Sept. 7 Courtney Cox

 

Unlike most people, the 90s sitcom, Friends, is not the first thing that springs to my mind when I think about Courtney Cox. Nor do I think of Family Ties, Ace Ventura, Scream, or Bruce Springsteen’s Dancing in the Dark music video, where he pulls her from the audience to dance with him onstage.

The first thing I think about is an early 80s sitcom called Misfits of Science, where she played a telekinetic teenager.

I remember very little about that show. I couldn’t tell you the plot of any episode; I am left with only dream images. There was a character who could shrink himself. There was another character who could fire lightning bolts out of his fists. And there was Courtney who could move things with her mind, though I think doing so left her mentally exhausted.

The show was relatively short-lived; it certainly did not have the decade-long run that was enjoyed by Friends. This tells me that sitting around a coffee shop is more interesting than shooting lightning out of various body parts.

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Ace Ventura: Pet Detective came out just before Friends launched Courtney Cox into the stratosphere. In it, she played an employee of the Miami Dolphins football team (also Jim Carrey’s romantic interest.) She did her job effectively, acting as a straight man (or straight woman) and setting up Jim Carrey’s buffoonery. My brother reportedly laughed his way through that entire movie. I rediscovered it recently on Netflix and laughed as well, though I laughed mostly because what was hilarious back then would draw gasps from the woke crowd today.

Has Courtney Cox disowned Ace Ventura? The jury’s still out.

After Friends became a phenomenon, Jennifer Aniston played the romantic lead in Bruce Almighty, thereby proving that starring in Friends does not immunize you against playing the female lead in a Jim Carrey movie.