Bonnie Hunt Stretches Her Muscles

Bonnie Hunt's third sitcom effort has done what the others (The Building and Bonnie) couldn't — get asked back for a second season! Of course, the return of ABC's Life with Bonnie — Sept. 26 at 9:30 pm/ET — is no surprise. Much like Hunt herself, the show is smart, funny, and well, just plain affable.

Affability is a good quality to have when juggling the craziness of both home and work life. In the season premiere, Bonnie's two worlds collide when a persnickety co-worker (David Allen Grier) loses his home in a fire, then moves in with her and ends up ruling the roost. Meanwhile, during an exercise segment on her talk show, Bonnie faces a feisty fitness guru — the legendary Jack La Lanne playing himself — who takes quite an interest in the TV hostess's, um, form.

"Jack, I hate to say it, but I forgot my panties," explains the skirt-adorned Hunt as La Lanne insists she lift her leg higher. It's during this un-scripted moment of frivolity that Hunt really displays the quick wit that makes her a regular visitor on David Letterman. Life producer Don Lake says that you'll see more of such ad-libbed give-and-take this season: "We're giving Bonnie as many different kinds of people as we can to improv with." Signed up so far are Hilary Duff and the Smothers Brothers.

But it's Hunt that viewers will tune in for, and hopefully, more will catch her loopy brand of humor as it moves to Friday nights and settles into ABC's revamped TGIF.