*Disclaimer: I only listed shows I’ve seen. This is not meant to be an Exhaustive Guide to Every TV Show Ever.

I’m very glad I did. This isn’t, after all, a show about sex at all, or about a woman who dates younger men (though it does admittedly dabble in that, especially in the first three episodes). It’s lovable and funny and really more of an ensemble show, though Courtney Cox as Jules is the heart and soul of it all. Jules Cobb is a woman whose main characteristic is complete, unstinting generosity. Quirky and stubborn, she’s nonetheless the center of an oddball mini-family she’s drawn around herself through sheer determination: longsuffering son Travis, with whom she shares a close relationship; snarky, 40-something best friend Ellie and her husband; airheaded, 20-something other best friend Laurie; everyman ex-husband Bobby, and good-looking next-door neighbor Grayson.

Jules is over-the-top sometimes, a minor mess often, but she is completely charming and it’s easy to see why all the people in her life adore her. She’s that friend who’s always there for you, that mother figure who’s also just weird sometimes, and the best friend who needs to be dragged out to have fun, and then ends up doing crazy things.

It takes a little while for Cougar Town to hit its groove – the vibe and style are coherent from the get-go, but the first few episodes waste some time shuffling young men in out and out of Jules’ life in keeping with the touted premise of the show. It quickly starts to get better and better however, and by episode 9 has completely found its groove – as a sort of family-friends comedy with a strong dash of romance on the side.

Cougar Town is not exactly clever, but it is deftly written and genuinely funny. In most ways it is nothing at all like Friends, which it must inevitably (at least initially), be compared, but it is similar in that there’s few villains in this world. It’s mostly just a group of very likable people interacting with each other, and generally leaves you feeling warm and fuzzy after each viewing. In fact, if I could describe this show in one word, it would be “sunny.” Which is exactly what a comedy should be.  If you’re bored or need something light to counteract the gloom and doom of most other currently-airing shows, check it out!

And if I haven’t convinced you, perhaps the below video will.

Terra Nova

BUT. The family relationships, and indeed character dynamics in general, are spot-on and very appealing, and it can be an entertaining show if you’re looking for something light which will provide a little (mostly laughable) sci-fi, a little action, and lots of likable people interacting.  Anyone who knows me knows I really just watch television for the romance (notable exception being Doctor Who) however, and in Maddy/Reynolds on this show I’ve found a couple I thoroughly root for and enjoy. She’s the brainy, bubbly, hasn’t-noticed-she’s-beautiful daughter of the show’s main character, and he’s the straight-laced, protective, tongue-tied soldier. What I love about them is that both invest equally in the relationship: he begins pursuing her first and is delightfully persistent and single-minded in doing so, but she’s the more open and direct one and makes several overtures that move them along much faster than he would left to himself. They have oodles of chemistry and I love that the show doesn’t tease the audience and make these two spend too long dancing around each other but quickly starts portraying the uncertainty and headiness and shy joy of falling in love and spending time together.

(I adore the main couple of the show also: stubborn cop Shannon and his amazingly beautiful (seriously, Shelley Conn? Stunning) doctor wife. But it’s really Maddy/Reynolds I watch for).

Have a music video.

TV I’m currently watching:

Castle (ABC Mondays)
Hart of Dixie (CW Mondays)
Ringer (CW Tuesdays)
Revenge (ABC Wednesdays)
Nikita (CW Fridays)
Downton Abbey (Sundays)