THE FRIDAY FIVE: Top 5 TV News Stories of the Week Ending 3/25/22

Here's a look at the Top 5 TV news stories of the week! I will be taking a two week Spring Break from the blog so posts will return on April 11!

#1 - OSCARS PREVIEW

This Sunday is the Oscars and while this is a TV blog and I don't really watch movies (I have only seen West Side Story of the nominated films), this is a big TV event. The Oscars are trying to rebound from last year's record low ratings in one of the many pandemic-tinged awards show. This ceremony looks to be closer to normal though it has courted controversy with the removal of certain categories from the main telecast. It also has an interesting list of presenters that includes not as much big time movie stars as other years with more focus on "young and hip" presenters. We'll see if all of this works out but if the ratings go up, I think it's more a reflection of "back to normal" than the changes made. If they go down... yikes. Some of the odds on favorites include Coda for Best Picture after a very successful run through the guilds, Will Smith for Lead Actor for King Richard and Ariana DeBose for Supporting Actress for West Side Story.

EPISODE GUIDES: A Recap of Perfect Strangers

Here is a look at all eight seasons of Perfect Strangers including the ultimate countdown of the best and worst episodes!

PERFECT STRANGERS

March 25, 1986 - August 6, 1993

150 episodes

Starring

Bronson Pinchot as Balki Bartokomous (150 episodes)

Mark Linn-Baker as Larry Appleton (150 episodes)

Melanie Wilson as Jennifer Lyons (103 episodes)

Rebeca Arthur as Mary Anne Spencer (94 episodes)

Ernie Sabella as Donald Twinkacetti (21 episodes)

Lise Cutter as Susan Campbell (8 episodes)

Belita Moreno as Lydia (41 episodes)

Sam Anderson as Sam Gorpley (37 episodes)

Jo Marie Payton as Harriette Winslow (33 episodes)

F.J. O'Neil as Mr. Wainwright (19 episodes)

Belita Moreno as Edwina Twinkacetti (5 episodes)

Season by Season Ratings:

Reminder: 9-10 is Exceptional, 7-8 is Strong, 5-6 is OK, 3-4 is Mediocre, 0-2 is Terrible

Season One (1986): 6.4/10

Season Two (1986-87): 5.4/10

Season Three (1987-88): 5.3/10

Season Four (1988-89): 5.8/10

Season Five (1989-90): 6.3/10

Season Six (1990-91): 5.9/10

Season Seven (1991-92): 5.1/10

Season Eight (1993): 6.1/10

AVERAGE RATING FOR ALL EIGHT SEASONS:

5.7/10

Top 25 Episodes

Reminder: 9-10 is Exceptional, 7-8 is Strong, 5-6 is OK, 3-4 is Mediocre, 0-2 is Terrible

25. "Digging Up the News" (Season 5, Episode 96) - 8/10

24. "Grandpa" (Season 6, Episode 110) - 8/10

23. "Hello, Ball" (Season 5, Episode 81) - 8/10

22. "Because They're Cousins" (Season 5, Episode 85) - 8/10

21. "Weekend at Ferdinand's" (Season 7, Episode 124) - 8/10

20. "Blind Alley" (Season 4, Episode 65) - 8/10

19. "The Men Who Knew Too Much" Part 1 (Season 6, Episode 103) - 8/10

18. "The Wedding" (Season 7, Episode 122) - 8/10

17. "Assertive Training" (Season 4, Episode 52) - 8/10

16. "Check This" (Season 1, Episode 5) - 8/10

15. "Snow Way to Treat a Lady" Part 1 (Season 2, Episode 24) - 8/10

14. "Disorderly Orderlies" (Season 5, Episode 86) - 8/10

13. "Tooth or Consequences" (Season 5, Episode 76) - 8.5/10

12. "Father Knows Best??" Part 1 (Season 5, Episode 79) - 8.5/10

11. "Future Shock" (Season 3, Episode 37) - 8.5/10

10. "Nightmare Vacation" (Season 5, Episode 88) - 8.5/10

9. "Get Me to the Dump on Time" (Season 7, Episode 144) - 8.5/10

8. "Out of Sync" (Season 6, Episode 114) - 8.5/10

7. "Snow Way to Treat a Lady" Part 2 (Season 2, Episode 25) - 8.5/10

6. "Wedding Belle Blues" (Season 4, Episode 72) - 8.5/10

5. "Falling in Love Is..." (Season 2, Episode 13) - 9/10

4. "I Saw This on TV" (Season 6, Episode 112) - 9/10

3. "A Catered Affair" (Season 6, Episode 117) - 9/10

2. "Maid to Order" (Season 4, Episode 60) - 9/10

And the Best Perfect Strangers Episode of All Time is...

