Both shows deal with women who are rethinking their choices and reclaiming their lives, though whether it's wiser to do so by dating a young stud or dabbling in witchcraft remains open to question.
But one thing is as absolutely certain now as it ever has been: You can't sell any concept without the right cast and good writing, and Cougar Town wins that battle of the TV townships hands down.
For that victory, you can start by thanking Courteney Cox, making a sparkling return to network television as a newly divorced, middle-aged single mother facing a world where all the so-called eligible men are "either broken, gay or chasing younger girls." She feels too young to give up on love, but she's afraid to do anything that violates her "act your age" rules.
Your first thought is that Cox is too gorgeous to have such concerns, but from her opening scene (as she's unhappily studying her bare body in the mirror), Cox is not only convincing but touching — and unfailingly funny. Her insecurities seem as natural and ingrained as her loving if sometimes tortured relationship with her teenage son, wonderfully played by Dan Byrd of Aliens in America.
Luckily, Cox has an excellent writer behind her (Scrubs' Bill Lawrence) and excellent actors around her. They all shine, from Busy Philipps as a younger, slightly trashy co-worker, Josh Hopkins as the neighborhood playboy and Brian Van Holt as her underachieving ex, to Christa Miller (Lawrence's wife) and Ian Gomez as the happily married couple next door.
Still, it's Cox who does all the heavy lifting, and she does it beautifully. There's a fragility to Cox that in the wrong show can come across as brittle, but is used here to increase her vulnerability and appeal.
As the title implies, Cougar Town does lean heavily on sexual content, some of it risqué enough to be polarizing. But for all the sex jokes (most of which are amusing), this is at heart a family comedy, with Cox completely winning as a mom trying to make herself happy without making her son miserable. Odds are that other moms can relate.read more
