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Facts and tidbits
from Perfect Strangers you may not have known!
Did you know . .
.
. . . that when Perfect Strangers was on the air the production
companies would be hopefully of winning an Emmy? Not only for P.S. but for
the may shows they produced! To help keep the shows fresh in the minds of
potential voters, these companies often placed really nice full page ads in the
trade publications (i.e. The Hollywood Reporter and Variety.) You can see
many of the ads for Perfect Strangers, as published in these magazines,
on our Print Ads page!
Did you know . . .
. . . that Second Sight was director Joel Zwick’s first feature
film? He had been working as a director on Perfect Strangers from
the beginning, but this was his first venture into directing a full-length
movie. But despite this overwhelming task he was able to keep the project
on track. As Joel Zwick explained to the Hollywood Reporter, "I think
it’s my TV background. When you’re directing a show a week, you can’t
just sit around because the pace and pressure are just too great. I
probably brought some of that to this feature, so that what I lack in technical
skills, I hopefully made up for in terms of energy and enthusiasm."
Did you know . . .
. . . that the climax of the movie Second Sight, which Bronson starred
in, involved the ripped up fuselage of an airplane? The interior shots of
the plane with the cast were done on a soundstage, but the external shots had to
be done in Boston. The huge mock up plane prop was created in Pasadena, so
the entire thing had to be towed across the country for the shoot, which
involved plenty of permits to go through many towns. The film’s
executive producer, Joe Caracciolo Jr., explained to the Hollywood Reporter that
once the plane prop reached the location "the rest of the shoot was
relatively trouble-free."
Did you know . . .
. . . that Bronson is in no way your average Hollywood actor, even when he
was actually living in Hollywood! In Bronson’s 1986 press biography it
states, "The single actor collects 18th and 19th century painted
Scandinavian furniture, and enjoys listening to 14th and 15th century
music. A fitness buff, he works out regularly, and loves to travel
alone."
Did you know . . .
. . . that Bronson’s childhood was not the happiest? Bronson has
talked about his poor upbringing many times, but explained it this way in his
1985 press biography, which he wrote himself: "My family, two brothers and
one sister, was on welfare until I was in high school, because my father left
us. I immersed myself in schoolwork in order to get straight A’s which
would assure me of a college scholarship and a chance to get out of South
Pasadena."
Did you know . . .
. . . that Bronson originally studied painting and literature at Yale, which
he attended on a scholarship? It’s true! Fortunately for all of
us, Bronson became a theater arts major. But it's obvious that he's now
putting those former skills to work for him on his new series, The Bronson
Pinchot Project!
Did you know . . .
. . . that Bronson loves coffee? That would seem apparent from the
espresso coffee he was making in the premiere episode of The Bronson Pinchot
Project. But thinking back it seems it may not be a new habit with
him. As he pointed out in one print article, "I've done a lot of
Pepsi commercials and I did a pretty good one for coffee last year. I
guess that puts me in the caffeine sector pretty strongly."
Did you know . . .
. . . that while Bronson is not a fan of pop-culture, he was savvy enough to
know when to embrace commercialism. As he explained honestly in one
interview, "I make no bones about it; I love to do commercials. It's
great money and you can sometimes make them little works of art. I mean,
the only time I've ever rejected a commercial is when the money wasn't
enough."
Did you know . . .
. . . that Bronson accepted the fact that he is a very talented comedic
actor, but was down to earth about his capabilities always. As he stated
in one interview, "As for my talent in the comedy area, it's not all that
difficult for me. I think you take your own human experience, multiply it
by 10 -- and then it's funny."
Did you know . . .
. . . that Bronson, like Mark, truly consider both comedy and dramatic
acting to be very much one and the same? Bronson explained this in one
print interview, saying, "As far as I'm concerned, acting is acting -- and
just because you're in a comedy series, it doesn't mean that the program doesn't
contain moments of genuine drama. Look at any film with Charlie Chaplin:
Even his funniest movies had significant moments of great humanity where he
moves you to tears. Not to sound totally disgusting, but we do that -- to
a certain extent -- a lot of the time on 'Perfect Strangers.'"