1. "Crimebusters" (Season 4, Episode 62) - 9/10

Bottom 10 Episodes

Reminder: 9-10 is Exceptional, 7-8 is Strong, 5-6 is OK, 3-4 is Mediocre, 0-2 is Terrible

10. "Aliens" (Season 4, Episode 53) - 2/10

9. "Hocus Pocus" (Season 6, Episode 108) - 2/10

8. "Going Once, Going Twice" (Season 7, Episode 135) - 1.5/10

7. "Family Feud" (Season 6, Episode 101) - 1.5/10

6. "Citizenship" Part 1 (Season 7, Episode 127) - 1.5/10

5. "The Karate Kids" (Season 3, Episode 35) - 1.5/10

4. "That Old Gang of Mine" (Season 4, Episode 61) - 1.5/10

3. "Sexual Harassment in Chicago" (Season 3, Episode 31) - 1.5/10

2. "Fright Night" (Season 7, Episode 125) - 1/10

And the Worst Perfect Strangers Episode of All Time is...

1. "Yes Sir, That's My Baby" (Season 7, Episode 136) - 0.5/10

Tomorrow: The Friday Five - Top 5 TV News Stories of the week!

Thursday in Three Weeks: A look at the first season of Happy Days!

ONE SEASON WONDERS: The Building

On Wednesdays, I take a look at a series that lasted one season or less. This week, I am looking at The Building!

THE BUILDING

August 20, 1993 - September 17, 1993
5 episodes
CBS

Starring: Bonnie Hunt, Michael G. Hagerty, Richard Kuhlman, Don Lake, Tom Virtue and Holly Wortell

Created by: Bonnie Hunt

Plot: Bonnie Kennedy (Hunt) is an actress who moves back to Chicago after a breakup. She deals with friends and neighbors in an apartment building across from Wrigley Field including best friend, Holly (Wortell), downstairs neighbors Brand and Stan (Lake & Virtue), maintenance man Big Tony (Kuhlman) and bar owner Finely (Hagerty).

Brief Pilot Review:

I'll start by saying that the setting for this show is really fun. Bonnie Hunt was always inclined to make Chicago a character on her vehicles and it doesn't get more Chicago than being set at an apartment building across from Wrigley Field (where you can see the stadium outside Bonnie's window). Hunt also has a very specific brand of comedy and I think it can be a little jarring to watch at first because it doesn't flow exactly the way a standard sitcom would. It feels a little more off the cuff because a lot of her background was in improv. I'm all for improv in TV sitcoms but I've just never found Hunt's brand of improv to be particularly funny. It's all observational and it feels loose, but it's lacking in humor and actual jokes. It felt like a rehearsal where things are being tried out instead of a finished product.

TOP 10 TUESDAY: Top 10 The Mary Tyler Moore Show Characters

My Top 10 this week is Top 10 The Mary Tyler Moore Show Characters. This is my all time #1 show so it was a list I took quite seriously!

10. GORDY HOWARD

The Mary Tyler Moore Show only had eight regular characters during its run and back in those days, recurring characters on shows were few and far between. One of the few was Gordy the weatherman played by John Amos before he hit in big with Good Times and Roots. Gordy was always good for a few quips and the show occasionally dabbled with him being the only black character in a white sitcom/ensemble. I'm sure he would have had more to do if the show was made today but he made the most of his limited opportunities.

9. IDA MORGENSTERN

Nancy Walker only appeared in four episodes of The Mary Tyler Moore Show but boy did she make her presence known in a role she then shined in on Rhoda too. Her first two appearances ("Support Your Local Mother" and "A Girl's Best Friend is Not Her Mother") are among the all-time best episodes of the series. Walker's mama bear persona mixed with some serious bite and passive-aggressiveness created a hilarious character to interact with both Rhoda and Mary.

SCHEDULES OF THE PAST: 1993-1994 Fridays

On Mondays, I take a look at schedules from yesteryear. Here's a look at Fridays in the 1993-94 season! After this week, the blog will be taking a two week spring break!

