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Joey aired from September 2004 until March 2006 on NBC.
Handsome, goofy Joey Tribbiani ( Matt LeBlanc) moved to Hollywood to try and take his acting career to the next level in this amiable spin-off from Friends.Moving in with him in his sunny garden apartment was nephew Michael ( Paulo Costanzo), a brainy, socially inept 20-year-old grad student at Cal-Tech. Joey's brassy sister Gina ( Drea de Matteo), who was Michael's single mom , worked as a hairdresser and lived nearby. Others in Joey's new world were Alex ( Andrea Anders), his sexy, lawyer-neighbor and sometimes landlord and Bobbie ( Jennifer Coolidge), his fire-breathing agent and all-around Hollywood shark.Besides dating and exploits with his sister and nephew , Joey found himself on a constant round of comic auditions that lasted until November when he landed a role in a silly action show called Deep Powder ( " Baywatch on skis"). There he had romantic flings with an actress and the producer.
At the beginning of the 2005-2006 season Joey lost his job on Deep Powder but landed a role in an action film, for even bigger bucks. He also met Zach ( Miguel A. Nunez Jr.), an extra, who became his best pal, while Gina became Bobbie's secretary. Unfortunately ratings continued to fall and by December Joey was pulled from the schedule. NBC brought it back in March but after one low-rated telecast canceled it for good. In later episodes ( not aired in the United States , but seen in other countries) Joey's dad Joey Sr. ( Robert Costanzo) showed up for his son's movie premiere, Joey's new house burned down, Joey got together with Alex and Gina married Michael's biological dad, Jimmy.
An Interview with Matt LeBlanc from Entertainment Weekly
Television News
Joey Speaks
EW Exclusive: Matt LeBlanc on why he's doing ''Joey.'' The ''Friends'' star talks about his spin-off and who he hopes will drop by for guest spots
By Dan Snierson
If you can't have six friends, one's pretty good. And if you can only have one, this is a pretty good one to have.'' So says a tickled NBC Entertainment president Jeff Zucker, who ended a Friend-zy of speculation last week by announcing that Matt LeBlanc has agreed to star again as happy-go-lunky Joey Tribbiani in a ''Friends'' spin-off, which is being shepherded by series exec producers Kevin S. Bright, Scott Silveri, and Shana Goldberg-Meehan. When ''Joey'' assumes that familiar Thursday slot in fall 2004, suffice it to say the stakes will be slightly higher than with LeBlanc's last two spin-off attempts, 1991's ''Top of the Heap'' (from ''Married…With Children'') and 1992's ''Vinnie & Bobby'' (surprisingly, from ''Heap''). ''I'm excited and a little nervous and honored,'' says LeBlanc. ''Maybe more than a little nervous.'' Here's what else our Friend to the end -- and beyond -- revealed about his high-profile project.
When did the spin-off idea first come up?
Warner Bros. and NBC approached me about a year and a half ago. And at the time, it felt so premature -- it was something I didn't even really want to think about. ''Friends'' wasn't, in my opinion, near the end yet. But that began the courting process, if you will. And as time went by, my curiosity became more and more piqued…. I remember the first dinner I had with Peter Roth, the president of Warner Bros. Television. We sat down and he just laid it out there on the table, and I was like, Wow. I was really floored. I didn't know how to respond, but my first response was ''Well, what would we call it?'' And he said, ''We'd probably call it 'Joey.''' And just to ease the tension of the moment, I said, ''Why don't we call it 'Where the Hell Is Everybody?'''
Do you have a concrete premise?
There've been some rough ideas thrown around, but it's [in the] very, very, very infantile stages.… I would imagine it takes place in L.A., with Joey's acting career out there.
Did you mull it over with the other Friends?
As soon as I heard about it, I went to them and I told them. We have a very honest, open relationship, all of us. I wanted them to hear it from me. I didn't want there to be any weird vibes. And they've all been on board, very supportive the whole way.
Would you have preferred another season of ''Friends'' instead of a spin-off?
If ''Friends'' could continue on, it would be much less scary for me.… I try not to torture myself like that because this one really is the last one. But would I do another one if everyone was in? Yeah, I'd do another one. It's the best gig in town, man. I got a great parking spot down there. You know how long it takes to get that parking spot?
There are some risks here, including the inevitable ''Well, it's not 'Friends'…''
It shouldn't try to be ''Friends.'' If people say, ''It's no 'Friends,''' I'll say, ''Well, that's a good observation. No s--- it's no 'Friends'!''
Was there ever talk about doing a spin-off with Jennifer Aniston?