Did you know . . .
. . . that it’s safe to say Bronson was typecast as a comedic
accented-character actor for some time after Perfect Strangers. But
back when he was on the show he took a very straightforward approach to looking
at the matter. As he stated in one print interview, "If people in
this business want to typecast me as a comic performer, that's their
business. I personally see no great distinction between playing funny and
playing straight, and I sure don't have any intention of suddenly stepping out
in a TV movie and playing a heavy dramatic role just to prove myself. I
always find it to be like a glass of cold water in the face when actors do that
just to demonstrate their versatility. I don't see the point. I
don't know if I'm ready to see Jane Alexander do the life story of Harpo
Marx."
Did you know . . .
. . . that Bronson was not a fan of pop-culture, yet somehow managed to imitate
songs and commercials perfectly on Perfect Strangers? How did he do
it? Well, he explained how to one interviewer this way: "All my old
friends keep asking me how I'm able to handle all those pop-culture references
on 'Perfect Strangers,' and I tell them I just get somebody to play me the
record in question -- or I have somebody describe the commercial in full detail
-- and then I just play along with it and it works out fine. Because most
of the time, I watch virtually no TV and the music I listen to is usually
classical."
Did you know . . .
. . . that Bronson was required to make many pop-culture references in his
role of Balki. Well, of course you did, etc.! But in actuality,
Bronson was not into pop-culture at all! As he explained in one print
interview, "I really hate mass-culture, especially pop music. To me,
it's nauseating."
Did you know . . .
. . . that Bronson mentioned in a print article what the national theme of
Mypos was to be? It’s true! Obviously the joke didn’t make it
onto the show, but Bronson was explaining to one interviewer about how having
Mypos as a fictitious island meant they could take more liberty with the
humor. Bronson is quoted as saying, "I mean, just a few weeks ago, we
said that the national anthem of Mypos is 'How Will I Know?' by Whitney
Houston. Well, you could never be that playful if you were dealing with a
real country. I mean, everyone would be horrified."
Did you know . . .
. . . that Bronson found audiences very warm and receptive to Balki when Perfect
Strangers came to television in 1986, especially those in America who
happened to be immigrants themselves. He explained in one print interview,
"I am happy that people of all ages can identify with my character.
They stop me on the street and tell me wonderful stories about their experiences
as strangers in a new country. I use a lot of what I hear to help develop
Balki."
Did you know . . .
. . . that in response to the producers concerns about Balki coming across
as an wide-eyed and enthusiastic immigrant for too long (see the entry below),
Bronson explained his answer to them in one print article this way: "So I
answered, telling them about when I was in a coffee shop recently, and a
Russian-born woman who owned the store said she recognized me from the
show. She related that, even though she’s been here many years,
every time she travels and comes back to this country she feels like getting
down on her hands and knees and kiss the ground, thankful that she lives in
America. I want my Balki to continue to feel just like her."
Did you know . . .
. . . that Bronson, Mark and the producers of Perfect Strangers all
wondered how long they were reasonably going to be able to keep Balki a
wide-eyed newcomer to the U.S. "The producers thought that even a
grateful immigrant reaches a point of settling in and accepts the freedoms and
liberties, taking them for granted, in a way," Bronson explained in one
print article. "They thought we should start phasing out lines like
‘this is my dream’ in the episodes this fall, since Balki would have been in
the country about a year now. They asked, ‘How long does an immigrant
keep saying stuff like that?’"
Did you know . . .
. . . that after the scene during the making of Second Sight in which
Bronson accidentally let loose with a few expletives in Boston’s Cathedral of
the Holy Cross (see above,) Bronson was sympathetic to the surprised reaction by
the Archbishop. "I don’t blame the guy at all," Bronson
explained in one print article. "I mean, this wasn’t just anyone’s
home, this was God’s home. Thank God he didn’t see the scene where I
psychically determine that the cardinal has hemorrhoids. That was a
blessing."
Did you know . . .
