Joey Tribbiani Scores "Friends" Spinoff. No word yet on brother, retired cop father.

Yo! Joey Scores "Friends" Spinoff

By Julie Keller
E! Online

Joey Tribbiani is leaving his Friends behind and heading to Hollywood.

Matt LeBlanc, twice Emmy-nominated for his role as the dimwitted wannabe actor, is going solo, inking a deal with NBC and producer Warner Bros. Television to star in a Friends spinoff, the parties announced in a joint statement Thursday.

As part of the package deal, LeBlanc will also star in two upcoming Warner Bros. movies.

In Joey, set to debut in Friends' longtime 8 p.m. Thursday slot starting in fall 2004, Joey heads out West to pursue his acting career.

"I'm pleased to say that NBC's wonderful relationship with such a once-in-a-decade series as Friends will continue in a sense but in a new direction that will keep it fresh," says NBC programming chief Jeff Zucker in a statement. "Matt's lovable character of Joey Tribbiani has come into his own in recent years on the series and Joey's progression will continue as he emerges more on his own--we know that everyone will be rooting for him."

The idea of a Joey-centric spinoff were first floated last fall, with plans going into overdrive once LeBlanc and his Friends pals agreed to disband in May 2004 at the end of the upcoming 10th season.

With the Ross-Rachel storyline played out and Monica and Chandler married off, Joe became the show's most compelling character, and the perfect subject for his own series, the network says.

The network is hedging its bet for Joey by signing on Friends executive producers Kevin Bright, Scott Silveri and Shana Goldberg-Meehan to helm the spinoff.

For his part, LeBlanc says he can't wait to get started (and apparently bolster his already hefty bank account in the process).

"Matt is thrilled. Over the last couple of seasons, Joey has grown into such a rich character," said LeBlanc's publicist and lawyer on behalf of the actor, who is out of the country and unavailable for comment. "LeBlanc's arrangement with Warner Bros and the network is a complex deal of unprecedented proportion and includes, among other elements, a significant ownership position."

In other words: Cha-ching!

Of course, LeBlanc is going to have to prove he can score sans his Friends. So far, his non-Friends track record is abysmal. With the exception of his cameos in the two Charlie's Angels flicks, his film résumé includes such lowlights as Ed, the baseball comedy where he starred opposite a chimp; the box-office black hole Lost in Space; and All the Queen's Men, where he starred as a soldier in drag.

But NBC is banking on the Friends pedigree. As the anchor of the Peacock's Must-See-TV Thursday lineup since 1994, the show has won several Emmys and is up for 11 more this year, including Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for LeBlanc, his second straight nod. The sitcom remains TV's top-ranked sitcom and has averaged a whopping 21.8 million viewers during its nine-year run.

With both Friends and Frasier (which is, of course, the hugely successful spinoff of Cheers and what NBC hopes is a blueprint for Joey) on their way out at the end of the season, and CBS' CSI-Survivor Thursday roster seriously challenging in the Nielsens, NBC is desperate to come up with a new comedy franchise.

Already, the network's gambit seems to be working. Fans are peppering Internet chat boards with pro-Joey notices, delighted that Friends will live on, at least in part.

"Howww youuu doin'?" cheered one fan on a Yahoo board. "That's great--he's the best character on the show."

 

Now if he just brings Phoebe with him - that'd be a show!

-BZync

 

Out of all the Friends I would least like to see him in his own show. Figures.

 

Matt LeBlanc had the least success in the movies so to keep doing TV makes perfect sense.

 

I just hope that his movie deal with Warner Brothers will include a sequel to "Ed". It's the greatest movie of all time.

 

Anyone remember a little show called "Three's a Crowd?"

 

Wasn't that the "Three's Company" spinoff? Matt LeBlanc has already tried a spinoff television show. Married with Children introduced characters that eventually got spun off on the short lived Fox sitcom "Top of the heap".

