Week of April 30: The Long Reach of "Bosom Buddies"

It limped through two seasons and 37 episodes. In this corner, at least, the program was silly and juvenile. The best thing about it was its use of the Billy Joel hit song "My Life" (though not sung by Joel).

But "Bosom Buddies," which ABC featured from 1980-82, has a long reach.

To recall: The program was "Some Like It Hot" meets semi-real life. Kip Wilson and Henry Desmond needed to find a place to live that was affordable. The only place they could find was a building for women only. Voila! Kip and Henry got women's clothing and became Buffy and Hildegarde.

The series was produced by Thomas L. Miller and Robert L. Boyett, who went on to much greater success with other ABC sitcoms, including "Full House," "Perfect Strangers" and "Family Matters."

Peter Scolari, who played Henry/Hildegarde, later co-starred on "Newhart" and received three Emmy nominations as Michael Harris, the stuffy boyfriend of the equally snooty Stephanie Vanderkellen, played by Julia Duffy.

Then there's the guy who played Kip/Buffy. Some fellow named Hanks.......I certainly wouldn't have predicted stardom for him based on that show.

But he impressed a few people, including "Happy Days" star and budding director Ron Howard, who cast Hanks in a mermaid film called "Splash." You know the rest.

And Tom Hanks is the primary reason "Bosom Buddies" has received a second look....and honors at last week's TV Land Awards.

Go figure.

See you next week. Until then, Happy Viewing!