When Friends ended in 2004, it left a large void in the lives of millions of people and many would have done anything for the writers to have penned season 11. After a decade on-screen, we had to say goodbye to Rachel (Jennifer Aniston), Monica (Courtney Cox), Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow), Joey (Matt LeBlanc), Chandler (Matthew Perry), and Ross (David Schwimmer), and it felt like we were saying goodbye to our best friends. So, when Joey was announced and a continuation of the story was created many were overjoyed.
The Joey spin-off took place shortly after the event of the final episode of Friends, which saw him leave New York City for Hollywood to try and further his career as an actor. Although it didn’t make much sense that Joey would leave his friends behind because Monica and Chandler moved house, it kept the hope alive that more spin-offs or a movie could be created in the future. However, it quickly became apparent that it just wasn’t going to work and it is largely down to one issue, Joey wasn’t Friends.
The Joey Spin-Off Strayed Too Far Away From Friends
Friends followed a simple formula that has been replicated many times over the years, from iconic shows such as Seinfield to more modern sitcoms including The Big Bang Theory. There was one notable difference between Friends and many of the other similar sitcoms, Friends didn’t have a main character. Instead of having a primary character as seen in shows such as Fraiser, which revolved around its namesake, Friends had six main characters that all had a nearly equal level of importance. It was a formula that worked well for the characters and actors and it helped make the show one of the most successful of all time. Joey flipped the script and took away five of the six reasons Friends was such a great show.
The Joey spin-off series tried to replicate Friends by adding a new cast of characters, which largely revolved around members of his family and neighbors, but it felt jarring as it was obvious the cast didn’t have the same chemistry viewers had grown to expect when seeing Joey on screen, nor were the characters close to being as well written as the Friends characters. Joey also became a completely different character from what we knew from Friends.
In the original show, Joey was very much a womanizer and often seen as not being the sharpest tool in the box without being made to look stupid, it was more done in a comedic way to portray his somewhat naive view of the world. In the Joey show, he ended up becoming a man that struggled to ask a girl out, something he never had a problem with before, and he found it difficult to land work as an actor despite having a very successful acting career where he appeared on shows such as the fictional version of Days Of Our Lives in a starring role. This wasn’t the same Joey that viewers followed for 10 years, he was a shell of his former self and there was never an explanation as to why.
Joey Worked In Friends Due To The Other Characters
During Friends, Joey was arguably one of the most popular characters in the show, which played a large part in why he was chosen to star in his own show. But, looking back on Friends it is apparent that most of his best storylines and iconic scenes revolve around at least one other character. Joey flying solo exposed a lot of the character’s flaws and showed viewers that he was more of a sidekick rather than the star.
When looking back at many of Joey’s funny moments, they often involved Chandler or Phoebe and they were used to set up his comedic one-liners. As the character matured in later seasons, a large part of that was due to stories such as him developing feelings for Rachel and wanting to care for her and her daughter, Emma. Joey still had his own storylines, often revolving around his acting career or latest short-term love interest, but those were few and far between. This is not to say Joey was a bad character, far from it, but without such strong characters to bounce off and the ability to take a backseat when needed, it became more apparent what his role in Friends was.
Follow Us
