Perfect Strangers: The Complete Series Blu-ray review
Aug 30, 2026- Permalink
If you’re a fan of the sitcom Perfect Strangers, then it’s time to do the dance of joy as Warner Bros. has just released Perfect Strangers: The Complete Series on DVD. Perfect Strangers, which ran on ABC for eight seasons from 1986 to 1993, starred Mark Linn-Baker as Larry Appleton, a tightly-wound young man tasting his first bit of independence from his large Midwest family. Larry, who works in a second-hand shop and wants to be a photojournalist, has his solitude upended when Balki Bartokomous (Bronson Pinchot) arrives at his door. Balki is his distant cousin from a Mediterranean country called “Mypos” and while Larry is cynical, Balki is wide-eyed and naive, his views of the USA based on pop culture tropes and stereotypes. Larry reluctantly agrees to let Balki crash with him for a few days, which of course turns into eight seasons of comedy. Thanks to Warner Bros. and Allied Vaughn, I had a chance to look at the release. The WB likes disclaimers, so here goes: Though Warner Brothers provided me with a copy of this release to review, the thoughts and opinions below are mine.
The 1080p AVC encoded digital transfer is presented in the original 1.33:1 aspect ratio. As an aspect ratio purist, I’m glad they didn’t zoom in to make it a widescreen release. Perfect Strangers was shot on 35mm film, so Warner Bros. has been able to do an HD scan and provide us with this upgrade over the previous DVD releases. Though there’s some occasional softness, detail is far superior to the original standard definition broadcasts and DVD releases and there’s a nice film grain as well. Some establishing shots of exteriors don’t have the same detail, but the in-studio shots look very good. It’s the 1980s, so the colour palette is full of popping primaries that can sometimes verge on being a tad oversaturated.
On the audio side of things, we have an English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono track for seasons 1-4 and DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo for seasons 5-8. Subtitles are available for English SDH. The mix keeps the jokes well-placed in the mix, while musical cues are bright and dynamic.
The Perfect Strangers: The Complete Series Blu-ray spreads the 150 episodes over seventeen discs. There is no digital code. Sadly, there are no extras. It would have been nice to see a couple of interviews from Mark and Bronson. There is a list of episodes in the inside cover, which houses the flipping pages of spindles. The spindles aren’t actually attached to the box and the spindles are those four-prong affairs which seem to hang on to the discs for dear life.
Mark Linn-Baker and Bronson Pinchot have perfect chemistry. Whether they’re doing verbal or physical comedy their antics are bound to bring a smile to your face. I’m pleasantly surprised to see that Perfect Strangers got a Blu-ray upgrade and if you’re a fan of the series you’ll want to add this to your collection.