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Perfect Strangers
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Show:
Perfect Strangers debuted in 1986 and lasted for seven years. I remember the show being pretty funny since
I remember watching it and remember the theme song and other useless knowledge about the show. I haven't
see an episode in over 10 years but if other shows like Silver Spoons and Diff'rent Strokes are an indicator,
I have to believe that Perfect Strangers would age poorly. Since Borat was just release last month, it
doesn't suffer from aging. I loved Borat and thought it was extremely funny but I also think that it wouldn't
be that funny on repeated viewings. I really am not sure which is better. I think both were good and funny
given their times but with age and repeated viewings, each would be less and less funny. I would not buy
Perfect Strangers or Borat on DVD. As a result, this is a push.
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Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
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Balki Bartokomous
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Looks & Personality:
This one was pretty easy, Balki wins by a long shot. Borat's teeth and hair really freak me out. Balki is
probably equally as hairy - but thankfully I never had to see it.
Personality was a little harder to rate.
I couldn't think of anything inherently different about Balki and Borat. Both were funny, good natured, child-like
people that were only trying to fit in, find their places in the world, and find true love. I think their
personalities were identical: push.
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| Borat Sagdiyev |
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Mypos: America or Burst indeed
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Hometown:
Mypos is not real, Kazakhstan is real. I know almost nothing about Kazakhstan. To find out more,
check out the
CIA World Fact Book. Anyways, since I've never been to Kazakhstan and since I have been to
Greece and for all intents and
purposes, Mypos is Greece; Balki wins.
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| Kazakhstan |
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| Larry Appleton |
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Family/Friends:
This was another one-on-one showdown between Balki's cousin, Larry Appleton, and Borat's producer,
Azamat Bagatov. I saw Mark-Lynn Baker on a TV show recently and he was actually pretty good. I just
remember not liking him at all on Perfect Strangers. I know his character was supposed to be the
straight-man in the show, but his neurotic tendencies really annoyed me. Similarly, Azamat is Borat's
straight-man. Maybe it's because I'm older or because Azamat wasn't nearly as neurotic as Larry, for
whatever reason, I liked Azamat a lot. On Perfect Strangers, Larry was always trying to help Balki cope
with America. Azamat didn't give a shit. Even though I had to see his nakedness, Azamat gets the edge
in this face-off.
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Azamat Bagatov
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Mary Anne, Jennifer, Larry, and Balki
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Love Interest:
This category was slightly different. I had to do two one-on-one face-offs. On Perfect Strangers, Balki was only interested
in one girl, next door neighbor Mary Anne. In Borat, Borat has a wife (who I'm not counting), and two love interests:
Pamela Anderson and Luenell the Hooker (who I am counting). So first, Mary Anne vs. Pamela Anderson. As slutty as Pamela
Anderson is, she still beats Mary Anne. PDA nailed Tommy Lee and Kid Rock and I'd probably get get numerous diseases
just looking at her...but she still wins. Fakeness and all. No contest. Mary Anne does beat Luenell the Hooker though.
Luenell is gross.
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Pamela Anderson
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| Dimitri the Sheep |
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Mascots:
Yet another character face-off. This time it was between Balki's pet sheep Dimitri against Borat's pet bear.
From what I remember, Balki had a pet sheep named Dimitri on Mypos and then a plush sheep in Chicago (to remember
the real one). In later seasons he became a cartoonist for Dimitri's World, a comic inspired by the sheep. Borat
bought the bear in the movie and I can't remember why, but I do know that nothing is funnier than watching a bear
push his head through an ice cream truck window and scare a bunch of kids. Winner: Borat's Bear.
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Borat's Bear
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This was a pretty fair and even match-up. Their shows were very similar and followed a standard fish-out-of-water
formula. Although Perfect Strangers was a TV series and Borat was a movie, they both will probably get less funny
with each passing year. Balki clearly wins based on his looks/personality as well as his hometown. Borat clearly
wins based on his friends and his pet/mascot. It comes down to their love interest. If you compare Balki's love
interest to Pamela Anderson, the Borat wins. If you compare her to the hooker, then Balki wins. If you give them
both credit, then it ends up being a tie - like a great soccer match, lots of give and take with no real outcome.
