dan byrd

(S01E10) It's interesting; the entire time I was watching this episode, I really couldn't pinpoint any comedic highs or annoying lows. It was just a "nice" episode. But that's not a bad thing. After spending nine episodes careening from one kind of show to another, it was good to see an episode that just slowed down, let the characters breathe, and showed why this is becoming such a good ensemble.

Oh, and it gave us a chance to see another one of the Bill Lawrence Players: Scott Foley. Forget The Unit or Felicity; I always thought Foley's best job was as the awkward Sean on Scrubs. So it's good to see him back in the fold again. And judging by the story he's in, he's going to be around for awhile.

(S01E09) Two things I'm starting to realize about Cougar Town:

1) The more the show concentrates on the ensemble and less on Jules, the funnier it is, and

2) We really need to see more interaction between Courteney Cox and Dan Byrd.

This episode had essentially the same formula as the barbecue episode from a few weeks ago: bring everyone together under Jules' roof and let them bounce off one another. And it worked once again. Instead of a barbecue, of course, the occasion was Thanksgiving (in Florida can you have a barbecue three weeks before Thanksgiving). There's only one slight, itty-bitty problem with what went on this week. But it's a problem that I hope leads to some good things.

(S01E08) It does seem like we're still in the "unsteady footing" stage of this series, doesn't it? For every episode like "Don't Come Around Here No More," which shows the cast gelling and gives us the glimmer of hope that the show will become a really good ensemble, we have episodes like this one, which are at times funny and at other times irritating.

Commenters have told me to stop obsessing over the fact that Courteney Cox's character of Jules is at her most annoying when she's dealing with her "over 40" issues. But I just can't; that's when the show is at its most sledgehammer-in-your-face irritating, with Cox acting to the rafters. This episode showed that quite a bit -- I could have used less of Jules desperately trying to convince people she could pass for 34 -- but it also showed that, when Jules isn't worrying so much about her age, Cox does a pretty nice job of making Jules less of a cartoon.

(S01E07) For the first half-dozen episodes of Cougar Town, legions of watchers have been wondering along with me what would happen when a) Courteney Cox remembers she's not playing Monica Gellar anymore and dials it down a notch and b) the ensemble starts melding with each other a bit more. Well, we seemed to get that in this episode, and it made for a funny and engaging half-hour.

Do I still have issues with the show? Sure. But this episode was the best sign I can think of that Bill Lawrence and company are going to get the show on a funny footing by the end of the season.

(S01E06) I've been trying to figure out why I'm not connecting with Courteney Cox and her Cougar Town alter ego, Jules Cobb. It's not just about Cox overacting her role; if that were the case, I would have gotten tired of Monica Geller at around season five of Friends. No, it was something else, something that I couldn't put my finger on.

But after enjoying the male side of the show more than the female side for the second week in a row, the reason has become clear: I might be the wrong gender. I'm neither getting nor caring about why Jules has so many issues with dating young'uns or the process she has to go through as a "woman of years" in order to do that.

What's ironic about that is that I had problems with the pilot because it felt like it was too frat-boy sounding. So maybe I don't know what I want out of this show. It's not the first time that's happened.

(S01E05) Much better. Much better.

Those are the words that kept popping into my head as I watched this episode. Courteney Cox dialed it down a notch. The characters melded together a bit more. We explored the lives of the guys a little bit, seeing a side of each we haven't seen yet. And finally, the show wasn't about Jules Cobb pointing out how she's 40 all the time; it was more about how her experience comes out in her relationships with the young'uns, whether it's her boy toy Josh or her assistant Laurie.

And, it was funny. Especially when there was an apple involved.

(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.

(S01E03) Interesting trend with this show: The episode titles have so far been titles of Tom Petty songs. Take a look at the names of the upcoming episodes and the pattern continues for the forseeable future. Wonder how long they can hold on to this convention, especially as linking the episode to a title of Petty song they haven't used before gets harder.

That's the best thing I can say about this episode, to be honest. This one was less funny than last week's episode, which was less funny than the pilot. At least last week's episode had some heartfelt emotion behind it, so the lack of laughs could be excused. But this episode didn't even have that, which made most of what was supposed to be funny fall flat.

(S01E02) I'll say this much about the second episode of Cougar Town: It didn't make me laugh as much as the first did. But I feel a whole lot better about the show's future after seeing it.

Sometimes that happens, and it happens a lot with Bill Lawrence-led shows. Sometimes it's not wall-to-wall laughs, but the story is satisfying enough that you don't care. In this episode, we see some more humanity behind Jules and her quest to finally have a life even though she's in her forties... and we see the consequences of trying to pursue a life in your forties. We also got a little more out of Ellie than just the bitter wife we saw in the pilot. We also see the beginnings of a weird flirtation between Jules and Grayson that most people figured would happen from the first three minutes of the pilot.

(S01E01) I have faith in Bill Lawrence. I know that he's a guy who doesn't want to put out shows that are crap, and that if something he produces is crap (hello, sixth season of Scrubs), he cops to it and vows to improve.

That being said, I really, really hope he has the time to work his magic on Cougar Town. Because what I see from the pilot are the bones of a good show, but one that's going to need some time to develop.

I like the actors. I like the premise. There were a lot of funny lines. I even like the fact that Lawrence re-shot certain scenes to make them sound like they're from a more female point of view. But even in the pilot, you can see signs that this show can devolve into something more cartoonish than real, and right now it's a 50-50 shot that it'll do just that.

While The CW appears to have some great new shows for the 2007-08 TV season (Gossip Girl; Aliens in America and Reaper), its summer press tour "all-stars" party could have used a few more, well, stars.

I get that the new Supergirl was stuck on set up in Vancouver (or maybe Argo City?) -- but were Chloe and Jimmy on deadline at The Daily Planet? We know it's "no flights, no tights" for Kal-El, but couldn't Tom Welling have hopped on the LuthorCorp jet? Alas, no one from Smallville or either of the brothers from Supernatural or Tyra Banks (America's Next Top Model) made the CW shin-ding held at the trendy Pacific Design Center's Fountain Plaza in West Hollywood on Friday night.

Fortunately, the atmosphere made up for the lack of high profile star power. Food by Wolfgang Puck, open bar (including Big Apple Martinis courtesy of Gossip Girl) and a Pinkberry frozen yogurt station kept the press from griping too much.

The CW's got some funny sitcoms both old (Everybody Hates Chris) and new (Aliens in America -- more on that later), but the network's funniest asset is Paul McGuire, executive vice president, network communications.

Before introducing Dawn Ostroff, president entertainment, The CW, McGuire fires off some zingers to get the reporters up and running.

Of the recycled tote bags that The CW gave to the press (perfect for hauling all our cable swag home), McGuire quips, "They're made entirely from recycled billboards, including some from Hidden Palms -- or as some dirt bag reporter called it -- 'Hidden Ratings.'"