Product Description

Welcome to Chicago, Balki Bartokomous! The professional sheepherder from the tiny island of Mypos won't find many woolly quadrupeds in the Windy City, but he will find pop-top soda cans. Singles bars. Color TV. Mobsters. Game shows. Pink lemonade (how'd they get pink lemons?). And many more modern oddities sure to amaze the man from Mypos. Bronson Pinchot portrays Balki and Mark Linn-Baker plays his stateside cousin and long-suffering roommate in Perfect Strangers, the hilarious culture-clash comedy that delighted fans for eight hit seasons with its mix of slapstick and insight. Should you miss a single laugh in this complete, 28-episode, 4-disc Season One/Two collection? Don't be ridikalus!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4350 in DVD
• Brand: Warner Brothers
• Released on: 2008-02-05
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, French
• Number of discs: 4
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 700 minutes

Features

• Welcome to Chicago, Balki Bartokomous! The professional sheepherder from the tiny island of Mypos won't find many woolly quadrupeds in the Windy City, but he will find pop-top soda cans. Singles bars. Color TV. Mobsters. Game shows. Pink lemonade (how'd they get pink lemons?). And many more modern oddities sure to amaze the man from Mypos. Bronson Pinchot portrays Balki and Mark Linn-Baker plays h

Amazon.com
Relying on the tried-but-true odd-couple set up, Perfect Strangers focuses on the comical lives of Larry Appleton (Mark Linn-Baker) and Balki Bartokomous (Bronson Pinchot). Larry is an uptight American who has moved away from his family's Wisconsin home for his own apartment in Chicago. His life is changed forever when his childlike cousin Balki--a sheepherder from the fictional island of Mypos--shows up on his doorstep with the goal of becoming a U.S. citizen. A hit sitcom for ABC that ran from 1986 to 1993, Perfect Strangers offers some heartwarming storylines, a few laughs, and some genuine chemistry between the two leads. The first few years of the comedy are among the show's best, as Larry and Balki get accustomed to each other's ways. Linn-Baker plays the straight man who sets Pinchot up to deliver the best lines. While Pinchot definitely has the showier "fish out of water" part--and "Don't be ridiculous!" tag line that became a catchphrase for a year or two--Linn-Baker creates the more relatable character. He's working in a small shop, but his dream is to become a photojournalist. The show actually does a nice job of making sure Larry never loses sight of his goals, even as Balki is dragging him from one adventure to another. The four-disc DVD set includes all six episodes from the first mini season, as well as 22 episodes from the show's second full season. Other than a "Dance of Joy" extra--which includes a montage of dance clips from the first two seasons--there are no special featurettes. Fans of high definition may be disappointed by the video transfer, which clearly dates the series. At its worst, Perfect Strangers is an outdated show that isn't as funny as it thinks it is. But at its best, it projects giddy innocence and is easy viewing. Flash-forward to 2005 when Pinchot is throwing himself at Janice Dickinson on the reality series The Surreal Life: Now that's not easy to watch. --Jae-Ha Kim

Customer Reviews

Great show makes its belated appearance on DVD
Perfect Strangers debuted to high ratings and critical praise in March 1986. Comfortably nestled between Who's the Boss? and Moonlighting on ABC's Tuesday night lineup while Growing Pains took a break, Perfect Strangers was hailed by critics as a refreshing blend of witty humor and slapstick delivery. Co-stars Mark Linn-Baker (Larry Appleton) and Bronson Pinchot (Balki Bartokomous) were lauded for their unmatched chemistry and comic talent. Comic legend Lucille Ball called it her favorite comedy. The show returned in the fall of 1986 on Wednesday nights paired with Head Of The Class, and continued to win its time slot. (It would be at least another two years before Perfect Strangers would become the centerpiece of ABC's TGIF Friday night lineup.)

The new DVD box set from Warner Bros. containing the first two seasons of the hit series allows longtime fans and newcomers alike to rediscover this wonderful, often overlooked sitcom gem from the 1980s. The premise of the series is simple and attractive. At the start of the pilot episode, Larry had just moved from his crowded childhood home in Madison, Wisconsin, to an apartment in Chicago, where he planned to make it as a photojournalist. To pay his bills, he found a job working at a discount store for the heartless Mr. Twinkacetti. One evening, a distant cousin shows up at his door, bearing his possessions in a box mislabeled "America or Burst." Balki has made his way from the Mediterranean island country of Mypos to start a new life in America. Unfortunately, there aren't many jobs in Chicago for sheepherders, so Larry lets Balki move in with him until he can get settled.

