Bosom Buddies was a sitcom that starred Tom Hanks and Peter Scolari and ran from 1980 to 1982 on ABC that followed the misadventures of two single men, working in creative advertising, struggling in their industry while disguising themselves as women in order to live in the one apartment they could afford.

Bosom Buddies Cast Some like it Hanks in this cross-dressing sitcom that launched one of Hollywood's most accomplished careers. It doesn't get any "Before They Were Stars" than this. The future Oscar-winner hadn't even made Bachelor Party yet! Hanks and Peter Scolari star as struggling ad-agency artist and writer Kip and Henry, best friends whose apartment building is demolished. Desperate for a place to live, they transform themselves into Buffy and Hildegarde so they can live in the for-women-only Susan B. Anthony Hotel. Kip and Henry pass themselves off as the "girls': brothers, allowing Kip to romance nurse and aspiring dancer Sunny (Donna Dixon), and Henry to write a book about the experience. "This is nuts, stupid, crazy," Kip rants, and so it is, but Bosom Buddies is never a drag, thanks to Hanks and Scolari's spontaneous chemistry. They are a comedy team without, pardon the expression, a straight man. The late Wendie Jo Sperber is a force of nature as Amy, the ad-agency receptionist with an unrequited crush on Henry, leading to one of this season's less jokey, more character-driven episodes, "Beauty and the Beasts." Holland Taylor is at her imperious best as Kip and Henry's credit-grabbing boss. Lucille Benson replaces the pilot's Edie Adams in Bosom Buddies as the Susan B. Anthony's formidable new manager.

Cast & Characters
  • Tom Hanks as Kip Wilson/ Buffy Wilson
  • Peter Scolari as Henry Desmond/ Hildegrade Desmond
  • Donna Dixon as Sonny Lumet
  • Holland Taylor as Ruth Dunbar
  • Thelma Hopkins as Isabelle Hammond
  • Lucille Benson as Lilly Sinclair
  • Wendie Jo Sperber as Amy Cassidy

Broadcast History

 First Telecast: November 27, 1980
Last Telecast: September 15, 1984
Original Network:  ABC
Number of Seasons: 2
Number of Episodes: 37
Original Primetime Television Schedule:
  • November 1980- September 1981, ABC, Thursday 8:30-9:00pm
  • October 1981, ABC, Thursday 9:00-9:30pm
  • November 1981- January 1982, ABC, Friday 8:30-9:00pm
  • February 1982- March 1982, ABC, Thursday 8:30-9:00pm
  • May 1982- June 1982, ABC, Thursday 8:30-9:00pm
  • July 1984- September 1984, NBC, Saturday 9:00-9:30pm

Theme Song Lyrics & Opening Credits

 "My Life" by Billy Joel

I don't need you to worry for me cause I'm alright
I don't want you to tell me it's time to come home
I don't care what you say anymore, this is my life
Go ahead with your own life, and leave me alone
I never said you had to offer me a second chance
I never said I was a victim of circumstance
I still belong, don't get me wrong
And you can speak your mind
But not on my time
They will tell you you can't sleep alone
In a strange place
Then they'll tell you you can't sleep
With somebody else
But sooner or later you sleep
In your own space
Either way it's okay
You wake up with yourself.

Watch opening intro:


Listen to theme song:

Bosom Buddies on DVD
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Bosom Buddies Trivia

 The Bosom Buddies characters' first names, Kip and Henry, came from two bars located in Berkeley, California named, "Kips'" and "Henry's".

Peter Scolari had not seen his last starring role when Bosom Buddies left the air! His other TV starring roles include "Baby Makes Five (1983)", "Newhart (1982)", "The Family Album (1993)", "The Mommies (1993)", "Gargoyles (Voice) (1994)", "Dweebs (1995)", "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1997)", and "From the Earth to the Moon Miniseries (1990)". Even before his role on Bosom Buddies, he starred on "Goodtime Girls (1980) and "Wally Brown (1979)"! And that's not counting his numerous guest-starring roles!

Kip and Henry worked at the "Livingston, Gentry, and Mishkin" advertising agency.

Tom Hanks must be the most disciplined human on Earth when it comes to his control over food consumption! He gained, then lost 30 pounds for his role on "A League of Their Own (1992)". Then he lost and regained 30 pounds for his role on "Philadelphia (1993)". But his biggest gastronomical accomplishment was gaining and then losing more than FIFTY pounds for his "Cast Away (2000)" performance!

Donna Dixon was a natural choice to play the beautiful Sonny Lumet. Four years earlier in 1976, she won the "Miss Virginia" title. The next year she won the "Miss District of Columbia" title and was 1st runner-up to the 1977 "Miss USA"! One of Donna's best friends is Fran Drescher, star of "The Nanny (1993)" and "Living With Fran (2005)"!

For some strange reason, they recorded the first (Pilot) episode of Bosom Buddies on film and then shot the rest of the series on videotape.