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Series Overview
(roughly translated from the
show's official site
. . . many thanks to Cousin Yelena for some much needed corrections!)
An American sitcom named Perfect
Strangers (which can also be translated as "excellent strangers")
aired in America for seven years, from 1986 to 1993, on the ABC network and
enjoyed great success. The story of two cousins, Larry and Balki, caught
the fancy of the American audience . . . in its heroes they saw
themselves. Jokes from the show were retold in public places -
supermarkets and cafes - and the dear toy sheep Dimitri, which reminded Balki of
the dear lamb on Mypos which saved his life, became part of public folklore.
In the AMEDIA company's adaptation the
sitcom bears the name Brothers Differently. This is a situation
comedy built around the dissimilar world views of two young men who live under
one roof. Urban, efficient and partly fussy Andrei Ruzhentsev, a 26 year
old Moscow native, encounters the natural, more naive attitude of his relative
Ivan Zyamzyulin who arrives in Moscow from a distant village.
Online ad to
publicize Brothers Differently on REN TV in Russia.
The basic premise is simple: one
day Andrei is going about his business when there suddenly arrives a distant
relative named Ivan who proclaims he has come to live with him (Ivan states he
is Andrei's second cousin). He's not a
swindler but simply a very cheerful and completely naive youth. Ivan
worked in the mountains as a sheepherder but to escape an arranged marriage by
his father he decided to leave and headed to Moscow. Here Ivan is
confident that he can fulfill all his dreams.
From this time on they live
together and work in an antique store. All this comprises the basis for
situation comedy - the differences between the urban and natural
perceptions of life and the difference in character between the enthusiastic
Ivan and the clumsy Andrei. Together they reflect situations which often
are not unfamiliar to us.
The role of the heavy from the
very beginning of the series' development history is Arkady who
runs the antique store where Andrei and Ivan work. The familiarity of the
situations, sympathy for the role of a country simpleton in the big city, charm
of the main heroes, natural humor of Ivan and irony of Andrei will make this
series interesting to a wide and varied audience.
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