Perfect Strangers: Life lessons we all cherish to this day
By Jamie Arfin
Issue date: 10/5/06 Section: Stranded
Sometimes the world is perfect. Nothing to rearrange. Sometimes you just get a feeling like you need some kind of change. Standing tall on the wings on the wings of my dream! Rise and fall on the wings of my dream! Rain and thunder, wind and haze, I'm bound for better days! It's my life, It's my dream, nothing's gonna stop me now.
What inspirational words. It is a shame that TV theme songs don't present us with the same sort of motivational messages that they once did. I vividly recall howling with laughter at Bronson Pinchot's hilarious portrayal of cousin Balki as I watched TV with my family in the late 80s.
"Well feed me garlic and call me stinky!" was one of my father's favourite quotes. Perfect Strangers features Balki (the idealistic Sheppard from the fictitious Mediterranean Isle of Mypos) coming to Chicago to live with his neurotic and completely stressed out cousin, Larry Appleton, played by Mark Linn-Baker.
The message of the show for me was simple; people who are very different from each other can comically complement one another. They can balance each other out. In fact, it is our differences that make us unique and special. Who wants to hang out with a bunch of people who are exactly the same as them? Definitely not cousin Balki and cousin Larry! Perfect Strangers shows how two men from completely different cultures can come together and create slapstick comedy that delighted families everywhere from 1986-1993.
Where are they now? Unfortunately Bronson Pinchot has completely sold out to the one of the crappier shows on reality television. He appeared on season five of The Surreal Life alongside Pepa (of Salt n Pepa), Jose Canseco, and Janice Dickinson.
As for Mark-Linn Baker, your guess is as good as mine. Apparently he directed certain episodes of various other sitcoms of the era such as Hangin' with Mr. Cooper and Family Matters.
No matter where these two actors are or what they have become, they have something pretty huge on their side: Perfect Strangers. A great achievement in 80s sitcom television and a memory I will forever cherish.
What inspirational words. It is a shame that TV theme songs don't present us with the same sort of motivational messages that they once did. I vividly recall howling with laughter at Bronson Pinchot's hilarious portrayal of cousin Balki as I watched TV with my family in the late 80s.
"Well feed me garlic and call me stinky!" was one of my father's favourite quotes. Perfect Strangers features Balki (the idealistic Sheppard from the fictitious Mediterranean Isle of Mypos) coming to Chicago to live with his neurotic and completely stressed out cousin, Larry Appleton, played by Mark Linn-Baker.
The message of the show for me was simple; people who are very different from each other can comically complement one another. They can balance each other out. In fact, it is our differences that make us unique and special. Who wants to hang out with a bunch of people who are exactly the same as them? Definitely not cousin Balki and cousin Larry! Perfect Strangers shows how two men from completely different cultures can come together and create slapstick comedy that delighted families everywhere from 1986-1993.
Where are they now? Unfortunately Bronson Pinchot has completely sold out to the one of the crappier shows on reality television. He appeared on season five of The Surreal Life alongside Pepa (of Salt n Pepa), Jose Canseco, and Janice Dickinson.
As for Mark-Linn Baker, your guess is as good as mine. Apparently he directed certain episodes of various other sitcoms of the era such as Hangin' with Mr. Cooper and Family Matters.
No matter where these two actors are or what they have become, they have something pretty huge on their side: Perfect Strangers. A great achievement in 80s sitcom television and a memory I will forever cherish.
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