Bosom Buddies: Kip Quits

Ropers refugee Louise Vallance plays
Kip's luckless replacement and has
some nice chemistry with Scolari.

Bosom Buddies: Kip Quits
ABC
February 26, 1981
Sitcom
DVD
B+

So let me talk about why the first dozen episodes of Bosom Buddies, fine though they were, did not achieve the level of B+.  To some extent, I evaluate programs (and before this, movies and books) on a gut level, though I may refine the grade, so that it will start out, for example, C+/B-, and then through the process of writing about it, and maybe seeing what others have written, I come to a more precise grade.  In shorthand, a B+ is a "Wow!" episode, while a B might have a passing "Wow!" moment.  A show that gets a B (and in some cases a B-) does everything you could ask for, while a B+ does something extra.  This episode does that.

The Gewirtz & Praiser script, as well as Hanks and Scolari's ad-libs, are top-notch.  To begin with, there are references to everything from Bob Newhart's stuttering (which Scolari, guided by director Mackenzie, who had a recurring role as Carol Kester's husband, does well and then lampshades) to Chariots of the Gods? writer Erich von Däniken (not a reference I got at the time, and it made me gasp this time).  The plot again pits Kip's idealism and stubbornness against Henry's willingness to compromise, while recognizing the importance of their teamwork, including at the hot dog stand Kip ends up running.  We also get the experience and realism of Ruth, in what might be Taylor's best performance on the show so far.  (One minute, she's ready to race out of the building to make "the French connection" and the next she's playing reality check for the boys, and she's utterly convincing in both aspects.)

At the same time, the episode is perfectly willing to be silly and playful.  Judging by the friendship that still exists among the cast, I think they genuinely enjoyed working together and that comes through.  (Later, when Penny Marshall guest-stars, I believe there's a tweak about the tension on the Laverne & Shirley set.)  As the boys impatiently wait to hear what the client thinks, Kip taps out a rhythm with a pen on a glass and soon Amy is doing a wild and rather sexy dance, which Henry finds "distracting."  In the scene where Lilly is showing "fo-tos" of her and boyfriend Chucky (an unseen character mentioned on a previous episode) to the girls in the hotel, everyone is throwing popcorn and cracking proto-MST3K.  Even the tag, where Isabelle (dressed like a new-wave Uhura), Sonny, and Amy apologize to Lilly for heckling the slide show, has some good stuff, like that Lilly has an enormous vaudeville scrapbook and once dated a sword-swallower, who took in her entire arm, so she lost a bracelet.  It's as if at this point, everyone knows they're not doing well in the ratings* and they're going to have fun with it anyway.  (And that's the impression I get not only on screen but from what I've read online.)

Bruce Vilanch, who among many other things was a writer for The Brady Bunch Variety Hour, has a scene-stealing cameo as Customer #2 at the hot dog stand.  Michael Fairman, who plays the client Mr. Peters, would soon be Lou on Soap.


*I haven't tracked down an exact number, but the ratings were "mediocre" in the first season and Buddies definitely didn't make the Top Thirty, while The Waltons, which aired opposite this and Mork & Mindy, placed #30 in its last season.