TV and film star Courteney Cox has recently been busy taking part in HBO Max's highly anticipated Friends reunion special set to air later this year. Plus, she's already finished filming her return to the deadly world of Scream with the upcoming fifth film in the franchise. Now Cox has signed on for a brand new TV show titled Shining Vale that will combine her familiar worlds of comedy and horror, and with some very talented co-stars sharing the screen.
The new half-hour horror-comedy Shining Vale was picked up to series by Starz, with eight episodes on the way to genre-loving TV audiences. In the new series, Courteney Cox will be joined by one-time Friends guest star Greg Kinnear and Mira Sorvino, who wasn't on Friends but did co-star with Lisa Kudrow in Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion. It's all connected!
In Shining Vale, Courteney Cox will star as a woman trying to outrun the metaphorical haunts of her past by unwittingly heading directly for literal haunts. As a young and rebellious woman, Cox's Patricia "Pat" Phelps made a name for herself by writing a salacious and drugged-out female empowerment novel, but 17 years later, she has yet to land a sophomore success. Now all sobered up, Pat is in a largely sex-free marriage with her glass-is-half-full husband Terry (Greg Kinnear) and is mothering two unruly and moody teenagers, played by Dickinson's Gus Birney and PEN15's Dylan Gage. Check out the family in the first look photo below.
The problems start when the faithful-until-this-point Pat makes the mistake of having a One Night Stand: Daytime Edition with the young and virile handyman while, which leads to some huge life changes. As a way to keep their marriage intact, Pat and Terry blow their bank savings to move from the hustle and bustle of city life into a big house in the 'burbs that was the setting of some noteworthy events in the past. And it's here where Courteney Cox's character comes to realize the skeletons in her closet might be full-blown evil possessions.
Enter Mira Sorvino's Rosemary, who arrives as a mystery. Is she Pat's split personality, or her living and breathing id? Or, perhaps, is Rosemary a demonic entity trying to possess Pat and/or her family? Dun dun dun! As far as characters who definitely aren't demons go, Big Little Lies' Merrin Dungey will also co-star as the character Kam, who is Pat's book editor and longtime friend.
Courteney Cox won't just be handling things in front of the camera, as she'll also be taking on producer duties with Shining Vale. The new show is the creation of Catastrophe mastermind Sharon Horgan and Trial & Error creator Jeff Astrof, with Astrof serving as the writer. The duo will also be executive producing alongside Dana Honor, who's currently an EP on ABC's A Million Little Things and CBS' The Unicorn.
While Courteney Cox hasn't taken on any longterm TV roles since Cougar Town ended back in 2015, she's definitely been in a bunch of different shows in more limited capacities. From Drunk History to Modern Family to Shameless to Running Wild with Bear Grylls, Cox has maintained her TV stardom while also giving Friends fans lots to celebrate on social media. As well, while not playing a "role" exactly, she did deliver two seasons of 9 Months with Courteney Cox for Facebook Watch.
Without any spoilers to mull over just yet, Scream fans will be waiting until January 14, 2022 to catch Courteney Cox reprising the role of Gail Weathers for the fourth sequel, as directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett. Depending on when Shining Vale goes into production for Starz, viewers might not have to wait too long after that to see Cox in another horror-comedy project. Now if they could finally put that whole Friends reunion in front of my eyeballs, I could wait contently.
