If You like "Seinfeld", You'll Like Bonnie Hunt

I want to urge all of you "Seinfeld" fans to watch Bonnie Hunt's show when it returns to CBS on March 10. I realize this post may seem off-topic, but if you give Bonnie's show a chance, you'll be grateful. She's charming, and her show's humor is as quirky and hilarious and Jerry's. Plus, Bonnie's show is in the same ratings shape as "Seinfeld" was during its first few seasons--endangered, but beloved by a discerning few, and struggling to find a larger audience. Give it a try, OK?

Cheers,

Strange then how her shows always bomb while Seinfeld's has done well. Has Hunt figured out yet that having two characters talk at the same time isn't a ground-breaking challenge to the assumptions underlying sitcoms, but just stupid? Let her go back to hanging out with Letterman--she just can'' see that people don't find her funny.

In article , [email] (Jeffleader) wrote:

One difference - and it's a big one - is that NBC left Seinfeld on for more than 6 or 7 weeks at a time! CBS only bought four episodes of The Building and have only shown about a half-dozen of the current show. Even though NBC jerked Seinfeld around the schedule somewhat, at least they left it on.

BTW, I'm a people and I find her very funny.

Jeff

In article ,

Another important difference is that Jerry Seinfeld was very successful as a standup comedian before his show began, and the show carries on his style of humor, so the audience gets what it tuned in for. Bonnie Hunt is an actress with a background in improvisational comedy, but not exactly famous. Her show has to go over as a show, not depending on "star power." As you say, the network hasn't given it a chance to do that.

It also offers fairly subtle humor, not belly laughs, in fairly realistic human situations, and that may not always be a minority taste. The mass audience seems to go for aliens, genies, and Kramer falling down in his underwear.

It's a pity variety shows don't make it any more; she would be very good in sketch comedy.

In article ,

Hm, Funny, too, how BH's old shows were both stuck in difficult time slots while Seinfeild started off with strong lead-ins like Cheers and Night Court. I wonder how long Seinfeld would have lasted if it were on CBS Friday nights in the fall of '93 or '95.

L

And I'm saying: If I remember correctly, Seinfeld was not placed strategically near a Cheers and Night Court for very long. And, BTW, Night Court was pretty much on the way out by 1990. In fact, I remember they kept moving Seinfeld around the dial, from here to there, I think the network did its best to bury it, but the ratings were too good.

There's nothing strange about the differences here! Bonnie's shows were nothing exciting. Jerry's show had so much style and so much chemistry we've seen nothing but clones ever since (FRIENDS, Caroline In the City, THE SINGLE GUY, Ellen, Platypus Man, etc.).

Andrea

I just watched Bonnie Hunt's show for the first time this past week. In my opinion, it was not funny at all. It doesn't matter what time slot it's in. Janine

[email] wrote:

I concur. While it wasn't insipid (like most sitcoms and therefore emminently watchable), it wasn't really funny either. There just weren't enough yucks to keep me coming back. I caught the premiere (if you could call it that) because I like Bonnie Hunt. It's funnier than that-show-whose-name-escapes-me (Steve something?) that was on PBS. That wasn't too funny either. Not HA HA funny, anyway. No, most people want to laugh, not grin and think, "Oh that's clever". The most amusing part of the show was the Merrill Markoe inspired remote, but it suffered from the fact that the whole thing was probably done with 100% actors rather than real people. I'd recommend Almost Perfect, Ned & Stacey, and especially News Radio over Bonnie.

Hanson

In article [email] writes: :[email] wrote: :

: :I concur. While it wasn't insipid (like most sitcoms and therefore :emminently watchable), it wasn't really funny either. There just :weren't enough yucks to keep me coming back. I caught the premiere :(if you could call it that) because I like Bonnie Hunt. It's funnier :than that-show-whose-name-escapes-me (Steve something?) that was on :PBS. That wasn't too funny either. Not HA HA funny, anyway. No, :most people want to laugh, not grin and think, "Oh that's clever". :The most amusing part of the show was the Merrill Markoe inspired :remote, but it suffered from the fact that the whole thing was :probably done with 100% actors rather than real people. I'd recommend ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ :Almost Perfect, Ned & Stacey, and especially News Radio over Bonnie.

The people seen in the remotes are 100% real people and 0% actors. Given your premise, do the remotes still suffer in your mind?

--The Rodman

I can't believe it! I think the Bonnie Show is probably one of the funniest shows on TV. I just hope more people give it a chance, I would really hate to see it disappear!!

In article , [email] (Todd Kirkland) wrote:

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I'm kind of half way in-between. I liked her work on "Grand" a number of years ago, but the network replaced her after the first season due to audience surveys (which I found very strange). I stopped watching it when she left.

The current B.H. show is a pretty different concept from the "normal" comedy shows today - what with no laugh track and being shot almost straight thru. But it seems like the show is casting about for some kind of plot direction (slight pun), which presumably is why it went on hiatus for awhile. There is a slight romantic thing going, but its not clear if it's with the boss, or her cameraman, with little plot movement either way.

The suprising thing (to me) is that I caught B.H. on both Leno/Letterman and she was *suprisingly* funny, talking about the show (and she made the comment that there were something like 10 eps in the can, but CBS (right?) didn't know what to do with the show).

If they can just find the right format (maybe move her from being a TV reporter to a talk show host, a la Shandling?)...

--B.W. [email]

I always think she is pretty funny on Letterman, but when I watched the pilot, I had to turn it off after 15 minutes. I hadn't detected any jokes and I have seen all the characters before, only I remeber them being funny. I see no relation between the two shows, mainly becasue the Bonnie Hunt Show (title?) seemed as if it was going to focus on her new job and how she copes with problems by calling her mom and through prayer. Seinfeld is about nothing.

Adam Gilbert

with rewrites and better directing it could've been better,the dialouge was delivered as if they were dragnet characters, one after another, without comic pauses, as if they weren't listening to each other, just reading lines, one after another, much like this post

Because she deserves a chance to survive in the Friends-saturated market.

EB

In

Bonnie Hunt is hillarious. I hope the show does better this time

I love Bonnie. She's highly underrrated. I hope her show is successful. I'm tired of watching her be good on shows that stink. This last one in the newspaper or something was BAD. "The Building" a few years back was much better. My $.02, Jean

THIS IS A SEINFELD CONFERENCE!!!!!