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Tag: Chandler

  • ‘Joey’s’ solo run minus ‘Friends’ shows promise

    ‘Joey’s’ solo run minus ‘Friends’ shows promise

    MUMBAI: So how’s Joey doing? If the numbers from Nielsen media research are any indication, then not bad, not bad at all.

    Joey- a spinoff of Friends – which debuted on NBC last Thursday, was seen by an estimated 18.6 million audiences. Although the numbers are lower than any original episode of Matt LeBlanc’s old series drew last season, but initial figures indicate that the spinoff would help consolidate the network’s Thursday’s night lineup.

    Besides meriting glowing reviews from critics, Joey is reported to have gathered the largest audience among the advertiser-friendly 18-to-49-year-old age group of any other entertainment show since May. The show also fared particularly well with female viewers with a 9.3 rating, reports inform. In addition to that, the media reports tout it as the best-rated 8 pm comedy premiere for NBC in 14 years.

    The new sitcom Joey sees Matt LeBlanc carry on the role of the lovable but dimwitted Joey Tribbiani, after Phoebe, Monica, Chandler, Rachel and Ross left to get married and bring up babies.

    The show follows LeBlanc as struggling actor Joey Tribbiani, who moved from New York to Los Angeles to try and make it as a Hollywood star. Even before the opening credits appear, Joey is seen getting on the wrong flight to Dallas.

    The show also stars Drea de Matteo as Joey’s sister, Gina, who is best known for her role in the gangster drama The Sopranos and Roadtrip actor Paul Costanzo as de Matteo’s son Michael.

    While there is a buzz that some of the Friends cast, including Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer, have agreed to make special guest appearances on Joey, Schwimmer is also working as a director on the series.

    The show’s producers hope they can repeat the success of Frasier, which took barfly psychiatrist Dr Frasier Crane from hit series,Cheers, and transplanted him from Boston to Seattle to create one of the most popular TV characters of all time. But word of caution would be the experience of the stars of Seinfeld , including Jason Alexander and Julia Louis-Dreyfus who flopped in a succession of failed comedies dubbed The Curse of Seinfeld.

    On the home grounds, the telecast rights for the last season of Friends are still open, and it is likely that Zee English — which aired the Season 9 — is the strong contender.

    Elsewhere, Channel 4 recently lost a bidding war to show Joey in Britain to Five, who are paying an estimated ?500,000 for each half-hour episode to show the series this autumn.

  • ‘Friends’ bids a graceful farewell

    ‘Friends’ bids a graceful farewell

    MUMBAI: As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. Even Friends. One of the shows that gave a major boost to the sitcom genre, Friends has closed the books after charming the world for ten years.

    Yesterday, the final episode aired on NBC.

    The happy news for fans was that Ross and Rachel played by David Schwimmer and Jennifer Aniston got back together. In the final scene the six friends gave up their key to Monica and Chandler’s apartment.

    NBC estimates that around 45 million people saw the final episode. However, those who missed out need not fret. The DVD of the season will be out in a few days with plenty of juicy extras.

    One of NBC’s publicity stunts was in New York. The finale was beamed on a big screen in Times Square. It got an audience of around 3,000.

    Still, the 45-million projected figure is nowhere near the record set by M-A-S-H in 1983. Its 2 1/2-hour send-off that was seen by nearly 106 million viewers still stands as the most watched US telecast ever. The last Cheers episode was seen by 80.4 million people in 1993 and Seinfeld had 76.2 million for its 1998 conclusion.

    The final episode had been filmed in January under a heavy veil of secrecy. The broadcaster did an excellent job in making sure that the story was kept under wraps. It charged advertisers $ 2 million per 30 second spot for the finale.

    At the end of the show Monica and Chandler have a pleasant surprise when she delivers twins. Phoebe, played by Lisa Kudrow, was already married, and Joey headed west to get serious about his acting career. In fact Matt LeBlanc who plays the character will have his own show. Joey has the unenviable and perhaps impossible task of trying to sustain the enthusiasm and global following that Friends was able to build.

    The question now is what happens to the sitcom genre. Sex And The City wrapped up on HBO recently. Frasier comes to a close next week. Ray Romano is also hesistant about returning to CBS’ Everybody Loves Raymond after the current season.

    Compounding the problem is a Newsweek report which bluntly puts forth the suggestion that the sitcom is dying. New shows like Its All Relative and Two and a Half Men could be considered as mere variations on Everybody Loves Raymond. There does not seem to be any effort to go past the stereotypes of the American family. Executives are apparently fixated on the notion of merely having the audience laugh every three seconds.

    What the networks seem to be missing sight of is the fact that in 1994 the concept of a show like Friends was unique. There wasn’t a show at that time on the airwaves which focussed on 20 -year-olds living single in Manhattan In fact at that time it had been felt be network executives that another character would be needed like an older character or a cop on the beat or the guy who owns the coffee shop who gives the friends advice.

    If the Newsweek prediction does come true, it will be real pity. For now though, one can only live on the hope that somewhere out there the next great sitcom is waiting to be born.