ABC	8:00	8:30	9:00	9:30	10:00
Sep	Family Matters	Boy Meets World	Step by Step	Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper	20/20
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr				Sister, Sister
May

Since TGIF launched on ABC in 1989, they had some things that worked and some things that didn't on the night but the 1993-94 season gave them the winning formula with four sitcoms that would air for much of the next three seasons on the night. Family Matters continued leading off at 8pm as the highest rated show of the block while the other returning show on the night, Step by Step, slid half an hour back to become the 9pm anchor. A new show launched in between them. Boy Meets World starred Ben Savage as a sixth grader (at the start of the series) and became a beloved show in the block. Savage arrived on ABC just months after his older brother, Fred, ended his run on The Wonder Years on the same network. Meanwhile at 9:30pm, Hangin' with Mr. Cooper moved over from Tuesdays. The series went through an overhaul for its second season with the addition of Nell Carter and Raven-Symone to the cast among others. It made a lot more sense as a Friday show for ABC. Late in the season, it went on a hiatus to make room for Sister, Sister, a comedy starring Tia and Tamera Mowry as twins who were separated at birth. The series did enough to get a second season but there wasn't a place for it on TGIF. As usual, 20/20 wrapped things up at 10pm.

THE FRIDAY FIVE: Top 5 TV News Stories of the Week Ending 3/18/22

Here's a look at the Top 5 TV news stories of the week!

#1 - CRITICS' CHOICE AWARDS

The Critics' Choice Awards were held on Sunday after the Omicron variant delayed a planned January date. As we march towards Emmy season, there were some expected winners and a few surprises. To no one's surprise, top honors went to Succession and Ted Lasso while other non-surprising winners were Kate Winslet and Mare of Easttown and a comedy acting quartet of Jason Sudeikis, Jean Smart, Brett Goldstein and Hannah Waddingham. Just as with the SAG Awards, Lee Jung-jae of Squid Game triumphed over Succession's Jeremy Strong and Brian Cox who may be victims of some vote splitting. Melanie Lynskey of Yellowjackets pulled off a big win in the Drama Lead Actress category while The White Lotus went two for two in the Supporting categories for Limited Series with Murray Bartlett and Jennifer Coolidge winning. This might bode well as Mare of Easttown gets out of the mix soon since it was part of the last Emmy season.

EPISODE GUIDES: Perfect Strangers Season Eight

On Thursdays, I take a detailed and critical look at a TV show. Here's a look at the short eighth and final season of Perfect Strangers!

PERFECT STRANGERS: SEASON EIGHT
1993

6 episodes

The final season of Perfect Strangers is an abbreviated one with only six episodes and it aired more than a year after the seventh season. It's hard to know what would have happened over a full season but being only six episodes and with a clear focus (the pregnancies of Jennifer and Mary Anne), the series does have a stronger end to the season than it appeared heading towards with the underwhelming seventh season. Several recurring actors from previous seasons like Sam Anderson, Belita Moreno and F.J. O'Neil do not appear at all.

Starring

Bronson Pinchot as Balki Bartokomous (6 episodes)
Mark Linn-Baker as Larry Appleton (6 episodes)
Melanie Wilson as Jennifer Lyons-Appleton (6 episodes)
Rebecca Arthur as Mary Anne Spencer-Bartokomous (6 episodes)

145. The Baby Shower (7/9/93)

After Balki and Mary Anne return from their honeymoon, Larry and Balki try a Myposian cure for Jennifer's uncomfortable pregnancy symptoms.

The final season picks up about six months after the season six finale and Jennifer is now very pregnant. And because we live in sitcomland, it turns out Mary Anne is pregnant too! While the stuff with the women and the differences in how they handle pregnancy is pretty funny, this episode seemed committed to mostly being about Larry and Balki experiencing the side effects of the drug Balki suggests to help Jennifer. It's fine but now it's eight seasons into the show and I've seen enough episodes of the two main characters acting ridiculous. I think this show is one of the longest to run and never really change or evolve the characters.

RATING: 6.5/10

146. After Hours (7/16/93)

While looking for a gift for Jennifer, Balki and Larry get trapped in a department store after they close.

