A Minute with Stan Hooper

"The Norm Show" was one of the funniest sitcoms ever. Now "A Minute With Stan Hooper" looks like a worthy follow-up. I've only seen the pilot; which was funny as few pilots are.

The coming attractions look like Max Wright will be the Mayor next week. Hopefully it will be an ongoing role.

Now that he's in a good time slot, the show should do well.

I thought this show lacked in any comedy. The laugh track was unbearable, and I find Norm MacDonald boring, and a bad actor. Though I'd have to admit, he had an excellent run on SNL. The show is basically a man and his wife getting back to the good ole times in Middle America. I'd have to say the only time I really laughed was the end, I won't say why though

Network: Fox; Genre: Sitcom; Content Rating: TV-PG; Perspective: Contemporary (star range 1-4); Available: HDNet;

Seasons Reviewed: Series (1 season)

Second acts. Sometimes we beg for them, sometimes the first act was so satisfying we don't need them. Norm MacDonald struck something close to sitcom gold with his ABC cult classic "The Norm Show". That simple, but fitfully funny series perfectly translated MacDonald's dry, raunchy voice to TV for 3 creatively successful years. When it ended, all be it pre-syndication eligible, I had my satisfying fill of a Norm MacDonald sitcom. "Norm Show" was all him and any other attempt would feel false. Some comedians realize when they have conquered a particular genre or medium with a success and move to take on something new. Then there are some who just can't stay out of the spotlight. In "A Minute with Stan Hooper" Norm MacDonald makes an unceremonious and uninvited return to the sitcom.

Remember, MacDonald plays the exact same character (no "pretty much" about it) in anything he does - if he's not simply playing himself. And you know what? That act almost never fails to make me laugh. But that's when Norm is being Norm. MacDonald makes a head-slapping fatal decision with "Minute" casting himself as the straight man and giving everyone else the one-liners and eccentricities. Everything feels backwards here and numerous muted jokes that come from the muffled Norm keep "Minute" from ever hitting "escape velocity".

MacDonald plays Stan Hooper, who does something of an Andy Rooney commentary for a national news show. The "Minute", within the show, must pay well and be pretty damn important because that is all he appears to do. He has recently moved to a small Wisconsin town and he and his wife (Penelope Ann Miller, barely registering) must adjust to the town's strange customs and backward characters. There is a strong "Newheart" vibe to it all.

This is one of those middle-American towns that only exist in Hollywood. Where they have a Running of the Sheep and have no clue that a Running of the Bulls exists. Where they leave their doors unlocked and believe in ghosts and can speak wolf. Where the penalty for a crime is to be hung in a net in the middle of a local diner. We can make up whatever we want about life between New York and LA. It isn't like anyone actually lives in these places. And like in all of these shows, it gets by because the townspeople are just so gosh-darn likable. The city boy is the cynic and the butler is a good, hard-working guy. The show has covered all of its bases.

With Norm sidelining himself the show has pretty much given up… wait a minute, there's Fred Willard! Speaking of guys who always play the same character and that character never failing to make me laugh. Willard strolls in, utters a paragraph of nonsensical dialog that sounds perfectly normal coming out of his mouth and threatens to single-handedly save the show. So the edge-less "Minute" is an odd choice for Norm MacDonald and the show feels horribly trite and dated but, yeah, there are some laughs here.

* * / 4

this was not what i was expecting, i (and many like me) was hoping for more wise cracking, revenge plotting, evil scheming, nuisance making shenanigans. i was waiting for norm to be... well, norm. it never happened.

for those of you not familiar with "the norm show" i can see this having some appealing quality's, the quaint little family comedy almost, though maybe don't watch it with your 8 yr old.

but for those of us who have known and loved him at his best it simply seems too flat. Too many morals and too many "good" things, make this the opposite of what has made norm a living legend

Stan Hooper (Norm MacDonald) does a minute of TV every week which is one of the most popular minute around. He is the everyman filming it out of a Manhattan studio. He decides to move to Waterford Falls, Wisconsin with his wife Molly (Penelope Ann Miller) to be with the real Americans. There are the Petersons who run the local diner whom he initially assumed to be brothers. Ryan Hawkins is eager to be his cameraman. Chelsea is his girlfriend. Fred Hawkins (Fred Willard) is unhappy that his son Ryan is leaving the family's local cheese conglomerate. Stan rents a home cheap and finds it comes with Gary Jamison as its butler.

This has some funny quirky bits and characters but it also suffers from some awkward stuff. The butler is a ridiculous idea. He would have worked better as a handyman. Also how could he move across the country without a home to go to? The Peterson reveal in the pilot worked to some extend but it would have worked infinitely better if the town is set up as a Norman Rockwell construct. It's fine to play with that construct but there is something awkward about what this show is trying to do. It's too silly in a way that is laughing at the town. The laughs should be directed at Norm who doesn't understand the genius of their small town ways. Norm is not necessarily an everyman type. There is plenty of comedic firepower but the laughs are complicated.