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Bosom Buddies, The 1980s Sitcom That Faked NYC Terribly
By
Jen Carlson
Published Apr 8, 2014
Modified Jun 4, 2019
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Apr 8, 2014
Modified Jun 4, 2019
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Central Park has lovely palm trees...
Let's look back at that delightfully odd sitcom from the 1980s: Bosom Buddies. If you're like certain members of the Gothamist staff, you'll remember this show as having taken place in California... but you are remembering it all wrong. It took place in New York City.
For those unfamiliar with this show, here's a primer: It originally aired on ABC from 1980 to 1982 (though reruns ran in 1984 on NBC), and featured a young Tom Hanks and Peter Scolari. Those two played young men working in the advertising in Manhattan—"struggling in their industry while disguising themselves as women in order to live in the one apartment they could afford," which was inside the female-only Susan B. Anthony Hotel.
Now, you may remember it as having taken place in California because that's where it was filmed, and there was little effort to conceal that fact. According to IMDB, "In a second season episode, an opening shot of Kip & Henry's building shows a California state flag flying outside. It is an obvious stock shot of a downtown Los Angeles office building meant to imply Manhattan." But you didn't have to wait until season two to get a little bit of L.A. in your NYC—the opening is FILLED with palm trees!
It's actually kind of amazing, and we're tempted to unearth every single episode to find out how (and if) they portrayed the city's subway system. Until then, here's a fun fact: The theme song for the opening credits was "My Life" by Billy Joel, but a re-recorded version believed to be sung by Hanks.
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Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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