, ABC moved ''Perfect Strangers'' from its successful Wednesday-night slot to Friday nights at 8:00 p.m. before '' Full House''. This was a key development in the formation of the ABC Friday-night comedy block that later became known as " TGIF". Later moving to the 9/8c slot on Friday nights in the fall of 1989, ''Perfect Strangers'' remained an anchor of ABC's Friday-night programming until it was unsuccessfully moved to Saturday nights in February 1992.


Seasons 5–6 (1989–1991)

In the fall of 1989, after two seasons on ''Perfect Strangers'', Harriette's character was given her own spin-off series, '' Family Matters''. Joining ''Perfect Strangers'' in the TGIF lineup, ''Family Matters'' eventually ran longer than its parent show. Harriette was not seen again on ''Perfect Strangers'', although an early ''Family Matters'' episode explained 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 Porter Alisan Leigh Porter (born June 20, 1981) is an American pop, rock & country singer, actress, and dancer. As a child, Porter made acting appearances in '' Parenthood'', ''Stella'' and '' I Love You to Death''. Her breakout role came in 1991, when ...
(who had starred on ABC's short-lived ''
Chicken Soup Chicken soup is a soup made from chicken, simmered in water, usually with various other ingredients. The classic chicken soup consists of a clear chicken broth, often with pieces of chicken or vegetables; common additions are pasta, noodles, ...
'' the previous fall), was introduced as the troublemaking-but-immensely-cute little girl who lived upstairs from Larry and Balki. Tess appeared in the season's second episode, "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 had children in the regular cast. A similar infusion happened a few months later on sister show '' Going Places'', which had also started with a more adult tone. While Larry and Jennifer's romance blossomed, Balki and Mary Anne's relationship moved more slowly: the pair would get very close, but then back off after fleeting moments of passion, then drift back into affection. Many viewers' predictions came true near the beginning of season 6, when Larry proposed to Jennifer, after feeling competition from her old flame who was trying to woo her back. Jennifer accepted, and in the season finale they set a wedding date. As the 6th season (1990–91) closed, it was clear that despite Larry's impending marriage, his and Balki's relationship would somehow remain a focal point of the show.


Season 7 (1991–92)

At season seven's beginning (which premiered in September 1991), Larry and Jennifer's marriage meant that ''Perfect Strangers'' would move in a different direction. Larry and Jennifer move into a large Victorian house, then discover that they cannot afford the rent without additional roommates: Balki and Mary Anne. At midseason, Balki receives a promotion at the ''Chronicle'', drawing a weekly comic strip based on his stuffed sheep, Dimitri. Gorpley and Lydia make occasional appearances throughout the season, but are gradually phased out as they have little relevance to Larry and Balki's new career paths. With Larry and Jennifer happily married, the series turns toward Balki and Mary Anne's relationship. In the season's last several episodes, Mary Anne stops seeing Balki and moves out of the house. In the April 1992 season finale, Balki and Mary Anne resolve their differences and suddenly marry; the episode and season conclude with the couple on their way to an extended honeymoon in Mypos—and with Jennifer telling Larry that they are expecting.


Season 8 (1993)

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 Up and Away", 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 may refer to: Film * ''Unforgettable'' (1996 film), a thriller starring Ray Liotta * ''Unforgettable'' (2014 film), a Bollywood film * ''Unforgettable'' (2016 film), a South Korean film * ''Unforgettable'' (2017 film), an America ...
" by
Nat King Cole Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's music career began after he dropped out of school at the age of 15, and continued f ...
. The closing credits showed the cast bowing before the studio audience with Mark Linn-Baker saying, "Thank you all for being with us. Good night." Though it was not shown in the episode, co-stars Pinchot and Linn-Baker then did the "Dance of Joy" for the studio audience one last time.