That was talked about briefly, but then abandoned. I don't know why. The only talks I was seriously involved in were the ones that involved the Joey show.
So much, then, for Joey and Rachel winding up together?
I think that Rachel belongs with Ross. I'll kill Joey if he ends up with her.
Much has been written about NBC's search for the next ''Friends.'' Now the network is handing you the coveted Thursday-at-8 slot when ''Friends'' signs off. You're in the hot seat.
Lot of pressure not to f--- up. [The time slot] is not something I fought for. NBC put that on the table right up front. That upped the amplitude on the whole thing. [Affecting English accent] ''Okay, we're at 11 now, right? Nigel?''
Your deal is unprecedented for a new series -- close to $15 million for the first year and an ownership stake in the show. Technically, though, you'll no longer be making $1 million per episode. Will you be able to scrape by on just $15 million a year?
Well, if you want to run some soup over to the house, I sure could use it.
Will this last season of ''Friends'' lay the groundwork for Joey?
I don't think it will have any bearing on the outcome of the writing on ''Friends'' at all.… ''Friends'' has definitely reserved and earned the right to its own course and destiny. I don't think that will be altered by what comes after ''Friends.'' In the last episode, does Joey have a suitcase in his hand? I don't think so. Maybe a bus ticket in his pocket -- but you don't see that.
Will there be guest spots waiting for the other ''Friends''?
I probably won't talk to them anymore. I mean, I have my own show. F--- them. [Laughs] No, of course, I would love to have them every week. That would be great. Like on ''Frasier,'' when Sam Malone comes by. Those are the best episodes.
When the ''Seinfeld'' actors failed to launch new shows, everyone called it the ''Seinfeld'' curse. Are you worried about a ''Friends'' curse?
Those people waited for two or three years, and they came back playing different characters. People want to be done with you when they're done with you. If you leave them and come back in a different light, they're looking only for the other character that you played. If you're lucky enough to score once in television history, chances are you should stick with that guy, if you're going to come back on TV again. I think that's why ''Frasier'' works. And why ''Watching Ellie'' perhaps does not work. It's important to give people what they want. If it's a character they've grown to love, I mean, people are letting you into their homes and they're spending time with you every week for 10 years. And then if you just yank that and say, ''Now I'm a fireman, ha-ha, and my name's Tim,'' they're going to say, ''Well, go f--- yourself, Tim. Where's Joey?'' It's that simple. When I'm an old man, if people say, ''He played Joey and that's all he did,'' then I can say, ''Yeah, that's right, that's all I did. Did it for a long time, it was a very satisfying career, pulled a lot of jokes, got a lot of great stories to tell my grandchildren -- and get off my property.''
A Review from Variety
Joey
(Series -- NBC, Thur., Sept. 9, 8 p.m.)
By BRIAN LOWRY
Filmed in Los Angeles by Brightsan-Silver and Gold in association with Warner Bros. Television. Executive producers, Kevin S. Bright, Scott Silveri, Shana Goldberg-Meehan; producer, Todd Stevens; director, Bright; writers, Silveri, Goldberg-Meehan;
Joey Tribbiani - Matt LeBlanc
Gina - Drea de Matteo
Michael - Paolo Costanzo
Alex - Andrea Anders
Bobbie - Jennifer Coolidge
Deftly tackling the foremost challenge facing any good spinoff -- relocating its established character and surrounding him with engaging newcomers -- "Joey" is a polished and likable half-hour. Whatever indignities he endured (a few from me) during "Friends' " early days in the form of "Ed" and "Lost in Space" jokes, Matt LeBlanc became the show's key character in later seasons and was shrewd enough to hang onto a part that fits him as comfortably as a Barcalounger. As for the larger question of whether Joey flying solo can put up "Friends" numbers, probably not, but a wholesale collapse seems equally unlikely.
As with "Frasier," the formula here involves shifting Joey Tribbiani (LeBlanc) to a new city and reuniting him with actual family in lieu of his former sitcom's makeshift one. In this case, the New York actor takes up residence in L.A., joining his sister Gina ("The Sopranos' " Drea de Matteo, exhibiting nice comedy chops without once saying, "Christuffuh") and her book-smart son (Paolo Costanzo).
Lured cross-country by two possible TV roles, Joey opts for an edgy cop show, passing on a series about male nurses. Alas, his project is quickly scuttled while the latter blossoms into a major hit -- a point bluntly made by his agent (the always reliable Jennifer Coolidge), whose bedside manner could use a little work.
