ABC’s Life With Bonnie disappeared into sitcom obscurity after its second season – here’s why the show was cancelled. Life With Bonnie was actress Bonnie Hunt’s third attempt at sitcom glory. Alongside starring in films like Beethoven, Jumanji, and Jerry Maguire during the 1990s, Hunt also starred in two sitcoms – The Building and Bonnie. While Hunt’s character in The Building was an actress and her Bonnie character was a television reporter, the two sitcoms shared a lot of similarities. Both aired on CBS, both were set in Chicago and – unfortunately – both were canceled after just one season.
Hunt fared slightly better with Life With Bonnie which aired for two seasons on ABC between 2002 and 2004. Co-created by Hunt and her frequent collaborator Don Lake (Dumb And Dumber To), Life With Bonnie borrowed some familiar elements from Hunt’s past sitcoms like their Chicago setting. Unlike The Building and Bonnie, Life With Bonnie was more family-focused with Hunt starring as Bonnie Malloy – a busy working wife and mother of three juggling family life and her job as the host of a daytime TV talk show.
Life With Bonnie had pretty decent ratings during its first season plus several high profile cameos from the likes of Tom Hanks, Hunt’s Jumanji co-star Robin Williams and David Duchovny of The X-Files fame. Nevertheless, the show was canceled after its second season – here’s why.
ABC Canceled Life With Bonnie In May 2004
A month after the final episode of Life With Bonnie season 2 aired, ABC went public with the news it had decided to cancel the sitcom. Outlets reported that the cancellation was part of a network-wide comedy cull that alongside Life With Bonnie included fellow sitcoms Married To The Kellys, I’m With Her and It’s All Relative.
Falling ratings in season 2 were also reportedly to blame. As for what caused Life With Bonnie’s ratings to drop, the powers that be made the strange decision to drop a main character, with Bonnie Malloy’s eldest child Samantha disappearing from the show without explanation, which may have been a factor.
Bonnie Hunt Was Nominated For An Emmy
Despite the fact the show was canceled a few months earlier, Bonnie Hunt was still nominated for the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series award at the 2004 Primetime Emmys for her role as Bonnie Malloy on Life With Bonnie. It was Hunt’s first and only Emmy nomination, but she lost out to Sarah Jessica Parker and Sex And The City.