Perfect Strangers ran on ABC for eight seasons between 1986 and 1993, but I didn’t remember it being on that that long when it aired in the UK. Checking my Radio Times Guide To TV Comedy, I found I was right. It only ran for half that time here. I recall it was usually on at around half past five on a Saturday evening.
Here’s the opening titles:
This scene feels like it’s a realisation of something that Bronson Pinchot and Mark Linn-Baker did as a party piece, or whilst goofing between takes.
But they’re both clearly gifted physical comedians:
The show also spawned it’s own spin-off, Family Matters, starring Harriette Winslow, which ran for nine seasons. This makes it the second-longest running sitcom to feature a predominantly African-American cast, beaten only by The Jeffersons.
In 1997, CBS paid ABC $40 million for the rights to Family Matters (and a sister show called Step By Step), then promptly cancelled the both after one more season.
I’ve never seen Family Matters, I don’t think it ever aired in the UK, but the first two seconds of this title sequence have me sold already. And yes, that is Al from Die Hard.
