Joey's New 'Friends'

[southerngale]

The final episode of "Friends" isn't even in the can yet but they're already casting its spin-off, "Joey."

In the new show, Matt LeBlanc continues his role as Joey Tribbiani, the loveable-but-dim soap actor from "Friends," who moves to Los Angeles to become a star.

The new show has three other main characters, according to the Web site, Filmjerk, which yesterday posted the so-called casting sheets that have been quietly circulating among Hollywood casting agents in recent weeks.


The new characters include:

* Gina: Joey's older sister who is an "attractive hairdresser living in Los Angeles with her son."

She's in her late 30s and is "probably smarter than Joey and blessed with the Tribbiani family's good looks."

She has a way with men, much the same way Joey has with women.

Gina, who's very close to Joey, had a wild youth, but raising her son has grounded her.

* Michael: Gina's 21-year-old son. Another attractive Tribbiani, but he doesn't realize it - and unlike his uncle, Michael is really intelligent, booksmart and street- smart.

He attends grad school at CalTech and despite all he's got going for him, Michael is still a little socially awkward.

* Allison: Joey's new neighbor is described as attractive (but not glamorous), intelligent, self deprecating and in her late 20s or early 30s.

She's stuck in a bad marriage and while she's not the kind of girl Joey usually goes for there's "something palpable between them and they begin to develop a friendship."

Since the show is still in the early stages, the three characters' could be changed.

[Miss Mary]

When I first heard Matt LeBlanc was getting a spin-off Friends' series, I was skeptical. But after watching his scenes last week on Pyramid, which were hilarious w/o the other 5 Friends, I'm thinking this may work. Stranger things have happened! I do wish him and the new show well. Most spin-off shows aren't very successful. Best examples I can come up with are Frasier and Laverne & Shirley. I'm sure there are others that were successful but I can't come up any more than that.

Mary

[GalvestonDuck]

Mork & Mindy, which also spun off from Happy Days (which itself was a spin-off from Love, American Style).

Knot's Landing spun off from Dallas (didn't it?)

The Jeffersons and Maude spun off from All In The Family. Good Time spun-off Maude.

Gomer Pyle USMC spun off from Andy Griffith.

Facts of Life spun off from Diff'rent Strokes.

Empty Nest spun off Golden Girls.

Xena spun-off Hercules.

Do the Star Treks count as spin-offs?

[southerngale]

Rhoda spun off Mary Tyler Moore.

[Miss Mary]

Shawn - I suspected you'd come to the rescue!

Technically, avid Knots Landing fans contest that it didn't spin off Dallas. You see KL was written and conceived before Dallas ever was. The writers pitched it to the network but they didn't like it. So it was put on a shelf for a few years. Then the same writers developed Dallas and well the rest as they say, is history. Somewhere along the line, it was decided to take KL off that shelf, and tweak the storyline a bit to make one couple in the cul-de-sac Gary and Val Ewing. So to new viewers it seemed like a Dallas spin-off. I imagine this debate will go on forever. Go to any KL website or message board, ask that question - which came first, KL or D - and you'll get lots of responses! How'd you like that lengthy answer? he he

Forgot all about Mork & Mindy!!! Yes that was very successful. Happy Days spawned 3 spin-offs if I'm correct: L & S, M & M, and then Joanie loves Chachi. That has to be a record somewhere. Although JLC didn't make it well, the other two spin-offs did quite well.

Mary

[JCT777]

I will certainly watch the first episode to see if I like it.

[southerngale]

Happy Days spawned 3 spin-offs if I'm correct: L & S, M & M, and then Joanie loves Chachi. That has to be a record somewhere. Although JLC didn't make it well, the other two spin-offs did quite well.

Mary

Happy Day had another spinoff, "Out of the Blue" but it only lasted 4 months.

[TexasStooge]

can't wait to see it.

[hunter84]

I'll probably check it out. Hopefully it does better than the Sinefeld spinoffs.

[OtherHD]

Ugh, when will it end?

[Miss Mary]

Happy Days spawned 3 spin-offs if I'm correct: L & S, M & M, and then Joanie loves Chachi. That has to be a record somewhere. Although JLC didn't make it well, the other two spin-offs did quite well.

Mary

Happy Day had another spinoff, "Out of the Blue" but it only lasted 4 months.

Wow, I didn't know that!!! Which characters did it feature from Happy Days? I will have to go check that out. I love sitcom trivia. Thanks southergale! Okay now, Happy Days definitely has to have a record for the most spin-offs doesn't it?

Edit - found it on Jump the Shark's website. The characters were from M & M, but traced back to Happy Days too. I must have been sleeping back then. I do not remember this show and I watched all of them - HD, L & S, M & M and even that dreadful JLC!!!!
Mary

[southerngale]

I'll probably check it out. Hopefully it does better than the Sinefeld spinoffs.

That one with Elaine was terrible! I love Seinfeld and tried to watch that one a couple of times, but it was just awful.

Miss Mary...glad I could help you out with your sitcom trivia.

[blizzard]

"Out of the Blue", I've never heard of that one... when did it air?

[GalvestonDuck]

Actually, Seinfeld didn't have any true spin-offs. To be a spin-off, Julia Louis-Dreyfus would have had to play Elaine Benes. But her character was Ellie Riggs on "Watching Ellie." Jason Alexander was Bob Patterson and Eric Duckman, but not George Constanza on his other shows. And finally, Michael Richards was something awful instead of being Cosmo Kramer. So, none of those was actually a spin-off of Seinfeld even though they had actors who starred on Seinfeld.

It's kind of like how "8 Simple Rules" was not a spin-off of "Three's Company." Hey! There's another one with sorry excuses for spin-offs. Three's Company spun-off "Three's A Crowd" and "The Ropers."