Cougar Town

Channel: Seven
Day & time: Thursday, 8.30 pm

 

Manhunter or pussycat?

Seven’s promos for Courtney Cox’s new series Cougar Town proclaim that this is the actress’s “funniest role since Friends”. Well, considering that her TV appearances since Friends ended have been restricted to the dramatic series Dirt (not screened here) and guest spots on Scrubs and on pal Lisa Kudrow’s series Web Therapy (also not screened here), it’s a pretty safe bet that this will indeed be Cox’s funniest role since we last saw her on our screens.

It’s fair to say that all the Friends principals (with the arguable exception of Jennifer Aniston) have struggled somewhat since the show finished; but this effort from Kevin Biegel and Bill Lawrence (the team behind Scrubs) shows plenty of promise.

In case you’re not down with the lingo, a “cougar” is slang for an older woman who aggressively pursues younger men. Now before you start thinking that this series is some kind of extension of the American Pie movies (and the infamous ‘Stifler’s mom’ character), it doesn’t actually sink that low; although whether it scales any great heights of social relevance is debatable.

Cox plays Jules Cobb, a recently divorced woman coming to terms with the fact that she’s recently divorced. Things aren’t helped by the fact that her ex Bobby (Brian Van Holt) is something of a deadbeat and that her similarly-aged and similarly newly-single neighbour Grayson (Josh Hopkins) delights in ribbing her with the sheer number of younger women who are happy to go out with him. She’s also struggling with being a mother to her precocious – and gay – teenage son Travis (Dan Byrd). Support is offered in the form of friends Ellie (Christa Miller) and Laurie (Busy Philipps). When Jules finds her feet back in the “dating game” she soon discovers that getting back “out there” isn’t as easy as it seems, especially when she starts to attract younger men.

While there are definitely laughs here, the line between social phenomenon and cheap comedy is often blurred. The show seems to fluctuate between empathising with Cox’s character and lampooning her, making the whole thing a bit confusing. That continues with some of the supporting characters too, notably Christa Miller’s Ellie.

Perhaps it’s not a fair comparison, but I couldn’t help but think that Cougar Town is a kind of female version of Californication. The difference I guess is that while Californication certainly presents a wart-and-all picture of lead character Hank Moody, it’s never condescending toward him. I’m not sure that you can say the same thing about Cougar Town. Oh, and Californication features much better writing, but that’s by the bye.

The other problem I have with Cougar Town is that, frankly, the acting isn’t all that great. Cox seems very forced much of the time; while the men are pretty bland. Thank heavens for Dan Byrd who adds a splash of colour and sarcasm as Travis. Christa Miller, familiar from Scrubs, tries hard with her role but isn’t given enough substance (at least in the early episodes) by the scripts; while Busy Philipps is certainly bubbly enough without being particularly memorable.

All that might sound a bit negative, but Cougar Town isn’t a bad show. There are some genuinely funny moments and it occasionally makes some deft observations about the perils and pitfalls of modern dating. I guess maybe I was expecting a bit more from this, given the weight of the promotions Seven have thrown behind it.

It may ultimately be a case of the show finding its feet. Cougar Town certainly has potential, but at this stage, much of that appears to be untapped. If it can smarten up, lose the frat boy humour and bolster its social commentary angle a bit, this could be a show worth coming back to. Whether it can do that will be a matter of waiting and seeing.

Phil James