''The Building'' is an American

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...

television series which aired on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

from August 20 to September 17, 1993. While it was praised by critics, it earned low Nielsen ratings and was cancelled after only five episodes, leaving one episode unaired. It starred

Bonnie Hunt Bonnie Lynn Hunt (born September 22, 1961) is an American actress, comedian, director, producer, writer and television host. Her film roles include ''Rain Man'', ''Beethoven'', '' Beethoven's 2nd'', ''Jumanji'', ''Jerry Maguire'', '' The Green ...

Premise

Bonnie Kennedy, a commercial actress who was jilted by her fiancé ( George Clooney) shortly before the show started, moves back to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

to pick up the pieces of her life in an apartment across from

Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a Major League Baseball (MLB) stadium on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home of the Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charles Weeghman's Chicago ...

. The story focuses on Kennedy's struggles and the characters who live in her apartment building.

Production notes

Making heavy use of

The Second City The Second City is an improvisational comedy enterprise and is the oldest ongoing improvisational theater troupe to be continually based in Chicago, with training programs and live theatres in Toronto and Los Angeles. The Second City Theatre o ...

alum, the show had a theatrical sensibility wherein minor mistakes, accidents, and forgotten lines were often left in the aired episode, and there was a loose improv feel to certain scenes. ''The Building'' was the first sitcom production of David Letterman's

Worldwide Pants Worldwide Pants Inc. is an American television and film production company founded and owned by comedian and talk show host David Letterman. The company was formerly headquartered at the Ed Sullivan Theater building in New York City, but has sinc ...

production company; Letterman appears (unbilled) in a character role in the second episode. Hunt created the show, and wrote four of the five broadcast episodes. A sixth episode was produced, but did not air. Two years after this show was cancelled, cast members Hunt, Lake, Virtue and Wortell would return in the series ''

The Bonnie Hunt Show ''The Bonnie Hunt Show'' is an American syndicated talk show hosted by Bonnie Hunt. It premiered on September 8, 2008. The show's second and final season premiered on September 8, 2009. It was announced on December 7, 2009 that ''The Bonnie Hu ...

''. This follow-up series retained many of the distinguishing characteristics of ''The Building'', including the Chicago setting, an improv/theatrical feel, and the essential nature of the character relationships between the principals (although they were playing different characters). As well, the follow-up series was produced by Worldwide Pants, written by Hunt, and mostly directed by

John Bowab John Bowab (born October 22, 1933) is an American director and producer of television and theatre. Career Bowab began his career in theatre, directing a number of stage productions, such as ''Mame'' (1983), '' The Night of the Hunter'' (2003), ...

Cast

as Bonnie Kennedy. Bonnie is a struggling actress, best known as the "Randolph Carpet Girl" in a series of local ads. *Holly Wortell as Holly, Bonnie's best friend and fellow actress. *

Don Lake Donald Lake (born November 26, 1956) is a Canadian actor, writer, and television producer. He is frequently cast by director Christopher Guest, and is also a close friend and the collaborative partner of Bonnie Hunt. He had a role in '' The Bo ...

as Brad, who lives downstairs. Brad often drops by to mooch coffee and meals from Bonnie. *

Tom Virtue Tom Virture (born November 19, 1957) is an American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals ...

as Stan, Brad's roommate. An actor, he and Bonnie seem mutually attracted to each other. *Richard Kuhlman as Big Tony. Rough around the edges, but generally decent and friendly, Big Tony lives upstairs and maintains the building. His wife, Antionette, is often heard yelling loudly offstage but is never seen. * Mike Hagerty as Finley, a one-time firefighter who runs the nearby bar/hangout called "G&L Fire Escape". *

Andy Dick Andrew Roane Dick (born Andrew Thomlinson; December 21, 1965) is an American comedian, actor, musician, and television and film producer. Known professionally as a comic, his first regular television role was on the short-lived but influential ...

as Joe Devane, a talkative casting agent Bonnie often deals with. Guest Stars George Clooney as Sam, David Letterman as The Thief,

George Wendt George Robert Wendt Jr. (born October 17, 1948) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for playing Norm Peterson on the television sitcom '' Cheers'' (1982–1993), which earned him six consecutive nominations for the Primetime Em ...

as Peter,

Richard Kind Richard Bruce Kind (born November 22, 1956) is an American actor and comedian, known for his roles as Dr. Mark Devanow in ''Mad About You'' (1992–1999, 2019), Paul Lassiter in ''Spin City'' (1996–2002), Andy in ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'' (2002 ...

as Tony,

Donald O'Connor Donald David Dixon Ronald O'Connor (August 28, 1925 – September 27, 2003) was an American dancer, singer and actor. He came to fame in a series of films in which he co-starred with Gloria Jean, Peggy Ryan, and Francis the Talking Mule. His b ...

as Mr. Harper,

Jim Belushi James Adam Belushi (; born June 15, 1954) is an American actor. He is best known for the role of Jim on the sitcom ''According to Jim'' (2001–2009). His other television roles include ''Saturday Night Live'' (1983–1985), '' Total Security'' ...

as Dave.

Episodes

References

Bonnie Hunt: Building a Sitcom
''LA Times'', August 15, 1993.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Building, The 1990s American sitcoms 1993 American television series debuts 1993 American television series endings CBS original programming English-language television shows Television shows set in Chicago Television series by Worldwide Pants Television series by Sony Pictures Television Television series by CBS Studios