Why Aren't You Watching Cougar Town?

You should be ashamed of yourself for not watching Cougar Town.  If you are and you're not my friend, then you should be my friend.  Being my friend is a privilege and an honor that people fight over.  Let's call this the first reason you should be watching Cougar Town.  The rest of the reasons have more to do with the show than with being my fantastic friend.

Cougar Town Doesn't Take Itself Seriously.

Every episode begins by mocking itself in the title sequence because it's far from being a show about cougars, though that was the pilot's intent.  Rather the show quickly morphed into what it is now: a group of neighbors whose lives and relationships intertwine through commonalities of drinking and making fun of people.  I'm going to be honest: I like older women, so of course I was going to watch the show, but the shift in content made me like it even more.  No, it's not Friends.  It's brighter, drunker, quippier, and cattier.

Cougar Town is Didactic.

Just because the show doesn't take itself seriously, but that doesn't mean you can't learn from it.  It's not out to win awards, just your hearts and laughter.  My life would be so different if I didn't have the term "pounding grape" in my vocabulary (though I pound more persimmon than I do grape these days) and the game Penny Can to play, which is completely better than that shit game Cornhole (or Cornbags or Corntoss for those of you outside of Indiana).

There's a Character for Everyone.

The characters are so different from each other that it's easy to find one to relate to.  Weirdly, I'm a Jules (Courteney Cox).  It's my attitude towards drinking, mostly, that makes me connect to her and my love of large cuppery to drink out of.  You might be attracted to Ellie's (Christa Miller) blunt and vicious nature, Travis's (Dan Byrd) utter adorableness and dorkiness, Bobby's (Brian Van Holt) neivete yokel stupidity, Laurie's (Busy Philipps) drunken partying and love of Black men, Grayson's (Josh Hopkins) slowness and vanity, Andy's (Ian Gomez) fun-loving and childlike status, Barb's (Carolyn Hennesy) cougarness and frankness, or Tom's (Bob Clendenin) creepiness and wanting to belong.  There are characters for you, whether they're recurring or regular.  You can bet you'll see yourself drinking a big glass of wine in that screen.

Cougar Town is a Great Reason to Drink.
When the show was on Wednesdays, I used to participate in Wine Wednesdays.  I still have Wine Wednesdays (because Happy Endings calls for drinking, too!), but it's not the same now that it's on Tuesdays.  Sure, I may have been alone while drinking and occasionally with fellow blogger Auddie P (online or in person), but I feel like I'm drinking with the cast.

There are No Boring Character Pairs.

I hate it on ensemble shows when characters are paired off and I don't care for their interaction together.  This doesn't happen at all on Cougar Town.  Every plot and every character relationship is exciting and produces not a B-story, but an A-story.  All the plots are equal in airtime and importance.  Though Jules is the glue of the group, the show actually doesn't need to revolve around her to succeed in making the audience laugh.  Not only do the characters have great scenes with each other, whether it's Jules/Ellie, Ellie/Laurie, Bobby/Andy, etc., but the cast seems to have a connection off screen, too.  They clearly have a passion and a love for the show that surpasses the emotions many actors feel about their own projects.

So tell me with all of these reasons: Why aren't you watching Cougar Town?  This season has been stellar, and its guest stars (of Scrubbery fame) have been enjoyable. (I also realize I've made up a lot of words in this article.)

Side note: It did increase in ratings this week by 14%, so that's exciting!  RENEW COUGAR TOWN, BITCHES!