#StayHomeWith "Cougar Town"
One of the central jokes of the show “Cougar Town” is that the main characters never actually go to work; instead they just sit around drinking wine (“pounding grape”) and living in their own world. Kind of perfect for this nationwide stay-at-home practice, no? This post is your ultimate guide to staying home with “Cougar Town.”
Mini-Binge
I am all for you watching or re-watching this entire series (it’s all on Hulu!) but if you want to power through some highlights to get in the zone, here are the episodes I recommend:
S1E1 - “Pilot” - The first episode naturally sets up the series, the characters, and the relationships, as well as the show’s sense of humor. Don’t be fooled, though - the show soon drops the “divorcee-dates-younger-dudes” thing and turns into a show about a bunch of friends with a wine habit and no boundaries who get into shenanigans instead of ever going to work. It’s wonderful.
S1E2 - “Into the Great Wide Open” - Jules feels like she missed out on her twenties, so she goes out partying with Laurie and quickly realizes how exhausting it is to actually be in your twenties. This episode will allow you to vicariously make some bad decisions and then feel the immediate relief of knowing you don’t actually have to leave your couch for, like, months. My favorite part is the photo montage set to “Single Ladies.”
S1E12 - “Scare Easy” - Importantly, this is the episode in which Bobby Cobb’s eventually famous and beloved game Penny Can makes its debut. Jules and Laurie each also deal with relationship drama, and something gets the ~drama~ ball rolling in the final scene.
S2E1 - “All Mixed Up” - “Friends” fans will enjoy the Cox/Aniston reunion, everybody should take up Andy’s tradition of a daily siesta, and my favorite part is Grayson’s movie mash-up game that is perfect for playing with your friends and family in person or virtually. (I also personally love Travis’s Estevez Festivez, an Emilio Estevez movie marathon. Emilio is one of my all-time crushes.) See below for tips and tricks to help you undertake these activities yourself!
S2E7 - “Fooled Again (I Don’t Like It)” - While Ellie, Laurie, and Grayson compete to get Jules the best birthday gift, Andy pulls off a Keyser Soze-level scheme a la The Usual Suspects. Take a little inspo from the gift competition and use this time online to start shopping online for birthday and holiday gifts for your loved ones. Bonus points if you support independent sellers and small businesses!
S3E1 - “Ain’t Love Strange” - There’s a marriage proposal in this episode, but the best part is how Ellie and Andy’s son Stan is an actual demon from hell.
S4E13 - “The Criminal Kind” - This episode riffs on The Breakfast Club and also makes fun of itself (Bobby Cobb laments the lack of interesting things happening in “The Sea Story” - which happens to be the name of his boat). If you’re planning an Estevez Festivez, make sure your viewing of The Breakfast Club happens right before or after your viewing of this episode. You know, for continuity. And, in staying with the Breakfast theme, cook up some of those 3am pancakes that Laurie mentions in S1E2.
S5E2 - “Like a Diamond” - This episode has it all! An Ellie vs. Laurie argument leads to Ellie making a Carrie-in-“Homeland”-season-one (or Charlie-Kelly-Pepe-Silvia) cork board trying to track all of Laurie’s crazy stories to prove that they’re lies. Bobby and Andy have a best friend caper based on Bobby Cobb’s unrelenting optimism and excitability and Andy’s unrelenting love of Bobby. Oh, and did I mention that Matthew Perry guest stars? This one’s for the Mondler stans.
S5E4 - “The Trip to Pirate’s Cove” - This episode contains an homage to Jaws that is also frighteningly relevant to our current COVID-19 quarantine situation.
S5E13 - “We Stand a Chance” - No spoilers, but the fifth-season finale is really sweet and will give you the warm-and-fuzzies.
Food and Drink
Of course you’ll want a snack spread to go with your binge-watch or rewatch. Wine is a given (the gang always has a heavy pour of red in-hand) and what goes better with wine than cheese? I used the @cheesebynumbers method to create my @thatcheeseplate-inspired Cul de Sac Crew Collection, intended to pair with a red blend:
For cheese I included swiss (cubed), ricotta, and cheddar (aged well, like Courteney Cox and Jules Cobb). A little pepperoni pond for meat. For produce: blueberries, strawberries, cherry tomatoes, and grapes (wine babies). Finally, a fresh thyme garnish and toasted French bread for a little crunch. (Pro tip: spread the ricotta on the French bread and put blueberries on top. It’s perfection.)
It wouldn’t hurt to have some jelly beans on hand, either - Ellie’s nickname for Laurie is Jelly Bean - or a beautifully decorated cake a la Krazy Kakes by Laurie Keller.
Games and Activities
A lot of the best games and activities to come out of “Cougar Town” are featured in my recommended episodes (see above) so your viewing will get you prepped for some of the most fun you can have while quarantined.
Penny Can: The ultimate “Cougar Town” classic.
All you need is a can and some pennies. The very basic rules of Penny Can are simple:
Of course, the rules in the show get increasingly complex over time and you can add your own rules too. But if you’re quarantined with some people who have a healthy competitive spirit and can have fun doing anything, Penny Can is a surefire winner. Just ask Lou Diamond Phillips.
Fun fact: back when the show was airing, my friend Alex and I called the Penny Can hotline and one of the show’s writers answered! We got to talk to her about the show and then she sent us each an official Penny Can. Best day of my life? Maybe. (Apologies to my husband.)
The Estevez Festivez: a film tribute to our greatest living actor.
I may be biased because D2: The Mighty Ducks is my favorite movie of all time, but quarantine is the perfect time for your own Estevez Festivez. My own personal lineup for the EF would be:
The Outsiders
The Breakfast Club
St. Elmo’s Fire
The Mighty Ducks trilogy
It’s also the perfect time to catch up because of the new “Mighty Ducks” reboot coming to Disney+, in which Emilio reprises his role and Lauren Graham co-stars. Here’s where to find some Estevez classics: Repo Man and The Breakfast Club are on Starz; St. Elmo’s Fire is on Showtime; Stakeout and all three Mighty Ducks movies are on HBO; Young Guns and Freejack are on IMDb TV.
Movie Mash-Up: I love this game, and it’s perfect to play over Zoom, FaceTime, or Google Hangouts with your friends. You don’t need any supplies! (But I have a starter kit for you if you want it.) The concept is simple, as explained to Travis in S2E1:
I created some free materials to help you get started on your own Movie Mash-Up game with your friends and family. It contains five examples from the show, and then some other examples that I came up with. You can use the starter kit to ease your friends and family into the game, and then start letting everyone make up their own!
This week, quarantine is officially all about “Cougar Town.” (Change approved.) Please let us know if you Coug-antine by sharing photos with us on Instagram or Twitter at @livethemovies, or by commenting here. Stay safe, everyone!
And if you want more “Cougar Town” (which you obviously do), you can register for the virtual version of ATX Television Festival - it’s free, and their programming includes a conversation between Busy Phillips (Laurie) and Christa Miller (Ellie). Register here!
Story by Christina Morse
Original photos by Aaron and Christina Morse
