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Perfect Strangers was an American sitcom television series. It aired for eight seasons, from spring 1986 through summer 1993, on the ABC television network. Perfect Strangers was created by Dale McRaven. It starred Mark Linn-Baker (as Larry) and Bronson Pinchot (as Balki).
Perfect Strangers is a sitcom about the coexistence of an American midwesterner from Madison, Wisconsin, Larry Appleton, who had recently moved to Chicago in his 20s, and his distant cousin, Balki Bartokomous, who one day shows up on Larry's doorstep in Chicago from the tiny Mediterranean island country of Mypos, tired of sheepherding, and needing a place to stay in America.
Reluctantly allowing Balki to move in, Larry (an aspiring journalist and photographer) helps Balki (with no modern job skills other than sheepherding) get a job where he works, working for Donald Twinkacetti (their landlord) at Ritz Discount Stores.
They meet and become close with two female neighbors that live in their building, flight attendants Mary Anne Fenstermacher and Jennifer Lyons.
In season three, Larry and Balki leave their jobs at Ritz Discount Stores, having finally received job offers at the Chicago Chronicle. Larry starts as a researcher in the basement, while Balki is hired to work in the mailroom.
Over the next few seasons, their careers advance, as do their personal lives and Balki's acclimation to American culture.
By season six, Larry and Jennifer, and Balki and Mary Ann are in serious relationships.
In season seven, the four of them move into a large Victorian house. By the end of season seven, both couples have been married; the season seven finale reveals both couples expecting children.
The eighth and final season of Perfect Strangers focuses on the pregnancies of Jennifer and Mary Ann, and the adjustments the two couples are making to their new families. The show ends with the births of their two boys, Tucker (to Larry and Jennifer) and Robispierre (to Balki and Mary Ann).
By the end of the show, Balki has become a cartoonist at the Chicago Chronicle, and Larry has become an investigative reporter for the Chicago Chronicle.
The show was set in Chicago, Illinois, and filmed in Los Angeles.
The character Balki was known for odd quotes and sayings, often from his (fictional, but real in the show's universe) home country of Mypos, as well as his quirky interpretations of the English language, such as “You're scraping barnacles off the Titanic” and “I wash my face of the whole business.”
Perfect Strangers aired for eight seasons, from March 25, 1986 to August 6, 1993. The first and eighth seasons were abbreviated, with only six episodes each, while the other six seasons had full orders of episodes. Perfect Strangers ended its run with a total of 150 episodes.
The television sitcom Family Matters was a spinoff of Perfect Strangers, focusing on the family life of the elevator attendant at the Chicago Chronicle after she departs the Chronicle in the beginning of season five of Perfect Strangers. Family Matters aired from September 1989 until May 1998.
The opening theme song of the show, "Nothing's Gonna Stop Me Now," was performed by David Pomeranz.