# Bonnie (TV series)

Bonnie (originally titled The Bonnie Hunt Show) is an American sitcom television series that aired on CBS from September 22, 1995 to April 7, 1996. Bonnie Hunt plays Bonnie Kelly, a television reporter who moves from Wisconsin to take a job with a Chicago television station where she encounters an eclectic group of coworkers.
In addition to the stories concerning Bonnie's life inside and out of the station, each episode includes one of Bonnie's television news features, in which Hunt would improvise interviews with real people attending or involved in current real local events.

## Cast

* Bonnie Hunt as Bonnie Kelly
* Mark Derwin as Bill Kirkland
* Brian Howe as Sammy Sinatra
* Don Lake as Keith Jedzik
* Tom Virtue as Tom Vandoozer
* Holly Wortell as Holly Janovsky

## Production notes

The series premiered as The Bonnie Hunt Show in September 1995 and aired under that title for the first six episodes before being placed on hiatus in November. Upon returning to the air in March, the show was retitled Bonnie and ran for an additional five episodes in a new Sunday-night timeslot. Despite improved ratings, the show was canceled, and the last two episodes were never aired.
As with Bonnie Hunt's previous short-run 1993 sitcom The Building, The Bonnie exhibited a theatrical sensibility and minor mistakes, accidents and forgotten lines were often preserved in the aired episodes. Cast members Hunt, Don Lake, Tom Virtue and Holly Wortell had all starred in The Building, which was also set in Chicago, produced by David Letterman's Worldwide Pants production company and directed by John Bowab. Hunt created Bonnie with Rob Burnett and wrote most of the episodes.
Hunt's next sitcom Life With Bonnie, created by Hunt and Lake, also featured Hunt, Derwin and Wortell, and it also focused on a Chicago news personality. Virtue had a recurring role on the show and Bowab directed several episodes.

## Episodes

| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
| 1 | "First Day" | Unknown | Rob Burnett and Bonnie Hunt | September 22, 1995 (1995-09-22) |
| 2 | "Another Day at the Office" | Unknown | Bonnie Hunt | September 29, 1995 (1995-09-29) |
| 3 | "The Phone Call" | Unknown | Steve Faber and Bob Fisher | October 6, 1995 (1995-10-06) |
| 4 | "True Lies" | Unknown | Michael Short | October 13, 1995 (1995-10-13) |
| 5 | "Better Offer" | John Bowab | Bonnie Hunt (as Alice Jatczak) | October 20, 1995 (1995-10-20) |
| 6 | "Here's a Little Halloween Twist" | Unknown | Elaine Arata | October 27, 1995 (1995-10-27) |
| 7 | "Up All Night" | John Bowab | Bonnie Hunt, Elaine Arata, Steve Faber and Bob Fisher | March 10, 1996 (1996-03-10) |
| 8 | "On the Streets Where You Live" | John Bowab | Bonnie Hunt | March 17, 1996 (1996-03-17) |
| 9 | "Hair Today, Gone Merlot" | Unknown | Bonnie Hunt | March 24, 1996 (1996-03-24) |
| 10 | "To See or Not to See" | Unknown | Elaine Arata | March 31, 1996 (1996-03-31) |
| 11 | "Beginning of the Beginning" | Unknown | Bonnie Hunt and Elaine Arata | April 7, 1996 (1996-04-07) |
| 12 | "Queen of Hearts" | TBD | TBD | Unaired |
| 13 | "The Bermuda Triangle" | TBD | TBD | Unaired |

## Reception

Kirk Nicewonger called the show "daring" in his review for United Feature Syndicate, he stated the show "has the nerve to shrug off the joke-every-seven-seconds sitcom straitjacket, and it recreates the way people really speak". He noted how the characters "interrupt each other, and step on one another's lines, creating a naturalistic, almost improvisational atmosphere that works brilliantly". Frazier Moore wrote for the Associated Press that the show is about "friends, faith and cutting the other guy a little slack", and as a result, the show is a "charming sitcom free of sarcasm, breast jokes, insults, gags, meanness and goofballs pretending to be people".