. . . that during the filming of the scene in Boston’s Cathedral of the Holy
Cross for Second Sight, the real archbishop said to crew members and
asked, "Who is that man, and why is he running around my church
cursing?" The reason behind Bronson’s expletives was at least
understandable, since there were shards of Plexiglass on the floor and Bronson
was acting barefooted, causing him to cry out, "Who the **** put these ****
Plexiglass shards on the floor?" Ouch! Unfortunately, according
to one report, that’s when the archbishop asked them to stop filming in his
church!
Did you know . . .
. . . that Perfect Strangers creator Dale McRaven was also quoted in
Rolling Stone’s 1986 article about the new series, explaining why the show
stayed away from topical and serious subjects. "Right now people just
want to be entertained. I think the nation is tired of being guilty.
People just want to turn on the TV and laugh."
Did you know . . .
. . . that in a 1986 interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Mark Linn-Baker
explained why the series was different than the other current television fare of
it’s time (and previous time!) Mark was quoted as saying, "The
style we’re shooting for," Linn-Baker says, "is like I Love Lucy and
The Honeymooners, stylistically harking back to those days. We’re
not an issue show."
Did you know . . .
. . . that Bronson Pinchot was extremely honest and uncensored in his 1986
interview with Rolling Stone magazine? Of course, would we expect Bronson
to be anything less than open and honest? The interview started with him
explaining to the reporter, Mark Christensen, how he felt about cars (which
segued into one of those famous "too much information!"
moments!) Bronson was quoted as saying, "I don’t like cars. I
can’t see myself going out and spending a bunch of money on a Mercedes or a
Porsche. No, no, no, no. Cars are for going places. That’s
it. I'd rather walk. In my free time, mostly I listen to medieval
music – hours at a time – or read classical mythology. Except if I
have a girlfriend. Then we have sex until my skin rubs off."
Did you know . . .
. . . that Mark enjoyed making the made-for-TV ensemble comedy film Going
to the Chapel for NBC? As he explained in one print interview, he
working on the film "because I was working with a host of NBC stars, plus
such pros as Cloris Leachman, Max Wright, Eileen Brennan and Dick Van
Patten. I think I was the only ABC actor there."
Did you know . . .
. . . that in a 1986 interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Bronson outlined his
exact approach to playing Balki as an innocent character? Bronson was
quoted as saying, "The core in him is that he looks at the world like a
four-year-old. I try to lift off all the adult, urbane, tense, mindful
stuff and just be a total innocent. At whatever age you are when you’re
not self-conscious about being naked, about having drool come out of your
mouth. That’s where he is. His dream was to come to America.
But his dream could be anything. What is important is that mentally he has
not been touched by that veil of self-consciousness that happens when you’re
four and a half or five years old. And it’s just left in the air whether
or not everybody from his island is like that or he is special. Remember
the character from Nights of Cabiria? She’s like this little
prostitute and she’s untouched by the prostitution. She’s very
innocent. Balki is like that. He doesn’t have the brown edges like
avocados get. He’s totally fresh. One of the writers said this guy
is Billy Budd. What he meant was that Balki is actually good.
He sees the world as benevolent. Not ‘cause he’s too stupid to know
otherwise. He’s actually a good person. The core of him will never
be touched. And if it is, the show will end."
Did you know . . .
. . . that Mark’s father worked as a radio writer, but that he also
started a theater group in Connecticut? So Mark was exposed to show
business at an early age, but surprisingly he didn’t fall immediately into
treading the boards. As he explained in one print interview, "I didn’t
really make a decision that it’s what I wanted to do until my junior year in
college."
Did you know . . .
. . . that one of the key reasons Perfect Strangers was successful is
because it harkened back to a time when television sitcoms were a lot
simpler. As Mark explained in one print article, "The secret of the
series is simplicity -- to create a problem and let the two characters solve
it."
Did you know . . .
. . . that Bronson and Mark got along well on the set of Perfect
Strangers? Of course you did, don’t be ridiculous! But often
the actors weren’t believe by the press when they explained this fact.
