"Cougar Town" Viewing Party Kicks Off!

[JamesG]

Bill Lawrence To Bring "Cougar Town" To Your Town
By: Andrew Wallenstein
Published: Mon, December 19, 2011


Never mind that ABC hasn't yet given returning comedy "Cougar Town" a launch date this season. Executive producer Bill Lawrence has already begun a promotional campaign that is hoping to get a grass-roots buzz going for the series both online and off.

Lawrence took to Twitter on Monday to announce plans to help the ratings for "Cougar Town," which is heading into a third season that's already seen its episode order cut down.





Lawrence and fellow producer Kevin Biegel are orchestrating a series of screenings of new episodes around the country that will begin Dec. 27 in Atlanta, Louisville, Ken. and Sarasota, Fla.

There will be at least one regular cast member and writer at every venue, and prizes will also be handed out. More screenings will be announced in other cities in January.

In case you didn't figure out that Lawrence is planning this himself, he cleared the air via Twitter: "No, these are not ABC events. They're 'Bill and Kevin are idiots' events."





In addition, Lawrence is loading up his fan page on Facebook with video content, where he apparently hopes to also mine his own TV history as creator of "Scrubs", "Clone High" and "Spin City" to cross-pollinate those fan bases to his current show.

He's also posted an introductory video of himself walking through his future plans.



Think of all this as pragmatist's promotional strategy: Lawrence knows a series that gets tacked onto the network's schedule late in the season isn't likely to get much marketing support. And even if it did, every little bit helps.

If Lawrence does it right, watch every showrunner worth their salt try something similar to improve their odds in the always dicey business of primetime TV.

http://weblogs.variety.com/on_the_ai...your-town.html

[comedyfreak]

I wish ABC would stop being stupid and bring back Cougar Town!! I love this show.

[JamesG]

"Cougar Town" Viewing Party Tour Kicks-Off
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
by Pavan


As we get closer to a premiere date for "Cougar Town" (likely will be announced at the ABC TCA Winter Press tour on Jan. 10) season three, the producers of "Cougar Town" have set up a very cool cross-country Cougar Town Viewing Party tour!

The festivities began yesterday (Tuesday, Dec. 27) in Sarasota (where the series is set), Louisville, and Atlanta.





Josh Hopkins (who plays Grayson) and Ryan Devlin (who plays Smith) were on hand in Louisville at Drake's St. Matthews to thank fans for coming.

In Sarasota, executive producer Kevin Biegel was there along with actors Ian Gomez (who plays Andy) and Brian Van Holt (who plays Bobby) were on hand at Michael's On East.

And in Atlanta, actor Dan Byrd (who plays Travis) and writer Katy Purdy were on hand at Dantanna's.



Fans got to watch two (or three in some cases!) episodes from the upcoming third season of the sitcom, drink wine (maybe out of Big Carl, and yes R.I.P. Big Joe), got a Cougar Town US Tour t-shirt and play the very fun Penny can game that they play on the show with some of the stars on hand!

How cool is that? Can this show get any cooler? It's "100% Cougar Free" and "Badly Titled," but it is one of the best ensembles on television and you need to watch it when it returns to ABC.







The next wave of viewing parties are in San Diego on Thursday, January 5; in Los Angeles on Friday, January 6 (with set visit) and in Chicago on Saturday, January 7.

Fans who submitted their ticket request will get a confirmation this week.

Much more tour dates to come and will three more cities will be announced on January 4 by executive producer Bill Lawrence on Twitter: @VDOOZER.







Among the cities that will have viewing parties in January/February are:

New York City (three different events)
Boston
Las Vegas
Austin
San Francisco
Phoenix
Philadelphia
somewhere in Connecticut
two more in Los Angeles.





So go follow him and make sure you attend one of these viewing parties in your area because a cast member and write/producer will definitely be on hand!

Start practicing your penny can shot!

http://blog.sitcomsonline.com/2011/1...our-kicks.html

[Pavan]

Wave 3 dates are open:
L.A. (12th), Seattle, Austin (14th), Vegas (21st), San Fran (21st or 22).

Past dates: http://blog.sitcomsonline.com/2011/1...our-kicks.html

Next announcement of new dates: JAN 16 (for east coast dates)