Courteney Cox, erstwhile Friends mega-star, has fallen victim to what most formerly monstrous TV stars often do; she has yet to come close to recapturing her former fame, try as she might.  Cox starred in the cable paparazzi drama Dirt, which faded away to mass indifference.  She has an upcoming run on Scrubs' probably-final season, but today comes news of a promising new television project for the woman previously known as Monica Gellar.  The Hollywood Reporter has announced that Cox and Scrubs show runner Bill Lawrence are joining forces on a new ABC comedy called Cougar Town.  And, yes, the title is insinuating what you think it is: Cox will play a proverbial “cougar,” an attractive mother of a 17-year-old son. 

Cox will play the newly single mother in question, and the series will be of the one camera variety.  Lawrence wrote the pilot script for Cougar Town with fellow Scrubs writer Kevin Biegel.  Lawrence, impressed with Cox's three episode run on Scrubs (which will air in the upcoming eighth season of Scrubs), approached her after production ended on Scrubs.  He was impressed with her fearless comedic ability, and Cox was eager to join the project.

The lead character in Cougar Town is loosely inspired by Bill Lawrence's real-life wife Christa Miller, who has been a recurring character on Scrubs and may also join the cast of Cougar Town.  This news also means that, in all likelihood, Lawrence will relinquish the show running duties on Scrubs, even if ABC brings it back for a ninth season (if they do bring Scrubs back once again, it will be without lead Zach Braff).  If ABC picks up the pilot, viewers can expect it to be part of next Fall's programming slate.  Courteney Cox is a talented comedienne, given the right material, and Cougar Town seems like a great vehicle to get her career back up and running.


-Oscar Dahl, BuddyTV Senior Writer
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
(Image Courtesy of Getty)