The SmarK TV Rant for Joey: Episode 1
“The One Where Joey Gets Cancelled”
Original airdate: September 9, 2004
“Well, so much for these wings I picked up on the airplane.”
“Oh, I’ll still take ’em.”
“”¦well, I was just gonna *show* them to you”¦”
Sitcom spin-offs can be a dangerous thing. For every “Frasier” that carries on the good name of “Cheers”, there’s a “The Tortellis”. If you don’t remember “The Tortellis”, that just proves my point. So you can understand my apprehension about this series going in.
The main thing that the show has going for it is the star, of course. Matt Leblanc, in the last 5 years of Friends, turned Joey from a womanizing doofus into a very likeable and real person with very real emotions, and as a result he ended up carrying the show, more or less, for the last few seasons of its run. Friends is one of my favorite shows of all-time and Joey was my favorite character on it, so this series has a lot to live up to.
And it does.
The basic premise is all about change — Joey moves to LA, switches shows, gets a new supporting cast, etc. The two biggest cast members are former Sopranos moll Drea Dematteo as his sister Gina, and Paulo Costanzo as his nephew, the supposed 20-year old son of his youngish sister. I don’t think anyone buys that for a second, but it’s creative license, so what can ya do?
What it really comes down to is the question of whether the show is FUNNY or not. And I think it was funny enough to warrant more viewings of the series, which is probably all it needs to stay on the air.
The plot for the pilot is pretty pedestrian stuff, as “failed actor” spoofs go. Joey moves to LA, but immediately finds his new cop drama cancelled (you’d think he’d have learned after “Mac and Cheese”), and an audition for a “Hollywood Minute” show is foiled by that damn red light. Even worse, “Movers and Shakers” has lost his stuff (probably an excuse to refurnish his character, although we NEED the Big White Dog!) and he can’t even stay mad at them with a name like that! His nephew, a rocket scientist (only in sitcoms, folks), wants to move in with him, but domineering mom Gina won’t let the boys be boys.
The Good
– Lots of sharp dialogue here, and touches of Joey’s former show shine through. His obsession with food, tendency to hit on the wrong woman, and lovable dimwittedness all carry the character a long way. Some good lines, but nothing instantly quotable like “How you doin'”, although I’m sure we’ll get that one soon enough.
– Drea Dematteo is really good as his sister, and totally believable in that role, even if being the mother of a 20-year old son isn’t.
– Costanzo has good chemistry and timing with Leblanc, especially when they’re in opposition to mom, and he fits well.
The Not So Good
– I don’t like Jennifer Coolidge as the slightly-bizarre agent. I thought Estelle fit Joey better.
– I don’t buy the new actress playing the love interest at all. The original one had zero chemistry with Matt, and this one has almost as little. Joey isn’t a character who needs a cut-and-dried love interest, and so obviously trying to write one in just stinks of sitcom cliché. Dump her, I say.
– And overall, the show is funny, but not insightfully funny that way Friends was. This just doesn’t feel like a show with anything to say yet, and they need to find their own voice. I think it’s a good start, though.
