Cougar Town starring Courteney Cox

Courteney Cox is back and Cougar Town makes me want to watch Dirt. Well, most probably the only thing these two have in common is Courteney Cox and that’s OK.

Cougar Town basically rocks. It is not exactly original but it is not originality that makes it work. I mean I am guessing you have seen the hot 40-year-old single mother with a teenage son, trying to cope in the world? The cute but  reckless and immature ex husband? The hot single male neighbor dating younger chicks only to later develop a crush on our hot single mom? The edgy, Grinchy best friend who could have actually got along with House?

You did see it before. But most probably not all together, set in Florida, along with a younger, air-headed blonde employee and now with this much chemistry between the characters. And by chemistry, I mean comedic timing.

The premise:

Jules Cobb (Courteney Cox) is 40, newly divorced and not very hopeful about her future love life.  She is surrounded by younger women dating older men or older women dating younger men. Not that men her own age seem promising: Her next door neighbor Grayson (Josh Hopkins)- also newly divorced- has made a habit of dating college girls. She is also busy raising her teenage son Travis (Dan Byrd), supporting ex-husband Bobby (Brian Van Holt), trying to keep her two best friends- neighbor Ellie (Christa Miller) and employee Laurie (Busy Philips) from killing each other. But Laurie has other plans. Just because Jules didn’t spend much time partying and dating before, doesn’t mean she can’t start now.

So Jules throws her private life into the equation: mostly gorgeous younger men.

But maybe neither her ex nor Grayson aren’t as shallow as they seem….

The funniness level:

The pilot is by far one of the funniest pilots I have ever seen. The show doesn’t really care about men’s feelings, let me tell you. Although, I think men will like Grayson, Bobby and some men will find familiar territory with the family man/Ellie’s husband Andy (Ian Gomez).

Although the show is no way verbally or visually as explicit as Sex and The City (mind you, I love Sex and The City), it shows women out there. With all the beauty issues, family obligations, careers, relationships and sexual/romantic needs, what women think and feel are openly explored:

• Laurie doesn’t analyze relationships as well or often as she should and ends up in the beds of wrong men.
• Jules’ colleague Barb is like SATC’s Samantha a decade and some plastic surgeries later.
• Ellie has a hilarious way of showing married life sex.
• And Jules…well, Jules even has to teach one of her boyfriends how to kiss. And women are all familiar with the “too much tongue” issue that most men seem to be going through.

Women will have fun. And men will have fun. But I suspect women will laugh a little more. You will not be laughing out loud all the time, but you will be entertained. And it is no sitcom. So no laughter effects and no tiny little set. Oh, and a word for the hopeless rock addicts like me: Bobby has a great rocknroll taste in music.