John Shearer/WireImage.comAnother one bites the dust. Now that the initial surprise has worn off (Not them! Awww! They were so cute together!), the Monday morning quarterbacking has begun.
So what exactly went wrong between David Arquette and Courteney Cox? And after 11 years of marriage, could the separated (but not yet divorcing) couple get back together?
Here's a look at how it all went down:
1995: The endearingly odd couple meet on the set of Scream. Fireworks go off, birds sing, flowers bloom, etc.
June 12, 1999: The duo tie the knot in San Francisco. Their wedding bands are inscribed with "A deal's a deal."
June 13, 2004: After going public with their pregnancy struggles, the couple welcomes their first and only child, daughter Coco Riley Arquette. Years of familial bliss ensue. Until…
June 1, 2010: Cox accepts honors for Excellence in Television at the Women in Film Crystal + Lucy Awards. A beaming Arquette accompanies her for the evening. The same night, Cox tells E! News that she and Arquette regularly go to couples therapy and that she even took to bringing along pal (and shocking divorcée-to-be) Laura Dern for some of her sessions. Um, maybe it's time to get another referral?
July 2010: While filming Scream 4 together in Michigan, the seemingly happy couple attended a Detroit Tigers game together.
August 2010: David talks to E! News about his costars in the film, and reveals more of the dynamic of his marriage. "It's weird. All these kids are turning 21 on the set—or not even that. I've gone out a few times with them, and Courteney's like, 'David, you're not a kid anymore.' I'm like, 'I know, but I still feel like one.' "
Aug. 12, 2010: Arquette drops by Howard Stern a day later than he was supposed to and slightly more hungover than he should have been. He blames his absence on a two-day bender, which, in addition to drinking, included his crashing a rooftop poker game. "I drank last night," he said. "I still might have some...maybe a little remnants." In addition to other revelations, Arquette repeated a familiar theme in his marriage to Cox. "Courteney recently said to me, 'I don't want to be your mother anymore.' On our 11th anniversary." He admitted it was something they worked on in counseling, and said, "I've always been a bit of a maniac."
September 2010: Despite their statement indicating that their trial separation has been going on for months, an on-the-set source tells E! News that as of September, they seemed to be as happy as ever, sharing a rented home in Ann Arbor for the duration of the Scream shoot. "They were very much together while in Michigan," the source said. "They actually were really cute together."
Sept. 25, 2010: David is snapped by paparazzi out in Hollywood without his wedding ring.
Oct. 3, 2010: The couple, along with a little help from Jack MacBrayer, release an, ahem, adult-themed, plushy-tastic PSA for OPCC, a social services agency helping homeless people, battered women and people battling mental illness. They wanted attention; they got it.
October 2010: One source tells E! News that Arquette has been keeping company with a "younger girl," but didn't specifically identify her as Jasmine Waltz, the L.A. party girl suddenly linked to the single actor. Waltz hasn't commented on the speculation (just wait till Gloria Allred gets her hands on her), but was previously linked to Ryan Seacrest, Chris Pine and Jesse McCartney. She's also the same girl who allegedly punched Lindsay Lohan inside Voyeur a few months back. Classy! A source tells E! News that Arquette seemed to be going through something of a personal crisis in recent weeks, "drinking a lot" and "spending a lot of time partying." One such session involved Leonardo DiCaprio, as the duo were caught hanging out at Trousdale. When paparazzi asked David how Courteney was, he answered, "great."
Oct. 6, 2010: David is again photographed somberly entering a Beverly Hills office building without his ring.
Oct. 8, 2010: David visits the set of Cougar Town and posts pictures of his wife's dressing room on his Twitter page. "The girl's got style," he wrote.
Oct. 9, 2010: A solo David attends the birthday party of Family Guy's Seth MacFarlane. He seemed "in good spirits" and spent the night smoking cigars, laughing and hanging out with his guy friends. Mostly.
Oct. 11, 2010: Cox, 46, and Arquette, 39, confirm their split: "We have agreed to a trial separation that dates back for some time. The reason for this separation is to better understand ourselves and the qualities we need in a partner and for our marriage. We remain best friends and responsible parents to our daughter and we still love each other deeply." Cox is caught out earlier in the day, though no one seems quite sure of whether or not she's still wearing her wedding ring. Jennifer Aniston is stoked that her suddenly single posse (Cox, Dern, Sheryl Crow, herself) has a new wing woman.
Oct. 12, 2010: The consummate pro, Cox is due back on the set of Cougar Town for business as usual. Arquette, meanwhile, phoned into The Howard Stern Show to set the story straight.
He admitted that he and Cox are staying in separate homes and railed against the "f--ked up" world, saying, "everyone is full of s--t" as part of a diatribe against whomever leaked the split story to the tabloids. Arquette said he's trying to be the best person he can be, but revealed that while he quit drinking a few weeks ago, he had a drink last night, since the "s--t storm hit."
He called Courteney "the best woman he's ever met," but said she, too, had issues, despite the majority of the media placing the blame on his wild ways for the split. Most tellingly, he revealed that it was Courteney who instigated the separation after a particularly wild couple of months in Ann Arbor. He also said he was committed to Cox throughout their marriage, and said rumors of a girlfriend are false, but that he did get with a girl "once or twice" after the separation began (He also shot down speculation that she had an affair with her Cougar Town costar). He revealed that they broke the news to their daughter together while on a picnic and that she "took it pretty hard."
Bottom line: Courteney wants Arquette to be himself but she's unsure if that's a person she wants to spend her life with, as it doesn't exactly come with "calm and security." Still, he's hopeful for a reunion.
—Additional reporting by Ken Baker, Marc Malkin, Taryn Ryder and Cristina Gibson