The BEST Episodes of Perfect Strangers
Every episode ever - ranked by fan votes!
Last Updated: Jun 25, 2020
Network: ABC (US)
The series chronicles the rocky coexistence of Larry Appleton and his distant cousin Balki Bartokomous. A Wisconsin native, Larry, who comes from a large family with numerous brothers and sisters, has just moved into a new apartment in Chicago, and is experiencing his first joys of newfound privacy when Balki, a hitherto unknown cousin from a Greek-like island in the Mediterranean called Mypos, drops by to live with him. Balki, a shepherd 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. After initially gently rebuffing his cousin's request to stay at his apartment, Larry, an aspiring photographer, decides to take Balki under his wing and teach him about American life...
#1 - Happy Birthday, Baby
Season 1 - Episode 6 - Aired Apr 29, 1986
Larry is miserable on his 24th birthday after he blew a photo opportunity. So Balki tries to throw him a last minute surprise birthday party for him to cheer him up.
8.75 
#2 - Get Me to the Dump on Time (2)
Season 7 - Episode 24 - Aired Apr 18, 1992
According to a sacred Myposian custom, Balki and Mary Anne must be married within 24 hours and they get everything ready. Larry feels left out of the duties so Balki makes him his best man and the guardian of his Myposian marriage necklace which he must have during the ceremony, but Larry accidentally throws it out. So Larry and Balki search the dump for it and eventually find it and Balki and Mary Anne finally get married.
8.40 
#3 - Pipe Dreams
Season 3 - Episode 17 - Aired Feb 10, 1988
Jennifer asks Larry if he can call a plumber for her to fix her shower head while she's away. Larry decides that to impress her he'll fix it himself and as Larry and Balki try and put everything together, things go extremely wrong and they end up flooding Jennifer and Mary Anne's bathroom.
8.33 
#4 - Tux for Two
Season 2 - Episode 16 - Aired Feb 4, 1987
Larry has been invited to a formal party for a photographer he idolizes but Balki's honest opinions embarrass Larry.
8.12 
#5 - Ladies and Germs
Season 2 - Episode 4 - Aired Oct 15, 1986
Larry has a date with a beauty queen but after going to the hospital to visit Mr. Twinkacetti (who has broken his leg), he catches a cold and when Balki tries to cure him with a secret Myposian cure, he ends up sleeping for three days.
8.00 
#6 - Trouble in Paradise
Season 2 - Episode 14 - Aired Jan 21, 1987
Larry and Balki invite Jennifer and Mary Anne over for dinner but cannot agree on what to serve which cases a rift between them and eventually a rift between Jennifer and Mary Anne.
8.00 
#7 - Door to Door
Season 7 - Episode 4 - Aired Oct 11, 1991
Larry and Balki get part time jobs to earn extra money. Balki tries stuffing teddy bears, but Larry asks for his help with door to door selling cleaning products. However, Larry is determined to go to a mansion and sell lots of products instead of going door to door with disastrous results.
8.00 #8 - The Elevator
Season 7 - Episode 18 - Aired Mar 14, 1992
Larry decides to impress Mr. Wainwright by enlisting himself and Balki to move his brand new oversized couch up the elevator to his office while the elevator is under repair.
8.00 #9 - ...Or Get Off the Pot (1)
Season 7 - Episode 21 - Aired Apr 4, 1992
Mary Anne has been hinting at Balki to propose to her and he has failed one too many times so she threatens to move out. Larry talks to Balki and tries to get him to realize but do to mis-communication, Balki thinks that Jennifer's in love with him and Mary Anne is going to die. But in all the confusion, Mary Anne move out.
8.00 
#10 - Up a Lazy River (2)
Season 4 - Episode 7 - Aired Nov 25, 1988
After the river takes them on a wild ride, The four end up lost in the woods. Hoping that Larry can regain Jennifer's respect, he talks Balki into letting him lead them back to the camp site but they end up walking for five hours in a circle. Later, Larry and Balki almost drown in quicksand and in the evening, they get attacked by a bear.
7.94 
#11 - Baby, You Can Drive My Car
Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired Apr 15, 1986
Balki wants to get his driver's license but Mr. Twinkacetti doesn't think he can do it. But Larry is so confident that he can, that he bets $50 and offers Balki his car.
