Bosom Buddies: Other Than That, She's a Wonderful Person

Bosom Buddies: Other Than That, She's a Wonderful Person
ABC
December 25, 1981
Sitcom
DVD
B-

The "she" of the title is Dana (Jennifer Holmes), the interior decorator that Ruth just hired and Henry quickly falls for.*  She's from California and sarcastic, but not in a way that meshes with Henry's friends.  At the time and now, I felt conflicted about this character and this episode.  On the plus side, the jokes about California are hilarious (maybe even funnier now that I don't live in Cali), and of course ironic considering that Hanks is from the Bay Area.  (There's an in-joke when Henry asks if Dana knows Leonard Ripps, who's from California.  Ripps was a writer and producer of Buddies that season.)  I also am fond of the restaurant scene where we hear everyone's thoughts, including the redheaded waitress.  (Watching the episode this time, I suspect that someone had seen Annie Hall recently, although this uses voiceovers rather than subtitles.  And there's a red-lightbulb joke later.)

The thing is, with Kip and the others not liking Dana, it's hard for me to warm up to her, and she doesn't really do anything to make me like her.  Cindy was sweet before she revealed her satanic side and, like I said at the time, Ellen Williams (Kip's replacement when he quits in a huff) had some nice chemistry with Henry.  I wouldn't have minded seeing them date, and then there could still be a plot where Amy is jealous, and Kip worries he's going to lose the closeness of his best-friendship with Henry.  But the story is what it is, and of course, as in most of these cases, sitcom characters can fall in love one week and then never see other again.

This is the only Buddies episode written by Stu Silver of Soap, so perhaps it's appropriate that Sonny enjoys the General-Hospital-like atmosphere.


*Holmes ironically would play a character who would become Scolari's character's cousin-in-law, after her departure, in that Holmes would be Leslie Vanderkellen on the first season of Newhart, and then Stephanie Vanderkellen (Julia Duffy) would come in as Leslie's cousin and eventually marry Scolari's Michael Harris.  Holmes would later in the '80s be Judy on Who's the Boss?