A quick review of tonight’s “Cougar Town” coming up just as soon as my shirt is a lie…
When you have a comedy largely defined by how much its characters like each other, it can be tricky when one of them becomes a constant subject of abuse. “Parks and Recreation” dealt with it by eventually revealing that Jerry’s life away from the parks department is so fantastic that he doesn’t mind being the butt of his co-workers’ jokes, and here “Cougar Town” deals with it by finally bringing Tom into Jules’ house – and making him a part of the Cul-de-Sac Crew. “I Should Have Known It” is a good reward episode for Bob Clendenin (though I imagine the move to TBS killed any chance of making him a regular castmember), giving Tom a temporary love interest (played by friend of the show Alexandra Wentworth) and letting Jules and Laurie step up to protect him in the same obsessive, boundary-ignoring way they would any of their other friends.
And befitting an episode where the group takes on its first new member since Grayson, the other two subplots were devoted to the Crew’s official and unofficial rules. Grayson and Jules battle for control of the swing votes when they decide the group should run on a majority vote (and Grayson loses because he underestimates the power of the hug pact to secure Andy’s vote), and then Ellie takes a stand against the way the rest of the gang coddles Bobby at all. Both were smart, funny takes on the very dysfunctional nature of the group, and continued the hot streak the show’s been on in this TBS incarnation.
What did everybody else think?