This slapstick comedy explored America and its ways, through the eyes of a newly arrived immigrant.
Balki Bartokomous (Bronson Pinchot) was a shepherd from the Mediterranean island of Mypos, who showed up one day unexpectedly at the Chicago apartment of his distant cousin Larry Appleton (Mark Linn-Baker) – who was one-sixty-fourth Myposian.
Balki’s heavy accent, fun-loving nature, wide-eyed naiveté, nutty Myposian customs (like eating eel wrapped in grape leaves), and a tendency to take quite literally everything Americans said to him caused considerable disruption for Larry, but he still took him in – After all, it was not going to be easy getting started as a shepherd in Chicago.
Larry aspired to be a photojournalist but worked downstairs from his apartment at the Ritz Discount Shop, run by a greedy, insensitive man called Donald Twinkacetti (Ernie Sabella), known as Twinkie.
Larry’s nurse friend, Susan (Lise Cutter), lived upstairs but was soon replaced by Mary Anne (Rebeca Arthur) and Jennifer (Melanie Wilson), two airline stewardesses who also lived in the building.
Balki’s comic misadventures – as he learned about America, studied citizenship at night school, and chased girls with Larry – caused many funny and frustrating situations.
His answer to every problem seemed to be, “Don’t be ridikalus!” and his rudimentary grasp of the English language meant he often came out with sayings like “We are lean cuisine, fighting machines” or “You’ve made your cake, now lie in it”.
In 1987, both Larry and Balki began work with the Chicago Chronicle – Larry as a cub reporter and Balki in the mailroom.
This introduced new characters to the series: Harriette the wisecracking elevator operator (Jo Marie Payton-France); Harry the editor (Eugene Roche); Lydia the neurotic advice columnist (Belita Moreno); and Balki’s scrooge-like boss, Mr Gorpley (Sam Anderson).
Eventually, Balki earned his high school diploma and drew a comic strip featuring a cuddly little sheep named Dimitri.
Larry was assigned to write dialogue for the strip, and by the end of the series’ run, Larry and Jennifer got married and moved into a big Victorian house, where they took in Balki and Mary Anne as boarders.
When the series was abruptly cancelled, Balki was about to marry Mary Anne. Several original episodes were aired in the summer of 1993, in which that marriage finally took place, and both couples had babies.
Balki Bartokomous
Bronson Pinchot
Larry Appleton
Mark Linn-Baker
Donald “Twinkie” Twinkacetti
Ernie Sabella
Edwina Twinkacetti
Belita Moreno
Susan Campbell
Lise Cutter
Mary Anne Spencer
Rebeca Arthur
Jennifer Lyons
Melanie Wilson
Harriette Winslow
Jo Marie Payton-France
Lydia Markham
Belita Moreno
Harry Burns
Eugene Roche
Sam Gorpley
Sam Anderson
Mr Wainright
F.J. O’Neil
Tess Holland
Alisan Porter
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This slapstick comedy explored America and its ways, through the eyes of a newly arrived immigrant.
Larry’s nurse friend, Susan (Lise Cutter), lived upstairs but was soon replaced by Mary Anne (Rebeca Arthur) and Jennifer (Melanie Wilson), two airline stewardesses who also lived in the building.
This introduced new characters to the series: Harriette the wisecracking elevator operator (Jo Marie Payton-France); Harry the editor (Eugene Roche); Lydia the neurotic advice columnist (Belita Moreno); and Balki’s scrooge-like boss, Mr Gorpley (Sam Anderson).
