I was more than a little bit nervous when I saw the scheduling change: Matthew Perry‘s new show, Mr. Sunshine, would be taking over Cougar Town‘s time slot (Wednesdays at 9:30) starting on February 9. After I made all the Friends jokes in my head, about how Chandler and Monica were so close to a reunion, and I bet that Matthew Perry called Courteney Cox and said, “Ha ha, I took your time slot,” and that wouldn’t it be funny if Matt LeBlanc’s new Showtime show, Episodes, was on Wednesdays at 9:30 … you know, all those jokes, I became seriously concerned that Cougar Town was on its way out.
The ratings aren’t stellar; they are the lowest rated show in the ABC Wednesday night comedy block. It’s a show people either love or hate. There aren’t too many half-hearted viewers to bring around — you’re either in or out. Obviously, I’m in, and as lovely as it would be to have Matthew Perry back on my screen in a quality weekly show, I didn’t want it to happen at the expense of The Mumbly, Tiny Eyes, Big Carl and the rest of one of my favorite ensemble casts on TV right now.
Then yesterday, ABC ever-so-graciously gave early renewals to six of their series — yep, Cougar Town is coming back (along with The Middle, Modern Family, Castle, Grey’s and Private Practice). So all of my new gray hairs, all of my needless worry, the mourning … it was all for naught.
Sure, I’ll have to wait until April 13 for Cougar Town to return, but I can at least feel good knowing it will be back this spring and also back for a third season. Now, if someone can explain to me why ABC has four time slots in the Wednesday night comedy block, yet they insist on showing only three new shows — can’t The Middle just move to 8:00? Does Kelsey Grammer have some kind of embargo on that time slot? There’s another post in there somewhere….
UPDATE: So evidently Better With You has made so little impact on my television viewing habits that I forgot it existed, and I’ve been in a 2010 time warp … you know, the one where they show re-runs of Modern Family and The Middle to make up for the gaping hole that Hank left. ABC, apparently you haven’t yet filled that hole….
Clacked by Debbie McDuffee
on Jan 11, 2011 @ 15:02 EST5EDT
The Middle is on at 8:00 Wednesday. That last paragraph confuses me.
*POST AUTHOR*
LOL! I need a fact-checker! I literally forgot about Better with You, thinking they were still showing repeats of Modern Family and The Middle. Disregard … and wonder why CT is getting the boot instead of BwY! :-)
LOL Yeah, I was thinking why not take Better With You off for Mr. Sunshine instead of Cougar Town. But I agree with Oreo (yikes!) that launching a new show after Modern Family is a better bet for success (although the slot is only barely working for CT).
Does that mean we’re in repeat mode until Mr. Sunshine takes over?
Am I the only one confused by the half-assed way the did the mid-season changes this year? Why not just start Mr. Sunshine (just saying that makes me cringe, I already think he’s a pain in the ass in disguise) last week?
The whole of 2010/2011 has been less than stellar, even in their timing.
*POST AUTHOR*
No, we’ve got at least 3 new CTs (maybe 4) before they take a break.
Me too Chuck, I’m really confused.
There will be a full night of new shows, The Middle, BWY, MF, then the new Mr. Sunshine. The only reason why CT is leaving is because ABC is smart enough to know that the time slot after MF is a great one to launch new comedies.
*POST AUTHOR*
Oreo has a point (again, yikes! ;-)), but the argument could be made for putting it on at 8:30, b/c if people are watching The Middle and Modern Family, they might stick around to see what’s going on in-between them.
The Middle demo is rather bad, they want it after their biggest comedy, a few million more viewers and a lot younger viewers.
CT shouldn’t have ever gotten a second season, never mind a third, so be happy. :p
Forgot Better with You? I love that show! And Cougar Town is so boring.
I agree with CB – “Better With You” is one of my favorites. (In fact, it’s my favorite of the ABC sitcoms.) I’ve been a big fan of Joanna Garcia since her “Reba” days and Jennifer Finnigan since her “The Bold and the Beautiful” days. And even though I’m a fan of Courtney Cox as well, I’m just not a fan of her show.
Cougar Town is a clever and fun ensemble show which I hope regains it’s 9:30 pm time slot after Mr. Sunshine fails. The promos look terrible!
I love CT
Bring it back soon( Wednesday nights are so boring without it)
I’m not a big fan of MF
I loved the whole Wednesday lineup – Middle, BWY, MF, & CT. What an excellent set of shows! This was the only night I scheduled myself in front of the TV for 2 hours (since Lost). Why does ABC keep running repeats all the time? Do other networks do that?