Surprise, surprise. Larry and Balki find themselves in a sticky situation yet again. The problem this deep into the series is that it just doesn't seem like Bronson Pinchot and Mark Linn-Baker are enjoying themselves much anymore in these plots. Continuing on from my commentary for the last episode, I think this show could have evolved. I know it was a silly 80s-90s TGIF show but that doesn't mean the show had to be as static as it was. As a result, things that worked in the first couple seasons don't work now. There are hints of it being a different show, especially in the scenes with the wives. But other times it seems perfectly content to coast on what made it popular in the first place.

RATING: 5/10

ONE SEASON WONDERS: The Sinbad Show

On Wednesdays, I take a look at a series that lasted one season or less. This week, I am looking at The Sinbad Show!

THE SINBAD SHOW

September 16, 1993 - April 21, 1994

24 episodes

FOX

Starring: Sinbad, T.K. Carter, Salma Hayek, Erin Davis, Willie Norwood
Created by: Gary Murphy & Larry Strawther & Sinbad

Plot: David Bryan (Sinbad) is a bachelor who decides to adopt two orphaned children, Zana & L.J. (Davis & Norwood) while still hanging out with his friend, Clarence (Carter).

Brief Pilot Review:

Sinbad is not a comedian I'm very familiar with. I haven't watched any of his stand-up or really seen him in anything aside from passing clips over the years. Watching this pilot, I don't feel like I missed much. I found Sinbad to be harmless at best and pretty annoying at worst. The studio audience seemed to disagree with me though. They really loved anytime Sinbad did anything remotely resembling a physical gag. I can deal with rowdy studio audiences but not when I feel like the enthusiasm is completely unearned and that was the case here. T.K. Carter was probably the funniest part of the pilot while a young Salma Hayek (who was in the credits but did not turn into a series regular) was fine but not used much.

TOP 10 TUESDAY: Top 10 Superstore Characters

My Top 10 this week is Top 10 Superstore Characters!

10. KELLY WATSON

Superstore shares a lot of similarities with The Office and Kelly is certainly the Karen Filipelli of this show. She got a little bit of a bad rap for coming in between the main love story on the show through no fault of her own. I liked that she still held her own and they made her a teeny bit crazy but enough of her own personality and not just a cog in the Amy-Jonah story. Kelly Stables played it well.

9. BO THOMPSON

Bo was such a great "small dose" character. Had he been a series regular, he might have been a more annoying character than Marcus (who you'll notice is not on this list). But because Bo was such an infrequent character, he made his mark much like Jean Ralphio on Parks and Recreation. He was such a man child who tried way too hard and Johnny Pemberton had an incredible way with his delivery.

SCHEDULES OF THE PAST: 1993-1994 Thursdays

On Mondays, I take a look at schedules from yesteryear. Here's a look at Thursdays in the 1993-94 season!

ABC	8:00	9:00	10:00
Sep	Missing Persons	Matlock	Primetime Live
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar	The Byrds of Paradise
Apr		Birdland
May		Matlock

ABC's Thursdays in 1993-94 started with a new drama featuring a familiar Thursday night face. Missing Persons marked the return of Daniel J. Travanti to TV six years after the end of his critically acclaimed Hill Street Blues. The drama was centered on a missing persons unit in Chicago. Travanti didn't experience the same success with this show. It made it to February but was then cancelled and replaced by The Byrds of Paradise. Starring Timothy Busfield and featuring a young Seth Green and Jennifer Love Hewitt, Byrds was about a family that moves from Connecticut to Hawaii after the death of their wife and mother. It was not any more successful than Missing Persons. Matlock moved back an hour to 9pm in its second season on ABC. It was an old skewing alternative to NBC's demo friendly lineup. It was briefly replaced for burnoff episodes of failed Wednesday drama Birdland. Throughout the season, Primetime Live aired at 10pm and was easily ABC's highest rated show of the night.

THE FRIDAY FIVE: Top 5 TV News Stories of the Week Ending 3/11/22

Here's a look at the Top 5 TV news stories of the week!

#1 - "THE MUPPETS" RETURN TO TV ON DISNEY+

The Muppets are getting another go at series television and it's on an obvious home, Disney+. The new series, which was ordered this week, will focus on the house band (The Electric Mayhem) and will be called The Muppets Mayhem. The series will be written by The Goldbergs creator Adam F. Goldberg and star Lilly Singh. This is the first foray back into series television for the beloved Jim Henson property since the ill advised 2015 mockumentary sitcom The Muppets on ABC. The more specific approach on a platform that is a perfect fit makes me think this could be a better way forward for the property.

