Melanie Wilson Movies
A wide-eyed young boy finds his small-town life turned upside down in the feature directorial debut from actor Danny Glover. Jeremy Sumpter of Frailty stars as Henry, a youngster in rural America who dreams of Hollywood when a big-studio movie crew comes to town to shoot a new picture. Also starring Carl Lumbly and Robby Benson, Just a Dream had its premiere at the 2002 South By Southwest Film Festival. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- 1993
When Perfect Strangers abruptly left the air in April of 1992, Larry (Mark Linn-Baker) and Jennifer (Melanie Wilson) had become man and wife, but Larry's immigrant cousin Balki (Bronson Pinchot) had still not proposed to Jennifer's former roommate Mary Ann (Rebecca Arthur). And since the series did not return in the fall of 1992, viewers bemoaned the likelihood that the Balki-Mary Ann situation would never be resolved. Then, just as suddenly as it ended the previous April, Perfect Strangers returned in July of 1993 with five new episodes, which effectively tied up all loose plot strands. In this, the series' ninth and final season (or mini-season), we learn that not only has Balki popped the question, but he has gone so far as to wed his ever-loving Mary Anne. As a bonus, both Mary Anne and Jennifer are pregnant--and both go into labor in the same episode, Mary Anne giving birth in her driveway, and Jennifer achieving motherhood in the gondola of a runaway balloon! Happily, both babies are delivered successfully, and now Larry is the proud papa of son Tucker, while Balki dotes on his newborn boy Robespierre. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mark Linn-Baker, Bronson Pinchot, (more)
- 1991
The seventh season of Perfect Strangers gets under way with the marriage of "Chicago Chronicle" reporter Larry (Mark Linn-Baker) and sexy stewardess Jennifer (Melanie Wilson), whereupon the couple moves out of their apartment building an into a huge suburban house with enormous mortgage payments and a minimum of utilties. This same season, Larry's roommate-cousin, Myposian immigrant Balki (Bronson Pinchot), finally becomes a US citizen, prompting a surprise visit from his mother (also played by Bronson Pinchot!) Back on the job, Larry and Balki begin collaborating on a comic strip about a foreign sheepherder living in Chicago and his favorite sheep Dmitri. In the interests of authenticity, Balki purchase a live sheep, while Larry obsesses upon coming up with dialogue that correctly reflects "a sheep's sensibility." Elsewhere, the boys briefly become door-to-door salesmen, attempt to "exorcise" a ghost from Larry's new house, emulate Laurel & Hardy (for the millionth time!) when they try to build a gazebo, and find themselves stuck in a car trunk while trying to trap a gang of thieves. On his own, Larry is reluctantly appointing temporary king of Mypos, and goes into panic mode when he thinks that Jennifer is pregnant. As for Balki, he takes a trip to Vegas to meet his idol Wayne Newton, and enters into a most confusing ménage-a-quartre when he and his girlfriend Mary Anne (Rebecca Arthur) fall in love with their respective exact lookalikes. With Larry and Jennifer marriage, Mary Ann hopes that Balki will likewise pop the question, but he doesn't seem inclined to do so. Just when this situation is on the verge of being resolved, Season Seven of Perfect Strangers comes to an abrupt end! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mark Linn-Baker, Bronson Pinchot, (more)
- 1990
Although Larry (Mark Linn-Baker and Balki (Bronson Pinchot) are still gainfully employed as reporters at the "Chicago Chronicle" at the outset of Perfect Strangers' sixth season, the boys are not above moonlighting to pick up some extra cash. Balki is particually enterprising, opening up a catering business specializing in exotic (and oftimes inedible) dishes from his native country of Mypos. Otherwise, our heroes get mixed up in their usual Laurel&Hardy-like misadventures, especially in a two-part episode wherein they are sent to cover a celebrity wedding, only to end up being pursued by mobsters. Another legendary comic duo is invoked in the episode "I Saw This On TV", featuring a fantasy sequence, shot in black and white, in which Larry and Balki and their sexy neighbors Jennifer (Melanie Wilson) and Mary Anne (Rebecca Arthur) morph into the characters of Ralph Kramden, Ed Norton, Alice and Trixie from The Honeymooners. As the season draws to a close, Larry has finally worked up the courage to propose to Jennifer--but the couple may not make it to the altar after agreeing to take Balki's highly bizarre Myposian compatability test! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mark Linn-Baker, Bronson Pinchot, (more)
