LITTLE ROCK — Fans of ABC’s Cougar Town can breathe a sigh of relief. The series didn’t die at the end of Season 3 after all.
Instead of a series closer tonight, Courteney Cox & Co. will hold a two-episode season finale before moving to TBS.
The curtain rises at 7 p.m. with “My Life.” “Your World” follows at 7:30.
In Part 1, Grayson (Josh Hopkins) complains that he’s living the movie Groundhog Day because the gang shows up at the same time every morning at Jules’ (Cox) house.
In Part 2, Grayson convinces Jules to elope to Napa (wine country), but then the cul de sac crew tags along.
(One bit of real-life trivia to note: In this episode, Cox’s estranged husband David Arquette guest stars as a hotel concierge. Arquette is an executive producer on the series.)
The entire gang ends up heading home for a wedding on the beach.
And so ends the 15-episode Season 3, a season that saw viewership continue to drop, averaging around 5 million. The ratings plummeted once the series moved to Tuesdays and away from its Modern Family lead-in.
TBS has signed up for 15 episodes. Look for them early next year.
Bad TBS. Cougar Town, being witty and chipper, will be a welcome addition to TBS. Men at Work, on the other hand, is a waste of time.
The new comedy debuted last week and airs at 9 p.m. Thursday. I didn’t have room to warn you then, but I am now.
The “comedy” in Men at Work is aimed at pubescent dudes, because that’s the behavior exhibited by the four friends who pass off sex talk as being cool.
Men at Work is obsessed with sex and women’s bodies. The jokes are all about sex. The guys just want to have sex and then talk about sex. They are, each in his own way, sad.
I love a good ribald comedy as much as the next guy,but Men at Work is merely coarse. And silly.
The series stars Danny Masterson, Adam Busch, James Lesure and Michael Cassidy as the four friends. Only Busch’s character starts out with a girlfriend, but he’s flummoxed because she wants to have wild monkey sex every night while he talks dirty to her.
That’s about as funny as it gets.
CW shows. The CW is kicking off a couple of reality shows this week.
First up at 7 p.m. today is The Catalina, which follows the employees and guests “at a rocking Miami hotel.”
Here’s what The CW’s own publicity says about the show.
“With a nightlife as hot as the sun-soaked beaches during the day, The Catalina centers on the young, wild staff of The Catalina hotel in Miami’s South Beach.
“The fun-loving group forms their own dysfunctional family unit, and they work hard during the day, while at night they party even harder than their guests.”
Yikes. The hotel doesn’t sound like some place I’d want to stay. But then, I’m not the 20-year-old target audience of The CW.
In tonight’s debut, a spring break pool party does not go as planned; sparks fly between bartenders Kris and Nancy, who used to date; Morgan, the restaurant general manager, competes in a beach volleyball tournament.
Just out of curiosity, I looked up the room rates for The Catalina Hotel & Beach Club. The “On a Budget” room rate for tonight would total $185.32. The “South Beach Rock Star” room package goes for $230.52.
And if you want to party with your (under 40-pound) pooch, there’s a $125 (!) nonrefundable pet fee per stay.
No word on any discount if the “young, wild, fun-loving” staff parties all night in the room next door.
Thursday at 7 p.m., The CW debuts Breaking Pointe, an inside look at the competitive world of ballet.
What? Ballet? Yes - ballet is cutthroat and Breaking Pointe goes behind the curtain for a look at one of the most competitive ballet companies in the country, Ballet West in Salt Lake City.
The CW tells us, “Beneath the beauty and glamour of the dance and costumes is a gritty dog-eat-dog world of extreme athleticism, focus, dedication, passion, pressure and, of course, the hunt for perfection.”
Beginning next week, encores of both new shows will air on Mondays, with Breaking Pointe airing at 7 p.m. and The Catalina at 8.
Down the road on a date to be determined, The CW will have two more reality shows, the musical competition The Star Next Door and the game show Oh Sit!
The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. E-mail:
Style, Pages 24 on 05/29/2012