Cast

Main cast *
Bronson Pinchot Bronson Alcott Pinchot (; born May 20, 1959) is an American actor. He is best known for playing Balki Bartokomous on the ABC sitcom '' Perfect Strangers'' (1986–93). He also performed in films, such as ''Risky Business'' (1983), ''Beverly Hills ...
Balki Bartokomous Balki Bartokomous is a fictional character played by Bronson Pinchot in the television sitcom '' Perfect Strangers''. He is from the fictional island of Mypos, which is near Greece and based on Greek culture. Character history Pinchot was firs ...
* Mark Linn-Baker
Larry Appleton ''Perfect Strangers'' is an American sitcom that ran for eight seasons, from March 25, 1986, to August 6, 1993, on the ABC television network. Created by Dale McRaven, the series chronicles the rocky coexistence of midwestern American Larry A ...
* Melanie WilsonJennifer Lyons (later Appleton) (seasons 2–8) *Rebeca Arthur – Mary Anne Spencer (later Bartokomous) (seasons 2–8) *
Belita Moreno Aurabela "Belita" Moreno (born November 1, 1949) is an American actress best known for her roles as Benita "Benny" Lopez on the ABC sitcom ''George Lopez'' and Edwina Twinkacetti and Lydia Markham on '' Perfect Strangers''. Early life Aurabela M ...
Edwina Twinkacetti (seasons 1–2); Lydia Markham (seasons 3–7) *
Ernie Sabella Ernest Sabella (born September 19, 1949) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his role as Pumbaa from ''The Lion King'' franchise, voicing the character in all media except the 2019 film. Sabella's TV roles include Mr. Dona ...
Donald Twinkacetti (seasons 1–2) *
Lise Cutter Lise Cutter (born July 31, 1959) is an American actress who is known for her roles as Susan Campbell on '' Perfect Strangers'', and as Gina McKay on '' Dangerous Curves''. Filmography Film Television External links * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cu ...
Susan Campbell (seasons 1–2) * Jo Marie Payton-France
Harriette Winslow '' Family Matters'' is an American sitcom revolving around the Winslow family, a middle-class African-American family living in Chicago. The series ran for nine seasons (eight of which were broadcast on ABC, one on CBS) and is a spin-off of '' ...
(seasons 3–4) *
Sam Anderson Sam Anderson (born April 2, 1947) is an American actor. He is best known for his character roles such as Sam Gorpley on '' Perfect Strangers'', Holland Manners on ''Angel'', dentist Bernard Nadler on '' Lost'' and in film, as the principal in ' ...
Sam Gorpley (seasons 3–7) Recurring cast *F.J. O'Neil – Mr. Wainwright (seasons 3–7) *
Eugene Roche Eugene Harrison Roche (September 22, 1928 – July 28, 2004) was an American actor and the original " Ajax Man" in 1970s television commercials. Personal life Roche was born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Mary M. (née Finnegan ...
Harry Burns (season 3) *
Jim Doughan James Francis Doughan is an American actor, teacher and writer. He is best known for his roles as Detective Doyle in '' The Mask'' (1994) and Detective Allen as well as the voice of Lucky the Cat in ''Stuart Little'' (1999) and the head coach for ...
- Jimmy, the Security Guard


