Cougar Town: Meet the Cul-de-sac Crew

Confession: I am one of those people who watched Cougar Town right when it premiered on ABC in 2009, followed it when it got transferred to TBS in 2013 and stuck with it till the series finale last March. I don't know how many of us are out there, but you have to hear me out. Despite the showrunner-acknowledged terrible title, Cougar Town was a goofy and big-hearted show that a lot of people would find truly entertaining if they gave it a shot.

Set in the fictional town of Gulfhaven, Florida, the show follows forty-something Jules Cobb (Courtney Cox) a recently-divorced woman with a teenage son, Travis (Dan Byrd). She still has a close relationship with her ex-husband, Bobby (Brian Van Holt), and is best friends with her witheringly sarcastic neighbor Ellie (Christa Torres), who is married to the amiable Andy (Ian Gomez). Throw in Laurie (Busy Philipps), Jules' young assistant at the real-estate office where she works, and Grayson (Josh Hopkins), the guy who lives down the street and owns a local bar, and you have a motley crew of ridiculous people who each serve as a dictionary definition of "quirky." Together, they become an unlikely but endearing group of friends, having the oddest conversations and getting into the weirdest situations.

When the show began, the initial focus was on Jules' cougar-esque dating life as she pursued younger men and tried to just have some fun in her forties. However, it became evident that with the comedic talent of the show's central cast, this was a completely unnecessary plot device. Jules quickly started dating men her own age (eventually dating Grayson) and the show became a fun sitcom about this group of oddballs who spend all of their days drinking copious amounts of wine, making up words, playing Penny Can, and embarrassing and supporting each other in equal measure.

Over the course of six seasons, a lot happened to these people. There were marriages, births, countless romances and heartbreaks, and in case I forgot to mention it, a LOT of wine. Seriously, there's a wine glass that gets enough screen time to be billed as a supporting character on the show. The showrunner, Bill Lawrence, and his team of writers excelled at self-deprecating humor, evidenced by the show's opening title card every episode that would mock the show's no-longer applicable title. Cougar Town was certainly an uneven show but it was silly, never mean-spirited, and simply entertaining. So pick up the DVDs or catch re-runs on TBS, because there's 102 episodes of goofy fun that awaits you this summer.