Putting Joey in this uncertain predicament works on several levels, giving the audience a rooting interest in his character and creating an excuse to send him on auditions, including an "ET"-like news program that forces him to work off a TelePrompTer. Not surprisingly, that doesn't go particularly well, with him brightly reading, "Welcome to 'Hollywood Minute.' I'm 'name.' "
Andrea Anders, who plays Joey's neighbor, rounds out the cast, projecting more of a girl-next-door quality than the sexier Ashley Scott, who was replaced somewhat inexplicably after the pilot.
At the show's core, though, is Joey's relationship with Gina, who boasts how good she looks for having a college-age son. "You rarely hear the argument for teen pregnancy," he says.
Former "Friends" producers Scott Silveri and Shana Goldberg-Meehan, teamed with producer-director Kevin S. Bright, provide plenty of amusing lines and a breezy tone, laying the requisite groundwork while still making it feel as if the show's been on the air for a couple of years.
It's worth noting, too, that "Friends' " last few seasons didn't exactly set the creative bar that high, its enduring popularity notwithstanding. Even the series sendoff proved a letdown, with a nice moment here in which Joey discusses his reluctance to embrace change even after the rest of the group gradually did so.
So while his former "Friends" co-stars face the always dicey proposition of navigating film careers while towing the expectations of a huge TV hit behind them, LeBlanc has, ironically, made perhaps the smartest choice -- recognizing that viewers would still be there. As a result, when asked his character's trademark question "How you doin'?" a few years from now, my guess is the retort will come back something like, "I still feel like several million bucks."
A Review from The New York Times
NBC Stakes Its Future on Success of the Past
Tonight NBC's first post-"Friends" lineup looks familiar: first, "Joey," about the last Friend standing, then a second round of Donald Trump in "The Apprentice," followed by "Medical Investigation," a "CSI"-ish drama about epidemiologists.
None of these new shows are bad; in fact they are pretty good. But it is striking how the network that took ownership of Thursday nights through innovation and daring is now hewing so cautiously to what it knows best - or, in the case of "Medical Investigation," to what CBS figured out.
Time - and a few flopped experiments at the edge, like "Coupling," "Boomtown" and "Kingpin" - have shown that most viewers prefer comfort from a network drama, even at the risk of franchise fatigue. There are three versions of "Law & Order" and three of "CSI" and almost as many successful imitations, from "Without a Trace" to "Cold Case." Cable, and particularly premium cable, is the place to go for offbeat or rarefied shows. Exceptions exist, but not that many. Television choices are a bit like dining out: there are plenty of satisfying dishes on the menu at Applebee's or the Olive Garden, but people do not go there to eat sushi.
"Joey," in which Joey Tribbiani (Matt LeBlanc) moves to Los Angeles to start a movie career, is enjoyable but feels a little too familiar. At least in the pilot, "Joey" suffers from a kind of phantom ad-lib syndrome. In one of the better exchanges, shown over and over in promos, Joey's sexy sister Gina (Drea de Matteo) shows him her taut stomach and boasts that she looks pretty great for the mother of a 20-year-old son.
Joey's dry retort - "You rarely hear the argument for teen pregnancy" - is funny, but it's the kind of sardonic aside that Chandler would make, not Joey. The new sitcom leaves Joey so stranded that he doubles as his own sidekick, driving his character into a split personality: Dr. Joey and Mr. Gibe.
And yet the first episode has two of the best character actresses on television. Ms. de Matteo plays Gina with the same décolletage and Italian-American panache she had in "The Sopranos." (At times it is almost as if Adriana had survived the hit and was relocated to Los Angeles under the Federal Witness Protection Program.) Jennifer Coolidge, who played the manicurist in "Legally Blonde" and the stepmother in "A Cinderella Story," has a cameo as Joey's crazed agent, Bobbi. Her few lines of dialogue, however, are not nearly as funny as Ms. Coolidge deserves. She mugs through her moments on her own wacky star power.
"The Apprentice" has an easier time making a comeback; reality shows from "Survivor" to "The Bachelor" have already proven that reality-show contestants are interchangeable. The "Apprentice" sequel takes that principle a little too far: the stock love-to-hate character in the first series was Omarosa, the elegant, high-strung black former beauty pageant contestant turned political consultant. In this "Apprentice" the women begin to turn on Stacie J., an elegant, high-strung black fashion model turned restaurant owner.
Reality shows usually go for equal-opportunity stereotyping, but the Omarosa niche is a little uncomfortable, even by reality-show standards. Raj, a preppy real estate developer who wears bow ties and brick-red trousers, objects to his team's choice of a name, Mosaic, dismissing it scornfully as too "politically correct." It could be that Raj was merely channeling the sentiments of the show's producers.
