Cougar Town (season 1)
Encyclopedia
Season one of Cougar Town
, an American
television series, began airing on September 23, 2009 and concluded on May 19, 2010. Season one regular cast members include Courteney Cox
, Christa Miller
, Busy Philipps
, Brian Van Holt
, Dan Byrd
, Ian Gomez
and Josh Hopkins
. The sitcom was created by Bill Lawrence
and Kevin Biegel
. All the episodes of this season, except for the pilot
and the episode "Everything Man", are titled after Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
songs.
, Courteney Cox wanted to return to broadcast television and do another comedy. Lawrence, who is best known as the creator of Scrubs
and Spin City
, was approached by Cox about "wanting to do something." While developing the concept of the show, Lawrence thought he would do a tryout with Cox on Scrubs, by guest-starring in the first three episodes of the eighth season. He wanted to see what it was like to work together (who thought that she was an easy and fun person to work with) and decided to go from there. Lawrence and Biegel, who worked together writing episode on Scrubs, came up with the concept of the show with Cox as a 40-year-old, newly single woman because he thought that it was a real "zeitgeist
-y topic." He drew inspiration from his real-life wife, actress Christa Miller
who also stars in the show as Ellie; Miller had previously worked with Cox as part of the story-arc of the three part Scrubs try-out. Lawrence told Cox that the show could be "high-risk, high-reward," although Cox decided to go for it. He added, "I rarely have this much trepidation because usually the only person I could let down is myself. I want to make it work for her." In addition, Lawrence was also a staff writer on Friends
during the show's first season
.
Before he pitched the idea to ABC, other titles for the show included 40 and Single and The Courteney Cox Show, which was eventually named Cougar Town because Lawrence thought that "the title is noisy and that people will be aware of this show." He felt that the risk of the title was that the audience wouldn't watch it because people would say "...the title bums me," commenting: "it's a risky roll of the dice ... We don't call women "cougars" in it. We certainly don't use the word beyond the unbelievably big cheat that the high school mascot is a cougar." Lawrence believed that with the subsequent scripts they'd be doing and the re-shoots in the pilot, the show would be "creatively satisfying." After he pitched the idea to ABC, they asked him to have a pilot ready to shoot by the end of January 2009. Lawrence and Biegel together wrote the script with Lawrence, who has written and directed many episodes on Scrubs, directing the episode. In casting beyond Cox, Lawrence created the character of Ellie for his wife, Christa Miller
. Miller felt that her character started off "gleefully" and that her husband would write down little things that she would say, in which she believes is the reason her character "came out of that."
is the show runner
, head writer
, and the executive producer
. Courteney Cox, who also stars on the show, serves as executive producer alongside Lawrence. Lawrence, the executive producer, show runner, head writer and creator of Scrubs, co-wrote and directed the pilot and wrote the second episode. He has written for other shows that include, Friends
, The Nanny
, and Boy Meets World
as well as co-created Spin City
. Kevin Biegel
, co-creator, has also written episode for Scrubs. He wrote 7 episodes on Scrubs and wrote the pilot script with Lawrence.
although it is filmed at Culver Studios
in Culver City, California
. The pilot episode was directed and written by Scrubs
creator Bill Lawrence, who is married to Scrubs and Cougar Town star Christa Miller. Lawrence serves as executive producer
/writer/director, Kevin Biegel as writer/co-executive producer, and Courteney Cox
and David Arquette
are executive producers. It is produced by Doozer Productions and Coquette Productions
(headed by Cox and her husband David Arquette) and is from ABC Studios. The sitcom is filmed in the single-camera format. Cox filmed the pilot on March 19, 2009.
Cougar Town
Cougar Town is an American television sitcom that premiered on ABC on September 23, 2009. The series focuses on a recently divorced woman in her forties facing the often humorous challenges, pitfalls and rewards of life's next chapter, along with her son, ex-husband, and friends who together make...
, an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
television series, began airing on September 23, 2009 and concluded on May 19, 2010. Season one regular cast members include Courteney Cox
Courteney Cox
Courteney Bass Cox is an American actress, she is best known for her roles as Monica Geller on the NBC sitcom Friends, Gale Weathers in the horror series Scream and as Jules Cobb in the ABC sitcom Cougar Town, for which she earned her first Golden Globe nomination....
