Customer Reviews

Bosom Buddies: The First Season

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I like Bosom Buddies when it was an 1980's show. You heard Billy Joel's My LIfe as tne theme song. A young Tom Hanks, a pre-Newhart Peter Scolari. Telma Hopkins, (The late great) Wendy Jo Sperber, Holland Taylor and Donna Dixon. It was "Some Like It Hot" in a boarding house. Hanks and Scolari sold us Kip (buffy) and Henry (hildy) to save money. It was two guys trying to woman for less rent. it was a cute, fun little show that was good for a few laughs

Now the DVD incarnation is not great. Some of the shows seemed over edited, as these were the syndicated shows and NOT the original masters. It is missing Billy Joel's My Life for some lame theme which does not work against the opening credits. There are NO extras to speak of and the stuff thats here is not up to quality

Paramount/CBS video should have known better. They should have spend a few extra dollars and gone for the best (like Billy Joel's My Life), not like the Mama's Family (see the reviewe) [...] that Warner Brothers heaped upon us last year. Yes, It seems cut

It is worth it to see a young Tom Hanks, but PLEASE PARAMOUNT/CBS get us the real thing and not wash out, syndicated shows that seem cut to ribbons and my opinion destroyed, that why only 3 stars

Bennet Pomerantz AUDIOWORLD

The first season of "Bosom Buddies" is the very best. Because everything is so fresh and comedic. There are a total of 19 eps from Season One. I got this set partly because I am a big fan of Wendie Jo Sperber. She was always so cute and funny. I loved her in "Back To The Future." Wendie Jo sorta reminded me of Mama Cass (and who doesn't love Mama Cass?) This show came out before I was born, but I have seen most of the reruns on TBS and I fell in love with it. If you've never seen "Bosom Buddies" before, it's a lot like "Three's Company" or "Prefect Strangers" but even better!

This is my favorite TV show ever. I have every episode on video tape. I've been waiting for it to come out on DVD so I can have every episode recorded on the pureness of digital and with no scenes cut out. So it's terribly disappointing to be missing the theme song, and it's also missing some jokes that require songs, too. In one scene, Kip goes into the bathroom and you're supposed to hear him singing "Happy Days Are Here Again..." but you don't hear anything. In another scene, Isabelle's date is honking the horn for her outside and we're supposed to hear the horn playing "Dixie" or something, but we just hear a regular horn. The audience laughs, but what are they laughing at? Something we no longer hear on the DVD. I'm not going to buy this DVD set until all this is fixed!

Sure, the storyline had been done before in "Some Like it Hot", but I really loved this show. The obvious reason for looking back on it now is to see Tom Hanks "back in the day" before he hit the big screen. After all, he was the only actor besides Spencer Tracy to ever win back-to-back Best Actor Oscars. Wouldn't you be curious if we had 40 or so half-hour episodes of Spence as a young man parading around in a dress in a situation comedy? I know I would. Besides Tom Hanks, the other castmembers were terrific, and most had pretty good careers. Peter Scolari (Henry Desmond) had a long run on "Newhart" in the 80's, Donna Dixon (Sonny Lumet) was adequate enough as Hank's love interest on the show, the late Wendy Jo Sperber (Amy Cassidy) was very good as the overweight girl who hoped against hope that Scolari's character would come to love her, and finally there's the early appearance of Telma Hopkins (Isabelle Hammond) who had other comedic roles on "Gimme A Break" and then "Family Matters". There were 19 episodes in the first season, even though it didn't debut until late November 1980:

Pilot" - Kip and Henry dress up as women so that they can live in a hotel that is restricted to women.

"My Brother, My Sister, Myself" - Kip is discovered in Hildy's room, which is strictly against hotel rules.

"Loathe They Neighbor" - After an argument with Amy, Sonny moves in with Buffy and Hildy.

"Macho Man" - Henry becomes a macho man when their masquerade has him doubting his masculinity.

"What Price Glory?" - Kip and Henry try to get the account of the unscrupulous Dr. Bob without losing their self-respect.

"Kip and Sonny's Date" - Kip blows his first date with Sonny.

"Beauty and the Beasts" - Kip and Henry go to a singles bar as Buffy and Hildy and are not picked up by guys.

"Revenge" - A date who dumped Amy has a very bad practical joke played on him.

"Amy's Career" - Amy is put in charge of a mouthwash advertising campaign and totally blows it.

"Gotta Dance" - Kip has to tell Sonny that a spot in a commercial he arranged for her has been given to another girl.

"Sonny Boy" - Hildy and Buffy stop a robbery and make the TV news, which prompts Henry's mother to pay `him' a visit.

