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Joey - The Complete First Season
Warner Bros. // Unrated // May 30, 2006
List Price: $39.98 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Show
Without fail, the end of summer brings the previews for the upcoming Fall TV season. And every year, journalists who write about the new crop of shows invariably complain about the lack of variety in the lineup and point out the over saturation of police, hospital, and lawyer shows (insert your own Law & Order or CSI joke here) or the banality of sitcoms. But, as we've learned over the years, whenever the networks try programming something unique and groundbreaking (such as Arrested Development), the ratings suffer. Which brings us to the conundrum of Joey. This spin-off from one of the most successful sitcoms in television history wasn't accepted for its sameness or for its changes, and thus floundered in the ratings. Now that Joey: The Complete First Season is coming to DVD, maybe the show will get a second chance.
With Joey, Matt LeBlanc reprises his role of Joey Tribianni, which he originated on Friends. Joey is a good-natured, yet often dim-witted actor who had his shares of ups and downs while living in New York. Given the upheaval which occurred with all of his friends, Joey has decided that he needs a change as well, so he moves to Los Angeles to further his acting career. There, we meet Joey's sister, Gina (Drea de Matteo) and her son, Michael, (Paulo Costanzo). Gina is a short-tempered and head-strong hair-dresser and Michael is a 20-year old prodigy who is studying physics at Cal Tech. Joey settles into an apartment and is soon joined by Michael, who is ready to move out on his own.
Joey's family makes him feel welcome in L.A., but one ill-informed career decision shows him that Tinseltown can be a tough place to be successful. Joey's agent, Bobbie Morganstern (Jennifer Coolidge), does her best to get work for Joey, but she's constantly pre-occupied. On the bright side, Joey makes a new friend in his attractive neighbor, Alex (Andrea Anders), who, much to Joey's chagrin, is married. As Joey becomes accustomed to West Coast life, he learns to balance family, work, and friends.
Television spin-offs have a rather dubious reputation and a spotty track record. There's no guarantee that a hit show can produce a successful progeny. For example, look at The Golden Girls. The Richard Mulligan vehicle Empty Nest spun off from this hit show and ran for seven seasons. In contrast, the direct follow-up to The Golden Girls,, was cancelled after only one season. History will show that Joey joined the ranks of the unsuccessful spin-offs and thus doesn't worth of its Friends legacy, but the show doesn't deserve this reputation.
With Joey, series creators Shana Goldberg-Meehan and Scott Silveri has wisely chosen to avoid making a clone of Friends. Instead of surrounding Joey with a group of characters his own age, he is placed amongst a diverse group of individuals. This allows for further explanation of who Joey is, as opposed to having his constantly compared to those around him. This also allows Joey to come to the forefront. On Friends, Joey was often used as the comic relief, with his lame-brained antics off setting the show's more serious moments. (Even in the storylines which revolved around Joey, one got the feeling that comedy outweighed drama.) However, the Joey on Joey is still very thick-headed, and much of the comedy relies on Joey either doing something odd or not fully understanding a situation. Perhaps America wasn't ready for a show where the main character is this goofy.
Joey also put the character through many changes, which may have been off-putting for those familiar with Friends Joey. For most of Friends' 10 season run, Joey was down-on-his luck, save for his work on Days of Our Lives. Thus, he was constantly relying on those around him, especially Chandler, for help. On this new show, Joey is much more independent, and his gets his first taste of real success. He has taken control of his career and is financially independent (although, he still accepts plenty of food from Gina and Michael). The Joey on Friends was known as a constant womanizer who was famous for his string of one night stands. This has been toned-down somewhat for Joey, and while the character still boasts of his sexual prowess and does flirt, he also spends a lot of time with Michael and Gina, and comes across as much more family oriented.
So, what have we established? Joey is not Friends, nor do I think it was meant to be. However, Joey is a funny sitcom and given the state of TV today, that's all that anyone should ask for. Close examination of the show reveals that the humor isn't all that different from Friends as the show blends quick one-liners, jokes aimed at Joey's questionable intellect, ribald humor, and some slapstick. It would be an exaggeration to call the show intelligent, but it never sinks to a lowest-common denominator level of humor and many of the jokes are quite clever. The show produces at least one true "belly laugh" per episode and that number is acceptable for me.
Joey is given a boost by its good cast. Joey's character may have changed somewhat, but LeBlanc is still at ease playing this role. At this point in his career, LeBlanc is Joey, and he plays the character to the hilt. I found Paulo Costanzo annoying in Road Trip, but he's good playing the smart, but very shy Michael. Jennifer Coolidge chews the scenery as Joey's agent and often seems to be improving every line. The one weak link in the cast (and maybe a contributor to the show's demise) is Drea de Matteo as Gina. I find Gina to simply be a disgusting person and as played by de Matteo, she is unlikable and difficult to watch.
