Monday, November 24, 2014

Louie Anderson, a Perfect Stranger


Most 1980's television viewers remember the high jinks of Balki Bartokomous and his exasperated Cousin Lou, played by the hilarious Louie Anderson on their classic show called The Greenhorn. Wait, what?




Your eyes (and Photoshop) are not deceiving you. Pictured above are Bronson Pinchot as Cousin Balki and Louie Anderson as "Cousin Lou" starring as a latter day odd couple on the pilot episode of Perfect Strangers. When ABC picked up the show, they told the show producers that they loved the premise, but felt Mr. Anderson had no familial chemistry with Bronson Pinchot. If Lou didn't seem to get along with Balki, why would he put up with the eccentricities of his distant cousin?

So when the show began production, the title was changed to Perfect Strangers and Louie Anderson was replaced by Mark Linn-Baker. The character's name was also changed to Larry Appleton and television history was born.