EPISODE GUIDES: Perfect Strangers Season Seven (Part 2)

On Thursdays, I take a detailed and critical look at a TV show. This year, I will be splitting full seasons into two posts. Here's a look at Season 7 (Part 2) of Perfect Strangers! For Part 1, click here.

134. Missing (1/17/92)

Balki's inspiration for his Dimitri drawing goes missing when he has to complete a cartoon on a deadline.

This is a rare episode where all the main and recurring characters appear. It's a pretty silly premise but it's not quite as predictable as you might think. Larry and Balki on a stakeout (yet again) has some funny moments. Ultimately though this is just sort of a middle of the road episode. It sort of has the opposite problem of some other episodes where they is a pretty decent resolution but the path to get there isn't all that funny or interesting. The other way around seems to happen more often in Perfect Strangers.

RATING: 5/10

135. Going Once, Going Twice (2/1/92)

Balki and Larry accidentally buy a very expensive bottle of wine at an auction.

Hmm an auction episode, what do you think will happen? Like the jury plot two episodes ago, pretty much the same thing happens every time. But that first scene is not the problem (which, by the way, the auction is the belongings of Howell Thurston in a Gilligan's Island nod). It's the rest of the episode. There's an absolutely stupid scene between Balki and Larry when they get home from the auction and try to keep the bottle from breaking. Like completely stupid. Then they go back to the auction and basically do the first scene all over again. It's a bad episode.

RATING: 1.5/10

ONE SEASON WONDERS: The Trouble With Larry

On Wednesdays, I take a look at a show that lasted one season or less. This week, I am looking at 1993's The Trouble with Larry!

THE TROUBLE WITH LARRY

August 25, 1993 - September 8, 1993
3 episodes
CBS

Starring: Bronson Pinchot, Courteney Cox, Alex McKenna, with Perry King and Shanna Reed

Created by: Andrew Nicholls & Darrell Vickers

Plot: Larry Burton (Pinchot) has been presumed dead for a decade when he returns home to Syracuse to his wife, Sally (Reed). Sally is re-married to Boyd (King) and has a daughter, Lindsay (McKenna). Larry falls for Sally's sister, Gabriella (Cox).

Brief Pilot Review:

Well, this pilot got off on a rough start. The first scene was set on a boat and sets up the exposition that Larry has been missing for a decade. It was a unique way to start a TV show but there were seven, yes seven, fat jokes in the first two minutes and ten seconds. Once it got back to Syracuse, the fat jokes stopped but the episode didn't get any better. I think the show severely underplayed Larry coming back after so long away. Courteney Cox barely had a reaction at all when she realized the situation which certainly called for more incredulity. The moment was at least played for laughs when the rest of the characters saw him for the first time but that was ruined by a horrifically unfunny fainting moment from Perry King.

TOP 10 TUESDAY: Top 10 The People vs. O.J. Simpson Characters

This week for my Top 10, I am counting down my Top 10 The People vs. O.J. Simpson Characters! I should mention that I am basing this off the characters in the series, not their real-life counterparts.

10. F. LEE BAILEY

I always enjoy seeing Nathan Lane do dramatic work because he always blends it nicely with comedy and that was the case with his role in this series. F. Lee Bailey was one of the many larger-than-life lawyers involved in the case. Lane wasn't given as much of a chance to give the character depth which is why he only comes in at #10, but as a later addition to the proceedings, he still made a pretty strong impression.

9. MARK FUHRMAN

Before there was such a thing as Cancel Culture, Mark Fuhrman was cancelled in the court of public opinion and with good reason. But the series and actor Steven Pasquale did a great job of conveying how his own words and choices in other parts of his life limited what was a pretty damning testimony. He lost all credibility and Pasquale did a great job transitioning from a super confident character to an utterly broken one. 

SCHEDULES OF THE PAST: 1993-1994 Wednesdays

On Mondays, I take a look at schedules from yesteryear. Here's a look at Wednesdays in the 1993-94 season!

