The show is set in Florida. With the exception of the pilot and episode 1.19, season 1 episodes are named after Tom Petty songs. Petty is a Florida native.
In the pilot episode, the set of the cul de sac is different from the rest of the series.
Courteney Cox approached Scrubs (2001) creator of Bill Lawrence about working together on a new sitcom. She wanted to return to comedic television following the cancellation of Dirt (2007). Lawrence liked her proposition and decided to trial their working relationship by writing her into a three-episode arc of Bill Lawrence. This also gave her the opportunity to work with his wife Christa Miller. It went so well that Lawrence started working up concepts for a show built around Cox.
The series opened to enthusiastic numbers with 11.28 million viewers tuning in for the first episode.
This pilot episode aired alongside two other pilots, Eastwick (2009) and Modern Family (2009). The former only lasted one season, Cougar Town (2009) went to six seasons but Modern Family (2009) was the most successful, lasting for 11 seasons.