Screen Crush Talks to Kevin Biegel About the Move to TBS
The story is that Bill Lawrence was throwing ideas for bad sitcoms around the writers room at ‘Scrubs.’ As cougars – the idea of older women hooking up with younger men – were a popular meme in pop culture, Lawrence threw out the idea of ‘Cougar Town.’ Lawrence and Kevin Biegel ran with it, and the rest is history.
Co-creator/writer/executive producer Biegel and the entirety of the ‘Cougar Town’ crew had to deal with a year where they didn’t know if they’d have a future, but Thursday it was announced the show would be moving to TBS for at least two more seasons, getting the show to a syndication friendly 100 episodes. We got a chance to talk exclusively with Kevin about the show and the move. Check it out…
Congratulation on being picked up by TBS. Do you now feel a little bit like Conan O’Brien?
Kevin Beigel: Maybe more like the Gaseous Wiener.
We’re curious, when did this plan come into fruition to change networks? Was it talked about when ABC gave you the reduced schedule order for Season 3 or did it come together more recently?
It came together quickly over the past week/week and a half. They had been talking before that, seeing if it was feasible. It wasn’t talked about before, no. I’m not sure it’s been done a lot before- so even more cheers to TBS for doing it.
Will you guys be moving or do you get to stay where you are?
Not all the questions have been answered yet or conversations had, but I think we get to stay where we are. I’m usually wrong, though, so don’t quote me. But I’m pretty sure we won’t have to shoot the show in someone’s backyard.
Bill Lawrence Won’t Be Cougar Town’s Showrunner Next Season
With Wednesday’s announcement that Cougar Town would officially be coming to TBS, we couldn’t help but ask star Courteney Cox the second burning question on our minds: Has she, like her alter ego Jules during last night’s episode, ever forgotten to flush? “I actually don’t flush a lot,” she admitted to Vulture at the Turner networks upfront luncheon at Del Posto. “That’s because I pee about five times during the night. If I flushed every time, somebody would would wake up. I flush when it’s important, you know?”
So that’s settled! As for the move from ABC to a new network, the actress couldn’t be happier about the cul-de-sac crew boozing into the New Year, and it’s all thanks to series creator Bill Lawrence’s “never say die” attitude. “You know, Bill kept saying this show is not going to go away, it’s not going to go away. When he speaks like that, you know that he means it. I don’t know what his plan was, but what he and ABC Studios did by pursuing this deal just shows how much faith they have in the show,” Cox said. “We love doing this show, and it’s a great fit because TBS really promotes their shows. We have a lot of fans that are very avid, we just need more of them. Being on TBS is a shot to get a new group of people to check us out.” The actress, who just finished directing the upcoming Lifetime movie Tallhotblonde, based on the true story of a romance that begins online and ends in murder, said she’s looking forward to spending some downtime with her daughter, Coco, 7, before Cougar Townresumes production on new episodes in August for a premiere in 2013. On the other hand, her wheels are already turning when it comes to cable’s near-limitless boundaries. “As a producer, I can’t wait. This is a fresh start. It will feel like the same show, but we’re going to have a new [showunner], there will be new people, new changes.”
That last comment from Cox set off our Spidey senses, since in all of the reporting about the show’s move to TBS, we hadn’t heard anything about staff changes on the show. Vulture contacted a rep for Lawrence, who confirmed that Cox hadn’t been sipping out of Big Carl for too long: It turns out Lawrence and co-creator Kevin Biegel are indeed planning to step back from day-to-day oversight of Cougar Town. They’ll remain actively involved in the creative direction of the show, but Lawrence, Biegel, and Cox are now hunting for a new showrunner to oversee the first batch of ten episodes for TBS. It’s unclear yet whether they’ll bring in someone from the outside or look from within the show’s current writing ranks.
