Michael Warren Movies
- 1997
Inasmuch as Hangin' with Mr. Cooper did not return to the ABC lineup in the fall of 1996, everyone assumed that the series had been cancelled with its 88th episode at the end of Season Four, leaving fans to ponder whether or not high school teacher Mark Cooper (Mark Curry) had finally persuaded his longtime platonic roommate Vanessa Russell (Holly Robinson Peete) to accept his marriage proposal. However, the producers needed to turn out a full 100 episodes in order to ship out the series for local syndication; thus Hangin' with Mr. Cooper was brought back in June of 1997 for 12 additional half-hours, in which it was revealed that, yes, Mark and Vanessa were officially engaged. And in a parallel development, the couple's third roommate, Geneva Lee (Saundra Quarterman) was seriously considering tying the knot with her boyfriend Ken (Kevin Jackson). However, just hours before the wedding of Mark and Vanessa in the series' 100th installment, actors Mark Curry and Holly Robinson Peete) abruptly drop character, turn to the camera, and cheerfully wave goodbye to the audience--and that's the end of the series! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mark Curry, Holly Robinson Peete, (more)
- 1995
When Season Four of Hangin' with Mr. Cooper came to an end, it appeared as though Mark Cooper (Mark Curry) and Vanessa Russell (Holly Robinson Peete) were about to permanently move from the cozy suburban Oakland house that they shared (platonically, of course) with music teacher Geneva Lee (Saudra Quarterman) and her daughter Nicole (Raven-Symone); Mark had accepted a position as basketball coach at Georgetown University, while Vanessa had gone off on a honeymoon to New Guinea. But as the series' fifth season begins, Mark has gotten word that he has been fired from Georgetown, and Vanessa wearily returns from the "honeymoon from hell" minus her wealthy fiancé. By the time Mark discovers that his "firing" was merely a practical joke, he has resumed his old job as substitute teacher at Oakbridge High through the intervention of his roommate Geneva, who has been promoted to school principal upon the departure of P.J. Moore. Though Mark and Vanessa are still adhering to their "hands off each other" policy and are dating other people, it is obvious that Mark has fallen in love with Vanessa, and he spends most of the season trying to get her to accept at least one of his many proposals. Just when it appears that she will give him an answer, the season abruptly ends--and since the series would not return the following fall, viewers felt a bit cheated that they were left up in the air as to the ultimate outcome of the Mark-Vanessa relationship. In addition to such familiar supporting actors as Marquise Wilson (Tyler Foster) and Omar Gooding (Earvin Rodman), several guest stars grace the fourth season of Hangin' with Mr. Cooper) with their presence, notably basketball legend Julius "Dr. J" Erving and future Oscar winner Jamie Foxx. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mark Curry, Holly Robinson Peete, (more)
- 1994
Oakbridge High's favorite substitute teacher Mark Cooper (Mark Curry) continues to live platonically under the same roof as attractive Vanessa Russell (Holly Robinson Peete), music teacher Geneva Lee (Saundra Quarterman) and Geneva's 8-year-old daughter Nicole (Raven-Symone) as Hangin' with Mr. Cooper enters its third season. In the earliest episode, the roommates also share their digs with Mark and Geneva's boss, principal P.J. Moore (Nell Carter), but P.J. moves out soon thereafter to get married--only to be jilted at the altar, leading to a riotous wedding-rehearsal episode in which Mark is pressed into service as a "substitute groom". Though he'd had a chance to be promoted to head athletic coach at Oakbidge, Mark failed to answer any of P.J.'s phone calls during the summers, thus he remains subservient to the school's new coach, Mr. Corley (Steve White). Also added to the recurring cast this season is Steve White as Mark's college buddy Steve Warner, a sports reporter. Among the funnier episodes this year is "The Ringer", wherein Mark is forced to don female garb and pose as the batter of an all-girl baseball team. In the season's cliffhanging finale, it looks as though Vanessa and Mark are poised to go their separate ways when Vanessa accepts the proposal of her new boyfriend, who wants to relocate to New Guinea, and Mark lands a prestigious coaching position at Georgetown University. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mark Curry, Holly Robinson Peete, (more)
- 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)
- 1993
Season Two of Hangin' with Mr. Cooper finds high school substitute teacher Mark Cooper (Mark Curry) still platonically sharing a house with sexy stockbroker Vanessa Russell (Holly Robinson Peete), though the couple's third roommate, music teacher Robin Dumars, has moved out. Building up enough capital to stop being mere tenants, Mark and Vanessa buy the house outright from the entrepreneurial father of wisecracking neighborhood youngster Tyler (Marquise Wilson, a new regular who was evidently intended to be the series "breakout" character, a la Urkel on Family Matters). Moving into the house is Mark's boss, by-the-book school principal Pamela Jane (P.J.) Moore (Nell Carter). Later on, Vanessa's cousin Geneva Lee (Saundra Quarterman) joins the household, and also takes over the teaching job vacated by Robin. Accompanying Geneva is her daughter Nicole (Raven-Symone, an outspoken 7-year-old who provides a sharp comic foil to the precocious Tyler. While Mark continues getting the occasional teaching assignment, and at one point is appointed head athletic coach of Oakbridge High School in the absence of Coach Ricketts (Roger E. Mosley), Vanessa manages to get herself fired, and spends most of the season holding down a variety of odd jobs--and none too competently. Also, Vanessa begins dating the wealthy Thaddeus Jamison White (Dominic Hoffman), but has difficulty remaining true to him. Episode highlights include a segment wherein Mark takes over a class in an all-white prep school, where he wins the hearts of his charges with his enthusiastic recitation of black history "From Slavery to Soul Train"; and the scene in which Vanessa watches a rerun of 21 Jump Street, making snide comments about the series' leading lady--who of course was Holly Robinson Peete. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mark Curry, Holly Robinson Peete, (more)
