Last week, ABC’s Cougar Town said goodbye to a fan favorite, Jules’ ginormous red-wine glass Big Joe (pictured, top). Luckily, following Ellie’s moving eulogy, Jules introduced the cul-de-sac crew to her new companion, Big Carl (pictured, bottom), who we will get to know better in this Wednesday’s Thanksgiving episode. EW asked Cougar Town prop master John Ornelas for a closer look at each of the gentlemen, both of whom he says can hold approximately 44 oz., or 5½ cups. Your standard wine bottle holds just over 25 oz., so Jules could, technically, pour herself more than a bottle and a half of wine at a time. (She remains our hero.)
Big Joe: “The original Big Joe is a special-edition Oleg Cassini sommelier glass that I happened upon by accident while searching sommelier glasses. This special edition is bigger than a normal sommelier glass and was behind the counter at a wine shop. It was the personal property of the guy who worked at the store. I convinced him to sell it to me, which was no easy task. I took that back to the stage and offered it up, along with about a dozen other options. I didn’t want to present that one because there was only one and if anything happened to it we’d have a problem, but I knew it was perfect. [Co-creator] Bill Lawrence also thought it was perfect and picked it. I went back to the wine store and begged the clerk to help me find another one. He was able to locate two more that a friend of his had, and I negotiated for those two. All good…until a couple of weeks later I was informed we’d be breaking it in an upcoming episode and that we’d need a replacement…. Start the search again.”
Big Carl: “I found several options that included vases, urns, and anything that might look right. I even considered having a glass made. I finally found Big Carl at a crafts store downtown. I think it was meant to hold a candle. I went back to the stage and offered it up along with about 15 other options. [Co-creator] Kevin Biegel picked the one that became Big Carl. Both glasses hold about the same amount but Carl is bulkier and taller, so it looks like it holds more.”
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‘Cougar Town’ does ‘Spaced’-inspired finger gun shootout: Watch!
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