Hey everybody, remember earlier this year, just before the start of the new television season? The thing that stands out the most to me now, these few months later, is all the hullabaloo that surrounded Cougar Town. The reviews were fairly good, but there were also cries of shenanigans. Some critics accused it of being sexist, or being solely devoted to Courtney Cox’s character, Jules, trying to hook up with younger guys.
By now I should hope that the show has proven all those things wrong, but it does have me wondering. Is there any other show out there that is as poorly served by their title as Cougar Town?
I love Cougar Town. It may not be the cleverest of the new comedies of the season, but I find myself laughing at it more than any of the other new sitcoms. The characters are great and work well together, and the writing is really spot on. It has the same frenetic, kooky sense of humor as creator Bill Lawrence’s previous show, Scrubs. There’s also a great sense of family and friendship on the show. The relationships between Jules and the various men in her life, including her teenaged son and ex-husband are really sweet. Also, the constant sniping between her two best friends just makes for some great chemistry and a lot of laughs.
The point of this post isn’t to talk about how much I enjoy Cougar Town, however; it’s to openly wonder why the heck Lawrence named this show Cougar Town. After all the talk of sexism and cougars, Cougar Town really hasn’t had all that much of either. For most of the early season Jules had a steady boyfriend. Sure, he was younger than she was, but they didn’t even have sex until after ten dates. Whether or not this relationship was in response to all the criticism, I don’t know.
The fact is: Cougar Town is just a terrible title for this show. It doesn’t really give any accurate information about the content and it doesn’t even capture the feeling. In fact, it carries a lot of negative connotations and I know a few people who have avoided the show due to the preconceived notions that the title has created. I have to admit, I’m a little bit at a loss. Is there any other show that has had such a terribly chosen name? Help me out here, can you think of any other horribly named shows?
Clacked by Bob Degon
on Dec 17, 2009 @ 11:00 EST5EDT
I had avoided the show in no small part due to the title.
I just saw about 10 minutes of the most recent episode and it intrigued me enough that I will try to watch a full episode. I should have given it some attention earlier as I think Cox is a good comedic actress.
Whatever notion I had as to the content of the show was way off the mark. A failure on my part for certain, but Cougar Town really is a crappy name for a show.
One of my favorite new shows of the season. It was unfortunate to name it as such. At the particular time it was announced, all of the cougar crap was at an all time high, and I had promised myself not to watch. I saw a preview, however, and tuned in. So glad I did. Wish I could think of another name for it.
Dirty Sexy Money
Good one! I think that title scared a lot of people away too.
just shoot me
news radio
the soup
worst week
global guts
the office
cribs
just to name a few . . .
Yes, the title is definitely a detriment to the show. I had to almost physically drag my wife into the living room to watch this show, even though I had told her it was from Bill Lawrence of “Scrubs” which is one of her favorites.
I guess it shows we all still judge the proverbial book by the cover, which is a shame because shows like “Quantum Leap” turned away many potential viewers because of its name. I guess it could be added to the list. It’s also a show I’d like to see have a “wrap-up” movie, but my list of those is a zillion miles long.