, Christa Miller
Christa Miller
Christa Miller is an American actress who has achieved success in television comedy. Her foremost roles include Kate O'Brien on The Drew Carey Show and Jordan Sullivan on Scrubs . She has also appeared on Seinfeld and CSI: Miami...
, Busy Philipps
Busy Philipps
Elizabeth Jean Philipps , known professionally as Busy Philipps, is an American film actress, perhaps best known for her supporting roles on the television series Freaks and Geeks and Dawson's Creek...
, Brian Van Holt
Brian Van Holt
-Early life:Van Holt was born in Waukegan, Illinois and raised in California. Despite his Dutch surname, he is of mainly Scotch-Irish ancestry. Van Holt has a degree in Sociology from UCLA. At 18 years of age, he struck the perfect image of a Huntington Beach, California surfer...
, Dan Byrd
Dan Byrd
Daniel "Dan" Byrd is an American actor. His most prominent roles include the 2006 remake of The Hills Have Eyes, the CW original comedy series Aliens in America, A Cinderella Story alongside Hillary Duff, ABC's Cougar Town, and the 2010 movie Easy A.-Life and career:Byrd was born in Marietta,...
, Ian Gomez
Ian Gomez
Ian Gomez is an American actor best known for his comedic TV work, the most notable of which are his series-regular stints as Javier on Felicity and Andy on Cougar Town.-Career:...
and Josh Hopkins
Josh Hopkins
William Joshua Hopkins is an American actor.-Career:Hopkins joined the fourth, and last season, of New York Undercover in 1998. In 1999 Hopkins starred in Alanis Morissette's "Unsent" music video...
. The sitcom was created by Bill Lawrence
Bill Lawrence (producer)
William Van Duzer Lawrence IV is an American screenwriter, producer, and director best known as the creator of Scrubs and co-creator of Cougar Town. Lawrence is married to the actress Christa Miller whom he cast in both television series; they have three children together...
and Kevin Biegel
Kevin Biegel
-Scrubs:Biegel got his first staff writing job on Scrubs, in its fifth season. In that season he wrote the episode "My Missed Perception" as well co-wrote the season finale "My Transition." In the sixth season he was promoted to story editor...
. All the episodes of this season, except for the pilot
Pilot (Cougar Town)
"Pilot" is the pilot episode of the American television sitcom Cougar Town, which premiered on ABC on September 23, 2009. The episode was directed by series creator Bill Lawrence, and written by Lawrence and Kevin Biegel...
and the episode "Everything Man", are titled after Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers are an American rock band from Gainesville, Florida. They were formed in 1976 by Tom Petty , Mike Campbell , Benmont Tench , , Ron Blair and Stan Lynch...
songs.
Conception
Following the cancellation of DirtDirt (TV series)
Dirt is an American television serial broadcast on the FX network. It premiered on January 2, 2007 and starred Courteney Cox as Lucy Spiller, the editor-in-chief of the first-of-its-kind "glossy tabloid" magazine DirtNow, which was previously two separate publications: drrt and Now Dirt (styled...
, Courteney Cox wanted to return to broadcast television and do another comedy. Lawrence, who is best known as the creator of Scrubs
Scrubs (TV series)
Scrubs is an American medical comedy-drama television series created in 2001 by Bill Lawrence and produced by ABC Studios. The show follows the lives of several employees of the fictional Sacred Heart, a teaching hospital. It features fast-paced screenplay, slapstick, and surreal vignettes...
and Spin City
Spin City
Spin City is an American sitcom television series that aired from September 17, 1996 until April 30, 2002 on the ABC network. Created by Gary David Goldberg and Bill Lawrence, the show was based on a fictional local government running New York City, and originally starred Michael J. Fox as Mike...
