24 June 2010

Cougar Town Fun Facts & the DVD Contest for Pinoy Viewers

I have about a week left running my "Win a Cougar Town DVD Contest" (for Philippine Viewers only) and I'm taking this time to provide some tidbits about the program and its stars, so we'd all get to know the show and its actors better.

Christa Miller & Bill Lawrence
  • Bill Lawrence. The creator of Cougar Town is also the creator of Scrubs. He is also co-creator for the series, Spin City and have written one episode of Friends (The One With The Candy Hearts). He has appeared on Scrubs a couple of times, sometimes just in the background or playing one of the extras. In real life, he is married to actress Christa Miller, who is casts on Scrubs as Jordan and on Cougar Town as Ellie. They have three kids.
  • Courteney Cox - Arquette (Jules). Who doesn't know this woman?  Only those who have never seen Friends. And that's like, very few people, right? From Friends, CC was supposed to star on Desperate Housewives, but could not commit because she was pregnant with daughter, Coco. CC studied Architecture in college and she can play both the drums and the piano. She belongs to an affluent family in Alabama. CC also has her own lipstick line (Cece by Cargo Cosmetics). Her mother is also named Courteney. CC is expected to direct an episode next season (yay!).
  • Christa Miller (Ellie). Being married to a show creator has its perks but Christa Miller is also credited for The Grayson Remix on Cougar Town. She is apparently the one who mixed that, having worked as a DJ before. She also chooses the songs to play on the shows of her husband.
  • Busy Philipps (Laurie).  Her real name is Elizabeth Jean. She got the nickname "Busy" coz she was quite a handful as a child. She apparently said in an interview that she auditioned for Glee, as Mr. Shue's wife but was too fat for the role, after giving birth to daughter, Birdie.  Busy is on Twitter. Fun fact about me --- Playing Laurie, she reminds me of local actress Rufa Mae Quinto because she over emphasizes how she speaks that it distorts a lot of her facial expressions.
  • Dan Byrd (Travis). This kid hit puberty on camera, having been acting since he was 8 years old. You'd notice tons of difference, if you watch him first in his series, Aliens in America (canceled after one season). He sees his character, Travis, as more of a Ferris Bueller type. 
  • Josh Hopkins (Grayson). Fun fact about me --- I had always thought Eddie Cibrian played Grayson!!! And I always hated that fact because Grayson is so lovable on the show and Cibrian's been getting bad press for cheating on his wife, I didn't want to like his character. I only realized my mistake when the first season ended!!! Now, fun fact about Josh --- he was never meant to play the guitar on Cougar Town. Only, Bill Lawrence saw him jamming on the set one time and decided to incorporate that into his character. He is, in fact, a musician and has churned out a couple of original songs including this one.
  • Ian Gomez (Andy). Married to actress-writer Nia Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding), the actor has been pretty much everywhere since his career took off in 1993.  He played a gay character on Felicity and is perhaps most recognized for it.
  • Brian Van Holt (Bobby). He originally auditioned to play Grayson but was lousy at it and so, he tried out for Bobby, where he was perfect. Van Holt is a familiar face because he's always cast as the bad guy in a lot of drama series and movies. He wanted to play comedy for a change (and is quite good at it, no? He's a character I really like on Cougar Town).

More fun facts about the show ---
  • The scene where Jules stands in front of the mirror, inspecting her body? Is based on Christa Miller, shortly after giving birth to her 3rd child, where saw herself in the mirror and said "Fuuuuckk!"  Her husband saw the whole thing.
  • There are more women writers on the show than men. This is the ONLY show with that statistics.
  • What Courteney said to Bill, the first time they met on the set of Friends: "You know I know this show is really working right now. And that's just a great thing for everybody but I'm one of the first people to tell everybody it's about the writing first. And I just wanted to tell you it's a joy to work on this show and thank so much for your hard work... Chris.'" She thought he was the assistant of one of the creator of Friends.
  • Nia Vardalos & Jennifer Aniston will be in Season 2.
  • From clothes to accessories to bed sheets and home designs, Cougar Town's making an impact among fashionistas and stylephiles. 

Are you having fun yet? Please don't forget to join my contest! And thanks to those who already did!

BLOG PROMO: I'm Giving Away Cougar Town's Complete Season 1 Original DVD