Guilty Pleasure of the Week: Cougar Town

I need to preface this post by saying that I hate the term "guilty pleasure." My opinion is: If it's legal and it makes you happy, why should you feel bad about liking it? There are already plenty of things to feel legitimately bad about—the war, the economy, Conan's absence from late-night TV—so when you find something that puts a smile on your face or takes your mind off whatever crisis has dropped into your lap recently, you should embrace it and hold onto it and be glad that it exists. I, for one, will not apologize for reading Us Weekly or owning 52 pairs of shoes or loving cheesy pop music or watching Never Been Kissed every time it's on cable. Those things make my life better. And that's far more important to me than being cool.

That said, I recognize that some indulgences come with a stigma. I may be at peace with my celebrity-gossip obsession, but plenty of people find it superficial and a waste of time. The same, sadly, is true of many of my favorite TV shows. Which is why—even though I feel no guilt over my fondness for "bad" TV—I'm naming Cougar Town my Guilty Pleasure of the Week.

I'm sure at least a couple of my friends/readers will desert me for writing this, but Cougar Town is actually kind of good. I was put off by the title at first—"cougar" is another term I find maddening—but once I got past it, I discovered that the half-hour sitcom is really pretty funny.

If you've never seen it, the series focuses on Jules Cobb, a 40-something divorcée played by Courteney Cox, and her tight-knit but dysfunctional circle of friends and neighbors in the suburban cul-de-sac where she lives. Cox is good, but the show's strength is its ensemble. Christa Miller (Scrubs) plays Jules' sarcastic best friend, Ellie; Busy Phillips (Dawson's Creek) is Jules' feisty 20-something employee, Laurie; Josh Hopkins (Ally McBeal, Swingtown) stars as Jules' womanizing neighbor and potential love interest, Grayson; and Ian Gomez (Felicity), Brian VanHolt, and Dan Byrd play Ellie's husband, Jules' ex, and Jules' son, respectively. As individuals, they're silly and enjoyable; as a group, they're irresistible.

I have to add, also, that it's nice to see Courteney Cox all endearingly neurotic again. I appreciated her wanting to do something different after Friends, but I thought her character on Dirt was kind of awful. She's at her best when she's bubbly, bright-eyed, and just a little batty. Jules does some crazy things, but she does them for good reasons and to great comic effect.

Here's the thing, though: Cougar Town is not for everyone. I guarantee that some of you will hate it and think I'm insane for devoting a full 30 minutes to it every week. (Probably the same some of you who rolled your eyes at my tabloid habit.) And that's okay. Is it the greatest show on television? Not by a long shot. Does it occasionally miss the mark? Absolutely. Are there better ways to spend my time? Sure. But there are also worse ways. Honestly, the half hour or so I spend with C. Cox and friends is one of the most relaxing parts of my week. It's fun, mindless entertainment, and it gets me out of my head for a while, which is rare. I love shows like Lost, Mad Men, and Dexter, but sometimes it's nice to watch TV without holding my breath for the better part of an hour. Judge me if you must—I like Cougar Town, and I'm not ashamed to admit it.