Production notes

''Perfect Strangers'' was produced by Miller-Boyett Productions in association with Lorimar-Telepictures, which later became
Lorimar Television Lorimar Productions, Inc., later known as Lorimar Television and Lorimar Distribution, was an American production company that was later a subsidiary of Warner Bros., active from 1969 until 1993, when it was folded into Warner Bros. Televisi ...
in 1988. The show, for its entire run, was executive produced by Thomas L. Miller and Robert L. Boyett, and series creator Dale McRaven was executive producer with them for the first two seasons, becoming an executive consultant thereafter. William Bickley and Michael Warren, who became longtime associates of Miller and Boyett, were supervising producers during seasons one through four, elevating to co-executive producers in season five and finally executive producers with Miller and Boyett from seasons six through eight. Chip and Doug Keyes, who also served as producers on Miller and Boyett's first project under Lorimar, ''
Valerie Valerie may refer to: People * Saint Valerie (disambiguation), a number of saints went by the name Valerie *Valerie (given name), a feminine given name Songs *"Valerie", a 1981 song by Quarterflash, from ''Quarterflash'' *"Valerie", a 1982 so ...
'' (later '' The Hogan Family''), were producers on ''Perfect Strangers'' during its first season. Others who joined or remained on the production staff for several seasons included Paula A. Roth (who eventually became a principal showrunner in the seventh season alongside the senior executive producers), Alan Plotkin, Terry Hart, James O'Keefe, and the team of
Barry O'Brien Barry O'Brien (born 1957) is an American television writer and producer best known as the co-creator of Disney Channel Original Series ''Hannah Montana''. His credits include ''Happy Days'', '' Perfect Strangers'', '' Hangin' with Mr. Cooper'', ...
& Cheryl Alu. Robert Griffard and Howard Adler, who joined the show in its third season as writers and executive story consultants, were promoted to co-producers in season five. At the end of the 1989–90 season, Griffard and Adler launched pre-production on their own series developed by Miller/Boyett, '' Going Places'', which followed ''Perfect Strangers'' on ''TGIF'' the following season. Later seasons saw the arrival of such producers as Shari Hearn and
Tom Devanney Thomas Devanney is an American writer and producer. He has written several episodes of the animated series ''Family Guy''. Devanney also wrote briefly for ''The Fresh Prince of Bel Air'', and was a producer on '' Perfect Strangers'' in the 1991 ...
. In 1991, Bickley and Warren launched their own production plate, Bickley-Warren Productions, as associates to Miller/Boyett. The Bickley-Warren Productions entity oversaw '' Family Matters'', '' Step by Step'' and ''
Getting By Receiving may refer to: * ''Kabbalah'', "receiving" in Hebrew * Receiving department (or receiving dock), in a distribution center * Receiving house, a theater * Receiving line, in a wedding reception * Receiving mark, postmark * Receiving partn ...
'' for Miller/Boyett, and alone were later the producers of '' Hangin' With Mr. Cooper'' and ''
Kirk Kirk is a Scottish and former Northern English word meaning "church". It is often used specifically of the Church of Scotland. Many place names and personal names are also derived from it. Basic meaning and etymology As a common noun, ''kirk'' ...
'', both of which were produced by Warner Bros. Television (which absorbed Lorimar Television in 1993). Despite the existence of the Bickley-Warren plate during the final two seasons of ''Perfect Strangers'', and the fact that Bickley and Warren were still active as producers on ''Strangers'', the Bickley-Warren logo was never added to the show's closing credits as an associate production company. Within a year after ''Perfect Strangers'' finished production, many of its existing production staff (namely O'Brien & Alu, Plotkin, co-producer Michael J. Morris and executive story consultant Scott Spencer Gorden) were all assigned to sister series ''Getting By'' at the start of its second season (1993–94).


Theme song and opening sequence


Theme song

The show's theme song, "Nothing's Gonna Stop Me Now", was written by
Jesse Frederick Jesse Frederick James Conaway (born June 25, 1948) is an American film and television composer and singer. He wrote and performed the themes to TGIF television shows such as '' Perfect Strangers'', ''Full House'', ''Family Matters'', and '' St ...
and Bennett Salvay, who had composed the themes for other Miller-Boyett series, including '' Full House'', '' Step by Step,'' and ''Perfect Strangers''
spin-off Spin-off may refer to: *Spin-off (media), a media work derived from an existing work * Corporate spin-off, a type of corporate action that forms a new company or entity * Government spin-off, civilian goods which are the result of military or gov ...
'' Family Matters''. Frederick and Salvay also composed the show's musical score for the entire first two seasons; for the remaining seasons, the score compositions rotated between Frederick and Salvay, Steven Chesne and/or Gary Boren. The theme was performed by
David Pomeranz David Pomeranz (born February 9, 1951) is an American singer, composer, lyricist, and writer for musical theatre. He is also an ambassador for Operation Smile. Solo career Born and raised on Long Island, Pomeranz expressed interest in music from ...
. The music was rearranged and the lyrics re-recorded for season three and the music was rearranged slightly in season five.


