‘Cougar Town’ has long lost its bite

COUGAR TOWN - ABC's "Cougar Town" stars Courteney Cox as Jules. (ABC/BOB D'AMICO)

COUGAR TOWN - ABC's "Cougar Town" stars Courteney Cox as Jules. (ABC/BOB D'AMICO)

Published Jul 3, 2014

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IN THIS “Golden Era of TV”, you would think Courteney Cox would have been able to latch on to a show more befitting of her talent. And if you watched Dirt, you would agree that she has the knack to take on balsy and different characters with aplomb.

Cox has had her post-David Arquette cathartic moment with Cougar Town for going on five seasons now – can viewers get a reprieve from the pervading insipidness of watching her have her How Stella Got Her Groove Back moments?

For crying out loud, have we not learnt anything from Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher’s split, or J-Lo tossing Casper Smart to the curb? These art-imitating-life stories have a short lifespan.

That ABC cancelled the series after three seasons should have sent warning bells, but it clearly didn’t reach TBS, who have taken over the series. In fact, they have the sixth and final instalment coming up.

Although season one was funny in a slice-of-life kind of way with a recently divorced Jules Cobb exploring the alien world of dating while also raising her teenage son, Travis, it was short-lived. Even with the wine flowing like the Nile, watching her traipse from one disastrous relationship to the next became rather tedious. Thankfully, Jules was spared the embarrassment when she tied the knot with her sexy neighbour, Grayson Ellis. And of course, her ex-hubby Bobby is often lurking in the background.

But her story didn’t end. The comedy meandered from a mid-life crisis to matrimonial not-so-bliss. Yawn!

Aside from the series and storylines defying the title in many ways, it’s vexing how it continues to gain momentum on TV.

For those planning to tune in, season five sees Jules’ mollycoddling getting her into a tricky situation once again when she learns that Travis and Laurie are getting more physically intimate. Meanwhile, the men in her life – her ex and her current hubby – plummet into despair as they face the prospect of hitting their mid-40s. Of course, there are the daily woes of friends that creep into their lives too.

Meanwhile, Cox is clearly revelling in her role.

In a chat with assignmentx.com, she said: “What’s great about my character on the show is that she is game for anything. She has so many neuroses that she gets to work out through her relationship. I just love the way she changes. She’s fun. She’s not smart (laughs) and I like that too. I like that she’s quirky and a cheerleader for her friends. She’s not uptight at all.”

With the comic playground occupied by offerings like Modern Family, Parks and Recreation, Suburgatory and Mike & Molly, Cox should thank her lucky stars that viewers are still tuning in.

Sometimes talent can be the overriding appeal in a show in which a banal premise is easily written off with a few laughs here and there. Cougar Town proves this!

 

• Cougar Town, season five, airs every Wednesday and Thursday from July 9 at 7.30pm on M-Net Series Showcase (DStv Channel 113).

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