One of the reigning queens of the 90s sitcom scene may soon be returning to network television with a brand new show. Courteney Cox – best known for her decade in the role of clean freak extraordinaire Monica Geller on Friends - is developing a project for Fox. If ordered to series, the comedy will see Cox working as both star and executive producer.
Few details are available at this point, but there’s certainly promise in the project. The as-yet-untitled show would be a single-camera sitcom centering on Hailey, a woman who inherits her late billionaire husband’s charity. She quickly discovers that changing the world is not nearly as glamorous as she had imagined.
Although the comedy would air on Fox if ordered to series, The Hollywood Reporter confirms that it hails from outside producers ABC studios. Robert Padnick of The Office will work as writer and is set to join Cox as a co-executive producer.
If this project comes to fruition on Fox, it will mark Courteney Cox’s third new show since the conclusion of Friends in 2004 and her first on Fox. She starred on Dirt, a series about a tabloid magazine editor, for a single full season on FX. A second season was cut short by a writer’s strike, and Dirt was done after only 20 episodes in 2008.
Cox bounced back quickly from Dirt, producing and starring in the sitcom Cougar Town, which ran for six seasons from 2009–2015. Although premiering on ABC to decent numbers, the network cancelled the comedy after its third season. Luckily for Cougar fans, the show was moved to TBS to air an additional three seasons. Cox showed a resiliency along with her ability to tickle just about any funny bone during Cougar Town’s run, and it was proof that she is more than capable of moving past the role of Monica Geller.
From the sound of things, Cox’s latest project will be a big departure from Cougar Town as well as from Dirt . Considering how she has been choosing roles that are very different from the endearingly neurotic Monica, we can probably count on Hailey not having too many similarities to the role that turned Cox into a household name. She’ll probably never escape her first association being with Friends, but the humor and comic timing that made her such a hit on the NBC juggernaut have proven that they can carry her on to other great productions. Who knows? If this new project is ordered to series and given a decent time slot, viewers may be in for another sitcom destined to be remembered as a classic.
As Courteney Cox’s new project hasn’t even received an official name, we’re still quite a ways off from seeing her hit the airwaves for her return to broadcast television. In the meantime, here is a look at all the other shows that are premiering in 2016 to watch and enjoy.