- 1992
With his career as an NBA player at an end, Mark Cooper (Mark Curry) returns to his home town of Oakland as Hangin' with Mr. Cooper inaugurates its first season. Through the intervention of his childhood friend Robin Dumars (Dawnn Lewis), now a music teacher, Mark is able to secure work as a substitute teacher and assistant coach at his old alma mater, Oakbridge High School, where he must answer to Head Coach Ricketts (Roger E. Mosley). Since their combined incomes don't amount to all that much, Mark and Robin decide to platonically share their living quarters, renting a rather sizeable house in a middle-class Oakland neighborhood. Moving in with the couple is Robin's friend Vanessa Russell (Holly Robinson Peete), who worked for a brokerage firm. Though Mark is clearly smitten by Vanessa, she keeps him at arm's length, saving herself for marriage--preferably a wealthy marriage to a better-looking fellow than Mark. Just as the three main characters saved money by living together, so too did the producers of Hangin' With Mr. Coopereconomize by using as its main set the same house previously occupied by the Seaver family on the recently cancelled sitcom Growing Pains. Rather than hope that the audience wouldn't notice this recycling, the writers deliberately drew attention to it by having Jason Seaver (Alan Thicke) drop into the house in the first episodes to extend his best wishes to the new tenants! (And never mind that Growing Pains was set in New York rather than California!) Among the supporting characters introduced this season is Mark's student Earvin Rodman (Omar Gooding), an affable but oafish fellow who is in his sixth year of high school! And the episode "Miracle in Okinawa" features future series regular Marquise Wilson, not in his familiar role of wisecracking kid Tyler Foster, but instead as an anonymous youngster for whom Mark plays Santa Claus. In the season finale, the roommates break up when Mark decides to move into a new apartment--only to realize that he can't stand living alone. Growing Pains wrapped up its freshman season as the highest-rated new series of the year, tying for fourteenth place in the ratings with The Jackie Thomas Show. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mark Curry, Holly Robinson Peete, (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
Season One of Perfect Strangers begins not long after aspiring photographer Larry Appleton (Mark Linn-Baker) has moved out of his family's house (bidding his eight siblings goodbye in the process) and into his own apartment in Chicago. Any hopes of enjoying the life of a carefree bachelor are dashed when Larry's distant cousin Balki Bartokomous (Bronson Pinchot), a sheepherder from the faraway island of Mypos, shows up at Larry's doorstep and promptly moves in with him. The wide-eyed, effusive, easily impressed Balki provides hilarious contrast to the uptight, well-organized Larry, especially when both men dip into the dating pool, and when Balki insists upon honoring one of the many, invariably bizarre Myposian customs. During this season, Larry works at the Ritz Discount Shop, taking orders from his nasty, avaricious boss "Twinkie" (Ernie Sabella) and occasionally from Twinkie's equally abrasive wife Edwina (Belita Moreno). Balki doesn't hold down a regular job, but instead attends night school in hopes of becoming an American citizen. Occasionally, Larry goes out with his upstairs neighbor, nurse Susan Campbell (Lise Cutter). Episode highlights include Balki's first date, a benighted effort by Larry to give Balki driving lessons, and the Myposian immigrant's innocent abuse of his checking-account privileges. ~ 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)
- 1976
Shirley (Cindy Williams) obsesses over her pet canary, driving everybody crazy. When the bird flies off for parts unknown, Shirley's obsessiveness reaches hitherto unscaled heights--driving everybody even crazier. For the sake of the sanity of greater Milwaukee, Laverne (Penny Marshall) is appointed to help the disconsolate Shirley get her mind off her missing pet. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1976
Laverne (Penny Marshall) and Shirley (Cindy Williams) eagerly look forward to their Millard Fillmore High School class reunion. For the first time in nearly four years, the girls will be reunited with their wild and crazy pal Anne-Marie (Rochelle Richelieu), who along with L&S was known far and wide as one of Fillmore's "three musketeers"--or, to invoke the trio's nicknames, Gutsy, Klutzy and Nutsy. So imagine L&S's shock and amazement when "Nutsy" Anne-Marie shows up at the reunion dressed in a nun's habit! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1976
Laverne (Penny Marshall) and Shirley (Cindy Williams) do their bit for Duty and Humanity as "candy stripers"--volunteer nurses--at a local hospital. Truth to tell, however, the girls' motives are not entirely altrustic: Shirley would like to meet a few handsome doctors, while Laverne wants to be near her erstwhile heartthrob Jerry (Charles Frank), who is about to undergo surgery. Appearing as a nurse is blonde actress Chanin Hale, best known for her tireless "straight-woman" duties opposite such big-time comedians as Red Skelton. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
