To paraphrase an old Concrete Blonde song, ”Joey, if you’re hurtin’, so is… NBC.” So how come, even though ratings for the Friends spinoff are down 42 percent from its less-than-electrifying freshman year, NBC hasn’t pulled the plug? Well, as Lynette Rice reports in the new issue of Entertainment Weekly (on newsstands Friday), ”it’s cheaper for the network to keep the series on the air.”
How so? According to Rice’s story, series star Matt LeBlanc collects his approximate $700,000 per episode paycheck ”no matter what.” Even worse, NBC would have to pay ‘’stiff penalties” to Joey producer Warner Bros. in the event of an early cancellation. Ouch!
Rice, however, suggests a lemons-to-lemonade approach: Create a comedy block of My Name Is Earl, Joey, Will & Grace, and Scrubs on Thursdays. Heck, as NBC proved years ago with Jesse, ”must-see” can be a pretty loose adjective on Thursdays at 8:30 p.m. — as long as there’s actual laughs to be found at 8 and 9.
How would you fix NBC’s Joey problem?
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I think as long as they flip the times for Joey and Will & Grace, Joey’s rating’ll go up. Season 2 of the Friends spin off is so much better than the first, but the ratings prove it simply isn’t a top of the hour comedy. Will & Grace, especially in it’s final season, deserves that time slot.
i haven’t watched consistently this season, but i haven’t watched anything on thursdays this season, so…it’s not so much a diss on Joey. i think it’s funny show. no, it’s not as funny as Friends or as edgy as Early, but LeBlanc as Joey Tribbiani is comfortably funny. not the worst comedy by any means.
i think it really needs to be paired with something with higher ratings as well and have it lead into Joey in order to save it some.
This season is better than last. It’s funnier; especially Alex, the neighbor. They’ve made her character a total goof and her crush on Joey is really funny. Better still, more Jennifer Coolidge.
I honestly think Joey doesn’t deserve a chance at his point. Besides, where is that going to leave ‘The Office?’ It’s a much better show that deserves a decent time slot. Replace Joey with The Office and THEN you’ll have a perfect block of TV. If NBC is too cheap to cancel it, then they shouldn’t have brought it back for another season. That doesn’t mean that other shows have to suffer.
What to do with “The Office?” Put it on as part of the proposed Thursday block and put “Will & Grace” out of its misery. Check out early W&G to see just how much that show has declined in the past two years.
Two words: Heather Locklear. She seems to have the goddess touch on flailing shows.
i love Joey Tribbiani sooo much! He’s really hilarious! We should him give him a chance to show his worth especially in the comedy department…
bring on Matthew Perry
Please don’t put “My Name is Earl” on Thursdays! There’s already too much to watch on that night! I’m already missing “Will & Grace.”
Let Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox-Arquette, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer and Matthew Perry guest the show…I’m pretty sure ratings will sky rocket once they visit Joey!
Let Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox-Arquette, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer and Matthew Perry guest the show…I’m pretty sure ratings will sky rocket once they visit Joey!
I agree that letting Joey’s old Friends guest would be the most logical fix. Barring that, though, Joey should have a phone conversation with one of the Friends at the end of each show. Joey was never better than when he was playing off Chandler or Rachel. At least let us see that, even if it’s only one-sided.
I have never seen a single episode of Joey – the whole concept of spin-offs in general suck. But we don’t need anything else to watch on Thursday nights anyways – I already have to stay up to watch stuff I missed on time shifting – and still miss out on one or two shows I would love to catch. Let’s move some stuff over on to Friday – there is a good place for Joey… a place where everyone is out and not watching tv anyways.
Renegotiate thier contract. Replace the sitcom for a $50 million Joey romantic comedy movie. His pay is already $15.4 a year and with the whole cast, that’s like 3 years of show just in paying the actors. He gets his money and NBC might get their money back quicker than the slow bleed that already exists.
They can fix Joey by taking that dying horse out to pasture…
I admit I’m still watching just out of loyalty to Matt Leblanc. There’s nothing in that show to care about, especially not relationships: the whole Joey-Alex stuff really sucks. They need a story as strong as early-Ross&Rachel to keep us hooked. And also, a “vilain” such as an evil agent like Jeremy Piven/Artie Gold in Entourage wouldn’t hurt.
I have watched “Joey” since episode one last season. Granted, it’s not as great as “Friends” was, but how many sitcoms really are? I’ve read reviews that say the “Joey-shtick” is as funny as when the rest of the “Friends” cast was on, but the entire series has improved in season number 2. I still laugh, but most often it’s in scenes with Joey and Bobbie (Jennifer Coolidge)…I think they should play to that strength more often.
Simply put, for the most part, I think that TV shows, especially sitcoms, are more competitive…people are spreading their allegiences more and therefore we won’t easily see a “break-out smash” as easily as we once used to. So, give the show a break and let us that like it keep watching.
I agree with the comedy block idea and that Joey should not lead. Also, the fact that NBC deserves what they get. They are hiding Scrubs (easily the funniest show on TV) for some unknown reason and that should definitely be added to the comedy block.