ABC	8:00	8:30	9:00	9:30	10:00
Sep	Thea	Joe’s Life	Home Improvement	Grace Under Fire	Moon Over Miami
Oct
Nov
Dec		George			Various Programs
Jan					Birdland
Feb		The Critic
Mar	Home Improvement	Thunder Alley			Turning Point
Apr				These Friends of Mine
May

In the 1992-93 season, ABC Wednesdays had Home Improvement at 9pm but a lot of the rest of the night was peppered with ending series like The Wonder Years and Doogie Howser M.D. and cancelled fare like Laurie Hill and Home Free. So it was back to the drawing board in the 1993-94 and ABC put Home Improvement as the centerpiece and surrounded it with new series across the board the rest of the night. At 8pm was Thea, a sitcom starring comedian Thea Vidale. Featuring a young Brandy Norwood, it was part of the trend of comedians getting their own show but Thea was notable since Vidale was black and most comedians getting their own shows in 1993 were white. Thea lasted 19 episodes before being cancelled. It was followed by Joe's Life, a family sitcom starring Peter Onorati and Mary Page Keller. It didn't last as long as Thea and was gone before the New Year. It was briefly replaced by George, which hadn't cut it on Saturdays. When George was cancelled, a new animated show took the slot. Primetime animated shows continued to be fool's errands unless your name was The Simpsons in the early 1990s but the networks kept trying. The Critic was about a New York film critic voiced by Jon Lovitz. It was geared specifically to adults but airing between family sitcoms which made for an odd flow. ABC cancelled the series but FOX picked it up for a second season. Finally when Thea was cancelled, ABC decided the best lead-in to a new 8:30pm show would be reruns of Home Improvement. They weren't wrong as the ratings improved with the reruns and helped the final new 8:30pm show, Thunder Alley. The family sitcom starred Ed Asner as a retired race car driver living with his daughter and grandchildren. It did great sandwiched between old and new episodes of Improvement and was renewed for a second season. Home Improvement continued to thrive in its 9pm anchor slot even with some mess before it and ABC found a successful show as a lead-out. Grace Under Fire starred brassy comedian Brett Butler as a blue collar single mom. The show instantly drew comparisons to Roseanne both for its on-screen sensibility and reported volatility of its star. The Missouri-set sitcom was the top new show of the 1993-94 season with critical and audience love. Late in the season, Grace took a little break so ABC could launch another new sitcom centered around a stand-up. Ellen DeGeneres starred in the show that became Ellen but was known as These Friends of Mine in its first abbreviated season. The show received solid ratings airing behind Improvement and it was renewed and re-tooled for its second season. The 10pm hour was also a revolving door. First up was Moon Over Miami, a stylish detective drama starring Ally Walker and Bill Campbell. It only made it to the beginning of December. Next up was Birdland, a medical drama starring Brian Dennehy as a psychiatrist. The series did not even last as long as Miami on the night. After two failed dramas, ABC went with the networks' favorite remedy in the 1990s - a newsmagazine. Turning Point was a host-less show that focused on one topic per episode. It did well enough to get renewed which is more than the dramas could say.

THE FRIDAY FIVE: Top 5 TV News Stories of the Week Ending 3/4/22

Here's a look at the Top 5 TV news stories of the week!

#1 - SAG AWARD WINNERS

There were a couple big surprises at the Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday night. Going in, it was assumed that Ted Lasso and Succession would be the big winners and while they did win the prizes and Jason Sudeikis won as expected for Ted Lasso, there were surprises in the Drama acting categories. Squid Game stars Lee Jung-jae and Jung Ho-Yeon upset Succession actors. It seemed like it was going to be Squid Game's night but then Succession still won the top prize for Drama Ensemble. It will be interesting to see if this has any ramifications on the Emmy race. Elsewhere, Jean Smart won Comedy Actress for Hacks and Michael Keaton (Dopesick) and Kate Winslet (Mare of Easttown) took him the Limited Series acting prizes. Weirdly, there is no award for Limited Series Ensemble. The overall awards ceremony was just ok with a couple highlights including Romy & Michelle's High School Reunion reunion with Lisa Kudrow and Mira Sorvino and an emotional speech by Keaton. But I'll be curious to see if Squid Game becomes more of a favorite in more categories going forward.

EPISODE GUIDES: Perfect Strangers Season Seven (Part 1)

On Thursdays, I take a detailed and critical look at a TV show. This year, I will be splitting full seasons into two posts. Here's a look at Season 7 (Part 1) of Perfect Strangers!

