I’ve spent many a Wednesday night fantasizing about becoming an honorary member of a certain dysfunctional, boozy and all-around awesome cul-de-sac crew.
So when I sat down with Courteney Cox at the ‘Scream 4’ junket on behalf of our sister site, Moviefone — check out that chat here — I couldn’t resist slipping in a few ‘Cougar Town’ questions to quench fans’ thirst before the show returns from its distressingly long hiatus next week.
Cox was happy to confirm that Bobby (Brian Van Holt) and Laurie (Busy Philipps) are indeed going to start selling Penny Cans when the show returns on Monday, April 18. For fans who want to enjoy the authentic Penny Can experience from the comfort of their own cul-de-sac, it’s worth noting that the phone number that will appear on-screen in the episode is a working line that will connect them to a cast or crew member to take their order, so that you, too, can enjoy the world’s ultimate time-wasting activity (preferably with a penny in one hand and Big Carl in the other).
“It’s a really good business, I think — I mean, who doesn’t want a cleaned out paint can?” Cox deadpanned. “If you had to buy paint and put the paint someplace, you can’t just throw it down the sink, so I say buy a Penny Can; give back. I don’t actually know what’s going to happen to that money, but give back.”
Few sitcoms get to travel to exotic locations for the sake of filming, especially when a studio backlot will do, but following in the footsteps of their Wednesday night brethren, ‘Modern Family,’ Cox and co. did score a free trip to Hawaii in order to shoot the super-sized season finale.
“We go to Hawaii because …” Cox paused, considering whether or not to censor herself before she spilled the beans. “I mean, it’s not like ‘Scream’ where people care about the ending as much, but my son [Travis (Dan Byrd)] goes to Hawaii because he’s devastated — he’s heartbroken by his girl. So, I’m there to try to get him to get his life back on track, like, ‘don’t quit college.’ And at the same time, there’s a whole baby issue going on between me and my boyfriend, Grayson [Josh Hopkins]. So somebody wants kids, somebody doesn’t, it’s too much … You’ll have to figure it out. But it was great, it was really fun to go over there.”
It seems as though the television gods have smiled upon us after 10 weeks bereft of ‘Cougar Town,’ since next week’s return sees not just one but two episodes of the ABC sitcom — the first at 9.30PM ET on April 18, the second in its regular 9.30PM ET timeslot on Wed., April 20, when Cox’s Jules and Hopkins’ Grayson are roped into babysitting the oft-absent Stan for Ellie (Christa Miller), and Laurie hops back into the dating pool after her break-up with Smith, boasting a very unorthodox wingman in Andy (Ian Gomez).
What do you think Jules and Grayson’s baby drama will mean for our happy couple? Will you be ordering an official Penny Can? Don’t miss the return of ‘Cougar Town’ next Monday and Wednesday on ABC.
