Hot moms on the prowl
Last night was the premiere of Courteney Cox’s new sitcom on ABC. The pilot episode of “Cougar Town” introduced Jules Cobb (Cox), a 40-something mom, five months divorced from a deadbeat wannabe-rockstar who got her pregnant just out of high school. The show has gotten good reviews, but I can’t quite form an opinion on it yet. It wasn’t good, but it wasn’t bad. It was an interesting start, and I guess it has potential, but I am afraid it will try too hard to be the south Florida version of “Sex and the City.”
The show:
The show starts with Jules, just out of the shower, playing with her flab in front of a mirror. We later see that she has a perfect body, but just seems to be feeling the natural insecurities of many women — old and young.
A lot happened in few minutes. During the 30-minute show, we’re introduced to a possible future love interest — a hot neighbor man Jules calls a “tiger” who seems to be coming home with a different young woman every night.
Jules and her younger friend Laurie (Busy Philipps) go out “on the prowl” (the cougar references are plentiful) for men, but Jules is afraid she’ll become one of the cougar women that she makes fun of. She proves she’s still got it, and while she’s starting to enjoy her 40’s the way she wishes she had enjoyed her 20’s, her son is getting some flack at school.
The reaction:
Since I can remember, it was never embarrassing or shameful to have a “MILF” — a lot of younger guys are proud of their cool moms. In this show, however, a hot mom is an embarrassing mom. I agree that having a cougar mom would be embarrassing (son Travis walks in on Jules with a man who can’t be much older than he is), but having a hot mom is nothing to be ashamed of.
Take it or leave it — I’m not sure if I’ll give it a second shot. The issue I’m concerned with, though, is how ABC is handling the “cougar” theme.
The issue:
The online dating Web site, CougarLife.com, elected to advertise during “Cougar Town” last night. The 60-second commercial advertisement was pulled by ABC, even though it seems it would have been a perfect fit for the show. Talk about a target audience!
While there are major differences between just a MILF and a cougar mom, I don’t understand any differentiation ABC might make between real life and fictional cougars. It’s all the same thing.
The entire show is basically promoting the lifestyle and cultural changes of the cougar era, but the network would not allow a real life service embracing this change in society to advertise during the show.
The fact that there is a primetime television show specifically focused on cougars (a term that has become mainstream in the past couple of years as society has evolved) proves that this is something we see in real life, and the idea is making money for networks. Why block another company from adding to the message?
Likewise, I feel the theme is a little too drawn-out. We might laugh at the show, and a lot of women will be able to relate to Jules, but how novel is this concept? I’m tired of it already.
Hot middle-aged woman takes back her life. Then ABC rejects a paid advertisement from hot middle-aged women who are taking back their lives. I don’t think the show will last, but I guess there will always be real life cougars “on the prowl.”
Watch the CougarLife.com commercial here.
Tags: ABC, cougar, cougar life, cougar town, cougarlife, cougartown, milf, mom, primetime, Television, TV, tv or not tv
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