7.93 
#12 - Hunks Like Us
Season 2 - Episode 2 - Aired Sep 24, 1986
Larry decides to join a health club after having the hots for a member named Jennifer. But he thinks she's only interested in jocks and pretends to be one. Balki goes with him and picks up a woman right away who happens to be Jennifer's best friend Mary Anne.
7.93 
#13 - Beautiful Dreamer
Season 2 - Episode 15 - Aired Jan 28, 1987
Balki hasn't been sleeping due to a nightmare that has been haunting him about him not being able to help out at harvest season back on Mypos.
7.93 
#14 - Just Desserts
Season 3 - Episode 16 - Aired Feb 3, 1988
After Balki serves Larry, Jennifer, and Mary Anne some ""bibi-bobkas"" (Mypoian cream puffs), Larry suggests selling them but baking them cannot be rushed.
7.92 
#15 - Just a Gigolo
Season 4 - Episode 19 - Aired Mar 31, 1989
Lydia is miserable when her boyfriend dumped her so Balki uses his match-making skills to fix Lydia up with a man who turns out to be a gigolo who married wealthy women, takes their money and leaves them.
7.92 
#16 - The Break Up
Season 6 - Episode 3 - Aired Oct 12, 1990
Jennifer was asked out on a date by an old boyfriend and checked with Larry first. But he agreed thinking that's what she wanted but she really wanted to know here their relationship is going. Confused, She breaks up with Larry who is too scared to tell her how he really feels but they eventually end up getting engaged.
7.92 
#17 - Babes in Babylon
Season 2 - Episode 6 - Aired Oct 29, 1986
Larry and Balki win a trip to Las Vegas. When they get there, Larry plans out what to do for their entire trip to prevent Balki from going to the casinos and becoming a compulsive gambler. Balki eventually talks him into it and after Balki has a string of good luck playing roulette, Larry starts playing and won't stop.
7.91 
#18 - Bachelor Party
Season 7 - Episode 1 - Aired Sep 20, 1991
As the best man at Larry's upcoming wedding, Balki is tricked by Mr. Gorpley into throwing a bachelor party and when Mr. Gorpley show up at the party, he spikes the punch and hires a stripper and Jennifer finds out.
7.91 
#19 - The Sunshine Boys
Season 6 - Episode 11 - Aired Dec 7, 1990
Larry's popular high school rival Bunky McDermott comes to see him and invites him and Balki to a formal dinner party and make him a member of his popular club. Larry is so excited and lies to Bunky about going to the Caribbean but to convince him, Larry and Balki spend some time in a tanning bed and end up getting sunburned.
7.90 
#20 - Speak, Memory
Season 6 - Episode 17 - Aired Feb 8, 1991
Jennifer's mother comes to town and wants to meet Larry, and Jennifer doesn't think that her mother will approve of her marrying him. Later on, Larry falls down the stairs at the Chronicle and gets amnesia which last during the dinner where Larry meets Mrs. Lyons.
7.90 
#21 - A Christmas Story
Season 2 - Episode 11 - Aired Dec 17, 1986
Larry and Balki are snowed in Chicago on Christmas Eve which means they can't go to Madison to see Larry's family. So Larry is miserable until Balki spreads some Christmas cheer his way.
7.89 
#22 - The Pen Pal
Season 3 - Episode 15 - Aired Jan 27, 1988
Vince Lucas the racketeer that Larry and Balki testified against has been paroled and Balki invites him into their apartment after writing to him ever since he went to prison. Even though he threatened them, Balki trusts him but Larry's too scared.
7.89 
#23 - The Lottery
Season 4 - Episode 1 - Aired Oct 14, 1988
Balki insists on buying a lottery ticket but Larry thinks that it is just a waste of money for something that can't possibly win. But during the draws, Larry realizes that Balki picked the right numbers and won 28 million dollars but Balki can't remember where he hid the ticket.
7.88 
#24 - The Graduate
Season 3 - Episode 19 - Aired Mar 9, 1988
Balki manages to graduate night school at the top of his class but soon finds out that there is no graduation ceremony. So Larry talks to the principal and arranges one.
7.86 #25 - It Had to Be You (1)
Season 7 - Episode 23 - Aired Apr 18, 1992
Balki has been having so many dates in the past two weeks and Jennifer thinks he still misses Mary Anne but Larry refuses to believe it. Later on, Balki meets the woman of his dreams who is identical to Mary Anne, and they later discover that Mary Anne is dating a man identical to Balki. Balki and Mary Anne don't seem to realize what's going on for a while, but when they do, they end up getting engaged.
7.86