Question: First off, a big woo-hoo! to TBS for rescuing my favorite show, Cougar Town! Second, rumor has it Dan Byrd will do the full monty in the season finale. Can you confirm or deny? —Jeremy Ausiello: First off, I second your “Woo-hoo!” Second, let’s ask Mr. Byrd your question, shall we? “I cannot confirm nor deny that information,” he deflects. Argh. OK, hypothetically, should Travis drop trou in the May 29 season-ender, what would the circumstances be? “They would involve a wedding cake,” Byrd teases, “and me getting very up close and personal with it.” And here’s another little tidbit about the episode: I’m in it! And I’m spectacular!
#3.14 & #3.15 – “My Life / Your World” Episode Summary
#3.14 & #3.15 – “My Life / Your World” – When Grayson complains that he’s living the movie “Groundhog Day” because the gang shows up at the same time every day at Jules’ house, Jules asks for a “Groundhog Day”-themed bachelorette party so that Ellie and Laurie can explain the movie to her. Then, fed up with the lack of privacy, Grayson convinces Jules to elope to Napa . . . but the cul de sac crew happily tags along. David Arquette guest stars as a hotel concierge who’ll go to great (and possibly illegal) lengths to help the wine wedding go off without a hitch.
Shabooty: When did you get into the Howard Stern Show?
Christa Miller: I grew up in Manhattan, and my mom always loved Howard Stern. You know, my mom’s life is — if Howard says it’s not good, then my mom doesn’t think it’s good. My mom’s a model, still with Ford and she loved Howard, so I’ve been listening to Howard since I was thirteen. I’ve been listening in New York and been a huge fan. We have a keypad touch[screen] on my walls, and any room I walk into where my kids are, I just push satellite so I can hear Howard, all the time.
Do you listen to every minute of every show?
Yeah, do you not?
I’m the same way, I get neurotic if I miss ten minutes.
Yeah, I don’t like to miss any. And so I haven’t. Also, one of my things recently, is that I never like… I hate getting driven. You know, if you have an event, and they send a car, and I always end up taking my own car because I want to hear Howard. And then, for a couple years, I’ve had the app on my phone, so now I can let myself be driven if I have to go to an event, or if we’re going out to dinner (I never drink and drive) then I’m okay, because I have my Howard app on my iPhone.
How would “Cougar Town” co-creator Kevin Biegelsum up the news that TBS has picked up a fourth season of the sitcom after ABC decided not to renew it?
“It feels a little like a prisoner on his way to executioner being told, ‘Okay, the governor says you’re not going to be executed, and you get to go free, and you get a Corvette and a steak dinner, too.”
I spoke briefly with Biegel about how quickly the deal came together, what, if any, changes “Cougar Town” fans can expect to see to the show when it makes its TBS debut, and more.
When did this all start happening?
It really did start getting kind of serious around when Deadline broke that story about it being a possibility. I’m sure they were talking about it for the past few weeks, but this all went down hardcore within the past week.
And how did you feel when you realized the show would continue?
You can bundle up any positive noun and adjective you can think of. So happy that it would have a life somewhere. I will not for a second complain about ABC, and I shouldn’t. They paid for the show, Paul (Lee) believed in the show, they did promote the show, and they put us on the air. You can’t knock that. But this new place was not only going to welcome us, but welcome us with open arms. It was really exciting. It did seem like, from everything we talked about with these guys, that they want to make this one of their flagship shows, and that’s pretty great. TBS, they’ve got a pretty good bundle of stuff they repeat, and the numbers of the stuff they’re repeating in primetime are better than networks sometimes. It’s not like going to Johnny’s cable station in the middle of Podunk, Iowa; it’s a real, great station that is making great strides and trying to put new content out there along with the repeats. They’ve got the Tyler Perry stuff, a couple of new shows, and there’s a sense of over there of eagerness and of trying new things, and also of not being scared to make big moves like this. It’s pretty cool.
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The story is that Bill Lawrence was throwing ideas for bad sitcoms around the writers room at ‘Scrubs.’ As cougars – the idea of older women hooking up with younger men – were a popular meme in pop culture, Lawrence threw out the idea of ‘
With Wednesday’s announcement that 
Shabooty: When did you get into the Howard Stern Show?