 

Yup. For some reason, when I read about this Joey show, that was the first thing that came to mind. Successful sitcom about 20s/30s-ish men and women spins off one character ...

I'd like to hope this turns out more like Frasier than most attempts at a spinoff, but Joey is kind of a one-dimensional character to begin with.

 

Two words:

AFTER MASH.

 

Sounds more similar to "Frasier" to me. Ensemble cast member moves west to go it alone. I doubt LeBlanc can pull it off like Grammer, but I guess it'll depend on the writing and strength of new characters.

Also sounds a little like when "Laverne and Shirley" moved to L.A.---bad move.

 

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you another episode of SPOT THE LIES:

NBC Plans a Spinoff From `Friends' for 2004
By BILL CARTER

LOS ANGELES, July 24 — NBC, still searching for a program to preserve its longtime dominance of Thursday nights after the departure of "Friends" next spring, formally announced today that Matt LeBlanc would continue playing his Joey Tribbiani character in a spinoff comedy beginning in September 2004.

Jeff Zucker, the president of NBC Entertainment, made the announcement of the planned new comedy — to be called "Joey" — at a news conference here.

Mr. Zucker did not formally announce that "Joey" would inherit the "Friends" time slot of Thursday at 8 p.m., but he implied it would, saying, "Clearly, the announcement we made today will go a long way to securing our continued stranglehold" on Thursday night.

He compared the spinoff of one character from "Friends," a hit comedy, to what NBC did 11 years ago when it transplanted Kelsey Grammer from the long-running hit "Cheers" and built a new series, "Frasier," around him.

The premise of the new series will be to transport the Joey Tribbiani character, long a struggling actor, from New York to California, where he will pursue his acting career, surrounded by a new group of friends.

Mr. Zucker said Mr. LeBlanc was the only cast member the network sought for a spinoff.

"Joey has emerged as the character that America roots for and loves," he said. "At the end of the day, though we continue to love all the characters equally, Matt is the one who has clearly emerged as the crowd favorite."

Mr. Zucker acknowledged that he "never would have predicted this" when the show began in 1994. Indeed, one senior executive who has had a long association with the show, said previously that when the "Friends" cast first held out for higher salaries there had been sentiment at both the network and the studio that produces the series, Warner Brothers Entertainment, to let Mr. LeBlanc go rather than pay him an exorbitant salary.

 

Joey Speaks

By Dan Snierson
Entertainment Weekly

If you can't have six friends, one's pretty good. And if you can only have one, this is a pretty good one to have.'' So says a tickled NBC Entertainment president Jeff Zucker, who ended a Friend-zy of speculation last week by announcing that Matt LeBlanc has agreed to star again as happy-go-lunky Joey Tribbiani in a ''Friends'' spin-off, which is being shepherded by series exec producers Kevin S. Bright, Scott Silveri, and Shana Goldberg-Meehan. When ''Joey'' assumes that familiar Thursday slot in fall 2004, suffice it to say the stakes will be slightly higher than with LeBlanc's last two spin-off attempts, 1991's ''Top of the Heap'' (from ''Married…With Children'') and 1992's ''Vinnie & Bobby'' (surprisingly, from ''Heap''). ''I'm excited and a little nervous and honored,'' says LeBlanc. ''Maybe more than a little nervous.'' Here's what else our Friend to the end -- and beyond -- revealed about his high-profile project.

When did the spin-off idea first come up?
Warner Bros. and NBC approached me about a year and a half ago. And at the time, it felt so premature -- it was something I didn't even really want to think about. ''Friends'' wasn't, in my opinion, near the end yet. But that began the courting process, if you will. And as time went by, my curiosity became more and more piqued…. I remember the first dinner I had with Peter Roth, the president of Warner Bros. Television. We sat down and he just laid it out there on the table, and I was like, Wow. I was really floored. I didn't know how to respond, but my first response was ''Well, what would we call it?'' And he said, ''We'd probably call it 'Joey.''' And just to ease the tension of the moment, I said, ''Why don't we call it 'Where the Hell Is Everybody?'''

