Bosom Buddies: 70s Campy Kitsch
B"H
The first time I saw Bosom Buddies was at my then boyfriend's house and we were looking around on the "tube" trying to find something to watch. I was flipping around and I found this program I had never seen before.
The back story of Bosom Buddies: Henry and Kip just got a job at an ad agency. They're living in a fleabag apartment that gets condemned and razed and they need a place to live. Their friend and coworker Amy (who has a crush on Henry) -- played by the late Wendie Jo Sperber -- says she lives in a cheap apartment but there is one catch -- it's a woman's only building. So they had to make one adjustment -- they dressed like women (Hildegarde for Henry and Buffy for Kip) to live in the building. But they also came to the apartment as their real selves claiming they were Hildy and Buffy's brothers. Kip, by the way, has a crush on Amy's roommate Sonny (Donna Dixon).
Though the premise of the program has only Amy knowing about the "drag" residents, later on in the show their landlady, Isabelle (Telma Hopkins, who sang with Tony Orlando as part of Dawn) found out about the deception but allowed Henry and Kip to stay in the apartment as long as they kept up their ruse. Kip also told Sonny, who he had started dating.
This program was another in the series of sitcoms, including the Mary Tyler Moore Show, the Bob Newhardt Show and Murphy Brown that had action take place both at their home and their workplace. I found this program to be very entertaining.
Peter Scolari went on to Newhart. Tom Hanks went on to a successful movie career. Enjoy their work.