Opening credits


=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 Ford Mustang is a series of American automobiles manufactured by Ford. In continuous production since 1964, the Mustang is currently the longest-produced Ford car nameplate. Currently in its sixth generation, it is the fifth-best selli ...
. 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 (in reality, located on eastbound Interstate 190 leading out of O'Hare International 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 River The Chicago River is a system of rivers and canals with a combined length of that runs through the city of Chicago, including its center (the Chicago Loop). Though not especially long, the river is notable because it is one of the reasons for ...
, then zooming out to show them traveling under the Irv Kupcinet Bridge (the
Wrigley Building The Wrigley Building is a skyscraper located at 400–410 North Michigan Avenue on Chicago's Near North Side. It is located on the Magnificent Mile directly across Michigan Avenue from the Tribune Tower. Its two towers in an elaborate style wer ...
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, Balki greeting the female driver of a horse-drawn cab, Larry reading a newspaper from the newsstands, braving a wind gust on a city street, attending a
Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...
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 Theatre The Chicago Theatre, originally known as the Balaban and Katz Chicago Theatre, is a landmark theater located on North State Street in the Loop area of Chicago, Illinois. Built in 1921, the Chicago Theatre was the flagship for the Balaban ...
. The theater marquee shows, appropriately enough,
Neil Simon Marvin Neil Simon (July 4, 1927 – August 26, 2018) was an American playwright, screenwriter and author. He wrote more than 30 plays and nearly the same number of movie screenplays, mostly film adaptations of his plays. He has received mo ...
'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 opening credits of the spin-off series '' Family Matters'' for the first three seasons, 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.


Exterior shot locations


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 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.


Second apartment building

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


''Chicago Chronicle''

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


Episodes

There were a total of eight seasons in the series. The first and last seasons were six episodes each. The second through fourth seasons had 22 episodes each, and the fifth through seventh each had 24 episodes. There were a total of 150 episodes in the series. ''Perfect Strangers''' ratings remained steady throughout its long run, usually ranking among Nielsen's top 40 programs for its first six seasons. It was never a massive hit, but consistently in a comfortable spot in the ratings, and it usually won its time slot on Friday nights. By the fall of 1991, ABC had been reaping the rewards of the successful TGIF and wanted to capitalize on the preteen-and-younger demographic for Saturday nights as well, in order to decrease competition from
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are ...
’s popular Saturday evening lineup of adult-oriented sitcoms '' The Golden Girls'', '' Walter and Emily'', ''
Empty Nest ''Empty Nest'' is an American television sitcom that aired for seven seasons on NBC from October 8, 1988, to April 29, 1995. The series, which was created as a spin-off of ''The Golden Girls'' by creator and producer Susan Harris, starred Ri ...
'' and '' Nurses.'' In late January 1992, the network rolled out 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 9 p.m. slot of ''I Love Saturday Night'', the new TGIF sister lineup (which included '' Growing Pains'', '' Who's the Boss?'', and ''
Capitol Critters ''Capitol Critters'' is an American animated sitcom about the lives of mice, rats and roaches who reside in the basement and walls of the White House in Washington, D.C. The series was produced by Steven Bochco Productions and Hanna-Barbera in a ...
''). The series experienced a drastic decline in ratings. It dropped to #65 for the remainder of the season. In July 1992, ABC moved ''Perfect Strangers'' back to Fridays at 9:30 p.m. ET to fill the timeslot with reruns until the new TGIF season began. The reruns that were aired won their timeslot as they had before. ABC had initially ordered 13 episodes to be produced for the show's eighth and final season, though the network ultimately shortened it to 6 episodes which were filmed during the summer of 1992, but broadcast from July 9 to August 6, 1993. The season 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. For the abbreviated eighth season, ''Perfect Strangers'' once again aired Fridays at 9:30/8:30c.


