Evenings At The Improv

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Of course, a lot of viewers still want to see TV when they watch TV, which may be why abc's Life with "Bonnie" (Tuesdays, 9 p.m. E.T.) takes a two-track approach. Bonnie Hunt stars as Bonnie Molloy, a Chicago morning-TV talk-show host and working mom. The scenes at Bonnie's show are improvised; the "guests," mostly nonactors, don't know what will happen in the scene, and the crew shoots only one take. But the scenes at home with Bonnie's family are mostly scripted. "Ninety percent of improv is a failure," says Hunt, who apprenticed in the Second City improv troupe. "You have to have a strong script and characters. Then improvisation is the key to making everything a little more natural."

Bonnie is earning surprisingly strong ratings against NBC's longtime hit "Frasier." But Hunt might be better off trusting her improv instincts more. The painfully unfunny scripted portions are practically a catalog of everything wrong with old-fashioned sitcoms: precocious kids, an indulgent hubby, a wisecracking maid — the only thing distinguishing it from a hack '60s sitcom is the absence of a genie or lovable Martian. But the talk-show segments crackle with jazzy humor and authenticity. When Bonnie accidentally gets looped on prescription cough syrup and starts riffing uncontrollably, the decoupage artist she is interviewing seems genuinely peeved. "One thing that drives me crazy about sitcoms," says Hunt, "is when someone says something funny and no [other character] laughs." Not a problem here.

Bonnie can seem chaotic and, like a lot of TV about TV, self-indulgent. But the chaos and feeling of risk on the actors' part create an excitement the audience can sense. "Improv adds a spark you cannot capture when you only have scripted dialogue," says Bonnie co-executive producer Don Lake. "It's contagious." With Bonnie and Curb on a roll, don't be surprised to see the contagion spreading. Sorry, Will. Have you ever considered the theater?