- 1989
As Season Five of Perfect Strangers gets under way, both Larry (Mark Linn-Baker) and Balki (Bronson Pinchot) receiving promotions at the "Chicago Chronicle", with Larry becoming a full-fledged investigative reporter, and Balki ending up on the executive staff. This latter upward move unfortunately turns out to be a byproduct of "affirmative action", inasmuch as Balki is an immigrant from the island of Mypos; once he finds this out, Balki is delighted to be demoted to a lesser editorial position. As in previous seasons, the two protagonists find themselves in situations that would not be out of place in a Laurel & Hardy comedy, such as a visit to the dentist and a misadventure on the golf links. And while Bronson Pinchot has emerged as the series' most popular actor--and as such the one who is handed the juiciest assignment, such as the episode wherein he plays both Balki and his wheeler-dealer cousin Bartok--the other regulars are all given their own moments to shine. Examples include the two-part episode in which Larry must endure a visit from his ultra-perfectionist father, and the "Chronicle"'s uptight advice columnist Lydia (Belita Moreno) struggles to overcome her fear of the camera in order to host her own TV show. One of the season's most memorable episodes is "This Old House", in which while trying to unload a dilapidated "fixer upper," Larry meets a yuppie couple who are dead ringers for the characters of Elliot and Hope on the popular drama series thirtysomething (though not played by the same actors!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mark Linn-Baker, Bronson Pinchot, (more)
- 1988
The fourth season of Perfect Strangers finds aspiring photographer Larry (Mark-Linn Baker) and his Myposian-born cousin Balki (Bronson Pinchot) still working in entry-level jobs at the "Chicago Chronicle." Likewise carried over from the previous season is Larry and Balki's tendency to enmesh themselves in situations reminiscent of Laurel & Hardy, never more so than when the boys agree to move a piano up ten flights of stairs at the behest of the "Chronicle"'s neurotic advice columnist Lydia (Belita Moreno). More zany slapstick ensues in the two-part episode which finds Larry and Balki, their stewardess neighbors Mary Anne (Rebecca Arthur) and Jennifer (Melanie Wilson), and the "Chronicle"'s acid-tongue elevator operator Harriette (Jo Marie Payton-France) embark upon a disastrous camping trip. Later escapades include Balki's first airplane flight, and a hectic Q&A session when Larry and Balki compete on a TV game show. Plus, there's the obligatory Christmas episode, in which Balki generously arranges a party for his curmudgeonly mail-room supervisor Mr. Gorpley (Sam Anderson). And in a more original development, Balki is hypnotized into thinking that he's Elvis, thereby setting up a "tour de force" for series regular Bronson Pinchot. Also: Balki prepares for a college entrance exam with the aid of memories from past episodes (the standard Season Four "clip show"); Doris Roberts (Everybody Loves Raymond guests as a maid whose efficiency drives everyone crazier than usual; and John Matuszak shows up as the head of a motorcycle club for which Balki must undergo a riotous initiation ceremony. Perhaps the season's most significant episode is "Crimebusters", in which Larry and Balki go undercover to research a newspaper story and run afoul of gangsters--one of whom turns out to be an undercover cop named Carl (Reginald VelJohnson), who happens to be the husband of the boys' coworker Harriette. Within the next year, both Harriette and Carl would be spun off into their own long-running sitcom, Family Matters. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mark Linn-Baker, Bronson Pinchot, (more)
- 1987