Syndication

From August 28, 1989, to July 13, 1990, reruns of the first four seasons of ''Perfect Strangers'' aired on ABC's daytime program block.
Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution Warner Bros. Television Studios (operating under the name Warner Bros. Television; formerly known as Warner Bros. Television Division) is an American television production and distribution studio of the Warner Bros. Television Group division of ...
(former sister company to series production company
Lorimar Television Lorimar Productions, Inc., later known as Lorimar Television and Lorimar Distribution, was an American production company that was later a subsidiary of Warner Bros., active from 1969 until 1993, when it was folded into Warner Bros. Televisi ...
) distributed the series for broadcast television syndication from September 1990 to September 1997. USA Network aired reruns of the show from September 1997 to September 11, 1998.
The WB 100+ The WB 100+ Station Group (originally called The WeB from its developmental stages until March 1999) was a national programming service of The WB—owned by the Warner Bros. Entertainment division of Time Warner, the Tribune Company, and group fo ...
carried the series from September 17, 2001 to December 2002. The series aired on
Nick at Nite Nick at Nite (stylized as nick@nite) is an American nighttime basic cable television channel that broadcasts over the channel space of Nickelodeon. It typically broadcasts Mondays to Thursday nights from 9 p.m. - 6:30 a.m. ET/ PT, Friday nights fr ...
, 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 Land 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
In2TV In2TV was a website offering ad-supported streaming video of classic TV shows in the USA only. It was operated by AOL Time Warner as an outlet for the company's archival television programming. History In2TV was announced in November 2005 as ...
video-on-demand service starting in March 2006, though after AOL's June 2009 announcement of its split with Time Warner, the series was moved to the AOL Video site. Outside of the United States, the series aired in the Netherlands by public TV, in Turkey by the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation dubbed in Turkish. In Pakistan, reruns were carried by
Pakistan Television Corporation Pakistan Television Corporation ( ur, ; reporting name: PTV) is the Pakistani state-owned broadcaster. Pakistan entered the television broadcasting age in 1964, with a pilot television station established at Lahore. Background Historical c ...
in its original form. In
Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
, reruns were carried by BTV in its original form. The series aired in the United Kingdom (on BBC1), Australia and New Zealand (on Channel 2, now called
TVNZ 2 TVNZ 2 ( mi, Te Reo Tātaki Rua) is the second New Zealand television channel owned and operated by the state-owned broadcaster Television New Zealand (TVNZ). It targets a younger audience than its sister channel, TVNZ 1. TVNZ 2's line up cons ...
) in its original form; reruns aired in Australia on 7TWO between March and October 2011 and in 2013. The series aired in
Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Maced ...
by BTV and in the
Bulgarian language Bulgarian (, ; bg, label=none, български, bălgarski, ) is an Eastern South Slavic language spoken in Southeastern Europe, primarily in Bulgaria. It is the language of the Bulgarians. Along with the closely related Macedonian la ...
; Bulgarians know Balki mostly as a Greek. It aired in the Philippines by
RPN 9 DZKB-TV, is the flagship TV station of Philippine television network Radio Philippines Network, the official affiliate of CNN Philippines. The station broadcasts in both channel 9 (VHF analog broadcast) and channel 19 (UHF digital test ...
in its original form, it aired with
Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walte ...
subtitles in Kuwait on KTV2 and in Lebanon on Télé Liban (TL). The series aired in Ireland by RTÉ on Network 2 in its original form. The series aired in '' Canada'' on ''
DejaView DejaView is a Canadian English language specialty television channel owned by Corus Entertainment. It primarily airs television shows from the 1970s to 2010s. History In November 2000, Global Television Network Inc. (then owned by Canwest) was g ...
'' channel 636. On September 29, 2017, ''Perfect Strangers'' became available for streaming on Hulu along with fellow Warner Bros. TV properties '' Family Matters'', '' Full House'', '' Hangin' with Mr. Cooper'' and '' Step by Step'', in addition to Disney-ABC TV properties ''
Boy Meets World ''Boy Meets World'' is an American coming-of-age sitcom created by Michael Jacobs and April Kelly that aired on ABC for seven seasons between September1993 and May2000. The series centers on Cory Matthews (Ben Savage) and his friends and fami ...
'', ''
Dinosaurs Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is the ...
'' and '' Home Improvement''. ''Perfect Strangers'' would leave Hulu on October 1, 2021.