They in turn are channeling the ambitions of the host, Donald J. Trump. Much has been made of the show's conspicuous product placement: Levi's, Mars, Crest and Mattel. The most ostentatiously showcased product is of course Mr. Trump. He omits any mention that Trump Hotels announced last month that it planned to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and instead boasts to viewers that after the first season of "The Apprentice," he returned with great success to his real estate business.
"I made some incredible deals," he says, while the camera pans to him in an office, barking "Do we have a deal?" into a speaker phone.
NBC certainly does. Following its past formula almost to the letter, "The Apprentice" is almost alarmingly familiar but very hard to resist.
"Medical Investigation" is the lesson learned from "Boomtown," an intriguing crime show told "Rashomon"-style that left viewers cold. A scene in which Dr. Stephen Connor (Neal McDonough) is plucked away by helicopter from his son's Little League game by crisis (people in New York are turning blue and collapsing) establishes him as a brilliant, arrogant and emotionally stunted workaholic.
In other words, the head of a crack unit of the National Institutes of Health falls into one of the classic network drama archetypes that populate so many prime-time shows, from "CSI" and "CSI Miami" to "CSI New York." Dr. Connor is not a bad role, but it is a far less nuanced one than the morally pocked assistant district attorney Mr. McDonough played on "Boomtown."
Mysterious diseases may have a lure for viewers in the age of botulism scares and sarin gas threats, but the show's characters, including Dr. Connor's counterpart, Dr. Natalie Durant (Kelli Williams, formerly on "The Practice"), are not very compelling. There are advantages to setting the show in the N.I.H. instead of a coroner's office: the heroes have a chance to save lives, not just pinpoint the killer who took them. "Medical Investigation" tries to marry the melodrama of "ER" with the procedural pizzazz of "CSI" and falls a bit short of both
An article from The New York Times
Jennifer Coolidge, Queen of the Ugly Stepsisters
By ALEXANDRA JACOBS
Published: October 3, 2004
ENNIFER COOLIDGE has played so many dissolute, blowzy characters - "American Pie's" Mrs. Robinson for Generation Y, "Legally Blonde's" sad-sack manicurist and now a scenery-chomping showbiz agent on "Joey" - that it's easy to forget she's no slouch in the beauty department. As the actress entered the parlor of her recently purchased Hollywood Hills four-bedroom in the company of three large, worshipfully panting dogs, she conjured a classic bombshell figure, more Anita Ekberg than Anna Nicole Smith. Long blond hair. Swoops of luminous flesh packed into a lace-trimmed black slip. Sleepy brown eyes, toenails painted nude.
In short, she was gorgeous - but in conversation, as in much of her career, Ms. Coolidge tends to play the ugly stepsister. "I think I'm comedy-attractive, but it's never gonna be me and Charlize Theron up there," she said, settling into a small chair. "I can get by, but " When she first started in the business, she pursued "beautiful-girl" roles - losing them, she believes, on account of lax grooming. ("All those Texas girls who show up with their hot rollers!")
"But to be honest," she added, not appearing to notice as one bra strap slid down her left shoulder, "a lot of those good-looking girl parts aren't very fun."
At 42 Ms. Coolidge is hardly a girl anymore, but she's been having more than her share of fun, most visibly as Bobbi, on the "Friends" spin-off "Joey," starring Matt LeBlanc. The part was something of a consolation prize: after Ms. Coolidge struck a development deal with NBC last year, the network bought a half-hour comedy show with her as its centerpiece, based on her experiences as a struggling actress and cocktail waitress in New York City. The project eventually was shelved. "They were excited at Christmas, and then after Christmas they're blowing off your phone call," she said.
Ms. Coolidge fears that her rubbery physicality, the very thing that gives her comedic versatility, is impeding her professional progress. "I've been many people," she said. "I've been the skinny girl. I've been the fat girl. Because I've become a character actress, I sort of fell victim to 'Well, I don't have to look good anymore.' Once I did 'Legally Blonde' I felt like I went into a whole different realm. I really stopped taking care of myself and working out and all that stuff, because I started to think I would make a career as the loser girl. But then I realized that some roles I really wanted - no one would consider me. Physically, no one would ever consider me for the serial-killer lady."
She proceeded to an Outward Bound-type boot camp in British Columbia to get back into shape. That's a bit hard to imagine, given Ms. Coolidge's congenially languorous mien; the air surrounding her today was fragrant with wilting eucalyptus, yellow lilies and pink roses. Her live-in boyfriend and writing partner, Banks McClintock (the two have founded the inevitable production company), had brought over both a glass of pink lemonade and a glass of Chardonnay for Ms. Coolidge, along with a bowl of potato chips. Marilyn Monroe chomped on a similar combination in "The Seven-Year Itch," it was pointed out. "She should've done more of that comedy stuff," Ms. Coolidge commented dryly.