"How Great Thou Art" - Henry arranges for some of Kip's paintings to be displayed at a gallery as a birthday surprise.

"Kip Quits" - When a client wants a campaign run his way, Henry conforms but Kip quits to sell hot dogs in the park.

"Only the Lonely" - Ruth invites Kip and Henry over for dinner, then will not let them leave.

"The Re-Write" -Kip asks Henry to spice up his autobiography.

"The Show Must Go On" - Kip and Henry wash dishes at a night club so that Isabelle can sing there.

"The Hospital" - Buffy and Hildy become hospital candy stripers so Kip can be closer to Sonny.

"Best Friends" - Henry feels left out when Kip renews his friendship with a rock and roll star.

"Cahoots" - Kip and Amy team up to advance their respective romances with Sonny and Henry but the efforts backfire.

It isn't until the second season that Sonny learns the truth about Buffy and Hildy actually being Kip and Henry. As for the rumor about the theme song on the DVD not being sung by Billy Joel, or possibly not even being the original "My Life", I don't know, but I can believe it might be true. I bought a DVD set of "Bonanza" recently, and the original theme song and background music had been replaced by music that sounded like it had been cranked out by some teenager in his garage on a synthesizer. This all has to do with contracts that made provisions for copyrighted music in syndication, but not such avenues as DVD since the medium didn't even exist at the time.

Although I'm glad I bought this first season package of "Bosom Buddies", I am a little disappointed that it's not quite as I remember. Firstly, the opening theme song is not "My Life" by Billy Joel. It's something else entirely. Also, one of my favorite episodes (where Kip and Henry go to Ruth's apartment) was not complete. The part where they're all singing the Calypso song is not in it. That scene was hilarious. Makes me wonder how many episodes they have chopped up. I guess, in the long run, it's better to have some of Bosom Buddies as opposed to none of them.

One of my very favorite series EVER!! the duo of Hanks/Scalaria (sp?) was very "right" and I hear Tom Hanks joke about a BB movie in interviews...sure wish they'd do it!!!Would be hard to tho...the actress who played Amy is dead from cancer now. She would be hard to re-cast!
RIP Wendy RIP!

Yep, I am NOT afraid to admit I have always loved this show.

Silly, a cheesy story line.

But, it was funny.

Of course, the beginning of Hanks career.

For then future TV references the makers of the show were the makers of "Full House".
You can see that in episode "The Show Must Go On". Gee whiz, we see Bob Saget as "Bob the Comic".
You will note any "Full House" fans in the episode where Danny & Joey go back to college in a prank they are dress just like Tom & Peter wore. Cue the wardrobe department, same dresses?

This season we had two managers of "The Susan B Anthony". Not to be seen again in season 2.

And, on the DVD, where is Billy Joel's "My Life"?

I still remember scenes & can quote lines. Episode one "Macho Man".

To me, just as funny today as when first aired.

I was one of the first people to order Bosom Buddies when it came out and ran home to play it, unfortunately I hear Stephanie Mills instead of the Billy Joel song. One of the things that made this show so great is the nostalgia it brings back watching the opening sequence. I personally only got through 3 episodes because I was so thrown off by the music in the opening.I loved this show and looked forward to seeing it, however I didn't think I would have to find out that the song which is great is not the right song on the dvd. I mean come on you wouldn't play Earth, Wind, and Fire to Different Strokes! How about Eye of the Tiger to the A-Team openin! I wouldn't recommend it for now, who knows maybe they may re-release it with the Billy Joel song if there's enough complaints......

I remember this comedy well growing up - it was one of my favorite TV
sit coms and a young up and coming Tom Hanks. If you refuse to buy the
series because they replaced the Billy Joel opening theme song that only
lasted a minute or so - that is so SILLY, no really SO SILLY. Grow up.
The Busom Buddy series is great entertainment, and it's not Billy Joels
song that made it popular.

I enjoyed this show when it originally aired. It hit its stride when the plots became centered less on the cross-dressing gimmick and more on the relationships between the characters. That said, this DVD release is hardly close to what I think most fans expected. Billy Joel's "My Life" has been replaced with something truly horrible. His song really set the tone in the opening, and its absence on this release is glaring. There are no bonus features. I didn't expect much, but a commentary audio here and there would have been nice. The worst fault is that some episodes have been edited from their original broadcast versions. Most people don't buy DVD releases of TV shows to watch what's long been available in syndication. Overall, this set is as bare bones as they come. I'm not telling anyone whether or not to buy it. I just want people to know what to expect.