Why The VERY WEIRD Friends Spin-Off Failed 

Who is the best character in television history?

it failed because they didn't call it ''The Joey Showey'' like they should have.

A spin off focused on chandler n Monica with their kids and Joey lives in a room above their garage like they said he would.

In Friends everyone's arc was completed except that of Joey's. Monica : She wanted baby, a chef career, a relationship. And she got it all at the end. Chandler: Hated his job, wanted a partner. He got a job he loved and married a woman he loved. Ross: He wanted to be married. He had a huge unresolved crush on Rachel. He got it all at the end. Rachel: She wanted to be independent and not be the spoiled daddy's little girl. She was a successful executive and a responsible mother at the end. Phoebe: She just wanted a family of her own. And she got it at the end. But Joey neither had a stable relationship nor a successful acting career at the end. So the spinoff attempted to address it. But the big problem was they literally forgot FRIENDS. I mean Joey was getting married and there is no mention of his friends ? IMO, they could have ended in Season 2 with his marriage and they should have announced all his friends are coming to the wedding. The viewership would have skyrocketed and it would be a good ending.

The best idea for a spin-off would be a backstory about phoebes life

they didn't get the concept that joey wasn't "joey" without chandler, Monica, ross, Pheobe, and Rachel... also what happened to the plan where joey was supposed to live in the garage with Monica and Chandler?

The comic relief character RARELY makes a good main focus of a tv show. They’re better in small doses.

Friends is such a good show because of the chemistry of the 6. They are all entirely different from each other but they have one huge thing in common: They all care about each other.

You can tell Matt Leblanc was the only one who wanted to keep working, he's rumoured to be the only one who wanted another season of friends, and he's done multiple other series. I remember watching a series he did called "episodes" and the only guest star from the gang he got was one scene with David Schwimmer.

Can’t blame him, I woulda taken $30 million too, that’s like 30 million hamburgers

A big problem was that Joey was so close to his friends for 10 years, and then in his own show he never saw or spoke to any of them!

The problem was that none of Friends characters have their own charisma and lives, they don't work by themselves, they need the others to exist. Have you been in a group of friends that works super awesome but the individual lives of each one of the persons is really boring, lame, dull, or just not funny? Have you been in a group of like 6 or 7 friends where you only have fun when you ALL hang out together, but if it was only you and another dude or dudette from the group it's just not the same (even if it's the funny one)? Welcome to the answer on why Joey didn't work, and a similar premise will never work.

Honestly I would've rathered a Chandelier and Monica spin off where everyone comes to visit every now and again and they raise their kids

They should've just made Mac and C.H.E.E.S.E. instead

when they eventually make an official friends reunion, they should reference 'Joey' as a TV show Joey did, and make it meta. As if this was a TV show on a TV show. Joeyception.

In season 4-5 of Friends (London and the following few episodes) they show the viewers not only how much Joey cares about his friends, but how much he loves his life in its current state and how he hates changes. This not only makes the Joey show improbable but also impossible, as he nearly broke down when he lived in the big apartment and when Chandler moved out. There is no possible way for that same character to abandon his friends, family, and life to live in L.A. to follow his career which was always second to him behind the people in his life that mattered most.

I believe Joey’s character ended when friends ended and by that I mean I feel like he didn’t really have much going for him that we as an audience would wanna continue seeing in a spin-off. Mondler raising the twins would’ve been interesting to see, or Mike and Phoebe since she wanted her own kids after seeing Mondler’s set of twins, or even Roschel raising Emma since they got back together (for the 100th time). But in the end, I feel like any spin off wouldn’t of been big without the six of them

Honestly, a spin off with Chandler and Monica I could see. It’s two of the Friends cast and they’re interestingly different and they actually had a story line to go off of.

They could have had Joey living with his 7 sisters. It would have lifted some of the pressure off Joey himself

Matt knew the show would tank and he'd earn a huge pile of dough for not much work. It also have him a reason to keep dyeing his hair. Awesome.

