Cougar Town, "You Wreck Me": Is he really going out with her?

Spoilers for tonight's "Cougar Town" coming up just as soon as I get my fighting nails on...

It's been remarked on a time or twelve in the comments to previous episodes that some people are watching largely for the scenes with the guys, and are putting up with Jules' stories to get to them. "You Wreck Me" (named after one of the more underrated rockers in the Tom Petty catalog) was the first time I really felt that way, not just because Brian Van Holt, Ian Gomez and, now, Josh Hopkins bounce so well off of each other, but because I could barely tolerate Jules for much of the episode.

Between the writing and the way Courteney Cox recites every line of dialogue like she's been dialed up to 11, I started to get really baffled about why Josh the boy toy would want to put up with this shrill, high-maintenance, neurotic mess, no matter how hot a mess she might be. (And the pan up from the legs to the ratty t-shirt, night mask and night retainer was one of the few decent Jules-related jokes of the episode.)

Now, there came a point in the lifespan of "Scrubs" where JD was just as much of a freak in relationships as Jules is, but you have to consider two things: first, that it took the show years to get him to that point after starting him out as quirky but mostly a recognizable human; and second, that most fans absolutely couldn't stand JD once he got to that ridiculous level. (And the show was much-improved for pulling him back to earth in final season of its original incarnation.)

I'm not sure the "Cougar Town" writers yet have a handle on this character, and so long as Cox is still playing to the non-existent cheap seats as if she were still on a three-camera sitcom filmed in front of a live studio audience, I fear she's going to remain this weird trainwreck of a character. And I don't think that's what Bill Lawrence and company intend for her. There have been moments in episodes (notably at the end of "Into the Great Wide Open") where the performance is toned down and the level of self-awareness rises enough for Jules to be likable, but they aren't coming often enough right now.

What did everybody else think?