Bosom Buddies

These guys dressed up before it was cool and it was often hysterical. I have a feeling this show was a bit before its time. Great cast and top notch writing made this one of the few comedy shows on TV that actually made you laugh out loud and was a real cut above most of the shows on back then.

I dont know, maybe if it were done today, it may stay on longer but this went to rerun land much too soon. I have most of them on tape but would love them to be released on DVD someday. Hey, maybe they could even do Bosom Buddies: The Movie and Ton Hanks could direct. How about it?

This film was about two guys who lived in a dive that ended up being condemned. The place's rent was dirt cheap and they apparently have a hard time finding something in its price range until they stumble upon an all female building and you guessed it, they dress like girls to move in and take advantage of its low rent. And as you can tell by my description it was a premise that could only go so far which is why the show only lasted 37 episodes and would likely be all but forgotten if not for the fact this show starred a young Tom Hanks before movie stardom. This is not to say it was a bad show, it was funny enough in parts, but it was just not built to last a very long time. The two guys dressing like girls worked for a few episodes, but you can only have so many episodes of everything built around the same joke. Near the end they had fewer episodes that did revolve around this and one of my favorite episodes had the two friends trapped in a cabin during a snow storm and they begin fighting over some creamer in the fridge, both fearing dehydration before foolishly realizing that they could melt the snow and have all the water they needed. Tom Hanks is good in this one and of course would become the mega star. Peter Scolari starred as the other friend and he would later go on to be a costar in the Bob Newhart show "Newhart" and appear in a few other television shows so while not having the same success he had a rather good run as well.

Recently, I caught an episode of Bosom Buddies. A couple of things jumped out at me. First, the show was genuinely funny. Silly, but funny. Second, I really enjoyed the chemistry between Tom Hanks and Peter Scolari. It's a shame that they didn't do more work together, aside from the small part in "That Thing You Do" and "Polar Express". I would like to see a movie where they truly co-starred in. It would be a nice bookend to their careers. (Not suggesting they are over.) The show wasn't exactly Seinfeld or Cheers, but the writing was solid and it holds up well. I know that there are only a limited number of episodes, but I would like to see this and other shows from the early 80's that seem to be hidden away.

Maybe I was a nerd or something-but I loved this show when I first saw it! And as a teenager; (at the time I was-I remember well; oh well...) I could definitely could relate to the theme song. I loved Wendy Jo too-May God rest her soul. Back then she was chubby and I was too. I still remember when the one whom she had a crush on; Buffy or Hildagarde, the little short one totally humiliated her because he knew she loved him. I hated him for that! But like the previous commenter I have to admit the show fizzled after they let the cat outta the bag about stars. Not a smart move-in my opinion. Nowadays they would've waited for the show finale' to do that. But it was great till then.

This show, along with Three's Company and Happy Days, always bring back a great sense of nostalgia for me. It was a simpler time and while the shows back then could be a bit misogynistic, they were still fun. Bosom Buddies was one of those shows where it was fluff, but the actors were so adorable, you just couldn't help but like it.

Tom Hanks and Peter Scolari had great chemistry. You could tell they really liked each other and made believable best friends. The late Wendi Jo Sperber always played the high energy best friend who was reliable and good for a laugh. Her passing was a sad day as she had a lot of fun characters on her resume (Bachelor Party and Back to the Future). The lovely Donna Dixon as Sonny made my 14-year old self stand up and take notice of the attraction of a woman. I used to love Tony Orlando and Dawn back then and seeing Telma Hopkin in one of her first roles was a treat. She was great in Gimme a Break and Family Matters. Holland Taylor has made a career out of playing the tough, but lovable female guru (Romancing the Stone, Two and a Half Men, etc). All these actors were still relatively unknowns, but would go on to better, if not bigger, things in later years.

The gag ran out of steam after the first season, but it was still a ton of fun to watch. The way Kip used to snidely say Sonny's name over and over when he was trying to put something over on her, is something I still do today to people's names that end in the letter Y.