As Mark explained in one print article, "It’s bad for the press, I know,
but we hit it off right from the start."
Did you know . . .
. . . that Bronson’s role as Serge in Beverly Hills Cop was a turning
point in his career? Well, of course you did! Don’t be
ridiculous! Bronson explained it this way in one print article: "All
of a sudden somebody waved a wand over me, like Glinda the Good Witch of the
North. I was like a puppy that’s just been allowed to run around the
living room."
Did you know . . .
. . . that Bronson was and is extremely close to his mother, and that she
provided some of the best memories in his young life. As he explained in
one print article, "She was interested in giving her kids more than the
usual. She was like taking an arc light into a grimy garage. She
made all the rats and creepy-crawly things run into the corners."
Did you know . . .
. . . that Bronson purposefully avoided appearing as Serge in the sequel Beverly
Hills Cop II? It might seem strange for an actor to turn down the
chance to recreate a memorable role like that, but Bronson knew even a small
role could become tiresome if done too much. As he explained in one print
interview, "I didn’t want to be like some kind of pasta people lose their
taste for, and then I’d be done."
Did you know . . .
. . . that as an actor, Bronson Pinchot was willing to stretch himself and
put himself in less than flattering roles. As he explained in one print
article, "Everyone has their thing, and one of my things is an A-Z
range. I’m willing to be unattractive. I’m willing to be . . .
questionable."
Did you know . . .
. . . that Bronson didn’t like most reporters habits of trying to pigeon
hole him into a specific type. In one print interview with reporter Bart
Mills, Bronson explained, "What I find repulsive is that in every mediocre
writer’s brain there are two ideas: the actor is the character or he’s not
the character. There’s no other basket in there to collect the
data. It’s either, he’s zany like Balki or he’s intellectual, unlike
Balki."
Did you know . . .
. . . that Bronson would often ask questions of the people interviewing him
which perhaps they didn’t expect? One such instance happened to Bart
Mills while interviewing Bronson about Second Sight for the movie
magazine Marquee. As Mr. Mills wrote in his article, "After the hour
of talking while lying on his living room floor, after the drive in his Jeep to
the restaurant and after the long health-food lunch, Bronson Pinchot asks the
burning questions: "So who did you expect to answer the door when you came
to interview me?" Bronson was wondering if the reporter expected him
to be like Balki or as Bobby from Second Sight or as himself!
Did you know . . .
. . . that Bronson used a mixed of different accents in coming up with the
unique Myposian accent for Balki. As he was briefly quoted in one print
article, "There are about four different accents that have affected
me."
Did you know . . .
. . . that despite the huge amount of work a series like Perfect Strangers demanded,
Mark was quoted in one print article that he couldn’t be happier with the
series. "We’ve been on a roll turning out good shows; our audience
has grown; we’re about as secure as we can be that we’ll be picked
up."
Did you know . . .
. . . that that during breaks from working on Perfect Strangers’ Mark
would often travel between New York and Los Angeles? One year a print
article reported that Mark "plans to head East to spend the holidays with
his family, then return to L.A. in hopes of finding movie work -- ‘nobody’s
made me a firm offer.’ -- then fly back to New York in early summer to work
with the New York Stage and Film Theater Company.
Did you know . . .
. . . that Bronson attended Yale on a scholarship, but Bronson had a choice of
schools because he also received several other offers as awards for his high
school academic merit. His choice was fortunate for us because it was
while attending Yale that Bronson first became interested in acting!
Did you know . . .
. . . that after Bronson’s notable appearance in the film Beverly Hills
Cop, casting directors approached him more as a stand-up comedian than an
actor. Producers Miller and Boyett changed all that, though. As
Bronson explained in one print article, ""Perfect Strangers was
really the first time someone had approached me as an actor, not a bubble-gum
machine and saying, 'We want that flavor.'"
Did you know . . .
. . . that one of Bronson’s first non-university roles on stage was in the
Jack Hofsiss directed play Poor Little Lambs. But what you may not
know is Bronson originally auditioned for a role in another off-Broadway
production which he didn’t get. But the casting director of that play
remembered him when casting for Poor Little Lambs and asked Bronson to
come audition for the show, which then led directly to his being spotted for his
role in the film Risky Business.
