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First off - this is NOT Friends, it will never BE Friends, it SHOULD never be Friends. These simple facts are probably also what most people have against Joey. I don't. I think it's 'Joeys' strength. Joey is a character we've come to love and respect during those past ten years, now that he's 'come into his own' a lot of the plot centers around him and only around him. This is of course the biggest change from that previous show, it is also absolutely necessary. For 'Joey' to work the character has to evolve, Joey himself has to mature and no longer only be the grown-up kid he has been. He is no longer the comic-relief guy who amazes us with his juvenile ways and amazing stupidity. He simply HAS to grow up. And grow up he will. To be honest, I too was skeptical after watching the pilot. But after I got over the facts that I already described in the first sentence of this comment, I just sat back and heartily laughed at the comedy displayed. Just remember these simple things - Michael isn't Ross. Alex isn't Monica, Gina isn't Rachel. Joey isn't Friends, Joey is Joey - and he's growing up. Be happy that you can laugh about it with him.

Did people keep comparing Frasier to Cheers? Of course not. It was a completely different show. I saw the first two episodes last night and was impressed. I like Gina and Michael and I especially like his agent, Bobbie, played with gusto but the ever talented Jennifer Coolidge.

Out of all the characters, Joey stands the best chance of making it alone and I really think people need to let the show move through the natural teething problems that it will have. It's NOT Friends, just the same as Mork and Mindy was NOT Happy Days. To compare the two is asinine. Will it be better than Friends, who knows. Remember that Friends had it's own teething problems in the early days and was not necessarily the greatest show on the planet. Star Trek: The Next Generation was absolutely lousy in the first season. That moved on to spawn one of TV's greatest shows. Hell, The Simpsons was not great in it's first season. However, a show will never work if all people can say is "This is not Friends"!!! Give it a chance. It's worked for Angel from "Buffy"!

I was obsessed with FRIENDS. I counted down the hours until the next show would come on. I've seen every episode and own every DVD. When the last episode premiered I almost cried myself to death. When Joey came on I felt like the show was reincarnating. I had to watch it so I could keep FRIENDS in my heart. I did and it was great. I now love the show. I think Joey in LA is a great idea, and Paulo as the nerdy nephew trying to be a lad's man is brilliance. I like Gina a lot. But I think her character needs to chill out a little. You know, I love the whole-Jerk strong women but I think it needs to slow down a bit. Also I would say they need to get going with something. Someone has to meet someone. It just seems as if the show is going nowhere. Every episode there's a new girl. (I know thats what Joey's all about but still.) At least with Friends You had the same boyfriend/girlfriend on/off thing going. Monica/Richard, Rosa/Rachel. The show has perfect chemistry, and I think it could go far, but only if the writer's stay on their game.

What the guys at NBC have done is take the most laugh-out-loud character from friends and tried to give him his own character. Lets not forget that in Friends he had 5 other main characters to fall back on and countless others. A lot of whats happened in Joey has been a reflection to what happened in the earlier seasons of Frasier. 1) A big move to a new city 2) Previously unseen family members crawl out of the woodwork 3) A new unavailable love interest.

It is obvious to me that the writers have looked to Seattles finest for inspiration, but i don't think so far that they've looked hard enough. When Frasier left Boston he had a change of direction in career which gave us the often hilarious radio phone-ins, the double act with Ros and a score of other brilliant minor characters (Bulldog, Kenny etc.)

Joey on the other hand has the same life more or less just without Chandler and the others. Sequences of Joey on set which once took about 5 minutes of a Friends episodes these now are the basis for whole episodes. His contemporaries extend to his sister, nephew and neighbour and occasionally his agent(played by a horrifically over-the-top Jennifer Coolidge) this means he is continually conversing with the same few characters which can draw repetition.

I only refer to Frasier so much as it it the benchmark for all spin-offs as it became arguably better than the original show Cheers. And for Joey to carry on it needs to flesh out its characters and its story.

However i find no fault in the enthusiastic acting from the regular cast. Joey is the same lovable fool and Drea Di Matteo is brilliant in her role as Gina. Although i criticised the show quite heavily i enjoy every episode and really wish that Joey will be around for a long while. I just know how fickle audiences are and don't want joey to fall into the category of shows that could have done great but got cancelled.

Sean

The problem with "Joey" so far? The minds behind the show seem to have forgotten why we, as viewers, were so taken by Joey Tribbiani on "Friends."

As an idiotic buffoon, he was primarily a great comedic foil for the other characters, especially Chandler, and occasionally would have a solid storyline showcasing that side of him.

But it was the episodes showing that his heart was bigger than his brain -- like the one where he took Rachel out on a dinner date -- that gave Joey real depth and gave viewers a real reason to love the character.

In either case, though, Joey was just 1/6th of the equation, and the character was only asked to carry 6-10 minutes of any given episode, at the most.

Here, they're trying to make Joey carry the entire 24 minutes because, as it stands now, the supporting characters aren't compelling enough to warrant strong independent story lines of their own. And we haven't seen enough of the scenes that show Joey's heart.

It's not a problem that can't be fixed. I think they need to lay off some of the more stereotypical character jokes (Joey dumb, nephew smart, sister tough and oversexed) and put them in situations that are funny, but also make us care more about them. As it stands now, you could almost write the script with adjectives instead of character names, because the characters' natures so rarely change.

Personally, I'd love to see an episode where the supporting cast gets together to plan a surprise birthday party for Joey, with everybody having their own ideas of what to do, but ultimately we find out that none of them really knows Joey as well as they think they do. Something like that would be a great learning and growing experience for the show, its writers, and its characters.

But hey, that's just my opinion.