ABC/RICHARD FOREMANIt lives! Cougar Town returns tonight to ABC in truly romantic form (best toilet-paper scene ever?) right on cue for Valentine's Day.
Even more romantic? That a certain Cougar Town star has Bachelor aspirations in mind, and Courteney Cox is talking the possibility of a turn on David Arquette's old stomping ground, Dancing With the Stars. (Are you listening, ABC?)
I hit the set to chat up Cougar Town's cast and also unearthed what is perhaps the most hilarious bad-TV-hair story of all time…
"Let's just say, he is my Valentine." That's what Courteney Cox says of her onscreen luhhhver, Grayson (Josh Hopkins), hinting at the awesome, er, question that gets popped in tonight's season premiere. "The episode is very romantic," Josh teases. "And the storyline continues from there this season," Courteney adds.
Since Cougar Town had an alarmingly long hiatus, its cast and producers have gone to great lengths to drum up support for the fan-favorite series' third season, premiering tonight: arranging viewing parties, prizes, a producer-hosted cocktail party for critics, you name it. But star Busy Phillips has another idea: Get castmembers in the tabloids, stat!
"We wanted to say that Dan Byrd was dating Courteney," Busy cracks, referring to Courteney's onscreen son, Travis. And Dan jokes he's plotting a Brady-style, tell-all book: "I'm talking to publishers as we speak!" Dan also teases that ABC asked him to be the next Bachelor, but he turned them down: "I told them I was doing the whole Cougar Town thing."
Another idea? Getting Courteney to appear on Dancing With the Stars, which she visited frequently when her ex, David Arquette took part last year. (David is guest starring on Cougar Town in the season finale.) So would she be game? "No!" Courteney says. "My answer would be no. I can't dance. Not only can I not dance, I would never go through that pressure. I was so nervous that whole week, I can't image being the one going through it. I cried more than I've ever cried…"
And you Cougar fans are probably gonna tear up a bit tonight. It's a fantastic episode that smacks of everything we love about this series: good times, humor, heart and a whole lotta wine.
Oh, and as for that bad-hair story? Well, we'll let Dan Byrd tell you. "I'm in a helmet for about eight episodes because of a tragic skull fracture incident that happens [to Travis] from being towed by a giant dog on a skateboard," he reveals. "But the inside scoop is that I had a bad haircut last season and they wanted to make me pay dearly for that."
"There had been so many discussions last year about how his hair looked bad," Busy adds. "And Dan kept saying, 'No, it's heading towards something, I swear, it's going to look good…' And it just never got there. So we thought, we know how we're going to really stick it to him!"
Cougar Town season three premieres tonight on ABC.