These days, it is hard to find a popular series that does not have multiple spinoffs, but a few decades ago, the concept was used much more sparingly, mainly because there were only so many channels and so much schedule space. Joey, the Friends spinoff series that was canceled before it completed its Season 2 run, was one that maybe proved why some shows didn’t need a spinoff. The early cancellation happened part way through the airing of Season 2, leaving a number of episodes unaired in the U.S. Now, fans can watch the entire two-season run of the Matt LeBlanc-led series, including the eight episodes that were not aired on NBC after the show was pulled over plunging ratings – and they are free to watch.
It is almost 20 years since the divisive spinoff was dropped by the network, and while Friends has enjoyed a place on streaming for years, Joey has been harder to find in the U.S., and the final episodes which never aired there have been impossible to track down on streaming. The series originally debuted in September 2004, with LeBlanc’s Joey Tribbiani moving from New York to Los Angeles in order to further his acting career. LeBlanc was joined by Drea de Matteo as Joey’s sister, Gina, Paolo Costanxo, Andrea Anders, and Jennifer Coolidge, as well as a number of big-name guest stars such as Lucy Liu, Carmen Electra, and Christina Ricci.
While the series was a hit on its debut, by mid-season of Season 2, the show was in trouble with dwindling viewership and a shift from a Thursday to Tuesday evening slot, which put in in direct competition with Fox’s American Idol, killed the show off to the point it was pulled off air with eight episodes remaining and was canceled soon after. While audiences in international territories were able to watch the conclusion of Season 2, U.S. audiences were not so lucky. To make things worse, the series was never made available on DVD in the U.S. either, with only international versions being released.
Now, the official Friends YouTube account has finally uploaded the final episodes of Joey, which join the rest of the series that has been uploaded over the year. This means that U.S. fans can finally see where Joey’s journey ended almost two decades after the show was scrapped and purged from schedules.
Was ‘Joey’ Really That Bad?
While there are few people who will say that Joey was able to live up to its mighty flagship series, Friends, the series did have its fans. It holds a 73% score on Rotten Tomatoes from audiences, but its critical score languished at a divided 50%.
The main problem most people had with Joey was the fact that LeBlanc’s character just didn’t have what it took to be the solo lead of his own show. Many “rotten” reviews from critics were left disappointed by the show, saying that it “deserved better.” Some called the character of Joey Tibbiani a “one-trick pony,” while one particularly brutal review from Globe and Mail labeled it “a lame, hollow and utterly unoriginal show.”
Now fans can finally reassess the series, without having to pay a dime. While it may not scratch the same itch as Friends, the unaired episodes can be binged in just four hours, and those who have waited decades can finally find out how the series ends.
- Release Date
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2004 – 2006-00-00
- Network
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NBC