Did you know . . .
. . . that Bronson and Mark were both spokespersons for a range of beverages
in the 1980s. Bronson started out promoting Maxwell House coffee before
being the center figure in an America’s Choice campaign for Pepsi while Mark
Linn-Baker made a very clever and funny commercial for Coca Cola right before
landing his role on Perfect Strangers.
Did you know . . .
. . . that Bronson had a connection with the Disney company at one point in
his career? It’s not clear if Bronson was specifically under contract
with the company, but in the early 90's he made appearances in several
Disney-related projects, including Disney’s Christmas Fantasy on Ice,
introductory segments for a special holiday sneak preview of The Disney Channel
on cable television and even a cover story in Disney Adventures Magazine!
Did you know . . .
. . . that publicity photos from television shows are often quite
collectible, and when collecting black and white stills for Perfect Strangers
you’ll find that some are marked as property of Warner Bros. while others are
marked with the ABC logo and trademark. This is because Warner Bros. and
ABC often did their own publicity for television shows independent of one
another!
Did you know . . .
. . . that right after Bronson auditioned for a role in the play Stones
in His Pockets in Los Angeles he auditioned to be the host on the
then-iconic television quiz show The Weakest Link? It’s
true! Bronson could have been the person in the American version of the
British game show known forever for uttering the phrase, "You are the
weakest link! Goodbye!" But when the offer for the play came
through, Bronson chose that instead. He later admitted it was a notable
choice of career paths. "[I realized] by the time I would finish a
‘Weakest Link’ contract, I’d be a hack forever."
Did you know . . .
. . . that Bronson had several memorable scenes in the movie True
Romance, not the least of which was when he was caught driving with a girl
and a bag of cocaine. As it turned out, this hilarious scene was pretty
much ad-libbed by Bronson!
Did you know . . .
. . . that in 1992 P.S. I Love You! spearheaded a campaign to try to save
the series from cancellation? It’s true! We sent out letters to
fans and press releases to major publications, as well as contacting advocacy
groups for good television, trying to drum up support for our cause. The
show was already in production for the final six episodes when we started, and
while the campaign did get some publicity it was, unfortunately, unsuccessful.
Did you know . . .
. . . that Bronson had the chance to work with British comedian / actor /
musician Dudley Moore on the farcical film Blame It On the Bellboy?
One magazine asked Dudley Moore how he liked working with Bronson. "Terrible,"
Dudley deadpanned, then added seriously, "No, he’s a very nice
guy. We struck up a relationship screaming at each other down the
halls."
Did you know . . .
. . . that about the only time the actors from Perfect Strangers ever
made it into the tabloid press was when one of them was seen in an interesting
outfit at some event or if someone had diet tips or recipes to share. But
at the end of its long run, some stories did turn up in the rag mags about
turmoil on the set, usually based around reports about Bronson resenting the
girls playing a larger role in the show or throwing tantrums on the set.
As you can imagine, these stories were hugely exaggerated and not a fair
representation of the facts at all (in one case a supposed tantrum was nothing
more than Bronson losing concentration when someone in the audience made a
rudely disruptive noise during filming and he went backstage to get back into
character!) but the press had been trying to dig up stories about problems on
the set for years and in the final years they used any excuse to make it seem
like things had finally boiled over. Although Bronson did admit in a
notable recent interview that he wasn’t always the easiest person to get along
with in those last years on the show! Now that’s honesty for you!
Did you know . . .
. . . that when Bronson worked on the play Zoya’s Apartment during
the 1990 Perfect Strangers' summer hiatus of 1990, he had to work with
Russian director Boris Morozov. However, Mr. Morozov didn’t speak
English, so his stage directions had to be translated through an
interpreter. Despite this, Bronson found the experience
exhilarating. "The irony of it is that he is more communicative, even
without the English language, than most English-speaking directors we’ve
worked with have been," Bronson explained in one print interview.
