tvview.tv - Daily Television Magazine - Primetime TV Listings Guide, News, Reviews, Chat, Blog.

Editor's TV Show Reviews

Click Here To Return To tvview.tv Editor's Reviews Menu

 Cougartown

(October 2nd, 2009. - Editor)           Courteney Cox, Busy Philipps, Dan Byrd, Christa Miller, Josh Hopkins, Ian Gomez and Brian Van Holt star in the half hour comedy Cougartown, airing Wednesdays on ABC.

Can a woman of a certain age be a mom, a successful career woman and still be on the prowl? Jules Cobb (Cox) is about to give it a try. In a small Florida town, the center of high society is the Cougars high school football team, which is wildly appropriate since this town is the natural habitat for over-tanned, under-dressed divorcées prowling for younger men. Jules desperately doesn't want to be one of them, but with an ugly divorce behind her and 40 staring right back at her, she's longing for a little more action in her life. The available men her own age, like her silver fox of a neighbor, Grayson Ellis, only seem interested in dating barely legal hotties, which is awkward considering he's also her teenage son Tad's therapist. Egged on by her very married and very irreverent best friend Elle and her determined assistant Laurie, Jules reluctantly dips her toe back into the dating pool. To her surprise, she hits it off with a nice young guy named Bobby, emphasis on the young, and starts to discover that this gal might still have the goods.

I have to give Courtney Cox credit for embracing her character and playing her for all that she is worth. Cox plans to really explore the effects of aging on a woman and that is a place with a lot of comedy potential. The first episode is forced to spend a great deal of time establishing characters, but I can already see the seeds of future episodes presenting themselves in the pilot. That is always a good sign in a comedy.

I don't think the one camera format that seems to be the new trend this year, is appropriate for this comedy. The good old multi-camera shoot in front of a live audience has been working for a lot of years. Including on Cox's biggest success, Friends. The change in format takes this from being a conventional comedy and puts it into the category of comedic drama. That's not all bad, as it allows for a great deal more locations to be included. But it takes the audience outside of a comfort zone and that's only a good thing if it works. I think the risk outweighs the reward.

Courtney Cox is a smart, funny, woman who is prepared to work as hard as it takes to make this effort a success. I'm just not sure that it's hard work that is going to make the difference. First, the audience needs to see good comedy. So far, I see a few sparks, but I really need to see something or someone catch fire. I'm rooting for this one. But it needs to deliver, soon.

 

- Editor

 

All Content Copyright © 2009 TVVIEW.TV - All Rights Reserved.