Joey
Joey was NBC’s attempt to keep the Friends machine churning, and followed Joey Tribbiani as he went west to pursue his acting career. The spin-off picks up directly after the end of the Friends series’ finale, moving to Los Angeles with his sassy sister Gina, played by Drea DeMatteo.
The show never quite captured the magic its parent show had, and struggled to find an audience. Although it aired in the same Thursday night time slot, it languished in the shadow of the juggernaut it was meant to replace. Without the ensemble to provide chemistry and dynamics, it felt a little incomplete. Even though past spin-offs have made it big (looking at you, Frasier), Joey just couldn’t overcome the weight of the expectations.
After just one season, it went into hiatus, but was revived for a short-lived second season. Instead of being a thoughtful look at Joey and his sister, it was mostly a bunch of cliches strung together. Joey never really found its stride in the character development area, and most of its storylines were about its title character eating a lot of sandwiches and sleeping with a lot of women. Even DeMatteo couldn’t save the show, and she’s downright delightful.