Cougar Town began as a series about an older woman dating younger men – hence the title – but then turned into this peculiar and specific comedy about finding family not just in blood relatives, but also in the friends made over the years.
After three seasons on ABC, Cougar Town’s ratings had dipped to the point where the show couldn’t be sustained on a major network, but a white knight has arrived to save the series. Cougar Town’s fourth season will be on TBS – the Turner network that is based on comedy.
For the official TBS press release, follow the jump.
TBS Takes Over Cougar Town
Cougar Town, the acclaimed sitcom starring Golden Globe® nominee Courteney Cox, is moving to TBS. The top-rated network has ordered a fourth season of Cougar Town, to begin airing in early 2013. In addition, TBS has garnered the encore rights to Cougar Town‘s first three seasons of 61 episodes that originally aired on ABC.
’Cougar Town is a smart, whimsical sitcom that draws its humor from likable, relatable characters,’ said Michael Wright, president, head of programming for TBS, TNT and Turner Classic Movies (TCM). ‘We are thrilled to have Cougar Town moving to the TBS neighborhood as the network continues to expand its slate of original comedy series."’
In Cougar Town, Cox stars as Jules Cobb, a recently divorced mom struggling with the challenges and pitfalls that come with a new chapter in her life. Jules spends much of her time enjoying wine with her group of friends known as the ‘cul de sac crew.’ They include her under-achieving ex-husband, Bobby (Brian Van Holt); next-door neighbor and confidante Ellie (Christa Miller); Ellie’s loveably average husband, Andy (Ian Gomez); Jules’ fiancé and neighbor, Grayson (Josh Hopkins); and Jules’ feisty protégé, Laurie (Busy Philipps). Meanwhile, Jules’ college-student son, Travis (Dan Byrd), often proves himself more adult than anyone in the group.
Cougar Town was co-created by executive producer/writer/director Bill Lawrence (Scrubs, Spin City) and executive producer/writer Kevin Biegel (Scrubs). Courteney Cox and David Arquette also serve as executive producers. Cougar Town is produced by ABC Studios.
Cougar Town is the latest project to join TBS’s ever-growing slate of original series. The lineup also includes the May 24 debut of the new buddy comedy series Men at Work, starring Danny Masterson, James Lesure, Michael Cassidy, Adam Busch and Meredith Hagner. In July, TBS will launch Sullivan & Son, a new sitcom starring comedian Steve Byrne and executive-produced by Vince Vaughn, Peter Billingsley and Rob Long. This year will also include the debut of Wedding Band, a new scripted comedy series starring Brian Austin Green, Harold Perrineau, Peter Cambor, Derek Miller, Melora Hardin, Jenny Wade and Kathryn Fiore. TBS will set out to crown the ultimate nerd in the reality-competition series King of the Nerds (working title), hosted by Robert Carradine and Curtis Armstrong.
Photo courtesy of TBS