Tom Hanks' 46-Year-Old Sitcom Has Aged Poorly

Before he became Hollywood's biggest name and America's Dad, Tom Hanks got his start on television. The series that launched Hanks, Bosom Buddies, ran on ABC for two seasons from 1980 to 1982 and follows two struggling advertising artists who pose as women to live in a female-only hotel.

In its era, broad portrayals of femininity and cross-dressing were viewed as wholesome entertainment; seen today the premise reads as problematic. Cross-dressing was once a reliable comedic device, used in classics like Some Like It Hot and Tootsie, but Bosom Buddies, bound by network sitcom limits, lacks their depth.

The show leans on the premise for laughs, treating Kip Wilson and Henry Desmond as buffoons and asking audiences to admire them rather than interrogate the setup, a conceit that now feels out of touch in an era when drag is mainstream performance. Still, the series can be surprisingly tender.

United States, Hollywood

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