Joey

Overview

After the events of Friends, Joey Tribbiani 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.

Cast and characters

Matt LeBlanc as Joey Tribbiani, a struggling actor and food lover who becomes famous for his role on Days of Our Lives as Dr. Drake Ramoray. Joey is a womanizer with many girlfriends throughout the series, in keeping with his character on Friends. The series roughly picks up where Friends left off, with Joey at the beginning of the show making a move from New York to Los Angeles to proceed with his acting career. He is constantly talking about food or eating sandwiches or pizza.

Drea de Matteo as Gina Tribbiani, Joey's older sister, who is temperamental and promiscuous. Gina is not too bright, yet very street-wise; she is a caring but over-protective and domineering mother. For years, she convinced her genius son, Michael, that he was born when she was 22 instead of sixteen years old, and always says he is the one thing she has done well. She and Joey are friends in addition to being siblings, both having the gift of being extremely appealing to the opposite sex, with numerous lovers. Initially working as a hairdresser, by season two, she works as a secretary for Joey's agent, Bobbie, having impressed Bobbie with her brash manner. In season two, she starts dating Michael's father, Jimmy, once again. In the season-two episode "Joey and the Holding Hands", it is implied that Gina may be bisexual.

Andrea Anders as Alexis "Alex" Garrett, Joey's next-door neighbor, landlady, and friend. She is an educated, yet slightly ditzy, blonde lawyer who graduated from Northwestern University and Pepperdine University School of Law. Initially intimidated but also intrigued by Joey's tough street-wise older sister, Gina, the two women eventually become friends and she becomes bolder in the way she dresses and acts, thanks to Gina's influence. She is puzzled but impressed by Joey's intuitive gift of knowing when she is wearing thong panties and spends most of her time hanging out at Joey and Michael's apartment. She and Joey bond and become close friends. Her husband is a professional orchestra musician and is away from home most of the time, and she confides her problems with her marriage in Joey. At the end of season one, she and Joey become romantically involved during her separation from her husband. In season two, she becomes romantically interested in Joey and has a crush on him for a long period. Gina tries to help her get over Joey, but once Alex starts dating Joey's friend Dean, Joey soon realizes that he is also in love with Alex. Shortly after the series ended, Anders and LeBlanc entered a relationship for nine years.

Background and development

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 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. 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 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 pilot was watched by 18.6 million American viewers, but ratings continually decreased throughout the series, averaging 10.2 million viewers in the first season and 7.1 million in the second. 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; the remaining episodes have never been broadcast by NBC but were shown on various other networks around the world. 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.

Episodes

Season 2 (2005–06)

A First broadcast in Ireland on RTÉ Two

B First broadcast in Latin America on WBTV and Norway on TV 2

C First broadcast in Latin America on WBTV

International airings

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 February 13, 2005.

Reception and cancellation

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.

Awards and nominations

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.

Home media and streaming

The first season of Joey was released on DVD on May 30, 2006. The second season was issued in Canada in 2008 but did not receive a release in the United States.

On March 12, 2025, the show began streaming on the official Friends YouTube channel. Two episodes were posted weekly until May 27, when the last two episodes of the first season were uploaded. The second season was uploaded to YouTube from September to November 2025.