Joey’s story didn’t finish with Friends because he soon had his spinoff series, but why was he the only member of the group to do so?
In its last season, Friends provided good closure for its primary characters, but Joey’s future was left open and was addressed in the spinoff series Joey. Why, however, was Joey the only member of the group to have his TV show?
Many sitcoms from the 1990s became classics, but few have had the same influence as Friends. Friends, a television series created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, debuted on NBC in 1994 and ran for ten seasons before being cancelled in 2004.
The audience of Friends was left with many enduring jokes, scenes, and characters, as well as a spinoff of the joey tv series that wasn’t as popular as the original.
Friends introduced viewers to six young adults in New York City.
They tried daily to combine their personal, professional, and social lives while adjusting to adulthood.
Except for Joey, fans watched Monica, Chandler, Phoebe, Joey, Rachel, and Ross progress from struggling young adults trying to make their way in life to finally settling down and starting their own families throughout the show’s ten seasons (Matt LeBlanc).
Joey Tribbiani, the group’s womanizer and the classic dimwitted character with a decent heart who always looked out for his pals, went through various circumstances throughout Friends, from humorous to more serious ones. Still, he hadn’t changed much at the end of the series.
When Friends came to a close, Rachel and Ross had already reconnected. They had a daughter together, Monica and Chandler had moved into their own home with their newborn twins, and Phoebe had married Mike (Paul Rudd), creating the family she had always wanted.
Although Joey was the only person left unmarried at the end of Friends, he continued to date various women, and his story was carried in the spinoff series Joey.
However, Joey questioned why he was the only one to receive a spinoff, and it turned out that Joey receiving his show wasn’t the initial intention. Unfortunately, Joey didn’t have the calibre and influence of Friends.
Producer of Friends Kevin S. Bright said that Rachel, played by Jennifer Aniston, was considered first for a spinoff series before Joey in an interview with Metro published in 2018.
Rachel was one of the most well-liked characters in Friends, and for a good reason: not only did Aniston become one of the biggest stars of the 1990s with her portrayal, but Friends also put her front and centre from the start.
A Rachel spinoff series, however, was never made since Aniston preferred acting in motion pictures.
The Monica and Chandler TV series was their backup plan, but Bright noted that while Courteney Cox and Matthew Perry were “grateful for making the show,” they no longer desired to portray those roles.
But because Matt LeBlanc adored Joey and was willing to keep drawing him, Joey got his spinoff series.
The lead character relocated to Los Angeles to further his acting career, and Joey accompanied him there. By the end of the series, Joey had settled down with Alex (Andrea Anders), bringing his tale to a fitting conclusion.
Bright argued that Joey failed to connect with the audience like Friends because the show featured a different Joey than fans were accustomed to.
Fans have decided to stick with the Friends ending and ignore the events of Joey since it’s difficult to determine whether a Rachel or Monica and Chandler spinoff series would have succeeded or failed better than Joey did.
