{"id":1757,"date":"2009-10-04T19:07:26","date_gmt":"2009-10-04T18:07:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/\/?p=1757"},"modified":"2009-10-04T19:07:26","modified_gmt":"2009-10-04T18:07:26","slug":"cougar-town-when-a-character-doesnt-ring-true","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/cougar-town-when-a-character-doesnt-ring-true\/","title":{"rendered":"Cougar Town – When a Character Doesn’t Ring True"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"cougar-town-etbscreenwriting\"

I have nothing against sex-obsessed women who fret about aging and the difficulty of finding love. \u00a0I am a big fan of Sex and the City<\/strong>. But that show has something that Cougar Town <\/strong>lacks– authentic characters who feel real. Carrie and her crew each has a distinct and very specific take on sex and romance that defines who she is, how she sees the world and what love means to her.<\/p>\n

Carrie Bradshaw is a well-defined Power of Idealism <\/a>character. \u00a0Throughout the series, she is obsessed with the emotionally unavailable Mr. Big. \u00a0These characters believe that what is perfect but unavailable or unattainable is infinitely more desirable than what is flawed but possible or achievable. They are always reaching for the unreachable star.<\/p>\n

Charlotte York is a Power of Conscience<\/a> character and the most conservative and uptight member of the ensemble. While the show focuses on sexual liberation, Charlotte is the voice of more traditional values. \u00a0Perfection to her is what is proper and socially correct.<\/p>\n

Samantha Jones is a Power of Will<\/a> character and\u00a0views sex as power. \u00a0She is always the one in control of the sexual power in her relationships. \u00a0She decides when, where, how much and what kind of sex she will have. \u00a0She is loud, lusty and unashamed of her passions. \u00a0She is unapologetic when she decides to move on to new conquests.<\/p>\n

Miranda Hobbes is a Power of Ambition <\/a>character. \u00a0She is extremely career-minded and has her sights firmly fixed on a prestigious law partnership. \u00a0She often views sex as a distraction to her work. \u00a0In one episode she and her lover fight over the fact she wants to schedule sex and refuses to let passion distract her from important work-related obligations.<\/p>\n

Each of these women is thoroughly believable and acts consistently with specific attitudes about life and love. \u00a0I recognize women I know in the characters in Sex and the City<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Cortney Cox’s character is is poorly defined, cartoonish \u00a0and utterly inauthentic. \u00a0She acts like a thirty-year old Judd Apatow guy trapped in a one-note joke about being desperate but clumsy in the attempt to get laid. \u00a0I have no idea what her cardboard cut-out character believes about life or love or why she is doing what she is doing. \u00a0To you tell you the truth I don’t really care. \u00a0Someone please put this excruciatingly pathetic show out of its misery.<\/p>\n

Here are some additional reviews that hit the nail on the head.<\/p>\n

WALL STREET JOURNAL \u00a0 (T)his is the 21st century, where pole dancing passes for a statement of female liberation. So it should come as no surprise that Jules will search for self-esteem in frequent sex and the proof that she is still “hot.” \u00a0Such a quest could be made funny, but here it mostly isn’t. Ms. Cox is struggling with some ugly material and often seems desperate.<\/p>\n

CHICAGO TRIBUNE \u00a0Cougar Town<\/strong> is one of those shows with a trendy topic at its core, but it\u2019s hard to see how the show will work long-term, and the screechy and semi-frenetic tone set by the pilot doesn’t help.<\/p>\n

VARIETY \u00a0(T)he execution here is consistently about as subtle as a kick to the groin — and represents the least appealing component in ABC\u2019s quartet of new Wednesday-night comedies.<\/p>\n

HOLLYWOOD REPORTER \u00a0Cougar Town<\/strong> is a mess of a place no one would want to visit, even for a half-hour. With a little luck, though, it’ll have a short shelf life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cortney Cox’s character is is poorly defined, cartoonish and utterly inauthentic. She acts like a thirty-year old Judd Apatow guy trapped in a one-note joke about being desperate but clumsy in the attempt to get laid. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11959,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"nf_dc_page":"","_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[51,53,55,60,49],"tags":[25,26,871,593,27,28,30,31,392,32,766,33,34,35,36,37,38,39,40,675,206,41,42],"class_list":["post-1757","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-power-of-ambition","category-power-of-conscience","category-power-of-idealism","category-power-of-will","category-television-character-development-script-scriptwriting-tv-blog","tag-character","tag-characters","tag-cougar-town","tag-drama","tag-emotional-toolbox","tag-etb","tag-film","tag-films","tag-hbo","tag-laurie-hutzler","tag-love","tag-movies","tag-nine-character-types","tag-screenplay","tag-screenplays","tag-screenwriting","tag-script","tag-scripts","tag-scriptwriting","tag-sex-and-the-city","tag-sitcom","tag-tv","tag-writing"],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n.jpg",960,720,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n-300x225.jpg",300,225,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n-768x576.jpg",768,576,true],"large":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n.jpg",960,720,false],"ttshowcase_normal":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n.jpg",125,94,false],"ttshowcase_small":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n.jpg",75,56,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n.jpg",960,720,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n.jpg",960,720,false],"Image Size 500x500":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n.jpg",500,375,false],"woocommerce_thumbnail":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n-300x400.jpg",300,400,true],"woocommerce_single":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n-600x450.jpg",600,450,true],"woocommerce_gallery_thumbnail":["https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/30710870_10211699141895539_4496568718662303744_n-100x100.jpg",100,100,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Laurie Hutzler","author_link":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/author\/admin\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Cortney Cox's character is is poorly defined, cartoonish and utterly inauthentic. She acts like a thirty-year old Judd Apatow guy trapped in a one-note joke about being desperate but clumsy in the attempt to get laid.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1757"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1757"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1757\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11959"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1757"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etbscreenwriting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}