PERFECT STRANGERS: SEASON SEVEN

1991-1992

24 episodes

Season seven is the last full season of Perfect Strangers and its clearly a show that's gotten pretty tired. There are some attempts to spice up the stories with Larry and Jennifer finally marrying and them moving to a new house. But the plots feel tired and the actors look a little tired and the result was this season grading out as the lowest scored season for me. There's a couple attempts to break form like there was in Season Six, but it isn't as effective. The show was moved from its long-time Friday home to Saturday nights during this season.

Starring

Bronson Pinchot as Balki Bartokomous (24 episodes)
Mark Linn-Baker as Larry Appleton (24 episodes)
Melanie Wilson as Jennifer Lyons-Appleton (19 episodes)
Rebecca Arthur as Mary Anne Spencer (15 episodes)

Belita Moreno as Lydia (7 episodes)

Sam Anderson as Sam Gorpley (5 episodes)
F.J. O'Neil as Mr. Wainwright (5 episodes)

121. Bachelor Party (9/20/91)

Balki hosts a bachelor party for Larry against Jennifer's wishes and they both get very drunk after Gorpley spikes the punch.

Season seven of Perfect Strangers kicks off with the wedding arc for Larry and Jennifer and it's a little bit more of an "adult" episode with the drunkenness and the stripper, but it's all still pretty chaste. Bronson Pinchot and Mark Linn-Baker play drunk decently well and are funny together in that scene. The episode grinds to a halt though when it has an extended and unfunny scene of Larry trying to cover up a tattoo with a joke that was done much better on I Love Lucy nearly 40 years prior.

RATING: 6/10

122. The Wedding (9/27/91)

Larry ends up in jail with Balki on his way to his wedding with Jennifer.

It's pretty fitting for this show that an episode about Larry and Jennifer's wedding turns out to be almost entirely a Larry and Balki plot. I know they are the center of the show, but it seems like this could have been a two-parter with this episode as Part 1 and the actual wedding as Part 2. I don't usually say that because I often think two part episodes are bloated. But this really feels like two distinct, albeit connected, plots. The actual wedding scene is quite sweet and funny because of the setting and Balki's officiating. Although I still think Jennifer could have done better.

RATING: 8/10

ONE SEASON WONDERS: Phenom

On Wednesdays, I take a look at a show that lasted one season or less. This week, I am looking at Phenom!

PHENOM

September 14, 1993 - May 10, 1994
22 episodes
ABC

Starring: Judith Light, Angela Goethals, Ashley Johnson, Todd Louiso, Jennifer Lien, William Devane

Created by: Dick Blasucci & Marc Flanagan & Sam Simon

Plot: Angela Doolan (Goethals) is a 15 year old tennis prodigy trying to manage being a teen with being an athletic superstar with help from her mother, Dianne (Light) and new coach Lou Della Rosa (Devane). Rounding out the main cast are Angela's siblings, Brian and Mary Margaret (Louiso & Johnson).

Brief Pilot Review:

Phenom had an interesting premise. I'm pretty sure it's the only show in TV history that focused on a tennis prodigy and it naturally lent itself to a different background for a teen/family sitcom. As a tennis fan, I wanted to like the pilot but there's a big problem. The aforementioned prodigy may be playing a tennis star, but she's not a good actress. Angela Goethals had so many moments that rang false. Not once did I believe she was really passionate about tennis or staying with her family, the conflict at the center of the pilot. And she also had a pretty horrific scene where she nervously talked to a boy at a party. Even her reactions at the ends of scenes were not done well.

TOP 10 TUESDAY: Top 10 The Sopranos Characters

My Top 10 this week is Top 10 The Sopranos Characters!

10. LIVIA SOPRANO

Early on in The Sopranos, before actress Nancy Marchand's death, Tony Soprano's mother was a very prominent character. Though she was only in the first couple years, her character gave us plenty of interesting material in her own right and set up our understanding of Tony through the rest of the series. A different show would have found ways to make her more sympathetic. Not The Sopranos, they delighted in showcasing the mental torture she put others through and they never backed away from that.

9. JANICE SOPRANO

Another actual family member of Tony's, his younger sister Janice also makes the list. She provided more comedic relief on the series as she was so often a complete hot mess. She gets into ridiculous relationships and can't move forward in her life, which drives Tony crazy. There's probably a Janice-type character somewhere in your family so Tony's frustrations with her were always very understandable.