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

147. Lethal Weapon (7/23/93)

Balki becomes convinced that he is suffering from an ancient Myposian curse where everything dies that comes near him.

Something I like about this episode, especially in light of some of my criticism of the previous episode, is how they have a new way to address a pretty tried and true Perfect Strangers plot. Balki thinking he's under a Myposian curse is something that feels pretty familiar because we've had similar stories over the years. But in this episode, it's addressed in the domestic setting with Jennifer and Mary Anne heavily involved. That's the way a show like this needed to evolve. It didn't need to do drastic changes but just a natural evolution. This episode is a nice example of that. The way the story was told was not the same way it could have been told in seasons one or two. The last act is a little more typical but I'm forgiving of that because of the better episode as a whole.

RATING: 7.5/10

148. The Baby Quiz (7/30/93)

After being entered by Balki and Mary Anne, Larry and Jennifer get a chance to compete on a Baby Quiz TV show.

Perfect Strangers winds down its run before the final episode with a game show themed episode. I generally am a fan of episodes with this topic and this is no exception. There are some good moments between Larry and Balki when they are in the sound proof booth. My only complaint is I would have liked to see more of the actual game show and the answers. I think there was some comedy to be mined there but they perhaps spent too much time with the two of them in the booth and leading up to the actual game show scene.

RATING: 6/10

149. Up, Up and Away Part 1 (8/6/93)

After Mary Anne has her baby early, Larry and an overdue Jennifer seek help from Balki on tips to go into labor and they all end up in a hot air balloon.

Was there any doubt as soon as you found out both Mary Anne and Jennifer were pregnant at the same time and the way things were going that Mary Anne would have her baby before Jennifer? Perfect Strangers ends its eight season run with this first part of a two part episode. A lot of it feels like it tees up the final episode and it gives surprisingly little attention to the birth of Mary Anne and Balki's baby (we don't even get to see the baby). The plot is almost exclusively about Larry and Jennifer's baby.

RATING: 5/10

150. Up, Up and Away Part 2 (8/6/93)

While in a hot air balloon with Balki and Larry, Jennifer finally goes into labor.

Perfect Strangers ends with one last ridiculous situation for Balki and Larry. I guess it's fitting for a show that was always so much more about the two main characters than anyone else. In the final season, there wasn't even any of the office characters and none of the side characters aside from Jennifer and Mary Anne ever had much of a lasting impact on the show. The episode ends with a nice little montage for the series highlighting the two main characters and ending with a glimpse of the first episode. While there were times this show was frustrating to me, I do think Larry and Balki deserve to be in the conversation with characters like Laverne and Shirley and others. Not Lucy and Ethel though. Don't be ridiculous.

RATING: 6.5/10

AVERAGE RATING FOR SEASON EIGHT:

6.1/10

The Best Episodes

1. "Lethal Weapon" (#147) - 7.5/10

2. "The Baby Shower" (#145) - 6.5/10

The Worst Episodes

1. "After Hours" (#146) - 5/10

2. "Up, Up and Away" Part 1 (#149) - 5/10

Tomorrow: The Friday Five - Top 5 TV news stories of the week!

Next Thursday: A Perfect Strangers recap!