Cougar Town returns January 2013! Busy Philipps talks Season 4

Raise your wineglass in celebration and pound some grape as Cougar Town returns for Season 4 on its new home, TBS, beginning Jan. 8 (Tuesdays at 10pm ET/9pm CT). Early last year when ABC was waffling with the series’ future, TBS made an enthusiastic bid for the quirky comedy, winning over the show’s executive producers and landing them a permanent prime-time slot on the network that’s all about “very funny.”

Cougar Town returns for a new season on TBS in January. Returning are Brian Van Holt, Ian Gomez, Christa Miller, Courteney Cox, Busy Philipps, Josh Hopkins and Dan ByrdThe series follows once-divorced-now-newly-remarried (as of the Season 3 finale) fortysomething Jules Cobb (Courteney Cox), her extended family of dysfunctional, lovable neighbors, and their overindulgences with wine and the oddities of life. Busy Philipps, who plays Jules’ protégé Laurie, was in between hair and makeup when she jumped on the phone to talk to us about the new season.

“It’s kind of incredible, really amazing to get this new life as a show in its fourth season. Nothing has changed,” Philipps says, in regards to the move to TBS. “No one is taking pay cuts, no budget crunches around the set — basically we’re doing the same show. Writers are pushing the envelope with their goofy storylines and the situations our characters get into. … When we came back to work in August, it felt like we hadn’t missed a beat.”

Season 4 picks up with Jules and Grayson (Josh Hopkins) dealing with the dynamic shift of being married. “They have this whole thing about setting precedents once you’ve gotten married,” Philipps shares. “If you bring me a cup of coffee in the morning, you always have to bring me a cup of coffee in the morning — you have set that precedent.”

Now that they are living under the same roof, Grayson needs to sell his house, which means a good opportunity for new neighbors in the cul-de-sac. As for who that could be, Philipps shares a little. “I will say that we had a fabulous guest star appearance by Miss Shirley Jones. It was kind of incredible to have television royalty stop by, so hopefully she’ll be back. I think maybe she will.”

As for Laurie and Travis’ (Dan Byrd) ongoing flirtations, Philipps says that this season the two will have some definite ups and downs. “She does have this boyfriend who is great and amazing, so that does cause a bit of conflict for her and Travis.”

Cougar Town returns on Jan. 8 at 10pm ET/9pm CT on TBS.