When you play a character on a sitcom for a significant number of years, it’s hard to get cast in another part. This was true, for example, for the cast of “Seinfeld”.

“Elaine’s” next sitcom was a flop, but she finally seemed to get back on her acting feet with “The New Adventures of Old Christine”. Michael Richards took on a new sitcom, but he never left Kramer behind. Jason Alexander had short appearances in some movies, and just a supporting role in “Shallow Hal”. The same can be said about the cast of popular sitcom “Friends”, which lasted for a whopping 10 years.

Matt LeBlanc had his own spin-off show which didn’t do as well as expected, for example. Courtney Cox and Jennifer Aniston starred together in “Dirt”, and Aniston had a more than decent performance in “Friends with Money”.

Cox, however, received an offer to star on a new sitcom entitled “Cougar Town” where she will be playing – you guessed it! – a “cougar”. The idea unraveled after her performance in “Dirt” and after she had a short role in the pilot of “Scrubs”.

“Scrubs” creator Bill Lawrence was also a writer on “Friends” where he and Courtney Cox worked together. Lawrence and Kevin Biegel, a writer for “Scrubs”, have decided to cast Cox with a leading role on their new sitcom “Cougar Town”.

They say that people want to see real 40-year-old women on TV, because the audience can easily relate to women talking about Botox and how their body changes with the passing of time. Bill Lawrence and Courtney Cox will both produce the new ABC half-hour sitcom.