Spinoff


''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 Payton Jo Marie Payton (born August 3, 1950) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her roles as Harriette Baines Winslow on the ABC/ CBS sitcom ''Family Matters'' (1989–1998), a role she originated on its forerunner series '' Perf ...
) in the role she originated on ''Perfect Strangers'' (Harriette was played by
Judyann Elder Judyann Elder (born Judith Ann Johnson) is an American actress, director, and writer. Elder played Nadine Waters on the FOX sitcom ''Martin''. She also played Harriette Winslow on CBS ''Family Matters'' for the remaining eight episodes of its ni ...
for the second half of season nine after Payton's departure), and her cop husband Carl (
Reginald VelJohnson Reginald VelJohnson (born Reginald VelJohnson; August 16, 1952) is an American actor. He is best known for playing police officer characters, such as Carl Winslow on the sitcom ''Family Matters,'' which ran from 1989 to 1998, and LAPD Sergeant ...
; 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 Winslows' annoying, accident-prone, budding inventor next-door neighbor
Steve Urkel Steven Quincy Urkel is a fictional character on the American ABC/ CBS sitcom ''Family Matters'', portrayed by Jaleel White. Originally slated to be a one-time-only character on the show, he broke out to be its most popular character and gradual ...
(
Jaleel White Jaleel Ahmad White (born November 27, 1976) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Steve Urkel on the sitcom ''Family Matters''. The character was originally intended to be a one-time guest appearance on the show; however, he wa ...
), was introduced midway through the show's first season. Neither ''Family Matters'' nor ''Perfect Strangers'' featured a direct crossover with the other, though Balki and Larry were originally scripted to appear in the pilot episode before the scene was cut from the broadcast. Mark Linn-Baker and Melanie Wilson each guest starred on the show, as a different character, and Linn-Baker directed another episode. Footage of the ''Chicago Chronicle'' building shot for ''Perfect Strangers'' appeared in the second episode of ''Family Matters'' and music originally written for ''Perfect Strangers'' was used during the early seasons of ''Family Matters'' as well. Several premises from popular episodes of ''Perfect Strangers'' ("Just Desserts", "Pipe Dreams" and "Blind Alley") were also recycled as first-season episodes of ''Family Matters'' ("Baker's Dozen", "Mr. Badwrench", and "Bowl Me Over", respectively).


Home media

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 Court'' on February 8, 2005 by Warner Home Video. In February 2008,
Warner Home Video Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc. (formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the home video distribution division of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Vide ...
released seasons 1 and 2 of ''Perfect Strangers'' on DVD in Regions 1, 2 & 4. Further planned season releases ultimately did not materialize. 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
a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without Musical instrument, instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differ ...
by Mark Linn-Baker and/or Bronson Pinchot's characters whenever the script called for Balki and/or Larry to sing within the episode. In July 2017, a representative for
Warner Archive Collection The Warner Archive Collection is a home video division for releasing classic and cult films from Warner Bros.' library. It started as a manufactured-on-demand (MOD) DVD series by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on March 23, 2009, with the inten ...
indicated on a social media post that the remainder of the series would be released on DVD, with a formal announcement to be made in the near future. The complete third season was released on April 17, 2018, with the next three seasons being released later the same year, and the last two released in 2019.


