Bosom Buddies: Not with My Sister, You Pig

Bosom Buddies: Not with My Sister, You Pig
ABC
March 18, 1982
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Chris Thompson wrote and co-directed, with Van Atta, this story that treads Three's Company territory, with Kip overprotective of his visiting younger sister, Vickie.  Kip worries that Henry seduced her, and made her watch him juggle, but it turns out that Vickie, who's starting college that year, wants Henry to be her "first."  They also had some encounter with a lather machine when Vickie was eight, which may or may not rule out him doing something with her older sister at "Monkey Ward's."  Two big differences from 3'sC are that Kip and his friends are wearing "new wave" outfits when Vickie arrives, and there's drug humor in the hospital.

Bosom Buddies: Best Friends

I vaguely recall this show, which aired a
few months before Buddies premiered.

Bosom Buddies: Best Friends
ABC
April 9, 1981
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Chris Thompson wrote and co-directed (with Van Atta) this episode that has another take on Kip and Henry's friendship.  Adrian Zmed guest-stars as Kip's old friend who's become rocker Joey Midnight.  In addition to doing Bachelor Party with Hanks in the future ('84), Zmed had co-starred with Scolari on the short-lived show Goodtime Girls (along with Annie Potts, Lorna Patterson, and Georgia Engel, see picture).  He works pretty well with both men, but the episode itself feels slightly off, maybe because it's weird to see Kip and Henry questioning their friendship.  There are a bunch of rock and pop references, from ABBA to Devo.  Sperber's fangirling of course is reminiscent of her appearance in the movie I Wanna Hold Your Hand.  Ironically, we don't hear Zmed sing anything but a summer camp song with Hanks, although he would sing a lot in Grease 2 the following year.

Bosom Buddies: Sonny Boy

Bosom Buddies: Sonny Boy
ABC
February 12, 1981
Sitcom
DVD
B

Leonard Ripps wrote this story that sounds like Sonny will be in drag, but it's actually about the reaction of Mrs. Desmond when she sees Henry and Kip in drag, talking about beating up two punks (in the "hood" sense, not the punker sense).  It's a funny episode, including the early Geraldo Rivera parody, Jesus Salazar, but it also has Henry torn between pleasing his mom and wanting to live his own life.  (And, yes, he's out to her as a cross-dressing heterosexual, but this does have parallels to gays dealing with their parents.)  Still not quite a B+ but it's close.  Some things of note:

• Henry's father is alive but we never get to see him.
• Henry's first big date was at 17, to his prom.
• I can't remember if it was mentioned before that the guys are from Ohio; we'll later learn they're from Shaker Heights.
• Kip always got blamed when the boys got in trouble, and Mrs. Desmond never really liked him.
• Her nickname for Henry was Winky.
• Unbelievably, Kip's mother expected him to go to med school.  (We'll later see what hippies he and his family were/are.)
• Henry and presumably Kip have been in New York for a year.
• We get a glimpse of Isabelle's apartment, and I get the impression she lives alone.
• The rent is $200, up from $150 in the pilot, but still not bad.  (It's higher on Three's Company, but that's a two-bedroom rather than a studio without a kitchen.

I'm guessing someone in casting was a Bob Newhart Show fan, because Dr. Leon is an even more obnoxious gum-chewing psychiatrist than Phillip R. Allen's Dr. Frank Walburn.  Randy Stumpf, who was a Greek Soldier on M*A*S*H, is Punk #1 here (and would play a Burglar on The Brady Brides).  I think this is the first episode that Ruth is absent from.  Again, both Thompson and Van Atta directed, maybe because of the "action sequence"?

Bosom Buddies: Macho Man

Bosom Buddies: Macho Man
ABC
December 18, 1980
Sitcom
DVD
B

Leonard Ripps's first of eight Buddies stories is the first episode where I feel like the cast is coming together as an ensemble.  This is seen a bit in the breakfast scene where Sonny and Isabelle look slightly appalled by Buffy's eating habits, but it's strongest in the interaction in the "urban cowboy" bar, including when they all cry, "Oh no, Shlomo!"  Giving the character a stereotypical Jewish name is a nice unexpected touch, and Amy's line "It looks like Ray Bolger exploded" is one of my favorites from the series.  The plot is that Henry, partially from spending so much time in drag, is starting to feel unmasculine, so he adopts two macho personae, first the gold chains and unbuttoned shirt look, and then "Hank."  After making a fool of himself and hurting Amy's feelings, he realizes that his friends like him as himself.  The anti-machismo message definitely tells us that we are in the very early '80s.  And the subplot about the radioactive cookies is both ridiculous and subversive.

Twyla Littleton, who plays Cheryl, would be Ann on Three's Company.  Oddly enough, both Thompson and Van Atta directed, maybe because of the "action sequence."

Bosom Buddies: My Brother, My Sister, Myself

Bosom Buddies: My Brother, My Sister, Myself
ABC
December 4, 1980
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Chris Thompson wrote this story which introduces Lucille Benson as new hotel manager Lilly Sinclair.  (Benson had played mother-in-law to both Mame and Mr. Roper.)  Unfortunately for the guys, Lilly shows up right after Sonny has walked in on Hildy holding a man in her arms.  (Henry was trying to get Kip out of bed in the morning.)  Hildy's reputation is ruined, including among "men who Simonize."  Henry learns a lesson about gossip and makes amends to a woman he offended.

The layout of the apartment is different than in the pilot, and the men's drag is relatively more believable.  (The latter can at least be explained by them having had more time and practice.)  We also get to see the hallway (with elevator) and the bar downstairs.  But the episode is most significant for the, as the opening credits would later put it, "but they also know us as Kip and Henry, Buffy and Hildy's brothers" aspect being introduced.

I just wish the episode were better.  There are again some sharp lines, as with Amy's reply to "polls don't matter": "That's what Carter thought."  (This is more specific than the "actor president" line on Mork earlier that evening, and it is possible both episodes, or at least this one, were filmed less than a month before they aired.  Or they could've shot Amy's line both ways and edited the right one in before broadcast.)  Buffy's spoonerisms, like "clappy as a ham," are cute.

Unfortunately, there is some subpar acting, for which director Don Van Atta, in his first of five BBuddies gigs, may be to blame.  Dixon is still not great and, like her, Benson seems capable of only doing a couple emotions, not necessarily the right ones at the right moments.  Worst of all though are Samantha Fox, not that Samantha Fox, and Cherie Eichen, as respectively Lee Ann and Amanda.  While it's interesting to hear what may well have been the first Valley Girl on TV (OK, it's New York, but "gag me with a spoon" is very Californian), Eichen doesn't really do much with the character.  And Fox plays her "tramp" character sullenly, not helped by Van Atta's decision to have characters stand up to deliver their lines in that scene.  Everyone else is fine, and I don't want to mark the episode down too much, but overall the episode is a drop in quality from the pilot.  (Still better than what M*A*S*H and Soap were offering up of course.)