Millions tune in for Joey debut

An estimated 18.6 million people in the US tuned in to watch the debut episode of Joey - the spin-off of Friends.
Television channel NBC said it was their best-rated comedy premiere in that evening slot in 14 years.

But the figures are lower than any episode of Friends drew in its last season - including the 24.5 million people who watched the series debut.

The first episode of Joey, starring Matt LeBlanc, was aired on Thursday night, after a huge build up.


'Respectable hit'

NBC said that Joey enjoyed the largest audience among the advertiser-friendly 18-to-49-year-old age group of any other entertainment show since May.

The series had been heavily promoted on the channel during the Olympics.

However, Marc Berman, a television analyst for Media Week Online, said: "I can't imagine they're all there [at NBC] jumping for joy.

"Joey should settle in to being a respectable hit, but it won't be a breakout hit," he added.

The spin-off stars Matt LeBlanc's dim-witted character Joey Tribbiani, with Sopranos actress Drea De Matteo as his newly-installed sister Gina.

It follows Joey's life as an aspiring actor as he tries to make it big in Los Angeles.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/t...dio/3647524.stm

I'm already missing friends

Did anyone watch this, is it any good?

i didnt watch it. i recorded it but havent got around to watching it yet.

I gave it a chance, and I don't like it.

Matt Leblanc's acting is horrid.

great, not going to be what Fraiser was to Cheers then

I liked Joey, it actually made me laugh outloud and that's something and I actually can't wait 'till the next episode.

Okay... I think I'll watch it then, give it a chance. After all I remember hating the first episodes of Friends

Yeah, the first episodes of Friends were touchy-feely and I think if given the chance Joey will find its niche.

touchy-feely? I'd go with ham acting, out-of-character and poor presentation of jokes. Then they settled into the roles and became good

We watched the first 10 minutes.

It was so much ass.

You don't notice in friends how much acting the other characters had to do just to make LeBlanc LOOK like he's acting at all. He isn't funny, especially by himself.

Shame I always liked Joey... it was Phoebe I hated

Well, after this show fails, at least LeBlanc will still go on to have a stellar career.

Sincerely,
Kirk Cameron

I don't think so. He'll probably do a couple of bad movies here and there, until we eventually forget all about him.

Yeah i mean what was he famous for besides Friends?

Lost in Space? GOD!

Exactly.

He's good at playing the dumb guy in Friends, but then you get him to play the dumb guy around a bunch of dumb characters, you realize how he can't even play the idiot.

Without the backup of the rest of the crew, he really doesn't have anything to go on. That was the only thing i saw in 'Joey'.

I have to say, I never thought that Joey was one of the better characters in Friends, but the opportunity of another light hearted humour is welcome with me.

From the *cough* special advanced screening I saw, it appears to fit precicely into that catagory.

Well with the millions he's made from friends he'll still he better off than most of us