Perfect Strangers is an American sitcom that ran for eight seasons from 1986 through 1993 on ABC. It chronicles the rocky coexistence of Larry Appleton (Mark Linn-Baker) and his distant cousin Balki Bartokomous (Bronson Pinchot). Originally airing on Tuesdays and then Wednesdays in prime time, the show eventually found its niche as an anchor for ABC's original TGIF Friday night lineup. It eventually produced a spin-off, Family Matters, in 1989.

Premise

The series chronicles the rocky coexistence of Larry Appleton (Mark Linn-Baker) and his distant cousin Balki Bartokomous (Bronson Pinchot). A Wisconsin native, Larry has just moved into a new apartment in Chicago when Balki, a hitherto unknown cousin from an island in the Mediterranean called Mypos, drops by to live with him. Balki, a sheepherder by trade, interprets what little he knows about the United States by relying on his own recollections of American pop culture, which are often out-of-context ("America... Land of my dreams, home of the Whopper"). Balki's signature is his "Dance of Joy", a cross between a Dosado and the Hokey Pokey that Balki performs in celebration of good fortune.