, was approached by Cox about "wanting to do something." While developing the concept of the show, Lawrence thought he would do a tryout with Cox on Scrubs, by guest-starring in the first three episodes of the eighth season. He wanted to see what it was like to work together (who thought that she was an easy and fun person to work with) and decided to go from there. Lawrence and Biegel, who worked together writing episode on Scrubs, came up with the concept of the show with Cox as a 40-year-old, newly single woman because he thought that it was a real "zeitgeist
Zeitgeist
Zeitgeist is "the spirit of the times" or "the spirit of the age."Zeitgeist is the general cultural, intellectual, ethical, spiritual or political climate within a nation or even specific groups, along with the general ambiance, morals, sociocultural direction, and mood associated with an era.The...
-y topic." He drew inspiration from his real-life wife, actress Christa Miller
Christa Miller
Christa Miller is an American actress who has achieved success in television comedy. Her foremost roles include Kate O'Brien on The Drew Carey Show and Jordan Sullivan on Scrubs . She has also appeared on Seinfeld and CSI: Miami...
who also stars in the show as Ellie; Miller had previously worked with Cox as part of the story-arc of the three part Scrubs try-out. Lawrence told Cox that the show could be "high-risk, high-reward," although Cox decided to go for it. He added, "I rarely have this much trepidation because usually the only person I could let down is myself. I want to make it work for her." In addition, Lawrence was also a staff writer on Friends
Friends
Friends is an American sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994 to May 6, 2004. The series revolves around a group of friends in Manhattan. The series was produced by Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
during the show's first season
Friends (season 1)
The first season of Friends, an American situation comedy created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, premiered on NBC on September 22, 1994. Friends was produced by Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television. The season contains 24 episodes and concluded airing...
.
Before he pitched the idea to ABC, other titles for the show included 40 and Single and The Courteney Cox Show, which was eventually named Cougar Town because Lawrence thought that "the title is noisy and that people will be aware of this show." He felt that the risk of the title was that the audience wouldn't watch it because people would say "...the title bums me," commenting: "it's a risky roll of the dice ... We don't call women "cougars" in it. We certainly don't use the word beyond the unbelievably big cheat that the high school mascot is a cougar." Lawrence believed that with the subsequent scripts they'd be doing and the re-shoots in the pilot, the show would be "creatively satisfying." After he pitched the idea to ABC, they asked him to have a pilot ready to shoot by the end of January 2009. Lawrence and Biegel together wrote the script with Lawrence, who has written and directed many episodes on Scrubs, directing the episode. In casting beyond Cox, Lawrence created the character of Ellie for his wife, Christa Miller
Christa Miller
Christa Miller is an American actress who has achieved success in television comedy. Her foremost roles include Kate O'Brien on The Drew Carey Show and Jordan Sullivan on Scrubs . She has also appeared on Seinfeld and CSI: Miami...
. Miller felt that her character started off "gleefully" and that her husband would write down little things that she would say, in which she believes is the reason her character "came out of that."
Crew
In addition to having created the series, Bill LawrenceBill Lawrence (producer)
William Van Duzer Lawrence IV is an American screenwriter, producer, and director best known as the creator of Scrubs and co-creator of Cougar Town. Lawrence is married to the actress Christa Miller whom he cast in both television series; they have three children together...
is the show runner
Show runner
Showrunner is a term of art originating in the United States and Canadian television industry referring to the person who is responsible for the day-to-day operation of a television seriesalthough such persons generally are credited as an executive producer...
, head writer
Head writer
A head writer is a person who oversees the team of writers on a television or radio series. The title is common in the soap opera genre, as well as with sketch comedies and talk shows that feature monologues and comedy skits, but in prime time series this function is generally performed by an...
, and the executive producer
Executive producer
An executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...
. Courteney Cox, who also stars on the show, serves as executive producer alongside Lawrence. Lawrence, the executive producer, show runner, head writer and creator of Scrubs, co-wrote and directed the pilot and wrote the second episode. He has written for other shows that include, Friends
Friends
Friends is an American sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994 to May 6, 2004. The series revolves around a group of friends in Manhattan. The series was produced by Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
, The Nanny
The Nanny
Nanny may refer to:* Nanny, a child's caregiver* A grandmother * A Cajun word for godmother * A female goat* Nanny , a 1981–83 British drama series starring Wendy Craig* Nanny of the Maroons...
