‘Joey,’ Matt LeBlanc’s ‘Friends’ spinoff, reminds us you can’t judge a show by its ratings

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The short-lived 2004 series “Joey,” starring Matt LeBlanc after “Friends,” is now available in full on the Friends YouTube channel. This includes eight episodes that never originally aired in the US, as the show was canceled after just two seasons. For most viewers, these previously unaired episodes will be indistinguishable from the ones they did see – they’ve both been unseen for years. After nearly two decades, this complete release offers a fresh look at the series, separate from the huge success of “Friends.” Revisiting it now, I found “Joey” to be a genuinely funny and enjoyable show that’s easy to get into, proving that low ratings don’t necessarily mean a show is bad.

The show follows Joey Tribbiani as he pursues an acting career in Hollywood – which he jokingly calls “Ollywoo” because he can’t quite see the Hollywood sign. His career has its ups and downs, but he eventually gains enough recognition to appear on popular talk shows like “The Tonight Show” and “Ellen,” as well as “The Actors Studio.” Joey explains to his sister, Gina, who already lives in Hollywood, that he was content with his life in New York and tried to resist change. However, his friends and family moved on with their lives, and he decided to embrace a new chapter himself. While “Friends” gave him a head start, the show largely avoids references to his past, focusing instead on his fresh start and new career as an actor. It’s a clean slate in a new town.

Comparing “Joey” to “Friends” isn’t a fair comparison. “Friends” finished strong after ten seasons, had a cast of equally important characters, and set the standard for sitcoms about groups of friends – a standard that no show has matched in terms of popularity, the sheer number of episodes (236), or its lasting appeal. “Joey” was a different kind of show, and in some ways, more typical: a collection of quirky characters who all gravitated around the main character. The cast was excellent, including Dominic Chianese, recently known for his role on “The Sopranos,” and Paulo Costanzo as Michael, the mother’s 20-year-old son. Andrea Anders played Alexis, a lawyer and on-again, off-again love interest for Joey, and Jennifer Coolidge was fantastic as Joey’s agent, Bobbie, always delivering her lines with dramatic flair. (She’d say something like, “It’s the dumbest script I’ve ever read! It’s going to be huge!”)

While the show occasionally relies on predictable, old-fashioned humor, it also seems to actively push back against that style, often showing Joey being humbled by more intelligent women—even facing a panel of disgruntled ex-girlfriends during an interview. The character is built around a degree of failure, blending hopeful innocence with a tendency to deflate his own ego, and David LeBlanc portrays this beautifully. He uses subtle facial expressions – a cheerful smile paired with surprised eyes – to create a comedic effect without making the character unbelievable. Beneath the silliness, Joey experiences real growth and setbacks, and he’s convincingly portrayed as both incredibly naive and surprisingly insightful, depending on the situation.

Okay, so everyone says “Joey” didn’t last long, but honestly, there are 46 episodes up on YouTube – that’s like six or seven seasons of a show you stream now! What I always notice is that old sitcoms really breathed. They had time to explore different storylines, try things out, and really let the characters grow – or change based on what the network wanted! They were still figuring things out, you know? In the second season, they added Miguel A. Núñez Jr. as Zach, which was great because it finally brought some diversity to the “Friends” world. Then they brought in Adam Goldberg as Jimmy, who ended up being Michael’s dad and eventually working at Joey’s new production company – which Joey hilariously named “Yes I Am a Bird Productions” because he thought it was an anagram of his own name! A lot of the episodes focused on the on-again, off-again relationship between Gina and Jimmy, while Joey and Alexis just kind of… drifted. It all builds to this episode, “Joey and the Wedding,” which honestly feels like a pretty good series finale, considering everything.

It’s strange how difficult it is to accept when a TV show ends, even though it happens all the time. We crave more time with the characters we enjoy, just like with loved ones, making it especially painful to know there are unwatched episodes. It feels a bit like being ignored, except sometimes, unlike in real life, those ‘ghosts’ – the shows – can return for a proper ending.

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2025-11-24 14:33