They're called, with affection, "classic sitcoms."

And you can start a lively discussion or even a heated debate about the best of the dozen or so from TV's past.

How many times have we seen Lucy stuffing herself with chocolates on the assembly line?

Or a swaggering Deputy Barney Fife accidentally locking himself in Mayberry's "high security" jail?

And I still chuckle recalling Ted Baxter fumbling through a Minneapolis newscast. Such scenes are familiar because most of television's classic comedies have shown up in national syndication or have been featured on Nick at Night, TV Land and other nostalgia outlets.

I've long had fond memories of Bosom Buddies, the three-plus-season series that premiered on ABC in 1980 and became a performing springboard for a tall skinny, actor, with dark bushy hair and a definitive comedy flair.

You have heard of Tom Hanks.

Is Bosom Buddies a classic?

Hard to classify because the series has never had the extensive rerun exposure of famous comedies. This week, CBS DVD and Paramount Home Entertainment release the first season of Bosom Buddies in three-DVD set featuring the series pilot and all 19 first-season episodes.

Hanks and the underrated Peter Scolari portray single pals, working for low wages in a New York advertising agency. When their low-rent apartment is condemned, the duo, needing a cheap place to stay, spend much of their time in drag and assume the personas of Buffy (Hanks) and Hildegarde (Scolari) so they can live cheaply in an all-women's residence called the Susan B. Anthony Hotel.

Granted, that's a far-out premise. But the weekly adventures of Jerry Seinfeld and his three pals weren't exactly drawn from everyday real life. This is television comedy.

Hanks and Scolari are hilarious, perhaps a cut or two under Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis of Some Like It Hot fame, but still worthy of your chuckles and occasional laugh-out-loud responses, with their wardrobes, wigs, body movements and squeaky voices.

There's even a lovely, languid blonde in the story line who catches Hanks' eye, although no one would ever mistake Donna Dixon for Marilyn Monroe.

Actually, Bosom Buddies offers two settings in order to display its comedy wares.

When not prancing around in high heels and straightening their skirts, Hanks and Scolari dispense humor in the advertising agency, where the plots, at times, are as politically incorrect as today's comedies.

The second episode deals with the firm's attempted pitch for a "Brotherhood Week" account that pokes fun at religious institutions.

The scenes inside the agency offer another reason to revisit Bosom Buddies. The talented Holland Taylor, now a fixture as the salty mother on Two and a Half Men, portrays the buddies' shrewish boss.

While he has worked steadily since Bosom Buddies, Scolari never found the ladder to major stardom.

Perhaps his second-best TV role started in 1984, playing Bob Newhart's self-serving yuppie pal in the six-season run of Newhart.

He's a talent who even managed to steal scenes from Hanks - no easy chore.

A comedy classic? Bosom Buddies has my vote, if only for one season.

Dusty's pick for tonight:

Speaking of classics, Turner Classic Movies will take you to New York for tales inside a police station house and then onto the city streets.

Detective Story (6 p.m.) was directed by William Wyler. The 1951 production stars Kirk Douglas, Eleanor Parker and Lee Grant.

Today's nostalgia

On March 13, 1977, ABC Theatre aired Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years, the sequel to the award-winning Eleanor and Franklin, broadcast in 1976. The production again starred Jane Alexander and Edward Hermann.

Award winner:

CBS4's Joshua Shea has been named Best Photo Journalism Editor of the Year for 2007 by the National Press Photographers Association.

Judges noted that much of the strong competition came from other Denver television stations, which have long been a mecca for award-winning TV news photography.

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