The Friends Cast Reunited Through This Hilarious Courteney Cox Sitcom

The 2009 sitcom "Cougar Town" was never a massive ratings hit; it was constantly on the verge of cancellation, with ABC pulling the cord after season 3 and TBS picking up and then pulling the cord again in season 6. The show starred Courteney Cox of "Friends" fame as main character Jules, but it never came anywhere close to being the cultural phenomenon that "Friends' was. Still, it was a fun watch that offered a lot of fun cameos for "Friends" fans to enjoy. 

For instance, halfway through season 1 Lisa Kudrow shows up as Jules' mean dermatologist. In the season 2 premiere Jennifer Aniston stops by to play Jules' therapist, and this character isn't that nice either. Finally there came Matthew Perry in season 5, who asks Jules out on a date after she crashes into his car; the storyline was extra sweet considering Perry and Cox had played lovers on "Friends" for its final five seasons. 

All of these cameos were one-offs and none of the characters were intended as stand-ins for their "Friends" counterparts, but there were still constant winks to the audience throughout their scenes. The show treated their appearances like special occasions, although not so special that they alienated anyone who hadn't seen "Friends" beforehand. You can watch some clips of these cameos on YouTube, but honestly it's better to just watch the full episodes themselves.

Although "Cougar Town" was most famous for its "Friends" connection through Courteney Cox, the show also caught the attention of "Scrubs" fans. After all, "Cougar Town" starred Christa Miller, who played Dr. Cox's delightfully mean ex-wife Jordan. "Cougar Town" was also co-created by Bill Lawrence, the same guy who created and ran "Scrubs." Not only did the two shows share a lot of the same comedic sensibilities as a result, but season 3 featured an unofficial reunion for a bunch of the "Scrubs" actors.

First Sarah Chalke showed up as Bobby's love interest Angie for a couple of episodes, then in season 3, episode 5, "A One Story Town," Sam Lloyd reprised his role as the nervous sad sack Ted. At the end of the episode, Ted freaks out because so many of the characters around him remind him of "people from my old job." He points out that Angie looks a lot like Elliot Reed and that Christa Miller's Ellie looks a lot like Jordan. He melts down even worse when Ken Jenkins (who played Bob Kelso), Zach Braff (who played JD), and Robert Maschio (who played The Todd) show up in quick succession. It's a sweet scene, made even more emotional in light of Lloyd's passing in 2020. 

The craziest crossover event on "Cougar Town" was what happened with the NBC sitcom "Community," which was airing during the same years and dealing with a similar struggle against low ratings. In season 2 of "Community," Abed becomes a superfan of "Cougar Town," and it's a running joke for several episodes. The joke culminates in late season 2's "My Dinner With Abed." There, Abed monologues about a life-changing experience where he won the chance to be on the set of "Cougar Town" and star in the background of a scene. At first he was delighted to be in the show, but in the middle of the scene he over-thought the situation and had a panic attack, soiling himself on set and having to run off to the bathroom. 

It was a funny monologue, made funnier by how Abed really does show up in the season 2 finale of "Cougar Town." We can actually see the "Community" character doing a terrible job at background acting, before rushing off set in panic and startling the main characters in the foreground:

It's just one of many examples of how the "Community" writers (and I suppose the "Cougar Town" writers) love to commit to the bit. This scene makes zero sense to viewers who weren't familiar with "Community," but both shows went through with the connection simply because they thought it'd be cool. The fact that the whole scene happens outside a Subway (a sandwich chain restaurant of great significance in "Community" lore) only makes it cooler.