NBC needs to give up Thursday night. Simple as that. Thursday night belongs to UPN now, but everyone still wants to swim in that river in Egypt in hopes that Everybody Hates Chris will somehow drop later this year.
The solution is to move Joey over to Tuesday night and put it in between Earl and the Office. They could add Will and Grace right after the office and make Tusday night super night! Joey is pretty awful, but if it’s between two good shows people might stick around.
miv, as great as the second season of Friends was, the first season was GOLD. I gave up on Joey after the first episode this year. One laugh per hour just isn’t worth it. He’s gotten stupider (I know, he was never very bright, but at least he used to have street smarts), and the writing blows. The benching of Scrubs this year is an bigger mystery than anything they could put on CSI.
Maybe it has to do with the fact that NBC, once hailed for it’s comedies, now only has four on the entire schedule? Or the fact that they have NEVER known how to promote it, or that they have nothing to pair it with. Benching either “Earl” or “Office” would be criminal; they’re both getting better with each episode. They need another half-hour show to pair it with, and a time slot where it can stay for a while without getting creamed in the ratings.
I really like Joey for its “Yeah were dumb, but try to enjoy it and just laugh” style of comedy. True, its not friends, did anyone think it would be? I really enjoy the show and as a huge “friends” fan, I do have a devotion to watch. I do beleive that this year’s shows are much better than last, which should give anyone hope. I also believe that a move to Tuesday would be a GREAT move by NBC, take Earl, follow with Joey, Segue into Scrubs, and Finish off with Office. Sitcom Blocks used to work GREAT for MANY networks especially NBC (Tuesday’s and Thursday’s). I would watch the whole block nonstop. Thursday’s are VERY CROWDED, just concede Thursday with some of your lower rated dramas, and give Joey a new life on Tuesday (Moving Earl to Thursday WILL NOT HELP). There is just to much to choose from on Thursday (I am an OC devotee, So if not for Tivo, I wouldn’t watch Joey either) DO IT NBC, MAKE THE RIGHT MOVE!
Let “Joey” die an honorable death. Have him decide that he’s not meant for Hollywood and there’s only one thing to do.
Cut to tight shot of a door with a hand knocking. Pay Cox and Perry whatever they want to stand there holding their child and have Joey say “I’m home.” He walks in the door.
Perry gives an odd look and closes door. Fade to black.
Thus ends the worst spinoff since “AfterM*A*S*H.”
i LOVED the episodes with lucy liu!! she should come back as a regular and replace alex and gina. they are not funny at all!
NBC needs to face the fact that your just can’t take 1/6 of a emsemble show, give them the lead in another show, and expect people to care. Joey the character is good…..in small doses. As a lead, he’s just not funny. His handsome-but-dumb act and “Hi ya doin’?” greeting gets old pretty fast. At least on Friends he wasn’t expected to carry the show; he was part of the emsemble. Here he’s expected to carry the show and after two seasons it’s simply not working. If everyone from Survivor to Everybody Hates Chris is beating you in the ratings, that’s a telltale sign to cancel this show once and for all. Put something on that time slot that’s actually watchable, like Scrubs or My Name is Earl. Joey: You’re Fired!
I like Joey. I like his relationship with Alex and I wish more people would give the show a chance. And I love the idea of having Earl and Scrubs on Thursday nights. Those are NBC’s two best comdies. Oh, I hate The Office. Now there’s a show that should be canceled.
Like the comedy block suggestion, but it would be much stronger if you replaced “Joey” with “The Office”, and replaced “Will & Grace” with a half-hour block of commercials or reruns of “Saved By The Bell”
What Joey needs is a more subversive spirit. Its a shame that the idea of pretending to have a reality show was already done by a ‘friend’ because it would have worked great with Joey. Still, how about putting him in more absurd situations. I don’t mean slapstick. I’m thinking that Joey runs for Governor or Joey becomes the spokesperson for mensa. It would be much more fun if the people in L.A. never actually realized Joey was dumb as a box of rocks. After all, it is L.A.
My Name is Earl, The Office, and Scrubs all need to be on the schedule. Will & Grace needs to end, and soon. Joey may be unfixable, but I don’t care if they make it part of the comedy block I will probably watch. The main problem right now is they have one too many comedies to make their schedule work…
Okay NBC, here’s the plan: bump the tired The Apprentice and the fading Joey to Tuesdays; this will free up the Thursday at 9 slot for Earl. Use Will & Grace to lead off the night at 8:00…. then, slot your most promising new sitcom (Max Mutchnick’s Four Kings, maybe?) in the Will / Earl hammock… and then promote the hell out of it. Finally, get Scrubs out of those hiatus mothballs and into the Earl lead-out slot at 9:30.
http://www.dead-frog.com/news/2005/11/post_9.html
It’s Cheaper to Not Cancel Joey. Money-wise. Soul-wise, it’s a toss-up. (Entertainment Weekly)…