Courteney Cox’s sitcom too dirty for TV

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Courteney Cox is pushing the envelope with her latest sitcom in development, “Cougar Town.” The show centers around older women getting it on with younger men. Some of the plot lines are said to be way too hot for TV, including a possibly offensive scene with a 15 year-old boy:

Following the failure of her lame gossip show, “Dirt,” Courteney Cox just sold a sitcom to ABC and censors call this one “FILTH!” The actual title is “Cougar Town,” a sleazy saga of middle-aged babes seeking sex from guys as young as 15 – and My Script Spy got kinda shy reporting all the X-plicit, raunchy references to kinky sex, the f-word, etc… plus a scene where a horny old cougar flips open her housecoat and flashes a 15-year-old boy! Stunned ABC censors and execs are already locked in a furious battle with exec producer Cox, warning her that network TV ain’t cable – and she and her Writers Gone Wild can’t push the envelope past “edgy” to “filthy.” Folks, I can’t give examples in our family newspaper – but one line that’s actually hilarious involves why a husband needs to shave. (Trust me – you won’t hear it when “Cougar Town” airs next season.)

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, Mike Walker’s column, April 13, 2009]

From the brief clips I saw of now-canceled Dirt, the show was pretty awful. Courteney and David Arquette were executive producers, but there are so many people involved in those shows that it’s hard to know who to blame when one fails so miserably. You could charitably say that sometimes a good team just puts out bad work for whatever reason. Cougar Town is put out by Bill Lawrence, a screenwriter/producer/director who created the quirky show Scrubs, so Courteney’s latest effort might be good. If it’s as dirty as they say, it will definitely have to be toned down for TV. Plot lines involving older women seducing or even flashing 15 year-old kids are not cool.

It’s a shame that Courteney and the other Friends alumni apart from Jennifer Aniston have struggled so much in their careers since the show ended. They’re all pretty solid, well known comedic actors and it’s surprising that we don’t see them more on TV or film.

Courteney Cox and Busy Phillips are shown on the set of Cougartown on 3/26 and 3/27/09. Credit: PacificCoastNews.com

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15 Responses to “Courteney Cox’s sitcom too dirty for TV”

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  1. Tess says:

    She’s a fame addict. Long ago, she parlayed her looks into a career and now she’s hooked.

    she’ll sacrifice absolutely anything, including her dignity and any semblence of personal class, just for one more hit in the limelight.

    problem is, this kind of crap really pollutes our culture and warps kids who are influenced by what they see on TV and at the movies.

  2. HEB says:

    ooh Busy Phillips, she’s fun, someone give her a job

  3. KittyKate says:

    I don’t think this new show sounds too great…I do love Busy Phillips too HEB… but if she’s a ‘cougar’, I’m out.

    And Desperate Housewives had one of their characters actually having sex with an underage boy. Like, in bathtubs and stuff together. I’m pretty sure that was network tv…

  4. Lem says:

    dirt was awful. I tried to support it. couldn’t.
    Have to be honest the concept of this show seems at least 5 years past it’s prime. by the time something (phrase) makes it to the morning talkies it is played out.
    Sounds like a case of not knowing your target market. ABC is not cable. Miscommunication?

  5. Lem says:

    that’s really not a good length for COCo’s hair

  6. kap says:

    She is a beautiful woman and a decent comedian, but she didn’t marry Brad Pitt so her career’s in the tank like the rest of the Friends crew. Yes, they are wealthy and probably don’t have to work but 43-44 is a little young to retire so I can understand the desire to continue filming, just wish she had a better vehicle.

  7. kiki says:

    Dirt , I didnt think was that bad, it had many storylines and characters sortve like LOST does. I do agree that Courtney is fame addicted she got enough $$$$ to sit back in her middle age and be a wife and mom. I think shes super hyper and has to be doing projects all the time on top of her acting and producing I hear she is also a real estate agent. or maybe she just did that so when she sells her houses she does not have to pay anyone else a commission. Thrifty too.

  8. Hieronymus Grex says:

    There’s that f’n word again. No wonder people in other countries believe Americans are stupid.

  9. Judy says:

    Well I guess the kids who get to watch this sdtuff are the ones that are not having any parental control in the home?? That is the only way kids get to watch trash on TV is the parents have not used parental controls or eve give a damn what the kids watch.
    Give that as may be…we really dont need all the sex we have on TV and if they are promoting sex with underage boys on TV hopw are we to prosecute these teachers that are having sex with our kids? Time to draw some lines here folks. If it is ok to broadcast this sex with underaged kids on TV I guess it is time to take the age off consenual sex laws????????

  10. Granger says:

    kap: “She is a beautiful woman and a decent comedian, but she didn’t marry Brad Pitt…”

    You’ve hit the nail on the head!

  11. Beth says:

    I think the violence on tv is a lot worse than the sex, but then again my kids don’t watch sex OR violence on tv. I think this show could be fun if it’s done right, and since my kids are where they should be at primetime, which is in bed, I see nothing wrong with it. Glorified violence is MUCH worse for society than glorifed sex. Sex is good! (not for kids) Violence is ALWAYS bad.

  12. arthur1 says:

    Matthew Perry has a pretty good film and tv career, “Studio 60” was cooler than anything Aniston had. Cox was always one-note, same expression. The “cougar” is waaay over as Fran Drescher’s lame attempt showed, and being filthy is just desperate.

  13. FF says:

    I’ll only watch it because it’s by the guy to did SCRUBS otherwise, I’d skip it.

    A lot of the humour on SCRUBS could be considered offensive it you write about it out of context. I’d wait and see it to judge for myself.

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