I can understand the other actors not wanting to continue to pursue those characters but I feel like the one character that would have made the most sense to pop in or have a continuation on Joey would be phoebe. They always seem to get along the best and I feel like it would make sense that Phoebe would want to explore California. Yes she had kids, but I do not think they were her kids? Even if they were, I think that they could have made it work to where she popped in with her family in California on a vacation.

"The Bings" spin off is the only one that makes sense.

Let's make it short: Joey doesn't work without his Friends. It is called "Friends" for a good reason.

It worked so damn well for Frasier they hoped they could recreate that with Joey. Any spin off can work if done correctly but most of the time it doesn't

I can imagine a Joey spinoff working but not the one they made. It could have been called f.a.m.i.l.y and Joey would have been a supporting character in the story of the lives of his many sisters. It would have been set around New York probably rather than LA and would have focused on the more working class lives and family structure of the tribbianis. It prob would not have worked as well as friends but it might have worked ok in a cheers>Frasier way in that it would be different and solid enough to attract an audience. Once it was established other friends cast could return for guest spots to see Joey

"...a weird clone of Joey." It's Carl, isn't it? Dammit, Carl!

I am reading all the comments about how other characters' spin-offs would have been better, but I totally disagree. The whole point of Friends is watching them together, as a group. This joey show was just the proof the even considering a spin-off without all of the six characters was a mistake. They work well together, not separated.

First of all there shouldn't have been any spin-off. I remember what Matthew Perry said in an interview and I agree with him. He said something like- we are afraid to make another season or spin- off because the level we set was so high and I am afraid that we don't fall down (something like this). Plus if they had to make a spin-off I would have liked a short film which showed all the friends a few years later together drinking coffee at central perk and talking about their day. It should have been revealed that they hung out everyday one time in central perk and were still very very close friends. And Joey would also have ended up with someone. Anyways I like the friends reunion and I am glad they decided to only show the whole cast talking and an interview, watching bloopers, treading scripts etc. And not any crap

"Man with a plan" seems like a better spin off about Joey than "Joey" was. Adam feels more like a grown up version of Joey.

Chandler’s last word on the show: “Where?” Monica’s first word on the show: “There...”

The thing I remember not liking about the Joey show, was that they reset his character development. All the growth as a person he made in Friends was just gone.

Joey came right after the end of Friends, people were not ready to see only him without the rest of the gang, but the show was not so bad as you said actually! I kinda liked it back then and I've just started a rewatch out of curiosity cause I didn't remember much of it... it actually made me laugh more than once already! Joey is not deprissing AT ALL, the fact that he can't make friends in LA is very well explained in the show itself... It's much harder to make new friends when you're grown up and LA is very different from NY, as Joey said "In NY I could approach people in the street, here in LA everybody drives a car, how do you meet people?". I find it also logical that Joey wanted to try something different as all of his NY friends had moved on in life (got married, had kids, had the job of their dreams...) remember Monica and Chandler left the apartment at the end of the show? So why was Joey supposed not to try something different as well? He's an actor after all, it's only logical that he would try to move to LA at a certain point and see if he had any chances there. This doesn't mean that he won't go back to NY at some point or that he's not calling his friends. I think it would've have been just pathetic to have the show with him on the phone with his friends! And the fact that we don't see him calling them it doesn't mean he didn't and that he's not in touch with them anymore. Most of Friends' characters have really changed in the course of the show, while Joey was the only one who didn't evolve, didn't have a decent carrier and didn't find love. This could've been Joey's chance if only people weren't so nostalgic and narrow-minded. What I didn't like about Joey was the fact that they cast Adam Goldberg as a recurrent character when he had already played one in Friends (remember Eddie, Chandler's weird roommate?). Also Joey's look seems to be very different from Friends, why is he wearing all these shirts, trousers and shiney shoes now? Apart from that, I'm enjoying it very much at the moment and I suggest to give it a try if you can find it.

