TV Recap: ‘Cougar Town,’ “Don’t Come Around Here No More”

image courtesy abc.com

This week’s Cougar Town was great, because it brought the Jules-Grayson relationship to the forefront, which I think is one of the cuter dynamics on the show.  The opening was funny…Jules dreamed about a shirtless Grayson, but was rudely interrupted by a stupid barking dog.  Jules proceeded to tell Grayson about it during their morning paper chat, defending herself by saying she has sex dreams about everyone – “the President, Gene Simmons, Edward from Twilight.”

The rest of the episode centered on Jules trying to get Grayson to join their “Cul-de-sac Crew” and participate more in neighborhood events.  He thinks he’s perfectly happy being alone, which Jules just can’t understand because she hates it, or rather, is completely incapable of it.  So much so that when everyone bails on her on a Friday night, she ends up going on a date with Larry the mortgage broker who makes her like a kitten instead of a cougar.

This was not particularly amusing, but lead to something totally awesome: Josh Hopkins singing!  Grayson is so amused that Jules went out with Larry to avoid being alone, that he bets she can’t make it a whole day alone.  Her twenty-two minutes of solitude is illustrated by a cute montage (eighties prom dresses? Yes, please!), which is accompanied by Grayson’s song, which I will provide thee lyrics to for your enjoyment:

Confident in my sexualitay / Just like Mariska Hargitay / Confident in my sexualitay / Got a pedicure the other day / I wear pink shirts and fancy shoes / I moisturize and look good in blue / I drink cabernet / Cabernet / Confident in my sexualitay / Drove my hybrid to the ballet/ Confident in my sexualitay/ Just like Mariska Hargitay

This is interrupted by Jules finding an alligator (crocodile?) by the pool, which she sends Andy after.  Really?  Andy?  Even Bobby seems better suited to do that.  It’s all downhill after that and pretty soon everyone is over enjoying “Barbecue Saturday.”  Grayson reluctantly joins the party and then everyone hangs out together.  Awww.

There were some other sweet moments in the show, too.  This episode tried out some more unusual character duos and I thought they worked pretty well. Ellie and Andy are having an inane married people fight – something about who should be grateful to who – and Jules counseled Andy, while Bobby counseled Ellie.  Apparently Bobby and Ellie were once friends, pre-divorce, and I wouldn’t mind seeing them together a little more to see what kind of dynamic develops.  Travis continued to crush on Laurie and ended up giving her some valuable advice about the mysterious Dale.  Laurie’s lines about Dale are often the most hilarious – “I mean, it’s not cool that he forges Dan Marino’s autograph for a living, but…” so I’m interested to see who ABC decides to cast, if and when we ever get to see him.  If the buildup continues, they could get a really great sight gag by casting someone completely unexpected, but from what we’ve heard so far I’m picturing a Dax Shepard type.

Overall, a pretty solid episode.  What did you think?  Will you be pirating the phrase, “GAC” (guilty as charged)?  I know I’ve already used it several times!  And which movie do boys really like better: “The Shawshank Redemption” or “Rudy”?  And how fun did the “full Shawshank experience” look?