I'm going to write a love letter.
Dear Cougar Town,
I love you. I'm really glad you're back.
Love,
The TV Freak
There.
Happy Valentine's Day!
You too, would feel my joy, Freaks, if you were watching this show, but I'm guessing from the terrible ratings and nine-month hiatus that you're not.
You should be. Here's why:
The cast is awesome
I've always thought of Courtney Cox as one of the most underrated actresses on TV. She was the only Friend not to be nominated for an Emmy, which I think is crazy, and she was fantastic on the weird and short lived Dirt. She shines on Cougar Town as the messy Jules, who is crazy and knows it (in the way I think most of us really do). She's got a complicated life full of friends, a son, her ex-husband and her new man and it's a lot of fun watching her switch deftly between the character's many hats.
But the thing that makes this show click so well is the brilliance of all of the actors. The chemistry, the comedic timing, the dry humor delivered is all just perfectly spot on, and should be an example to all of the lazier sitcoms that have come after- the ensemble matters. Everyone matters.
 |
| I'm sure that color was just a coincidence. Everyone matters! |
It's funny
Yep, it's a sitcom that's funny. Really, genuinely, laugh-out-loud funny.
Look, y'all know I love sitcoms, and there are a handful on TV right now that genuinely make me laugh, but there are a few I watch that have a moment or two per episode (The Office, Big Bang Theory) and a lot that I don't watch because they are not at all funny (2 Broke Girls, Last Man Standing, Whitney) so it's actually not all that easy to do.
The writer's room is helmed by Scrubs boss Bill Lawrence, and his sweet and silly sense of humor shines here in a slightly less strange way than it came across on that show, which I think does it a service. I loved Scrubs, but I understood people who had a hard time with the JD-narrative format, and the occasionally bizarre tangent into dreamworld. Cougar Town retains that sense of fun, but without the harder to digest stylization.
It's like hanging out with your friends
About half of any given episode is just the characters sitting around drinking copious amounts of wine, and while it seems like on paper that would be...well, kinda boring, it's actually not. It feels like hanging out with your pals, talking, making fun of each other, having your inside jokes. These feel like people that I could have a good time with, and that's what I'm looking for from TV.
 |
| Fellow alkies! |
Friends.
OK, well, you know what I mean. My favorite sitcoms feel full of people that I genuinely would want to hang out with in real life. It comes from the feeling that a show, and therefore the characters, share my sense of humor and outlook on the world, but do it with better quips and wittier comebacks.
It doesn't take itself too seriously
The show knows its title is terrible, and makes fun of it with the opening card of every episode. It makes jokes about cast member's previous gigs and actual flaws (you'll never look at Josh Hopkin's hot face the same after you notice his tiny eyes). It has running gags with stupid games like Penny Can (Penny can!!!), giant wine glasses (RIP, Big Joe), and crazy Barb (the show's only actual cougar). It's fun and silly and sweet, and it's back tonight, so due your favorite blogger a favor and tune in.
Don't forget the wine.
No comments:
Post a Comment