People do strange things to find a place to live especially in New York City. I knew a person who would read the obituaries and immediately rush over to see if the apartment was going to be rented. There have been other more drastic tales of lying that you’re part of a rich European family in order to impress the landlord. In the Fall of 1980, America was introduced to two guys who needed a place pronto when Bosom Buddies hit the screen with two struggling guys who would go on to major fame in movies and TV. Bosom Buddies: The Complete Series brings together all 37 episodes of the things they did for real estate.
Kip Wilson (Joe Versus the Volcano‘s Tom Hanks) and Henry Desmond (Girls‘ Peter Scolari) think things are going right for them in Manhattan as they have a good gig at an advertising agency and an apartment at a very reasonable rent rate. Trouble comes fast as a wrecking ball. Turns out they were swindled as their apartment building is being demolished. The duo can’t find anything in their price range until they get a word from a co-worker Amy Cassidy (Bachelor Party‘s Wendie Jo Sperber) that there’s an open place in her building. But there’s a catch. She lives at the Susan B. Anthony Hotel which rents exclusively to women. Instead of sleeping on the streets, the duo put on dresses and a wig and call themselves Buffy and Hildegard. They get the keys and plenty of new issues as they must keep their identities a secret. Complications immediately come when Kip falls hard for Sonny (Doctor Detroit‘s Donna Dixon). He must befriend her as Buffy and seduce her as Kip. This can get messy easily. They also have to sneak around at work since even though it is New York City, there’s still a lot of people who won’t understand why they have women’s clothing stashed away.
The first season did well for the show as ABC had it nestled between Mork & Mindy and Barney Miller. Hanks and Scolari gained notoriety for their double performance and likability. But then the network began to bounce them around on the schedule during a time before DVRs could keep track of your favorite show. The ratings suffered quickly. The producers quickly changed up things to try to get a quick boost. In a shocking twist, the first episodes of the second season had Kip and Henry expose their secret at the hotel. Instead of a drastic twist, they are allowed to stay. Although they have to stay on the down low. The lack of a drag subplot lets the show become more two buddies getting into trouble. They buy their own advertising agency and get into strange campaigns. They end up kidnapping Penny Marshall (Laverne & Shirley) to host an infomerical. Henry ends up dating Tom Hanks’ future wife who has her own secret.
Sadly Bosom Buddies didn’t survive its second season. Although it’s doubtful that either star regrets not making it to five seasons. Hanks became a massive movie star with Splash and Bachelor Party being hits in 1984. He went on to win a few Oscars. Scolari became an amazing foil for Bob Newhart on Newhart as the shallow TV genius Michael. Recently he won an Emmy for his work on Girls so the pair of roommates went on to find success after they had to stop sharing an apartment. Bosom Buddies: The Complete Series is an inspiration series about what young men can do with drive, ingenuity and high heels.
The video is 1.33:1 full frame. The resolution brings out how much work it took to make Tom Hanks look like a lady. The audio is Dolby Digital mono. A warning is that the original theme song of Billy Joel’s “My Life” is swapped for a tune written by the show’s creator. The episodes are Closed Captioned.
No bonus features.
CBS DVD presents Bosom Buddies: The Complete Series. Starring: Tom Hanks, Peter Scolari, Donna Dixon, Holland Taylor, Telma Hopkins and Wendie Jo Sperber. Boxset Contents: 37 episodes on 6 DVDs. Released: February 6, 2018.
