The legendary show, Friends, which premiered in 1994, still often bags its place among the top ten trending shows on Netflix. The show ended resolving the character arcs of all the six friends with Chandler and Monica becoming parents, Ross and Rachael pairing up at last, and Phoebe getting married to Mike Hannigan. The only character whose future was left ambiguous was Joey Tribbiani. Do you know why?
The actor got his spin-off series after Friends finished in 2004, titled Joey. However, the series had to stop after two seasons because of declining viewership. Recently, a few days back, the show made a return.
Here is what we know about the Friends spin-off series Joey
The spinoff series follows Joey Tribbiani moving to Los Angeles and meeting his sister Gina and his nephew Michael. He goes to LA to make a career in acting. The official YouTube channel of the parent sitcom, Friends, released 2 episodes recently, making it available for online streaming.
Joey is the most beloved character of the group, known for his low IQ and lame jokes that none of his friends ever found interesting. His journey of getting into the film industry is relatable as he is shown always borrowing money from his flatmate Chandler, who is a ..., well, "nobody knows what Chandler does exactly". Joey finally becomes a soap Opera star and gains some stability in his career, but still, it always seems like there could be more to his life.
In 2004, when Joey first premiered, Friends claimed that it would have 10 seasons. The show gained good ratings with 18.6 million viewers; however, the viewership tragically declined to 7.1 million by the end of season 2. This compelled NBC to stop its broadcasting, and in 2006, it officially canceled the show.
Reports suggested that LeBlanc was reconsidering his career after the death of his close friend and Friends co-star Matthew Perry in 2023, which left several fans disheartened. However, sources clarify that while he has taken a step back and has not appeared in any projects since 2021, he has not made any formal retirement announcement.
According to The Age, when Joey was canceled, its co-creator Kevin S. Bright discussed the character of Joey as a "womaniser" and a "solid friend".
“On Friends Joey was a womaniser 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.”
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Friends was not canceled even after airing 10 seasons. The maker mutually decided that it was time to move on. Even the primary cast also wanted to move on to other opportunities in their acting career. However, the spin-off didn't witness such a fate.
Catch the 2 episodes of Joey on YouTube.
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