Season Three of Perfect Strangers finds aspiring young photographer Larry (Mark Linn-Baker) and his cousin-roomate Balki (Bronson Pinchot) landing new jobs at the "Chicago Chronicle", with organization-freak Larry working as a cub reporter and zany Myposian immigrant Balki ending up in the mail room, where he takes orders from the misanthropic Mr. Gorpley (Sam Anderson). New to the series this season are Eugene Roche as "Chronicle" editor Harry Burns, F.J. O'Neill as publisher R.T. Wainwright, and Jo Marie Payton-France as the newspaper building's eternally sarcastic elevator operator Harriette Winslow. Also, Belita Moreno, seen during the first two seasons as the wife of Larry and Balki's obnoxious employer "Twinkie", resurfaces in Season Three in a brand-new role, as the "Chronicle"'s hypersensitive advice columnist Lydia Markham. The new journalistic setting opens up a whole new slew of story possibilities, including the time-honored routine in which Larry and Balki break into the publisher's office late at night to retrieve an embarrassing missive, another wherein the boys "star" in a commercial for the "Chronicle", and still another which finds our heroes handcuffed together on the very evening that Larry must make a good impression on the publisher. Back in their apartment, Larry and Balki continue to recycle old two-reel comedy bits, notably in the episode in which they offered to install the plumbing for their stewardess neighbors Mary Anne (Rebecca Arthur) and Jennifer (Melanie Wilson). Guest stars this season include such familiar faces as Jeff Corey in the role of the "Chronicle"'s chief stockholder, Holland Taylor as the paper's sexually predatory Sunday magazine, Kimmy Robertson as a clerk in a store where Balki goes on a riotous shopping spree, and the inescapable Ted McGinley as Larry's insufferable brother Billy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mark Linn-Baker, Bronson Pinchot, (more)
- 1986
Given a six-episode trial run in the spring of 1986, the slapstick sitcom Perfect Strangers) returned for its first full season in the fall of that same year. Also returning were Mark Linn-Baker as aspiring Chicago photographer Larry and Bronson Pinchot as his cousin and roommate Balki, a recent émigré from the faraway Mediterranean island of Mypos. Whereas in Season One only Larry was gainfully employed, in Season Two Balki has joined Larry in a menial job at the Ritz Discount Shop, run by the misanthropic "Twinkie" (Ernie Sabella) and his loudmouthed wife Edwina (Belita Moreno). In another new development, Larry's upstair neighbor (and occasional girlfriend) Susan has moved out, replaced by a pair of curvaceous stewardesses, Mary Anne (Rebecca Arthur) and Jennifer (Melanie Wilson). Now that a year has gone by, has the nervous Larry completely adjusted to the zany Balki, and has the innocent Balki gotten over his tendency to take everything literally and accept everyone he meets at face value? In the words of Balki himself, "Dun't be ridi-ku-louse!" Why, in the opening episode alone, Balki generously allows a pregnant foreigner whom he's met in his citizenship class to use Larry's room until the baby comes--without informing Larry. In subsequent episodes, Balki rigidly adheres to Myposian custom by becoming Larry's permanent manservant after Larry saves his life; the boys have a harrowing experience as babysitters, attempt to hide a dog from their landlady, and endeavor to patch up the marriage between Twinkie and Edwina (not so much out of the goodness of their hearts, but to get Twinkie out of their apartment). And in a two-part misadventure, Larry, Balki, Mary Anne and Jennifer embark upon a skiing trip, only to be trapped in an avalanche (evidentally they've traveled some distance from Chicago!) Near the end of the season, Larry and Balki both serve notice to Twinkie and try their hands at a variety of temporary jobs--with the expected disastrous results. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mark Linn-Baker, Bronson Pinchot, (more)
- 1984
While travelling through rural Green County, B.A. (Mr. T) and Murdock (Dwight Schultz) are taken hostage by bank roobers Logan (Steve Sandor) and Jones (Jeff Doucette)--and then are arrested as the robbers' accomplices! Sentenced to a prison chain gang (without a trial!), our two heroes face danger from several sources, especially when the two robbers escape. Meanwhile, Hannibal (George Peppard) and Face (Dirk Benedict) attempt to rescue their comrades without being captured themselves by the relentless Col. Decker (Lance LeGault). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