"You see how physical he is, how tonally fluent. The language thing
is not really a problem. It’s almost an asset. When I met him, he
described the character to me, and he was moving around so much I had no problem
seeing what he wanted. It was one of the reasons I decided to do the
play."
Did you know . . .
. . . that Bronson’s accent for Serge in Beverly Hills Cop didn’t
come easily? One press article described it this way: "Pinchot, who
is from South Pasadena and has an Italian mother and Russian father, says he
patterned the accent after an Israeli makeup woman he once worked with.
But, he notes, it came out ‘a little Israeli, a little Arabic and a little
something from Pluto.’"
Did you know . . .
. . . that director Martin Brest had to be convinced to do the original Beverly
Hills Cop? And in much the same way, Bronson had to be convinced to
play the part of Serge. As Mr. Brest explained in one print article,
"He (Bronson) launched into character and I fell on the ground
laughing. But he wouldn't stop. I interrupted him and said, ‘Bronson,
you're the American Peter Sellers. I beg you, beg you to be in this movie.’
(Bronson) said, 'A director on his knees begging me, I love it. I love it.’"
Did you know . . .
. . . that Bronson was married to Shanna Reed’s character, Sally, in his
CBS sitcom The Trouble with Larry. But since his wife had remarried
(thinking Larry had been killed by baboons), all the sexual tension in the show
was between Larry and Sally’s sister, Gabriel (played by a pre-Friends
Courtney Cox.) As Bronson explained in one print article, "I love her
but she hates me, so this show will have to last five years, because that’s
how long it will take to get us into the bedroom."
Did you know . . .
. . . that there was some speculation from the press before Bronson’s
comedy series The Trouble With Larry began as to whether or not he would
be doing an accent as the main character. It became clear pretty quickly
that the answer was no, but Bronson made it clear he didn’t want to disappoint
his Serge and Perfect Strangers fans, either. "Accents are
what people expect, so I’ll do some, but I’ll also do a lot of physical and
romantic comedy, which is something new."
Did you know . . .
. . . that when TGIF came to ABC it marked a new milestone for the
network? In 1991, Full House and Family Matters surpassed The
Cosby Show and A Different World (which aired on Thursday nights on
NBC) to become the most popular hour of television, drawing nearly 60 percent of
viewers under the age of 18. At the time Perfect Strangers had been
on the air for six years but was actually gaining viewers!
Did you know . . .
. . . that in 1992 Mark Linn-Baker co-produced a movie starring Patricia Wettig
and Elizabeth McGovern? It’s true! The original title of the film
was to be Fanny, but eventually it was changed to Me and Veronica.
As Mark explained in one print article, "It’s a character piece about two
sisters who are kind of holding each other down . . . until one of them commits
suicide." The film was developed through the New York Stage and Film
company.
Did you know . . .
. . . that for Mark and Bronson, working on Perfect Strangers
involved a lot of hard physical effort as well as technical planning? It
should be obvious to anyone who watches the show! Mark explained in one
print article, "To do it, I have to stay in pretty good shape. My
approach to acting is very physical to begin with, and so is Bronson’s.
We spend a week rehearsing these bits, and we go off on our own and hone them
down until they work just right."
Did you know . . .
. . . that Perfect Strangers was a team effort involving the actors and
the writers working together? As Mark explained in one print article,
"We have a very collaborative process. After we get the script, we go
to work on it, adding stuff and making changes before we return it to the
writers. I’m very happy with our process -- we have a very large
input. We also have a very happy set, which I’m told may be unusual in
Hollywood."
Did you know . . .
. . . that both Bronson and Mark attended Yale? Mark was several years
ahead of Bronson, but even though they didn’t meet each other at the school
they still had that strong connection of a similar education on the set of Perfect
Strangers. As Bronson explained in one print article, "It makes a
big difference, actually. You already have a similar vocabulary, and you
don’t have to explain yourself so much. On every set, you can instantly
tell the difference between people who came from acting classes and theater, and
all that, and the people who just kind of sprouted out of nowhere out
here."
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