Cross-dressing has always had considerable comedic appeal. Charlie Chaplin and Milton Berle were known to don dresses from time to time to get a few laughs, Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis hid behind their makeup from a pursuing crime family in Some Like it Hot, and even a television series about the horrors of war managed to lighten up the mood with a cross-dressing Corporal Klinger on the acclaimed television series, M*A*S*H*. And in the 80s, the dress duties went to two relatively unknown actors named Tom Hanks and Peter Scalari in a fondly remembered sitcom called Bosom Buddies.

The premise was simple. Two advertising men, Kip Wilson (Hanks) and Henry Desmond (Scolari) are desperate for an affordable place to live when they come across the Susan B. Anthony hotel. The only catch is that it is a women-only hotel so the duo is forced to dress in drag. When not working at their ad agency, their time is spent trying to outwit the suspicious hotel manager, Lily Sinclair, and fellow resident, Isabelle Hammond, an up and coming singer.

Billy Joel’s hit song “My Life” provided the catchy theme to the show, which actually found more success in syndication than it did during its original broadcast. The show is fondly remembered, thanks to the ability of the two stars to improvise their often-hilarious scenes, the result of a remarkable on-air chemistry between Hanks and Scolari. They would go on to work together again in the Hanks directed film, That Thing That You Do, as well as the HBO series (produced by Hanks) From the Earth to the Moon, and the animated holiday film, Polar Express.

While the series was but a blip in 80s television, it proved that it is hard to go wrong when you throw a male into some female attire. Just ask Tootsie and Mrs. Doubtfire.