, and Boy Meets World
Boy Meets World
Boy Meets World is an American comedy-drama series that chronicles the events and everyday life lessons of Cory Matthews, played by Ben Savage, a kid from suburban Philadelphia who grows up from a young boy to a married man. The show aired for seven seasons from 1993 to 2000 on ABC, part of the...
as well as co-created Spin City
Spin City
Spin City is an American sitcom television series that aired from September 17, 1996 until April 30, 2002 on the ABC network. Created by Gary David Goldberg and Bill Lawrence, the show was based on a fictional local government running New York City, and originally starred Michael J. Fox as Mike...
. Kevin Biegel
Kevin Biegel
-Scrubs:Biegel got his first staff writing job on Scrubs, in its fifth season. In that season he wrote the episode "My Missed Perception" as well co-wrote the season finale "My Transition." In the sixth season he was promoted to story editor...
, co-creator, has also written episode for Scrubs. He wrote 7 episodes on Scrubs and wrote the pilot script with Lawrence.
Filming
The series takes place at the fictional town of Gulf Haven in Sarasota County, FloridaSarasota County, Florida
Sarasota County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida. The U.S. Census Bureau 2008 estimate for the county was 372,057. Its county seat is Sarasota, Florida....
although it is filmed at Culver Studios
Culver Studios
The Culver Studios is a historic Colonial-styled movie studio located at 9336 W. Washington Blvd., in Culver City, California. It was the site of filming for Gone with the Wind, Citizen Kane and other classics from Hollywood’s Golden Age...
in Culver City, California
Culver City, California
Culver City is a city in western Los Angeles County, California. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 38,883, up from 38,816 at the 2000 census. It is mostly surrounded by the city of Los Angeles, but also shares a border with unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County. Culver...
. The pilot episode was directed and written by Scrubs
Scrubs (TV series)
Scrubs is an American medical comedy-drama television series created in 2001 by Bill Lawrence and produced by ABC Studios. The show follows the lives of several employees of the fictional Sacred Heart, a teaching hospital. It features fast-paced screenplay, slapstick, and surreal vignettes...
creator Bill Lawrence, who is married to Scrubs and Cougar Town star Christa Miller. Lawrence serves as executive producer
Executive producer
An executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...
/writer/director, Kevin Biegel as writer/co-executive producer, and Courteney Cox
Courteney Cox
Courteney Bass Cox is an American actress, she is best known for her roles as Monica Geller on the NBC sitcom Friends, Gale Weathers in the horror series Scream and as Jules Cobb in the ABC sitcom Cougar Town, for which she earned her first Golden Globe nomination....
and David Arquette
David Arquette
David Arquette is an American actor, film director, producer, screenwriter, fashion designer, and occasional professional wrestler. A member of the Arquette acting family, he first became known during the mid 1990s after starring in several Hollywood films, such as the Scream series, Wild Bill and...
are executive producers. It is produced by Doozer Productions and Coquette Productions
Coquette Productions
Coquette Productions is a motion picture production company created by the Arquettes . Their productions include:*2009: Cougar Town *2009: The Big Change...
(headed by Cox and her husband David Arquette) and is from ABC Studios. The sitcom is filmed in the single-camera format. Cox filmed the pilot on March 19, 2009.
