Perfect Strangers – When Jennifer and Marry Anne Lost It

For seven plus years (1986–93), ABC entertained the American audience with the unique duo of distant cousins Larry Appleton (Mark Linn-Baker) and Balki Bartokomous (Bronson Pinchot) as protagonists of the sitcom Prefect Strangers. Viewers got to see the American culture and values through Balki’s unadulterated eyes of an immigrant from a fictitious Mediterranean island and the endless attempts of Larry , the ambitious Wisconsinite, to teach him the American way of living.

While the show’s first season of six episodes went without any romantic matches for the dudes, the second season brought in their girlfriends who would then stay until the curtains came down on the show…Jennifer (Melanie Wilson) as Larry’s girl and Mary Anne (Rebeca Arthur) as Balki’s sweetheart. Flight attendants by profession, both young women complemented the male lead characters and added to the show’s value both in substance and humor.

In contrast to the ever-clashing Balki and Larry, Jennifer and Mary Anne lived well within the bounds of friendliness and more often than not worked as a buffer between the cousins. But nobody is perfect, even in Perfect Strangers, and so the two besties were seen blowing a fuse a few times in the show. Here is a sorting of the usual instances when the girls had a cow between them (not to be taken literally) and how it was resolved.

1. Trouble in Paradise

In the second season’s episode Trouble in Paradise (episode 14), Larry and Balki asked Jennifer and Marry Anne over for dinner with Larry looking to turn it into an opportunity of expressing his feelings for Jennifer. But it was Jennifer who had to intervene and calm down the guys when they got into a heated argument over food. And while the guys got back to the dinner table, the girls got up and were at each other’s throats soon over mutual putdowns shot across the table. Thanks to Balki, the fight was over soon and everybody returned to the dinner table, though they would not be able to eat again.

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2. Just Desserts

Sweet by its name, the third season’s 15th episode Just Desserts started with the shared ambition of Larry, Jennifer, and Marry Anne to put Balki’s traditional dessert – the bibi-babkas – on the “culinary map” of the world (Larry’s phrasing). When Larry secures an order from a hotel to bake 2000 bibi-babkas in less than 48 hours, Balki and the girls get to work the dough and ditty (special Myposian song that must be sung while baking the patties) round the clock. Amid all the sleeplessness, fatigue, and irritation – what could go wrong between the girls? Just a little angry exchange over staying out of each other’s way before one of them storms out and the other follows suit. What goes wrong with the bibi-babkas because Larry has to roll up his sleeves and get the desserts ready all by himself takes the episode to its climax.

3. Good Skates

In the opening episode of Season 5, Good Skates, Jennifer and Marry Anne ask their Romeos to pledge money for a charity roller skating event. Seeing Jennifer shower praise on her friend Grant for fundraising by skating in a similar event, Larry – out of sheer jealousy – proclaims that he’ll skate for her too. Of course he has to learn first and Balky is glad to join him. At the event, when the skating session is in progress, Jennifer and Marry Anne cheer for Larry and Balky. And that’s when Jennifer, out of nowhere, gets pissed, telling her friend to cheer for Larry. Mary Anne’s reaction to the demand makes classic blonde joke of the ‘80s.

4. Three’s a Crowd

Before the fifth season ended, Jennifer and Marry Anne went off the deep end over a little game at Larry’s apartment. In the episode Three’s a Crowd (17th episode of the season), Marry Anne moves out following the argument with Jennifer. On Balki’s insistence, she stays with the guys and drives Larry crazy. He has to come up with a plan to reconcile the girls and thus reclaim his own life and apartment.

From friendly little remarks to full-blown fights, Perfect Strangers showed how to get over one’s ego and fill one’s daily life with the openness to improve one’s way of thinking and living. The blonde duo played their roles to perfection in this pursuit and made immortal memories.

About the Author

Screenwriter, editor, blogger, and reviewer Ernest Dempsey (pen name of Karim Khan), is the author of ScreenScope with Ernie, a critique of 50 movies in the sci-fi, horror, mystery, and thriller genres. He runs the movie review site Filmospheric and puts together the newsletter Filmphernalia.

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