Mild spoilers for Cougar Town follow
Jennifer Aniston will help out former Friends co-star Courtney Cox by making an appearance on the debut second season episode of Courtney’s hit ABC sitcom Cougar Town. Aniston previously made a guest appearance on Courtney’s now-canceled FX show, Dirt, in 2007, playing a lesbian who ended up kissing Cox’s character in an obvious attempt for ratings. Now Aniston will be on Cougar Town playing Cox’s character Jule’s therapist. One of the show’s producers has confirmed the news, along with the fact that the show is open to a recurring guest role for Aniston.
Who will she play? Keep reading for all the exclusive details straight from exec producer Bill Lawrence…
“She’s going to play Courteney’s shrink named Bonnie,” reveals Lawrence, referring to Cox’s character, Jules. “Kind of a get-too-involved-in-her-life-type of therapist. Those guys are so close in real life they kind of do that for each other anyway. Bonnie has the life Jules wishes she has.”
This marks only the second time the pair have worked together on a scripted series since Friends went off the air in 2004. Their first reunion was in 2007, when they re-teamed for an episode of Cox’s FX dramedy Dirt.
Lawrence says Cox rightly wanted to get Cougar Town on its feet before playing the Aniston card. “It took us a while to find the show,” acknowledges Lawrence. “And once we did and once it was clicking, I think that not only did Courteney feel comfortable talking to Jen about doing it, but comfortable in how funny she thinks the show is and that Jen would like it and fit into this world really well.”
“It starts and ends with Courteney and Jennifer being really great friends and excited to work together again—especially doing comedy together,” Lawrence adds. “Every day that those two talk they have more ideas about [the role]. It’s definitely something they’re both involved in creatively.”
Lawrence is hoping viewers that tune in for Aniston’s guest appearance will realize the show has evolved from its original conceit and stick around. “I want as many people as I can get to see what the show kind of became last year,” he says. “It went from a typical TV show trying to find itself to something that I’m really proud of and like and think is really funny.”
But back to Aniston, given the massive amounts of emotional baggage that Cox’s character carries around, might we see Aniston’s shrink return? “We’re very intentionally implying that it’s a therapist Courteney has been using for a while, and we’re certainly not going to make it like they’ll never see each other again,” he says. “So I’m crossing my fingers that if she has a good time it’ll happen again.”
[From EW’s Ausiello Files via US Weekly]
Both Jennifer Aniston and Courteney Cox have confirmed in interviews that they’ve used therapy and have found it helpful, so I imagine that they have experience to draw on. The executive producer also made it sound like the plot line was an idea Aniston and Cox cooked up together when he said “It’s definitely something they’re both involved in creatively.” I like Aniston on television and as I’ve said before her character was my favorite on Friends. She seems to be trying too hard to have a movie career that isn’t happening for her, especially since she hasn’t branched out from romantic comedies. She would do well to get a recurring role on television. There’s no shame in it, and it’s where she shines.
