Before he won his 2 Academy Awards in the mid-90's (for "Forrest Gump" & "Philadelphia"), Tom Hanks starred in a silly little comedy that owes some of its origins to the wacky feature film, "Some Like it Hot".
Bosom Buddies centered on a pair of ad agency guys (Hanks & Peter Scolari) who are homeless after their apartment building is demolished. A co-worker (Wendi Jo Sperber) gets them into an all-female apartment complex, but of course there is that one condition. They have to dress in drag. For 2 seasons, it somehow worked.
Singer Telma Hopkins, formerly of Tony Orlando & Dawn, landed one of her first acting jobs as a member of the ensemble. Co-producer Thomas Miller would cast her in a later series, Family Matters, a few years later. Hanks & Scolari would reunite doing voice work on the 2005 animated feature, "The Polar Express".
Squaresyourtrue uploaded the open & close, complete with the Paramount logo of the period. The title song is Billy Joel's "My Life", covered by an anonymous studio singer, though I could swear they actually used the original version at one point.
I think the only reason I watched this at home was because it came on after Mork & Mindy, or it was because Buck Rogers was a rerun......
Rating: B.
3 comments:
Tks for this. I get torrent of this series.
I remember the show fondly!
We used to watch it back in the day and Hanks and Scolari were a great team! They really had chemistry together, but I don't recall seeing them in any other work together (exempting Polar Express). At the time no one knew how big Hanks would become in Hollywood, until "Splash" came along. I remember seeing the film and thought, "Hey it's the Bosom Buddies guy!" "Bachelor Party" came out the same year, but wasn't supposed to be the "proper" star making vehicle for him - even though I liked it way better than Splash!
Scolari went on to Newhart eventually (you mentioned he had a short lived sitcom prior to that) and continued with guest starring work, but never seemed to be the breakout star Hanks was. Pity, as he himself is quite talented. The last thing I remember seeing him in was an episode of "Sabrina" in which he played a clown in a circus living in her bedroom!
Wendy Jo Sperber was a consistent character actress - although outside of this show she is best remembered for being Marty Mcfly's older sister in the "Back To The Future" movies. Sadly, she died of cancer. I remember her character had a thing for Henry on BB but I don't think they ever got together romantically.
Still love the theme song - I still catch it on the radio and I can't help but picture the opening credits! It was the "funny side" of homelessness seeing the guys literally living on the streets.
Peter Scolari did "Baby Makes Five" (w/Louise Williams), a spring replacement series in '83 before Newhart came along, and post-Newhart took over the Rick Moranis role in the series version of Honey, I Shrunk The Kids.
As I recall, Henry (Scolari) & Amy (Sperber) didn't date until probably later in the series if at all.
Post a Comment