What about Frasier? It used the exact same formula as Joey, but it worked. They took a character from an ensemble cast moved him to the West Coast and made significant changes to his personality.

I would love to see spin-off about Pheobe's childhood.

It failed because Joey is a supporting character or ensemble character, he’s not deep enough to be a lead role. I always said I wish the spin off was Chandler and Monica. They actually had a new chapter to explore and they could play off each other- developed characters that we already know.

I watch the whole Joey Series. It gets me through difficult times in graduate school. This is a great show!

Nerdstalgic is the only channel I can watch every single video of and it's never getting bored

the ross spin off is actually there: it's called How I Met Your Mother ahah

Hans Ramoray starred in this, no one can tell me otherwise.

I really have to watch Joey again, I only saw it as a kid, probably aged 9-10, I’m 24 now, my dads girlfriend at the time was obsessed with Friends and had all the copies which is how I got into Friends, she also had the Joey seasons, and while I don’t remember a whole lot of Joey, I remember liking it when I saw it. Since I’ve watched it I’ve heard so much about how Joey isn’t good, and especially after watching this video, it makes me wanna see it again to see if I was just blinded as a kid, or if I just actually liked the spin-off, all flaws aside.

Very interesting analysis. You actually have something to say. As opposed to most youtubers who really just wanna say "look at me!". Thank you Nerdstalgic for this clip.

i have always refused to watch joey’s show,, and whenever i remember it’s existence i tell myself that it’s probably just joey’s dreams and he’s still actually living in new york or with chandler and monica

They should’ve done a show about phoebe’s life before “friends”, like when she lived on the streets and how she got through it

I swear, just the other day I went looking for the Joey show, because I had a faint memory of seeing an episode of it long ago, and when I couldn't find it, I started to wonder whether I had imagined it. Now I find this. Thanks for restoring my sanity. Haha

I keep watching it again and again before going to bed - it's just great little comedy that doesn't take itself too seriously.

biggest take aways from this video: 1. The Joey Show exists 2. Do not watch The Joey Show

It was obvious that this spin-off was going to flop when the character you picked for it was your THIRD choice. Not a lot of good options left at that point.

It's because we all watched friends first. Actually I watched Joey before friends and I completely loved it. I loved it because I didn't watch friends hence I couldn't compare. The show by itself is actually good.

"It's inorganic & unnatural to try to make things live forever..". Damn. Never expected a video essay about "Joey" to make me reflect on my own my mortality!🥴 This is why I've been subbed here; excellent writing with deep analysis.👏👏

Does anyone else feel like they purposely “leaked” the episode cuz they had Doubt

The lesson learned from "Joey" is why we never got "Schrute Farms."

Well done video! Thank you! Liked and subbed

Friends is one of my go to series to get in good mood, along with the office, Big Bang theory, how I met your mother. These shows have a special place in my heart. Best part is, I can pick up any random episode and still love it.

Matt LeBlanc redeemed himself big time with 'Episodes' though, so everything works out. Had it not been for 'Joey', we wouldn't have that show.

Theoretically, a spinoff about Monica and Chandler's family life would have probably been better (or at least easier to manage from a writer's perspective). After they got together and made their relationship known to the other friends, their individual storylines started to merge and they ended up focusing on their romance and daily life rather than individual "misadventures". Basically, they could have easily carried the weight of a show on their own because they seem more like protagonists and not simply side characters. Joey, however? He was created as a side character (like Phoebe) and was meant to stay that way. That said, I'm glad that they didn't make another spinoff with Monica and Chandler, trying to "resuscitate" a show that is already over is 99% of the time a bad idea.

"Joey" was better then many netflix originals...

there was a spin off to "friends", good thing i missed the whole thing. when you explaining it, it sounded like a alternative universe of "friends" after the the ending and starting point for "joey" show.

