TV Review: Cougar Town

Been a while since I posted, so gonna try to start doing more. I had recently finished watching Cougar Town (first season), so I thought I'd share that first.

When Cougar Town was initially released, it brought back the popularity of 'cougars' in general... with radio shows doing special cougar-related segments and also being a fairly hot topic in the news. Cougar Town is a new comedy show starring Courtney Cox, who most people will know as Monica Gellar from Friends. She plays Jules Cobb, who is in her late 30s and recently divorced. She has a son named Travis, who she raised when she was very young and had to give up her college degree in the process. She is now a real estate agent and running a successful small business, and also trying to get back on the dating scene as well as trying to make up for the time lost in her 20s that were devoted to raising Travis. The first guy that Jules dates is a younger guy named Josh, which, hence the cougar story plot.

Jules' best friend is Ellie Torres, who is also her neighbour. She is a gossip queen and loves to witness drama. She is married to Andy Torres, and they have a baby boy named Stan. She is often at odds with Jules' assistant Laurie, who has very opposing views on how Jules should spend her time. While Laurie is more of a crazy party girl, Ellie is over that type of life and prefers a quiet night at home.

Andy is the stereotypical 'whipped' husband. He is also best friends with Bobby Cobb, who is Jules' ex-husband. Again, he is the stereotypical 'sheep' who follows Bobby around doing strange things. He also has a habit of spilling any gossip he knows to his wife Ellie, and the longer he keeps things a secret... the more he suffers trying to fight off the urge to tell Ellie about it.

Laurie works with Jules as her assistant, and is the main person getting Jules back on the dating scene. She is a fun-loving party girl and tries to influence Jules into her way of life.

Travis Cobb is Jules' 18 year-old son. He is often embarassed by Jules when she does strange things quite shamelessly. They however have quite a good relationship, which is often more like friends than mother and son.

Bobby Cobb is Jules' ex-husband. He is unemployed and lives on a boat. During his marriage with Jules, he was touring as a golfer although he wasn't successful. He is very easy-going and mostly just mucks around doing random stuff.

Finally, Grayson Ellis is another of Jules' neighbours and lives across the street. He is newly divorced, which Jules pointed out when she first meets him and tries to befriend him. However, he begins to date younger women which infuriates Jules because it is so easy for a divorced man to move on, while she has to struggle to try to find a new relationship.

In a way, the show has similarities to Desperate Housewives except with a smaller cast. There wasn't much of a story development in the first season, but it seemed to be a good introduction to all the characters and provides a lot of background. My favourite aspect of the show is the character named Barb Coman, who is a man-hungry cougar. She is very lascivious and quite shameless in showing it, and pretty much hits on any attractive looking guy she sees even if they are actually taken e.g. Jules' boyfriend Josh. The show has some good comedy, so I'm looking forward to seeing the next season, but I hope there is more plot in it. Overall I'd give the show a 7.5/10, and recommend it for anyone looking for a new comedy to watch.