Joey is an American sitcom created by Scott Silveri and Shana Goldberg-Meehan. It is a spin-off to Friends, with Matt LeBlanc reprising his role as Joey Tribbiani. It premiered on NBC on September 9, 2004. Midway through the second season, the show was placed on a hiatus but returned on March 7, 2006. Only one more episode aired before the show was pulled. NBC canceled the series due to low ratings in May 2006.
The series centers on Joey Tribbiani, who has struck out on his own and moved to Hollywood, hoping to truly make it as an actor. After reuniting with his high-strung sister, Gina, a hairdresser, Joey moves in with his genius twenty-year-old nephew Michael, who is a rocket scientist. He begins a tentative romance with his superintendent, Alexis Garrett, and becomes close friends with fellow aspiring actor Zach Miller.
Several cast members had previously appeared as different characters in Friends: Coolidge appeared as Amanda, an old friend of Monica and Phoebe, in a tenth-season episode. Adam Goldberg, who played Jimmy, appeared in the second season of Friends in the recurring role of Eddie, who moves in with Chandler after Joey moves out. Carlos Gómez, who played Sam the director, appeared in one episode of Friends as the restaurant worker Julio in "The One with All the Jealousy". Patrick Kerr, who played the producer of the Daytime Soap Awards, appeared in one episode of Friends as a restaurant manager who auditions Monica for a job as a chef. Brent Spiner, who played himself, appeared in one episode of Friends as James Campbell, who interviews Rachel for a job.
Additionally, Robert Costanzo reprised his role as Joey's father, Joey Tribbiani Sr., who originated in the first season of Friends, in "Joey and the Dad", making Costanzo the only actor besides LeBlanc to play the same character in both series, since Gina and Mary Theresa both appeared in a third-season episode of Friends but were not played by Drea de Matteo and Christina Ricci, respectively. Simon Helberg appeared in four episodes as Seth Tobin, a nerdy engineer and friend/rival of Michael who shared many similarities with one of Helberg's later characters, Howard Wolowitz, in The Big Bang Theory. David Schwimmer, who previously portrayed Ross Geller and directed several episodes of Friends, returned to direct two episodes of Joey.
After the series finale of Friends in 2004, LeBlanc signed on for the spin-off series, Joey, following Joey's move to Los Angeles to pursue his acting career. Friends producers Marta Kauffman and David Crane were not interested in the spin-off, although Kevin S. Bright agreed to be executive producer, along with Joey creators Scott Silveri and Shana Goldberg-Meehan, the latter of whom left the show after the first season and was replaced by Jon Pollack.
The pilot episode was released in screener for test audiences and members of the entertainment industry to preview the show and drum up business. The screener was subsequently leaked on the internet and thus has received a much wider critical review process than initially conceived. There were few differences between the unaired pilot and the version that was broadcast. Ashley Scott played the role of Allison in the unaired pilot but was replaced by Andrea Anders, and the character name changed to Alex.
The series did well in the Nielsen ratings in its first season (2004–2005) and was subsequently renewed for a second season (2005–2006). In the second season, Miguel A. Núñez Jr. was added to the show as a series regular and Jennifer Coolidge had a more prominent role. The show was pulled from its Thursday-night timeslot in December 2005 and NBC returned it in a new timeslot (Tuesdays at 8pm) on March 7, 2006. Due in part to being in competition with American Idol, Joey was the lowest-rated prime time program of the week for NBC. The network pulled the series after the first Tuesday broadcast, and its cancellation was announced on May 15, 2006. The remaining episodes have never been broadcast by NBC but have been shown on various other networks around the world. Episode 5 and Episode 13 of season one were directed by David Schwimmer, who played Ross Geller in Friends. NBC heavily promoted Joey and gave it Friends' Thursday 8:00 pm timeslot. The pilot was watched by 18.6 million American viewers, but ratings continually decreased throughout the series' two seasons, averaging 10.2 million viewers in the first season and 7.1 million in the second. The final broadcast episode, on March 7, 2006, was watched by 4.1 million viewers; NBC canceled the series on May 15, 2006, after two seasons. Bright blamed the collaboration between NBC executives, the studio, and other producers for quickly ruining the series:
On Friends, Joey was a womanizer, but we enjoyed his exploits. He was a solid friend, a guy you knew you could count on. Joey was deconstructed to be a guy who couldn't get a job, couldn't ask a girl out. He became a pathetic, mopey character. I felt he was moving in the wrong direction, but I was not heard.
In Brazil, the show premiered on November 2, 2004, and it was first aired on Warner Channel. The entire series was broadcast. Two years later, it also premiered on terrestrial television channel SBT, under the name Vida de Artista ("Artist's Life"). The show was also screened in New Zealand on TV2 and in Australia on the Nine Network. In the United Kingdom, it aired on Channel 5 from 13 February 2005.
Joey premiered on NBC on September 9, 2004, as part of the network's Thursday-night comedy lineup. Although the series was not well received by critics, the pilot episode attracted 18.6 million viewers. As the first season progressed, ratings fell but remained average (10.1 million viewers). NBC renewed the series for a second season and moved it to Tuesday nights, opposite Fox's highly rated American Idol.
Ratings for the second season fell to an all-time low (4.1 million viewers), and NBC put the show on hiatus in March 2006. The network officially canceled the show in May 2006, citing low ratings.
Joey won the People's Choice Award for Favorite New Television Comedy, and Matt LeBlanc won Favorite Male Television Star. LeBlanc was also nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy.
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