That comedy stuff may not be pretty, but it saved Ms. Coolidge from being just another pneumatic blond starlet.
After she began doing imitations of her classmates at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Manhattan - including "girls that could have the most incredible dramatic breakdowns in the class, and they could do it for like, an hour"- one of them suggested she try out for the Gotham City Improv comedy troupe,where, she said, "I realized you can sort of comment on all that hideous seriousness." This led to a berth with the legendary Groundlings in Los Angeles, where a casting agent spotted her and gave her a breakthrough guest spot on "Seinfeld," as Jerry's withholding masseuse girlfriend.
The Groundlings saved my life," Ms. Coolidge said. "You know, men are told they're funny from the beginning, and women are just supposed to be pretty and look nice and be quiet, and the more well mannered you are, the better you'll do, and comedy's really about undoing all that."
It was also where she found her peppy young paramour. (He was a third-year student at the company's school.)
"A boyfriend has so much to do with a woman blossoming," Ms. Coolidge said with a sigh.
Mr. McClintock, 34, passing through the room with a lemonade refill, said: "One reason I was attracted to her, other than her good looks, was that her comedy was much more like a guy's than a girl's. It doesn't depend on gender. It was very pure. You know, there's heartache in comedy, and that's what makes it really good, and I saw that she was doing a lot of that. It wasn't gross. Some female comedians go for shock value, because it's so out of character for a woman to go that route, and she was more just snapshots of human nature."
The industry mainstream, however, has more often preferred her cartoonish. Ms. Coolidge fears she might have reached her apotheosis as Stifler's lush, lusty mom in "American Pie," were it not for the director Christopher Guest, who cast her as the trophy wife Sherri Ann Ward Cabot in 2000's "Best in Show," about a dog-breeding competition. With glossed lips, pom-pom sweaters and a Nembutal-vacant look, she evoked a heated Sapphic affair with her poodle's trainer, Christy Cummings, without removing a stitch. This was followed by a small but priceless turn as Amber Cole, a compliant publicist, in Mr. Guest's folk-music spoof "A Mighty Wind." "The Christopher Guest movies ruined me," Ms. Coolidge said, "because once you get a taste of creating your own stuff and people responding to you creating your own stuff, it's so hard to go back to other people's [expletive] lines."
Ms. Coolidge is grateful for the "Joey" gig, but suspects her true home might lie elsewhere, perhaps in the dark forests of cable. "I feel like I have to really clean myself up for network," she said. "It's not really who I am. I'm kind of harsher than most people."
In the forthcoming film version of the children's book series "Lemony Snicket," starring Jim Carrey, she'll distort her feminine allure again, as an otherworldly creature known in the cast list as simply "white-faced woman No. 1." "The part wasn't that big, but I'm wearing a corset," said Ms. Coolidge, whose form doesn't invite constraint. "And you know, in that movie I was ugly, sort of monsterly. I was really kind of scary. I want to leave those monster ladies behind for a while. I would like to play someone attractive next." As Ms. Coolidge spoke, one of her shimmery earrings had come loose and was migrating unnoticed into her hair.
"I really haven't played anyone sort of normal in a movie yet," she continued. "I don't mean normal, I just mean someone I really haven't played myself yet, and I would like to try that."
What kind of role might that be?
"Gosh," she said, and gave a nervous, existential giggle. "I have no idea."
An Article from Entertainment Weekly
Why NBC won't cancel 'Joey'
Nov 9, 2005,
by Michael Slezak
To paraphrase an old Concrete Blonde song, ''Joey, if you're hurtin', so is... NBC.'' So how come, even though ratings for the Friends spinoff are down 42 percent from its less-than-electrifying freshman year, NBC hasn't pulled the plug? Well, as Lynette Rice reports in the new issue of Entertainment Weekly (on newsstands Friday), ''it's cheaper for the network to keep the series on the air.''
How so? According to Rice's story, series star Matt LeBlanc collects his approximate $700,000 per episode paycheck ''no matter what.'' Even worse, NBC would have to pay ''stiff penalties'' to Joey producer Warner Bros. in the event of an early cancellation. Ouch!
Rice, however, suggests a lemons-to-lemonade approach: Create a comedy block of My Name Is Earl, Joey, Will & Grace, and Scrubs on Thursdays. Heck, as NBC proved years ago with Jesse, ''must-see'' can be a pretty loose adjective on Thursdays at 8:30 p.m. -- as long as there's actual laughs to be found at 8 and 9.
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