Do you have a concrete premise?
There've been some rough ideas thrown around, but it's [in the] very, very, very infantile stages.… I would imagine it takes place in L.A., with Joey's acting career out there.

Did you mull it over with the other Friends?
As soon as I heard about it, I went to them and I told them. We have a very honest, open relationship, all of us. I wanted them to hear it from me. I didn't want there to be any weird vibes. And they've all been on board, very supportive the whole way.

Would you have preferred another season of ''Friends'' instead of a spin-off?
If ''Friends'' could continue on, it would be much less scary for me.… I try not to torture myself like that because this one really is the last one. But would I do another one if everyone was in? Yeah, I'd do another one. It's the best gig in town, man. I got a great parking spot down there. You know how long it takes to get that parking spot?

There are some risks here, including the inevitable ''Well, it's not 'Friends'…''
It shouldn't try to be ''Friends.'' If people say, ''It's no 'Friends,''' I'll say, ''Well, that's a good observation. No **** it's no 'Friends'!''

Was there ever talk about doing a spin-off with Jennifer Aniston?
That was talked about briefly, but then abandoned. I don't know why. The only talks I was seriously involved in were the ones that involved the Joey show.

So much, then, for Joey and Rachel winding up together?
I think that Rachel belongs with Ross. I'll kill Joey if he ends up with her.

Much has been written about NBC's search for the next ''Friends.'' Now the network is handing you the coveted Thursday-at-8 slot when ''Friends'' signs off. You're in the hot seat.
Lot of pressure not to f**k up. [The time slot] is not something I fought for. NBC put that on the table right up front. That upped the amplitude on the whole thing. [Affecting English accent] ''Okay, we're at 11 now, right? Nigel?''

Your deal is unprecedented for a new series -- close to $15 million for the first year and an ownership stake in the show. Technically, though, you'll no longer be making $1 million per episode. Will you be able to scrape by on just $15 million a year?
Well, if you want to run some soup over to the house, I sure could use it.

Will this last season of ''Friends'' lay the groundwork for "Joey?"
I don't think it will have any bearing on the outcome of the writing on ''Friends'' at all.… ''Friends'' has definitely reserved and earned the right to its own course and destiny. I don't think that will be altered by what comes after ''Friends.'' In the last episode, does Joey have a suitcase in his hand? I don't think so. Maybe a bus ticket in his pocket -- but you don't see that.

Will there be guest spots waiting for the other ''Friends''?
I probably won't talk to them anymore. I mean, I have my own show. f**k them. [Laughs] No, of course, I would love to have them every week. That would be great. Like on ''Frasier,'' when Sam Malone comes by. Those are the best episodes.

When the ''Seinfeld'' actors failed to launch new shows, everyone called it the ''Seinfeld'' curse. Are you worried about a ''Friends'' curse?
Those people waited for two or three years, and they came back playing different characters. People want to be done with you when they're done with you. If you leave them and come back in a different light, they're looking only for the other character that you played. If you're lucky enough to score once in television history, chances are you should stick with that guy, if you're going to come back on TV again. I think that's why ''Frasier'' works. And why ''Watching Ellie'' perhaps does not work. It's important to give people what they want. If it's a character they've grown to love, I mean, people are letting you into their homes and they're spending time with you every week for 10 years. And then if you just yank that and say, ''Now I'm a fireman, ha-ha, and my name's Tim,'' they're going to say, ''Well, go f**k yourself, Tim. Where's Joey?'' It's that simple. When I'm an old man, if people say, ''He played Joey and that's all he did,'' then I can say, ''Yeah, that's right, that's all I did. Did it for a long time, it was a very satisfying career, pulled a lot of jokes, got a lot of great stories to tell my grandchildren -- and get off my property.''