In popular culture

* Professional wrestling tag team
Edge & Christian Edge & Christian (E&C) were a Canadian professional wrestling tag team. They are best known for their time in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), later renamed World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) where they won the WWF Tag Team Championship on ...
referenced Balki in a backstage segment of the December 18, 2000 episode of ''
WWF Raw is War ''WWE Raw'', also known as ''Monday Night Raw'' or simply ''Raw'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE that currently airs live every Monday at 8 p.m. ET on the USA Network in the United States. The show fe ...
'', when Edge tells Christian "so that's why Balki is a perfect stranger". *''Perfect Strangers'' and star Mark Linn-Baker are referenced in the HBO TV series '' The Leftovers'', which takes place after a fictional global event called the "Sudden Departure," the inexplicable, simultaneous disappearance of 140 million people, 2% of the world's population. Within the show, the entire cast of ''Perfect Strangers'' has departed — except for Linn-Baker, who, it turns out, has faked his own departure. In Season 3 of ''The Leftovers'', a present-day Linn-Baker appears briefly as himself, and plays a direct role in the unfolding plotline. *In the ''
Master of None ''Master of None'' is an American comedy-drama streaming television series, which was released for streaming on November 6, 2015, on Netflix. The series was created by Aziz Ansari and Alan Yang, with the first two seasons starring Ansari in t ...
'' episode "Indians on TV", Dev (
Aziz Ansari Aziz Ismail Ansari (; born February 23, 1983) is an American actor and stand-up comedian. He is known for his role as Tom Haverford on the NBC series ''Parks and Recreation'' (2009–2015) and as creator and star of the Netflix series ''Maste ...
) and Ravi ( Ravi Patel) are offered the main roles in an Indian-centric remake of ''Perfect Strangers'', with the main characters being Darren the assimilated Indian-American, and Srikumar, his cousin from India. *Fellow ABC sitcom ''The Goldbergs'' paid homage to ''Perfect Strangers'' in the season six episode "Our Perfect Strangers," by re-creating the show's iconic opening sequence with a distant cousin, Gleb, who was visiting the family from Russia. *A 2019 Father's Day episode of the YouTube series ''
Pittsburgh Dad ''Pittsburgh Dad'' is an online series of short films featuring the observations of a "blue-collar" father from Pittsburgh who speaks with a thick Pittsburghese dialect. The series was created by Chris Preksta and Curt Wootton in 2011. Woott ...
'' has the titular character telling his offscreen wife Deb what a "perfect day" would be. It then cuts to a scene-for-scene remake of the ''Perfect Strangers'' open (set in Pittsburgh instead of Chicago) titled ''Perfect
Yinzer Yinzer is a 20th-century term playing on the Pittsburghese second-person plural vernacular "yinz." The word is used among people who identify themselves with the city of Pittsburgh and its traditions. History "Yinzer" (or "Yunzer") was histo ...
s'', complete with the ''Perfect Strangers'' theme song. The video featured Dad as Balki and longtime
WTAE-TV WTAE-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, affiliated with ABC. It has been owned by Hearst Television since the station's inception, making this one of two stations that have been built and signed ...
news anchor Sally Wiggin as Larry. (Coincidentally, being the market's ABC affiliate, WTAE-TV aired ''Perfect Strangers'' during its original run.) The opening credits features
Bill Cowher William Laird Cowher (born May 8, 1957) is an American sports analyst, former football player and coach. Following a six-year playing career as a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL), he served as a head coach in the NFL for 15 seaso ...
and ''
Terminator 2 ''Terminator 2: Judgment Day'' is a 1991 American science-fiction action film directed by James Cameron, who co-wrote the script with William Wisher. Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Robert Patrick, and Edward Furlong, it is t ...
'' as "guest stars" and even references "Cousin Balki" alongside " Whoever done the
Transformers movies ''Transformers'' is a series of science fiction action films based on the ''Transformers'' franchise of the 1980s. Michael Bay directed the first five films: ''Transformers'' (2007), '' Revenge of the Fallen'' (2009), '' Dark of the Moon'' (201 ...
" as "supervising producers".


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). *In the fall of 2006, the
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eight ...
n TV station
REN TV REN TV (russian: РЕН ТВ) is a Russian free-to-air television network, was founded on 1 January 1997 by Irena Lesnevskaya and her son, Dmitry Lesnevsky, who had been running REN TV as a production house for other national Russian television ...
launched a remake of ''Perfect Strangers'' featuring Andrei, from a remote former
Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
republic, who moves in with his cousin Ivan, a Moscow resident. *The show was aired 1988 until 1994 on
TVRI TVRI (, Television of the Republic of Indonesia), legally ( Public Broadcasting Institution Television of the Republic of Indonesia) is a public television network and the oldest television network in Indonesia. Its national headquarters is i ...
in Indonesia *From the late 1980s into the mid-1990s, the show was aired by Channel 2 in Saudi Arabia *In the
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
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 conquers 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), ''Напълно непознати'' (Bulgaria), ''Perfektni Pribuzni'' (Slovakia), ''Potpuni stranci'' (Croatia), ''Muhteşem İkili'' (Turkey).and "''Krovim rechokim meod (very distant relatives)''" (Israel).


Footnotes


References


External links

*
Perfect Strangers Online
{{MillerBoyett 1986 American television series debuts 1980s American sitcoms 1990s American sitcoms 1993 American television series endings American Broadcasting Company original programming English-language television shows Fictional duos Television duos Television series about cousins Television series about journalism Television series by Lorimar-Telepictures Television series by Lorimar Television Television shows set in Chicago TGIF (TV programming block)