A master class in making the same point 10 different ways

Phoebe said in an episode that Joey is a new soul. That always stuck with me as a perfect description. He’s happy go lucky

I hated imagining Joey not talking to one of the other friends once a day

I didn't even know there was a spin-off series lol 🤣

Maybe “joey” is actually dr drake remorays evil twin brother..

The show he made “Episodes” was literally about Matt LeBlanc after his show Joey failed

I had to find “Joey” on ebay several years ago…I loved “Friends” and yes, at first, it seemed bad…by the end, I was so upset that there wasn’t more… Who the hell wasn’t yearning for Joey to become a HUGE MOVIE STAR!!

What's really funny/ironic is: Entertainment Weekly had a special "Friends" collector's edition at the start of season 8, and there was an interview with Bright, Kauffman, and Crane. They were asked if there would ever be a spinoff and they all said no. Then one of them (possibly Kauffman), said specifically that there would never be "The Joey Tribbiani Show". lol!

Are we gonna ignore the fact that Phoebe wasn’t even considered an option?? Or Ross???

When they first aired the show I first thought that it had nothing to do with Friends.

you touched the very nerve in the last comment. Very well done! Nerdstalgic indeed.

I've been curious about this spin off for a while. I remember watching a few episodes when it came out and it was abysmal. I'm gonna have a second look out of morbid curiosity.

Spinoff shows just seem like some of the most unpredictable experiment in television. It’s brought some of the best and some of the boring-est shows out there.

I once had a dream that Joey wasn’t canceled after season 2 but went on to have several seasons and the fifth season had a story arc that revolves around going fishing. Like a fishing trip.

Great video - I am tempted to watch this if it ever streams - just to see how bad it is. It looks like they had a good supporting cast too. Its weird how they took that hard turn with the character and made him so unlikeable. Have to admire Matt Le Blanc though - I would love to have a $30 million dollar payslip for a failure!

I love friend so much I think I’ve watched all seasons 8 times. Still watching it! 😂

"It's unnatural for things to live forever" I am looking at you Star Wars

R U KIDDING?! There could've been a spinoff about Monica and Chandler raising their kids and the actors said no?! They could've had Joey live in their garage and eventually fall for someone and make it as an actor, they could've had Janice as a neighbor and it would've been good with those two in the lead of a family comedy. It could've happen,Mandy it didn't?! Ugh? How could they say no?!! It would've been perfect! I'm gonna go meditate now... Wait, why didn't they consider a spinoff about Phoebe?

I think the characters of exemplify the phrase of beauty in simplicity; they are the baseline for an ensemble cast that is written to be coherent together, and due to the simplicity it's mind boggling why they thought taking an ensemble character out of the group he was written for was a good idea

This will literally be the most content ive seen of this show

When I heard of this spinoff, I thought, "Finally! Joey's going to grow up and be more than the sidekick!" I thought about what would challenge him the most and also fit his character the most, from what we knew of him. While living in New York, he gets a phone call from a girl he'd dated for a few months. She tells him she's had a baby and it's his. He councils with his friends (cameo, like 90210 did for Melrose Place's first episode), takes a DNA test and decides to go to LA to man-up (as foreshadowed) and ask her to marry him. She won't marry someone she barely knows, and she won't leave LA, because her single dad is there. Joey was the one to hate change the most and the least likely to leave his friends (his family), but, as hard as it is, he can't abandon his daughter/son and decides to stay. While in LA, he may as well kill two birds with one stone by also trying to improve his career and becoming successful for his child. This concept opened so many doors for humour, warmth, tension, meaningful romance, blunders and character growth. It was pretty disappointing that the writers threw the character under the bus, for cheap laughs.

