Dream Stream: Cougar Town, Feel Good, Lie To Me
In need of a good chill in front of the telly-box? TV critic Dan Morris shares his not-quite-vintage weekly streaming picks.
Cougar Town
Seasons 1-6 – Disney+
There’s a new girl in town...
Created by Bill Lawrence and Kevin Biegel, Cougar Town is an American sitcom that ran for 102 episodes over six seasons between 2009 and 2015.
Starring Friends alumnus Courteney Cox as a divorcee trying to get back into the dating world, it is funny from the first episode and is definitely among Cox’s best work to date.
The series is set in the fictional town of Gulfhaven, Florida, which is nicknamed ‘Cougar Town’ because its high school team mascot is a cougar
It focuses on Jules Cobb (Cox), a recently divorced woman in her 40s facing the often humorous challenges, pitfalls and rewards of life’s next chapter, along with her teenage son, her ex-husband, and her wine-loving friends who together make up her dysfunctional, but supportive and caring, extended family.
Having spent most of her 20s and 30s married to ex-husband Bobby (Brian Van Holt) and raising a son, Travis (Dan Byrd), Jules has been out of the dating world for a while, and discovers it is difficult to find love again.
At first, she tries to make up for lost time by dating younger men, thus becoming a ‘cougar’ herself, but quickly finds this approach to life can be fraught with peril.
Light-hearted and hilarious, Cougar Town is perfect for a bit of casual and uncomplicated viewing after a long day, and is guaranteed to make you chuckle.
Feel Good
Seasons 1-2 – Netflix
Created by Mae Martin and Joe Hampson, Feel Good is a British comedy-drama that may just be the fix you were looking for.
A semi-autobiographical rom-com, Feel Good stars Mae Martin and Charlotte Ritchie as Mae’s girlfriend George. The six-part first season premiered its first episode on Channel 4 in March 2020, after which all six episodes were released on All 4. Netflix handled international distribution and released it internationally in the same month. Independently of Channel 4, Netflix renewed the series for a second and final season which was released in 2021.
The show follows the development of George and Mae’s romance in contemporary Manchester. Mae, a Canadian comedian (a version of Mae Martin’s own personal life), meets George, a repressed, middle-class English woman, at the comedy club where Mae performs.
The pair begin dating, and George learns that Mae is a former drug addict. George encourages Mae to attend a Narcotics Anonymous meeting, where Mae meets fellow recovering addicts. Mae’s addiction causes problems in their relationship, as does George’s reluctance to come out and tell friends and family about her relationship with Mae.
The second season follows Mae’s career advances, while they also address trauma in their past after receiving a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder.
Heart-warming, funny and provocative, Feel Good will keep you enchanted until the end.
Lie To Me
Seasons 1-3 – Disney+
Understanding a lie can be the key to the truth...
Lie to Me is an American crime drama series that originally ran on the Fox network from 2009 to 2011.
Starring Tim Roth as Dr Cal Lightman, the series explores a team of ‘human lie detectors’ and their adventures helping law enforcement agencies catch criminals, solve crimes and assist in investigations.
Dr Lightman is a brilliant expert in the science of body language, especially microexpressions, and founder of The Lightman Group, a private company that operates as an independent contractor to assist investigations of local and federal law enforcement through applied psychology. Dr Gillian Foster (Kelli Williams) is Lightman’s psychologist colleague in The Lightman Group who analyses patterns of voice, language and behaviour.
As the first season opens, Cal and Gillian hire a new associate – TSA officer Ria Torres (Monica Raymund), who scored extraordinarily high on Cal’s deception-detection diagnostic, and is in turn labelled a ‘natural’ at deception detection.
Her innate talent in the field clashes with Cal’s academic approach however, and he often shows off by rapidly analysing her every facial expression.
As the team’s cases take them on a journey of discovery, they begin to find out more about each other, and that the best liars are not always who they first thought, and not always those intent on breaking the law...
With a great performance by Roth, Lie To Me is both cool and captivating, and is definitely a treat worth indulging in for detective drama and puzzle fans.