Balki innocently sees America through a scattered and chaotic series of images and slogans he has picked up along the way. "America, land of my dreams, home of the Whopper!" he exclaims. When he finds out he is in debt, Balki proudly asserts "now I am a true American." He may not realize that groveling is not the proper way to pick up American women, but he is a virtual encyclopedia of references to stars from Telly Savalas to Bo Derek. And then there's his weakness for Wayne Newton, the most popular singer on Mypos.

Larry views himself as the person to educate the naive but big-hearted Balki in the complex ways of American life. In various episodes, Larry attempts to teach his cousin about everything from dating and opening a checking account to driving a car and joining a "healthy club." But Larry is not as schooled in the ways of life as he likes to portray himself. When Larry's big ideas inevitably lead to chaos, it is often Balki that gives Larry a useful nugget of wisdom. This is the true strength of the show - for all the talk of Perfect Strangers being about a zany immigrant, the show is at its core about two people from different backgrounds who become inseparable when they discover how much they really need each other.

The box set contains all six episodes from the spring 1986 run, and the 22 episodes comprising the 1986-87 season. The packaging is colorful and informative, as the plastic slipcases give episode titles, writer and director information, airdates, and witty blurbs about each episode plot. Thankfully, all episodes appear to be uncut, so they can be watched as they were originally seen on ABC. Even the original Lorimar-Telepictures logo at the end of each episode is preserved. And for those of you who have endured the WKRP DVD debacle, it should be noted that all the music appears to be intact. Balki sings a number of songs in the episodes, from Tina Turner's "What's Love Got To Do With It" to Dolly Parton's "9 To 5," and they're all here.

One significant criticism is that the episodes do not appear to have been remastered from the original film, but rather taken from a video master. Although the picture quality is less than ideal given the potential of the DVD format, the look is still equal to if not superior to what has been available in syndication or on AOL's In2TV.

In the end, this DVD set is a must buy. This show is quite addictive, and it gets even better as the seasons roll on. Early in Season Two, we are introduced to Jennifer Lyons (Melanie Wilson) and Mary Anne Spencer (Rebeca Arthur), who will continue as Larry and Balki's love interests, respectively, throughout the rest of the series. Larry and Balki remain working for Twinkacetti at Ritz Discount during the first two seasons in this set, although they are constantly chafing to do something more. At the beginning of Season Three, the two of them get jobs in the basement of the Chicago Chronicle, where Larry cuts his teeth as a cub reporter and Balki works in the mailroom. On the home front that same season they are seen in a new apartment where Balki has his own room and no longer has to sleep on the sofa. (Many have commented on the fact that the move was never explictly referenced in the show, and that Jennifer and Mary Anne were still their neighbors even in the new apartment building - but we'll leave those controversies for the Season Three review!)

If enough people buy Seasons One and Two, Warner Bros. hopefully will release Season Three in the near future, and the fun will continue!

Hey, Warner Bros. Release it already!
Ålong with "All in the Family", "Good Times" & "Night Court", this was one of my favorite shows growing up in the 80s. Sadly, it's difficult even to find re-runs of this show nowadays. Fortunately, I have some episodes on tape from back then, but what about releasing the classic first season on DVD, Warner Brothers? What's wrong with you guys? I'm witnessing many other shows getting released before "Perfect Strangers".
I'll admit that the show fell into a slow decline by season 5, and when they moved out of the apartment and into that house by season 7, the show completely fell apart. However, the first four seasons are killer. I discovered the show by accident early in season 2 and fell in love with it.
Classic episodes besides the hilarious first two; Gina's baby, Balki & baseball, Meeting Jennifer & Mary Anne, Las Vegas, Balki's dream, the Mypos diet, Balki's cable TV addiction, the Ex-Con photographer & moving Lydia's piano. Yo, Warner Brothers, get on the ball and release this show on DVD so all us fans can re-live these moments......thank God they finally did. Can't wait for season three, let's hope.

What is going on?
I've been looking on Amazon for over 2 years to see when they might release this classic show. Alright already. As much as I love "Seinfeld" and "Everybody Loves Raymond," I can watch them on multiple TV channels on re-run and don't need to purchase the DVD. Things are looking more hopeful for a possible release date. I hope this is true. I have 3 or 4 BETA tapes full of these episodes but can no longer watch them because I no longer have a BETA player. Warner Bros., don't be ridiculous - RELEASE, RELEASE, RELEASE! Or the lot of us crazed fans will walk onto the Warner stuio lot in protest! Standin' tall on the wings of my dream! Come on everyone, join me in singing. :)