| A Minute with Stan Hooper | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Stan Hooper |
| Genre | Sitcom |
| Created by | Norm Macdonald Barry Kemp |
| Written by | Norm Macdonald Cindy Caponera Barry Kemp Mike Lisbe Nate Reger Joseph Staretski |
| Directed by | Jeffrey L. Melman Barry Kemp |
| Starring | Norm Macdonald |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 13 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Jessie Ward Dugan |
| Running time | 21 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Fox |
| Original run | October 29 – December 12, 2003 |
A Minute with Stan Hooper, also known as Stan Hooper, is an American sitcom starring Norm Macdonald. The series was a Carsey-Werner production in association with Paramount Television and aired on Fox. The series was canceled after six of the thirteen episodes produced were aired.
The central character's name, Stan Hooper, was taken from Macdonald's work on Saturday Night Live, but the characters were vastly different. The role also allowed Macdonald to play the straight man among a cast of eccentric characters, a departure from his traditional comedy style.
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According to Norm the show was originally planned as a 25 episode run, where at the end of the first season the show would dramatically change, with a drifter killing Norm's wife on the show. Each episode would have been more subversive at the plot twist would be the culmination of 'hoodwinking' the audience into thinking they were watching a traditional sitcom. The show was cancelled however before this idea could be implemented. [1]
Hooper, a famous newspaper columnist turned television commentator, moves his family from their New York home to a small Wisconsin town, Waterford Falls , where he hopes to better get in touch with Middle America in an attempt to make his weekly minute-long television commentaries more appealing to a larger audience. While there, he interacts with the folksy, and largely strange, townspeople of Waterford Falls.
| Ep # | Episode | Overview | Production Code |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Pilot" | Stan moves with his family from New York to a small Wisconsin town, Waterford Falls, in order to better get in touch with “Middle America” to make his minute-long television commentaries more appealing to a larger audience. | Hoo-101 |
| 2 | Stan Goes To Washington | After he finds out that the same man has been mayor for five straight terms, Stan decides to run for town mayor to give the townsfolk another choice. However, Stan is shocked to learn of the cover-up behind the mayor and the involvement of Fred Hawkins in it, as well as the rest of the town. | Hoo-104 |
| 3 | The Hustler | After deciding to go out for a boy’s night out at Jimmy’s tavern with Lou and Pete Peterson, Stan is accused of using trick shots whenever he sinks a ball during a game of billiards for “dimes” and “nickels”. When Stan discovers that “dimes” and “nickels” are worth much more than he thought, Stan tries to save his opponent, Lou, from selling the diner. Meanwhile, Garry invites Molly to join him and the girls at their weekly bridge game at the Hooper residence. Ryan and Chelsea ask Stan for advice on planning their future while Chelsea contemplates her opportunities at a Cosmetics and Tattoo college. | Hoo-102 |
| 4 | An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving | Stan gets interested in turkey hunting, ordering everything on the menu in preparation for an outing. Stan then enlists Chelsea’s help in preventing Molly from cooking anything for Thanksgiving. | Hoo-106 |
| 5 | Bye, Bye, Miss American Pie | Fred’s frustration peaks because Gary has invited Molly and Chelsea to join the guys-only Christmas carolling group, ‘The Silent Knights’. Meanwhile, when the diner runs out of Stan’s favourite pie, Clara Meek’s apple pie, Stan tries his best in getting the recipe from the ailing Clara before she dies. | Hoo-109 |
| 6 | Fear Finds The Falls | To prove that the town isn’t inviolable to crime, Stan burgles the diner. | Hoo-107 |
| 7 | Stan's Biggest Fan | Stan discovers that his favourite fan lives nearby and gets the help of a cranky mailman to find him. | Hoo-105 |
| 8 | Good Golly, Miss Molly | A typo in the ‘Cheese Quarterly’ naming Molly as Fred’s mistress brings the town’s press down on Stan. | Hoo-103 |
| 9 | Snow Job | The town’s snowplough operator has a thing for Stan, but when Stan denies her, the whole town suffers. | Hoo-108 |
| 10 | Ghost Family | After learning that his boathouse is supposedly haunted, Stan investigates his property’s past. | Hoo-110 |
| 11 | The Milkman | After inadvertently getting the milkman fired, Stan helps him start his own “business”. | Hoo-111 |
| 12 | The Good Doctor | Stan suspects that the town’s doctor, Doc Goodman, isn’t really a doctor. | Hoo-112 |
| 13 | Stan's Best Friend | Problems arise after Stan mistakes a wolf that he found to be a cute puppy. | Hoo-113 |
In Australia, the entire series aired in late night timeslots on Network Ten.