They seemed awfully similar to one another & both appeared on the same network (ABC) Do you think Perfect Strangers ripped off Taxi? Better yet, Did Bronson Pinchot rip off Andy Kaufman?

http://www.tvacres.com/images/language_balki.jpg

http://sites.google.com/site/slavicstuds/kaufman_andy.jpg

Actually I see the two characters as opposites. Latka was very happy to maintain his native culture while living and working in America. Even at times teaching his co-workers about his native culture. Balki on the other hand was very eager to learn about American culture and embrace it as his own. I also feel that Balki was a much more rounded character who demonstrated heart, conscience, and deeply felt emotion something I didn't see in Latka. Not even in his relationship with Simka.

And let's not forget Rose Nylund of Golden Girls. She was born in the United States, but St. Olaf, Minnesota, was practically another culture! And people from there were very innocent about the rest of the world.

Actually I see the two characters as opposites. Latka was very happy to maintain his native culture while living and working in America. Even at times teaching his co-workers about his native culture. Balki on the other hand was very eager to learn about American culture and embrace it as his own. I also feel that Balki was a much more rounded character who demonstrated heart, conscience, and deeply felt emotion something I didn't see in Latka. Not even in his relationship with Simka.

Balki could be impossibly childlike one minute, and superhumanly wise the next. Don't know if that's well-rounded or inconsistent.:lol:

But I think I have to disagree a little about the two characters' opposite approaches to culture. Balki loved America, but if you think about it, a lot of the plots, and jokes, are about him trying to follow Mypiot tradition in the midst of American society - often driving his American friends crazy, but sometimes in the process saving the day for them.

He follows the Myposian custom of treating someone who saved his life as an idol ("Lifesavers")

He refuses to tell polite, social lies ("Tux for Two")

He bowls like he did on Mypos ("Blind Alley")

He refuses to tell his babysitting charge "no" because on Mypos you don't tell children no. ("New Kid on the Block")

He invites an ex-con to stay with him because on Mypos, people released from jail go to stay with nice families ("Pen Pal")

And he feels he has to go back to Mypos when his mother gets so upset about him becoming an American citizen. ("Citizenship")

I could just see Balki and Latka having lunch together...maybe have Fez from "That 70's Show" join them too.

The title of this thread reminded me of a comment I saw under "Perfect Strangers" at JumpTheShark.com in which the poster said Balki was a poor man's Latka Gravas. (Which I thought was kind of a put-down.)

Just another variation of the "wacky foreigner" that's been in comedy and sitcoms since the dawn of man.

Just another variation of the "wacky foreigner" that's been in comedy and sitcoms since the dawn of man.
Agreed, but I liked Balki a lot better than Latka.

Agreed, but I liked Balki a lot better than Latka.
Me too!

I didn't watch Perfect Strangers, so I can't comment with authority.

Balki was a multi-dimensional character, whereas Latka seemed to be more of a one-joke character. Then again, Andy Kaufman never wanted to do more than 7 out of 13 episodes, so that's one reason why Latka was never as fully realized a character than the others on Taxi.