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Life With Bonnie (2002)
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 Bonnie Hunt got her start in 'show business' as a member of the Second City comedy group in her native Chicago. This group is famous for its grounding in improvisation. The skill of improvisation is what Ms. Hunt has employed so well over the years and has done so again in her new sitcom in which she writes and stars, Life With Bonnie.Bonnie Hunt has had over 10 years to establish herself as one of Hollywood's funniest people. Though, in looking at her track record, you cannot help but wonder if this new venture on ABC is going to be what will propel her into true stardom. This latest show is her 5th attempt at breaking through to a larger TV audience in a starring role. If her guests, Martin Mull, Jonathan Winters and Carl Reiner are any indication of the shows potential, this show should be around awhile.
Life With Bonnie's strength lies in its intelligence and quick wit. Both of these qualities are the benchmark of Bonnie Hunt's material, whether acting it or writing it. The third and most common thread in any of Bonnie Hunt's work is the use of improvisation. Needless to say, these elements must all be executed by an intelligent, quick-witted troupe with a passion for improv. The basic storyline shows Bonnie Molloy (Hunt) as a local Chicago talk show hostess - a la Regis Philbin without the annoying co-host. Her floor manager is played by the laugh out loud David Alan Grier. Ms. Hunt's old Second City friend plays her assistant/makeup girl, Holly Wortell. Two very useful character actors make up the rest of the TV show cast: Anthony Russell plays Bonnie's musical sidekick and Chris Barnes really becomes the seemingly grumpy stagehand.
The storylines as of this writing have been simple on the surface: situations like Mom needs to help the kids with the homework and be a good wife and TV show host. However, when considering that a good portion of the script is improvised, it is astonishing that they're able to weave a cohesive 22-minute show.
In one episode, the Halloween special, Martin Mull comes on the set of Good Morning Chicago playing a clothing designer for animals. The typical talk show banter ensues for about 6 seconds of the entire interview as the improv takes over. Of course, the cavalcade of animals in costumes makes for its own hilarity without even a peep from Hunt or Mull. Instead of going great guns over the entire segment, Hunt and Mull hold back and only make slight jabs towards the costumes and the animals. In other words, they let the comedy come to the audience, instead of foisting it upon them. To further exemplify this theory, in the beginning of a more recent episode, the kids are getting ready for school and the husband is going off to work. Of course, Bonnie is scurrying about the house to get everyone into the car so she can get to her show on time. In this entire opening scene there was nothing more than one or maybe two lines that were mildly funny. But, what this entire scene did was set up the rest of the show. Most of the rest of today's sitcoms are looking for a laugh within the first 20 seconds, not 20 minutes.
Andre Archimbaud is a freelance writer, producer and broadcast and music engineer who lives in New York City. You may reach Andre direct at djaaa@ureach.com. Got a problem? Email us at filmmonthly@hotmail.com |
Tuesdays at 9/8c on ABC.
In the past, Ms. Hunt has received critical praise for her many comedic and downplayed dramatic roles in TV and Film. But, TV (Grave) Land is littered with shows like Brooklyn Bridge, My So Called Life and Homicide. All of which found an audience only with scribes and a few dedicated viewers. That said, since the notices have been full of praise for Life With Bonnie, there are some eyes that are catching this very funny, situation comedy. Realize that ABC has posted Life With Bonnie against one of the all time comedies in Frasier. There may just be a chance for Bonnie to upend NBC when Frasier goes off the air this year or next.
Back at home, Mark Derwin portrays Bonnie Molloy's doctor husband. Two children play the youngsters (about 10 and 11 in age) in the family, though there is an infant mixed in as well. There is also a housekeeper, played by Marianne Muellerleile. The very first notable item about the cast is that eight of the nine primary actors use their first name as their characters'. It is also worth nothing that they have all worked with Bonnie Hunt in the past on TV shows or in films she has helmed. 
In general these days, I find most sitcoms annoying. The tempo is like that of an annoying pop song melody. The timing is such that anyone could deliver the lines and the lines would be at least moderately humorous. There seem to be only two ways to make up for this kind of shortfall. The first is to have extremely sharp writing like Frasier, Taxi or All In The Family. The other is almost the antithesis of the first: Improv. Improv is off the cuff and in the moment more than anything other than a Charlie Parker solo. You need real talent for that. And the cast really does deliver on this.
There are some downsides to Life With Bonnie. It still needs some room to grow. The Simpsons needed almost a full two years to provide the sidesplitting humor that we're used to. Cheers only hung on because of the support of critics and Brandon Tartikoff. Life With Bonnie will need some of the same maturation process. They also need to define the roles of some of the ancillary characters like the nanny and the stagehand. The other real factor working against Life With Bonnie is that the show is on ABC. By virtue of where ABC has slotted Bonnie, opposite Frasier, it is clear they have high hopes. I just doubt that they have the patience. However, I think that having a sitcom legend like Carl Reiner as a semi-regular would be a very good sign that they might!