Remembering Tom Hanks’ TV Career, From’ Bosom Buddies’ to… David S. Pumpkins?

A perfect example of Tom Hanks movies is the recent release of The Post, starring Tom and Meryl Streep, which once again showcases the actor's dramatic abilities coupled with gentle humor. It's a long way from the start of a career that included some pretty out there performances guest starring on shows like Happy Days and Taxi. But there was also the opportunity to costar with Peter Scolari on ABC's Bosom Buddies, which saw them as a couple of advertising guys who have to disguise themselves as women to afford a place to live, which happens to be in a female-only hotel. It was that TV show that proved to the world the comic abilities of Tom, which led to him being cast in Splash, and launched his film career.

What's interesting about Tom, though, is that unlike a lot of other actors, he's not ashamed of his TV past. In fact, back in 2010 he participated in a TV Land Awards reunion with his co-stars, and he couldn't be more happy to do so. "You can look back and say, ‘You know, we really did some great shows,'" he related to the LA Times. He added that he loved doing the series, but getting dressed in women's clothes got tiring after a while. "We would tell the writers, ‘Aren't we strong enough as clever guys with our banter? Isn't that enough?' And then there would be the next episode and we'd have to dress up." So maybe he's saying we shouldn't hold our breath for a Bosom Buddies reunion special?

In either case, join us on this look back at Tom's pre-movie TV career.