When the title of Bill Lawrence’s new show was released, eyebrows definitely arched —as the Scrubs creator points out, the term cougar certainly is a “noise maker.”
Cougar Town stars Courteny Cox as Jules, a 40-something woman who is rediscovering her life when she suddenly finds herself a divorced, single-mother of a 17-year-old boy (Dan Byrd, Heroes, Aliens in America).
“We were hoping to set the bar so low that people would watch it and think, ‘Hey this isn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be,’” Lawrence jokes. “Obviously [Cougar Town] is meant to be a noisy title. If I’m not careful it has the connotation of a Saturday Night Live sketch.”
In the pilot episode we see Cox hook up with a much younger man, but don’t expect that to be the theme of the series. That actor hasn’t reappeared in subsequent episodes, and he probably won’t be in the future, either.
“If this was every week what man is Courteney going to sleep with, that would be Samantha from Sex and the City,” Lawrence says. “I’m not interested in that.”
That doesn’t mean she won’t be dating men, younger or older, though. According to Lawrence they’ve already filmed an episode where Cox dates someone roughly her own age, and there will be plenty of embarrassing situations to follow.
“She plays comedy of discomfort incredibly well,” he shrugs.
What does Cox have to say about all of this cougar talk?
“I’ve been blazing that trail for 10 years.”
Oh, snap.
Cougar Town begins Wednesday, Sept. 23, 9:30 p.m. ET, Citytv/ABC.
Amber is currently reporting live from the TV Critics Press Tour in L.A. Check out complete coverage here. amber@tvguide.ca
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