TVSquad

(S01E04) First, let's get a mystery out of the way: the Tom Petty centric titles. I shot off a note to Bill Lawrence asking about it, and he Blackberried back to me that it's because a) Tom Petty is from rural Florida and b) he's Bill's favorite singer. So there you have it.

Now, on to this episode. We've all seen Courteney Cox play neurotic; she played neurotic for ten seasons on Friends. But we've also seen her play tough, confident and warm, whether it was on Friends or any of her other roles. Right now, either via the writing or the way she interprets the role, she's playing Jules Cobb as a purely neurotic mess, and a loud one at that. It's not endearing, it doesn't help me connect with Jules' plight, and, most importantly, it's not funny.

Tonight's episode was Jules at her most neurotic, and it made for the least funny episode of the first four. It's a bad trend that's starting to make me worry about the overall health of the show.

I think we know why Jules keeps wanting to get Grayson's goat at all times: she likes him. But there was no reason given for that attraction, even from the pilot. Was Jules jealous that Grayson gets to bed any young tail that he wants but she's criticized for doing the same? Was she just in lust with him and didn't know any other way to act it out than to be a pain in his keister? It all seemed very middle school and not the way a gorgeous 40-year-old should act.

And how 'bout Grayson? I never believed him for one second when he said that he wasn't attracted to Jules. Come on! For all of Jules' crazy, anyone can see that she's pretty hot, 40 or no 40. So he's just messing with her. At least now we know that he's got some emotional wounds under that smirky exterior: his wife left him because he wanted a family and she didn't, and now she's engaged and pregnant. So, Jules' efforts to get back at his snarkiness actually bonded the two of them a bit.

But I still don't buy the chemistry between the two of them. You know that they're going to hook up at some point, but it still feels like they're artificially being thrown together. Maybe more bonding in later episodes will make things more organic. Not sure.

What's interesting is that the rest of the cast -- except for Busy Philipps' Laurie, who still seems to be a caricature of a vapid twenty-something -- is starting to get some depth. I liked the fact that Ellie is willing to take backhanded compliments from Laurie in order to reaffirm to herself that she's still hot (and the sex cards she gives Andy were funny... mainly because it's probably painfully true for most married couples). Bobbyt is still a dolt, but at least he a) truly wants to bond with Travis, and b) still watches the sex tape he made with Jules when they were young because he's nostalgic for those days, not for the sex.

But the show is going to succeed or fail on Courteney Cox's shoulders. And right now, she's not making me care enough about Jules to prompt me into being interested in what comes next for her. And that's death for any sitcom.

In that note about Tom Petty, Lawrence told me that the show is getting better. Given the fact that he's not a big BSer in that regard, I tend to believe him, so I'll keep watching. But, right now, the show is having problems finding its footing, and it's tough to watch (not as tough as Hank, but then again, what is?).

[Watch clips and free episodes of Cougar Town at SlashControl.]