Bonnie Hunt made a trip to Reedley before she started work on a script for the 2003 feature film 'Cheaper by the Dozen." Hunt plays the mom in the light comedy. The trek to the little community in Fresno's shadow was to meet with Ernestine Gilbreth Carey. She was the author of the book that had already spawned one film version.

"She was a lovely lady," Hunt says during an interview earlier today after a session of the Television Critics Association press tour to discuss her new talk show. That's right, Hunt is leaping into the television genre that has resulted in more failures than successes.

The trip to Reedley ended up being helpful but not helpful enough.

"I wanted the movie to be like the book," Hunt says.

That presented one big problem. Hunt says in the book the father dies. And the movie studio had cast Steve Martin to play that role. Martin would need to stay around just in case the movie spawned a sequel (as it did). So the studio nixed the idea for the script.

Hunt really connected with the book. Her own father died when she was a teen-ager. At least twice during the interview about the talk show, Hunt's voice cracked when she spoke of her father. The first time was when she was asked if she would be giving her audience gifts like Oprah.

"Yes. My father would get very emotional when he watched 'The Price Is Right.' So I have a real soft spot for giving," Hunt says.

The second time her voice cracked was when she talked about how the only time her father seemed to relax was when he was watching the episodes of "The Andy Griffith Show" that included Barney Fife.

"He didn't like the ones without Barney. During those shows it seemed like all the pressures were gone from his life," Hunt says.

Hunt's mom will make appearances on the new talk show. So you can bet Hunt's father will be a topic. Her new talk show starts in early September.