A Minute with Stan Hooper

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.

This could be a very good comedy. It's funny, it's as familiar as small-town america could possibly be and Norm McDonald is, no doubt a pleasure. However, I think Norm McDonald playing an upstanding citizen with a loving wife and a desire to do good, is not our favorite Norm McDonald, Norm's deadpan delivery works better when he's a character without any lofty ideals but who's head is filled with things like horniness, revenge, and slacking on the job. The Norm we saw in "Dirty Work" and "Norm" would never run for mayor. Don't get me wrong, I still like the show and it makes me laugh, but for some odd reason Norm seems like the straight man here and the rest of the characters in this cooky town are the jokes. Hopefully, we'll see Norm get a little zanier too as time goes on, who knows. Either way, i'm willing to stay tuned to find out.

i have watched both episodes and it does bear a strange resemblance to "Newhart". A sane married couple from NY moving to a small town with eccentric people. Hopefully they could develop it long enough to make it lasting. Norm Macdonald is a great talent and I'd love to see him have a remembered show.

"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.

Norm MacDonald is a comic genius, but Stan Hooper is just a huge embarrassment for him. The actors, other than Fred Willard, are awkward and amateurish. Norm himself looks stiff, which is a far cry from his entertaining stand-up acts, SNL skits, and even the Norm Show. If only he could get some real talent to help him out, Norm could get together a really huge hit show. As it is, FOX needs to unceremoniously dump this one so Norm can go back to the drawingboard.