Bonnie Hunt Gets Daring with New Show, Plans 'Intelligence'
By Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith
Sep 3, 2008
Bonnie Hunt is planning something daring with her "Bonnie Hunt Show" daytime offering that premieres Monday (9/8). Brace yourselves: She's using words like "authenticity" and "intelligence." She's also invoking names like Steve Allen, Johnny Carson, David Letterman and "Dinah Shore. Hers was such a comforting show. I looked forward to seeing it after school," says Hunt. "I was too young to really watch it myself, but my mom did, and it always put her in such a good mood."
Bonnie Hunt Gets Daring with New Show, Plans 'Intelligence' (Image: Wenn)
The actress of "Cheaper by the Dozen" and "Beethoven" movie fame says that the idea of hosting her own chat show came up when she was playing a talk show host on her 2002-2004 "Life With Bonnie" sitcom. She says producer "Don Lake and I discovered so much while we were working on the series. The talk show parts were unscripted and produced like a regular talk show."
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She was approached several times about doing such a show for real, and when she decided the time was right ("I'm not getting any younger"), she and Lake put their heads together again. "We want to do something that is as smart as we can make it, and as complimentary to our audience -- which will be mostly women at home each day."
Commercials in which she's seen chatting with a little boy who scoffs at the silly idea of "The Terminator" becoming the governor of California, and in which her mother chides her about her failed marriage, are a preview of the kind of improvised bits viewers will see on the show, says Hunt, who'll bring her improvisational background to the fore. Her first guest is Robin Williams, and Hunt reports other showbiz friends will be showing up as well. "I'm humbled and flattered by the response."
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"The talk show has been one of my favorite formats, but over the last 10 years or so, daytime talk shows -- not all of them -- have become so sensationalized, like they're produced in a panic," she observes. "And they usually go one of two ways. They're either about celebrities or have a lot of DNA testing."
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