Reception
In the USA the audience dropped from 11 million to 6 million over the 14 episode run. In Australia the audience dropped from 1.3 to 1 million in one week after the chief executive of the Australian channel showing it (Seven Network) described it as a 'shit show' that he could get large audiences for, by promoting it. In late April 2010, Cougar Town was canned in Australia due to poor ratings; 10 episodes had been run. Recently, Channel 7 returned both Cougar Town and How I Met Your Mother to its schedule from June 17. Cougar Town aired after a repeat of How I Met Your Mother, managing just 433,000 viewers. They plan to continue showing it in double episodes until the end of Season 1. In late January 2011, Seven Network returned the show to a late timeslot of 10:30 Tuesday nights after a New Episode of Parenthood. In the UK, the first season aired on LIVING, and was shown in double-bills on Tuesday nights at 9pm. The season premiered on March 30, 2010 to a strong 802,000 viewers and concluded on June 15, 2010 to a series low of 593,000 viewers. However, the entire season was the most-watched show on LIVING, averaging 769,000 viewers.Episodes
| Series episode |
Season episode |
Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | U.S. viewers (in million) |
|---|
US Nielsen ratings
| Order | Episode | Rating | Share | Rating/share Nielsen Ratings Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States... (18-49) |
Viewers (millions) |
Rank 18-49 (Timeslot) |
Rank 18-49 (Night) |
Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Pilot Pilot (Cougar Town) "Pilot" is the pilot episode of the American television sitcom Cougar Town, which premiered on ABC on September 23, 2009. The episode was directed by series creator Bill Lawrence, and written by Lawrence and Kevin Biegel... " |
7.1 | 11 | 4.4/11 | 11.28 | 1 | 4 | |
| 2 | "Into the Great Wide Open" | 5.7 | 9 | 3.8/10 | 9.25 | 1 | 1 | |
| 3 | "Don't Do Me Like That" | 5.0 | 8 | 3.2/8 | 7.84 | 3 | 4 | |
| 4 | "I Won't Back Down" | 5.1 | 8 | 3.3/8 | 7.91 | 3 | 5 | |
| 5 | "You Wreck Me" | 4.7 | 7 | 3.0/8 | 7.36 | 3 | 4 | |
| 6 | "A Woman in Love (It's Not Me)" | 4.8 | 7 | 3.2/8 | 7.54 | 2 | 3 | |
| 7 | "Don't Come Around Here No More" | 4.5 | 7 | 2.8/7 | 6.87 | 3 | 4 | |
| 8 | "Two Gunslingers" | 4.9 | 8 | 3.2/8 | 7.90 | 2 | 3 | |
| 9 | "Here Comes My Girl" | 3.3 | 6 | 1.9/6 | 5.53 | 4 | 6 | |
| 10 | "Mystery Man" | 4.4 | 7 | 2.8/7 | 7.01 | 3 | 6 | |
| 11 | "Rhino Skin" | 5.0 | 8 | 3.3/8 | 7.92 | 2 | 3 | |
| 12 | "Scare Easy" | 4.7 | 7 | 3.1/8 | 7.40 | 3 | 6 | |
| 13 | "Stop Dragging My Heart Around" | 4.7 | 7 | 3.4/9 | 7.55 | 3 | 5 | |
| 14 | "All the Wrong Reasons" | 4.0 | 6 | 2.9/7 | 6.19 | 3 | 5 | |
| 15 | "When a Kid Goes Bad" | 4.1 | 6 | 2.8/7 | 6.66 | 3 | 6 | |
| 16 | "What Are You Doin' in My Life?" | 3.5 | 5 | 2.3/6 | 5.35 | 4 | 7 | |
| 17 | "Counting on You" | 3.9 | 6 | 2.6/7 | 6.15 | 3 | 6 | |
| 18 | "Turn This Car Around" | 4.1 | 6 | 2.6/7 | 6.27 | 2 | 5 | |
| 19 | "Everything Man" | 3.8 | 6 | 2.6/7 | 5.99 | 2 | 4 | |
| 20 | "Wake up Time" | 3.7 | 6 | 2.5/7 | 5.82 | 3 | 5 | |
| 21 | "Letting You Go" | 4.2 | 7 | 2.8/7 | 6.45 | 2 | 4 | |
| 22 | "Feeling a Whole Lot Better" | 3.8 | 6 | 2.5/7 | 5.94 | 3 | 5 | |
| 23 | "Breakdown" | 3.9 | 6 | 2.7/7 | 6.23 | 3 | 5 | |
| 24 | "Finding Out" | 4.0 | 6 | 2.8/8 | 6.16 | 3 | 4 |
- Episode 9 aired on Thanksgiving Eve in which most of the original shows hit series lows.
- Episode 14 was the first episode to air against the 9th season of American IdolAmerican Idol (season 9)The ninth season of American Idol premiered on January 12, 2010 and concluded on May 26, 2010 on Fox. Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Kara DioGuardi all returned as judges, and Ellen DeGeneres permanently replaced Paula Abdul as the fourth judge. Idol Gives Back also returned for the season and was...
.