Die-hard fans of “Friends” will finally get to see the final installment of the short-lived spinoff series “Joey.”
The final eight episodes of the 2004 NBC sitcom, starring Matt LeBlanc as the wisecracking Joey Tribbiani, were never aired in the United States after the show was canceled midway through season two in 2006. But now these eight films, along with the other 38 films that make up the entire series, can be viewed on YouTube’s Friends channel.
Other cast members besides LeBlanc include Drea de Matteo, Paulo Costanzo, Jennifer Coolidge, and Andrea Anders. The series followed Joey as he “leaves New York and heads to Hollywood to take his acting career to the next level.” While in Los Angeles, he reunites with his “neurotic sister Gina (Matteo)” and “20-year-old genius nephew Michael (Costanzo),” according to the official description.
The show’s pilot, created by Friends producers Shanna Goldberg-Meehan and Scott Silveri, premiered to 18.6 million viewers. However, the hype quickly died down throughout Season 1 and the rest of Season 2.
After Joey ended, Friends executive producer and director Kevin S. Bright shared his thoughts on why the spinoff failed to find an audience. He told the Age in 2006, “On Friends Joey was a womanizer, but we enjoyed his exploits. He was a solid friend, a reliable guy. Joey was dismantled as a guy who couldn’t get a job and couldn’t ask a girl out on a date. He became a pathetic, boring character. I felt he was going in the wrong direction, but I wasn’t listened to.”
