Bosom Buddies Restoration Project

[stevearino]

Hello Out There From TV Land,

I'd like to share with you folks here with great pride a Project I've been working on for quite some time: a Complete Series Restoration of the acclaimed yet criminally short-lived '80s sitcom "Bosom Buddies," all 37 half-hour episodes lovingly restored AND, most importantly, 100% Uncut AND 100% Unedited, just the way that each episode originally aired on the ABC Television Network.

For those of you unfamiliar with "Bosom Buddies," I doubt it, but for those unfamiliar with the show, here's the Inside Information: Created by Chris Thompson, "Bosom Buddies" originally aired on ABC from November 27, 1980 - March 25, 1982 and cast Tom Hanks and Peter Scolari as, respectively, Kip Wilson & Henry Desmond, 2 young men living in New York City working at a local Ad Agency who, at the start of the series' Pilot, discovered that their Apartment Building was being Demolished to be replaced by Condominiums--or Condos.

At the suggestion of colleague Amy Cassidy (Wendie Jo Sperber), who had a big-time "thing" for Henry (and by that I mean crush), Kip and Henry moved into Amy's apartment building--specifically the Susan B. Anthony Hotel, a Local Residence for Women--which led Kip and Henry to create alter egos, their respective sisters Buffy Wilson & Hildegarde "Hilde" Desmond.

Other characters included Ruth Dunbar (Holland Taylor), Kip, Henry & Amy's Employer at Livingston, Gentry & Mishkin (the Ad Agency where they worked); and Susan B. Anthony residents Sonny Lument (Donna Dixon), an Aspiring Dancer who worked as a Nurse during the Day, and Isabelle Hammond (Telma Hopkins), an aspiring Actress & Singer struggling to make ends meet, as well as original Susan B. manager Lilly Sinclair (Lucille Benson) during Season One.

At the start of Season 2 of "Bosom Buddies," Kip and Henry revealed their true identities (previously only known by Amy) to the other Susan B. residents; after the initial shock wore off, Sonny (by this time dating Kip) and Isabelle both forgave them, with Isabelle (by this time Hotel Manager) allowing Kip and Henry to live openly as men at the Susan B. Anthony Hotel; simultaneously, Kip, Henry and Amy quit the Ad Agency during Season 2 and started their own Commercial Business called 60 Seconds Street, with Ruth, their former boss, becoming a Not-So Silent Partner.

During its first season, "Bosom Buddies" was telecast Thursday nights at 8 P.M. ET on ABC after the '70s sitcom "Mork & Mindy"; however, at the start of the 2nd season, due to marginal Nielsen ratings, the series moved to Friday nights at 8 P.M. ET after the '70s sitcom "Benson," but by the time it moved back to Thursday nights at 8 P.M. ET after "Mork & Mindy," it was too late.

In early 1982, ABC cancelled "Bosom Buddies" due to low ratings, with its series finale episode (the ironically titled "Not the Last Picture Show") telecast on March 25, 1982; due to Tom Hanks' success making a "Splash" at the Box Office (and thus becoming a HUGE Box Office Success as he is still today), NBC aired Summer Reruns of "Bosom Buddies" from July-September 1984.

After the NBC Summer Reruns, Reruns began airing Daily in Syndication, and also the USA Cable Network by early 1992; likewise, Nickelodeon UK aired reruns of "Bosom Buddies" from November 1, 1995 - February 4, 2001 as part of its Paramount Comedy Channel programming block, initially airing Weeknights at 9 P.M. UK time, while Nickelodeon's sister network, TV Land, aired "Bosom Buddies" reruns from 1997-1998, after which reruns aired in the early 2000s on TBS and were last seen, albeit briefly, on ME-TV.

Besides having DVDs of both "Bosom Buddies" seasons, I also am proud to admit I have 2 episodes on VHS as part of Paramount Home Entertainment's "Bosom Buddies: Volume One" VHS release, specifically the Pilot Episode (the only episode shot on Film as opposed to the rest of the series shot on Videotape) and the early Season 1 episode "Macho Man," with the "Macho Man" episode featuring the original ABC Commercial Bumpers used before the tag scene and end credits; however, as with the DVDs, both episodes replaced the original theme song (specifically "My Life," Written by Billy Joel and Performed for the show by Atlanta Studio Musician Gary Bennett) with the Disco-inspired "Shake Me Loose," written for the show by "Bosom Buddies" creator Chris Thompson and Performed by R&B Singer Stephanie Mills.

As far as what the content of the "Bosom Buddies" Restoration Project is concerned, here's what shall be included, with your help: besides the Restoration of the original "My Life" theme in each episode, I'm also Requesting that each episode include Musical Numbers omitted from the DVDs on several episodes (among them "Happy Days Are Here Again" from Season 1's "My Brother, My Sister, Myself," "Rock & Roll Heaven" from Season 2's "Hildy's Dirt Nap," "Yakkity Yak" from Season 2's "One For You, One For Me" and "Chances Are" from Season 2's "All You Need Is Love") as well as the original Paramount Television logo at the end of each episode of the series.

ANY and ALL help on this Restoration Project would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, and Remember: If you Want Somebody to be YOUR Friend, You've Got to BE A Friend to Them.

One last thing before I conclude: to Wawwie, you think I'm "Demented" for speaking THE Truth about Bill Cosby?! ******** I'm "Demented." As noted in an earlier post here, Bill Cosby, in 2004, had a CONSENSUAL Sexual Encounter with Andrea Constand, and the following year, in 2005, had a Civil Case brought against him which he settled out of court--only for it to come back to HAUNT him 10 years later in 2015, when Castor's successor, Kevin Steele, who like Steven O'Neill is a LEGAL CROOK, brought Criminal Charges against Cosby in connection with the Encounter of FALSE accusations of Indecent Sexual Assault that unfortunately earned him his Conviction AND Prison Time.

You can believe what you want, but every word I said, take it or leave it, about Cosby IS TRUE, BUT much of the general public, sadly, IGNORES the Truth, and if you want to continue ignoring the truth, that's your perogative, same with anybody else who wants to ignore the truth about Bill Cosby.

I should clarify, contrary to what SOME might think, that I DO NOT condone ANY form of Rape OR Sexual Assault by ANY MEANS NECESSARY; I should also clarify that I myself am an Abuse Survivor, having been Abused at age 11 by a female teacher who WRONGFULLY thought it was a GREAT idea to have Male Classmates take turns each day holding my Penis for me as I tried Peeing, a form of Abuse I later learned was called Physical Restraintment.

I eventually figured out as a young adult that my Abuser (whose student I'd been for 3 years prior) had an Odd Affinity for 6th-Graders, keeping them an extra year BEYOND the Legal Requirement of 3rd to 5th Grade; my Abuser is, unfortunately for me, Deceased, but even if she were still alive, it's too late for me (WAY past too late) to press Criminal Charges against my Abuser in connection to the Abuse I suffered at age 11, from August 1996-March 1997.

Legally Speaking, I NEVER should have attended the school that year where I was Abused when I SHOULD have attended the 6th-Grade only Northside School (now officially known as the new William James Middle School) in my hometown in Georgia, an Hour Southeast of the Georgia Coast, and since expanded since 1998 expanded from 6th-Grade only to 6th to 8th Grades.

Steve