Honestly, I think that a spinoff about Joey could've been really good if it was done right. Because Joey wasn't *just* a character for comedic relief and support, even if that's what he served for the original show. He had things that could've been explored and developed on. He had issues with commitment in relationships, his potential in acting, his struggling with growing up. The Joey spinoff could've been great if it touched on the lines of a dramedy if they kept his character intact and just fleshed out his life more instead of tearing it apart. It might've been really entertaining to see how Joey somehow ended up in some weird conflicts that he managed to solve despite his lack of common sense, like his own subplots in some of the Friends episodes. There could've been overarching plotlines about one or two main love interests throughout the show that made him think about settling down as he wrestled with getting older. I would've loved to see him have phone calls with Chandler and Phoebe about the things he was going through and asking for advice. I dunno. I don't think that a Friends spinoff with Joey wasn't wanted. I just don't think it made it something people didn't know they wanted.

'Episodes' season 1-5 with Matt playing himself is hilarious and smart.

I didn't need any spinoffs, I just needed a thousand more episodes of friends 😭

I think the only logical spin-off would have been "Smelly Cat" the series.

BECAUSE IT FEATURES ONLY ONE GOOD CHARACTER

Monica and Chandler would've worked as a big standard comedy family sitcom.

i loved the Joey show actually. 😂

Makes me wanna watch Frasier; now THAT was a spin off done right

Major issue was that Friends was an ensemble show, with 6 actors sharing the load, Joey was one actor trying to carry the entire show.

I think another issue is, as with the ending of almost every sitcom, their ushers in a new era of tv. A new era of understanding, and a new era of the sitcom itself. But too many of the spin-offs try to skill live in the world of the decade that their home show lived in. Or they try to convert the spin-off into the modern day without any explanation of why/how the setup of the spinoff came to be.

Why why whyyy, joey is like one of the best sitcoms Ive ever seen, I cant stop laughing when Im watching it. Its pure gold. Why was it axed and called a mistake 😢 thats one of my biggest questions in life.

The story could've been Joey falling in love and moving in with his girlfriend that has a son ( the son can be a teenager or just a grown man living with his mom ) plenty of stories would come out of that, and instead of completely forgetting the rest of " Friends " cast, they could've gave them couple of appearances in which they visit Joey.

Totally forgot Joey was a show. I didn’t watch it

I've never watched Friends, got to know the Joey character off of his spinoff and I loved it!

I had no idea Joey had his own show, I saw a RU-vid short that led me to learn more about it.

Joey was one of the best characters of friends, but he’s great because his friends. Take the other 5 away and he’s not good.

I have both seasons of Joey on dvd and I still forgot this existed.

... I've never forgotten lol. Yeah I heard nothing for years, and wondered if it even existed, was it some fever dream... thank God I'm not crazy.

A spin-off with Chandler and Monica would’ve been actually interesting

I think a show about Phoebe actually would have been better. She was kind of mysterious and unpredictable

Here's the thing...the approach the show creators took with "Joey" wasn't actually weird. In fact there was a hugely successful precedent on the same network, "Frasier". NBC took Kelsey Grammar's character from Cheers (like Friends, a very popular ensemble comedy) and moved him across the country. Because Frasier Crane transitioned from being a supporting character to a lead character, his personality broadened to shoulder the new responsibility. The new Frasier Crane was a little more of a loser. Sometimes even a bit of a buffoon. Grammar is an excellent comic actor who made these new character traits work. And like "Joey", "Frasier" didn't look or feel like its predecessor. Frasier's life back in Boston wasn't heavily referenced either. "Frasier" turned to be a huge success for the network, so it wasn't that crazy to think that "Joey" could be also since it followed a similar formula. In the end "Joey" suffered from the same things most failed shows suffer from...lackluster cast, poor writing and weak chemistry. Going back to the "Frasier" example, if the Niles Crane character had been given to anyone other than David Hyde Pierce, that show might not have lasted that long. Pierce is an superb comic actor who had excellent chemistry with Kelsey Grammar. That pairing helped make the show a success. Unfortunately Matt LeBlanc didn't have someone as skilled to play off of. It made all the difference.

So glad the Internet's a thing so I can discover weird stuff like a Friend's spin off