Bosom Buddies: The Way Kip and Henry Were

Ohio State of mind

Bosom Buddies: The Way Kip and Henry Were
ABC
March 4, 1982
Sitcom
DVD
B+

Things to like/love about this Hart & Ripps story:

• It manages to present 1979* as a very different era from '82, which it was, although there's the suggestion that Kip and Henry, with their long hair, drug use, and dorm room decor are living a post-'60s life in college;
• It exemplifies Theme #1 of the series: friendship, with not only Kip sacrificing half his salary so that Ruth will hire both of them, but also the gang promising to support Isabelle in her pursuit of her singing career while working as hotel manager;
• It exemplifies Theme #2 of the series: art vs. commerce, with the boys giving up their dream of being starving artists ("with respiratory problems") to sell out, telling themselves, and three years later Isabelle, that you can have a paying job and still pursue your art in your spare time, although in that quiet, gut-punching ending, when it's just Kip and Henry, the latter admits he hasn't done any serious writing in four months, while Kip confesses he hasn't painted in six;
• Ruth winning in the negotiations, but also showing her nice side;
• Silly humor, like the "my herring is bad" routine with Amy and Sonny, as well as the deservedly applauded physical comedy of Ruth extracting herself from a bean bag chair;
• A pun on Siddhartha, which I assure you was a lot more sophisticated humor than on your average sitcom of the time;
• Kip's eyerolls and his imitation of Henry;
• The costumes and hair-styling of course;
• Isabelle's friends horribly singing "Stay" and her reaction;
• Amy's deservedly applauded line referencing the Yuban commercial: "That's funny, Sonny never has a second cup of coffee when I make it," perfectly delivered, with Scolari and Hopkins reacting in character and letting the applause play out before continuing.

*Henry has the line "It's 1978, I'm an anachronism already," but we know that they graduated from high school in '75 and there are several lines here that say they were in college for four years.  This means they arrived in New York and moved into the "dirt-cheap" apartment several months to a year before they switched to the Susan B. Anthony Hotel.