The ill-fated “Pals” spin-off “Joey” is lastly accessible to stream for the primary time because it went off-air. The streaming age debut of “Joey” comes virtually 20 years after the present was cancelled by NBC again in 2006 after simply two seasons. Whether or not modern-day “Pals” followers will probably be extra impressed by the collection than audiences of the early-2000s, nonetheless, stays to be seen.
For no matter purpose, when “Pals” ended after 10 seasons in 2004, NBC determined to take Matt LeBlanc’s character and provides him a complete present, which adopted Joey as he moved to Los Angeles in pursuit of stardom. In fact, each “Pals” fan liked Joey, however the thought of him being faraway from the primary group appeared a doubtful premise at finest. Followers’ issues have been sadly confirmed when the spin-off aired. “Pals” may’ve had some dangerous episodes, however even they weren’t fairly as dire as “Joey,” which did not seize a lot, if any, of its predecessor’s magic.
“Joey,” which debuted in 2004, tried to encompass its star with a supporting forged that might play properly together with his lovably dim persona, introducing Drea de Matteo as Joey’s sister, Gina Tribbiani, Andrea Anders as his next-door neighbor and landlady Alexis Garrett, and Paulo Constanzo as Michael Tribbiani, Joey’s nephew. The present additionally featured Jennifer Coolidge as Joey’s agent, Bobbie Morganstern. Alas, none of this might save the collection from a major rankings decline, and it was taken off-air in 2006.
Now, nonetheless, the primary two episodes of the short-lived sitcom have been made accessible on the official “Pals” YouTube channel, introducing a complete new era to the present.
Is there a Joey resurgence coming?
“Joey” premiered in September 2004, simply months after “Pals” wrapped up. NBC was clearly desirous to fill the massive void left by its greatest present and hoped “Joey” was the collection to do it. However as Deadline has famous, the present’s rankings rapidly plummeted. When it first debuted “Joey” truly introduced in a good viewers, with 18.6 million viewers tuning in for the pilot. A lot of that appears to have been the results of the present airing within the “Pals” Thursday-night timeslot. Pretty rapidly, although, these viewers determined that “Joey” wasn’t for them. The common viewership for season 1 was 10.2 million, which fell to 7.1 million for the second season. Issues weren’t helped by NBC shifting the collection from its Thursday evening spot, because the community pulled the present in December 2005 and reintroduced it in March 2006 in a brand new Tuesday-night timeslot. Two months later, nonetheless, NBC cancelled the present outright, leaving eight episodes unaired.
For now, simply the primary two episodes of “Joey” can be found on the “Pals” YouTube channel. Whether or not extra will probably be launched stays up within the air, however it’s fascinating to see the present returning within the streaming age. That is, in spite of everything, the period the place community exhibits of the previous have loved enormous success amongst new audiences as a part of a phenomenon not too long ago dubbed “newstalgia.” That time period truly refers to beforehand standard exhibits which have discovered renewed reputation on streaming, as was the case with a collection like “Fits,” which loved main success on Netflix in 2023 after ending its USA community run 4 years prior. “Joey,” however, cannot declare to have ever been standard throughout its preliminary airing, however maybe this two-episode drop is designed to check the waters within the streaming age. Youthful audiences may properly be kinder to Joey Tribbiani and his failed transfer westward. If this mini YouTube launch proves even barely standard, then, we would properly see the complete collection drop on a streamer within the close to future.