Video
Joey moves onto DVD courtesy of Warner Home Video. The four disc boxed set contains all 24 episodes of the show's first season. The episodes are presented in a 1.33:1 aspect ratio. The problem is that I distinctly remember the shows being broadcast on NBC's HD channel in a widescreen (at least 1.78:1) format. Why aren't they widescreen on this DVD release? Unlike a cropped theatrical film, the image doesn't suffer that much from the aspect ratio change, but that's beside the point. If a widescreen version exists, why aren't consumers given the chance to view it on DVD? As it stands, the image looks OK. The picture is sharp and clear, showing only a mild amount of video noise at times. The colors look fine, and the flesh tones are realistic. There are no overt defects from the source material. I would normally say that the transfer rivals digital broadcast quality, but a digital broadcast would probably be in widescreen!
Audio
The DVDs have a Dolby Surround stereo audio track. This track provides clear dialogue and sound effects. The sound is free from hissing or distortion. The stereo effects are noticeable, but the surround sound effects only stand out with musical cues or the studio audience laughter.
Extras
There are no extras whatsoever found in this DVD boxed set.
It would be quite foolish to imagine Joey having a DVD-driven resurrection similar to that of Family Guy, but that doesn't mean that the show should be ignored. Joey was never destined to be a comedy classic, but it is a solid sitcom which offers a familiar character mixed with some genuinely funny incidents. Maybe it will appeal to those who hated Friends...
Without fail, the end of summer brings the previews for the upcoming Fall TV season. And every year, journalists who write about the new crop of shows invariably complain about the lack of variety in the lineup and point out the over saturation of police, hospital, and lawyer shows (insert your own Law & Order or CSI joke here) or the banality of sitcoms. But, as we've learned over the years, whenever the networks try programming something unique and groundbreaking (such as Arrested Development), the ratings suffer. Which brings us to the conundrum of Joey. This spin-off from one of the most successful sitcoms in television history wasn't accepted for its sameness or for its changes, and thus floundered in the ratings. Now that Joey: The Complete First Season is coming to DVD, maybe the show will get a second chance.
With Joey, Matt LeBlanc reprises his role of Joey Tribianni, which he originated on Friends. Joey is a good-natured, yet often dim-witted actor who had his shares of ups and downs while living in New York. Given the upheaval which occurred with all of his friends, Joey has decided that he needs a change as well, so he moves to Los Angeles to further his acting career. There, we meet Joey's sister, Gina (Drea de Matteo) and her son, Michael, (Paulo Costanzo). Gina is a short-tempered and head-strong hair-dresser and Michael is a 20-year old prodigy who is studying physics at Cal Tech. Joey settles into an apartment and is soon joined by Michael, who is ready to move out on his own.
Joey's family makes him feel welcome in L.A., but one ill-informed career decision shows him that Tinseltown can be a tough place to be successful. Joey's agent, Bobbie Morganstern (Jennifer Coolidge), does her best to get work for Joey, but she's constantly pre-occupied. On the bright side, Joey makes a new friend in his attractive neighbor, Alex (Andrea Anders), who, much to Joey's chagrin, is married. As Joey becomes accustomed to West Coast life, he learns to balance family, work, and friends.
Television spin-offs have a rather dubious reputation and a spotty track record. There's no guarantee that a hit show can produce a successful progeny. For example, look at The Golden Girls. The Richard Mulligan vehicle Empty Nest spun off from this hit show and ran for seven seasons. In contrast, the direct follow-up to The Golden Girls,
With Joey, series creators Shana Goldberg-Meehan and Scott Silveri has wisely chosen to avoid making a clone of Friends. Instead of surrounding Joey with a group of characters his own age, he is placed amongst a diverse group of individuals. This allows for further explanation of who Joey is, as opposed to having his constantly compared to those around him. This also allows Joey to come to the forefront. On Friends, Joey was often used as the comic relief, with his lame-brained antics off setting the show's more serious moments. (Even in the storylines which revolved around Joey, one got the feeling that comedy outweighed drama.) However, the Joey on Joey is still very thick-headed, and much of the comedy relies on Joey either doing something odd or not fully understanding a situation. Perhaps America wasn't ready for a show where the main character is this goofy.
Joey also put the character through many changes, which may have been off-putting for those familiar with Friends Joey. For most of Friends' 10 season run, Joey was down-on-his luck, save for his work on Days of Our Lives. Thus, he was constantly relying on those around him, especially Chandler, for help. On this new show, Joey is much more independent, and his gets his first taste of real success. He has taken control of his career and is financially independent (although, he still accepts plenty of food from Gina and Michael). The Joey on Friends was known as a constant womanizer who was famous for his string of one night stands. This has been toned-down somewhat for Joey, and while the character still boasts of his sexual prowess and does flirt, he also spends a lot of time with Michael and Gina, and comes across as much more family oriented.
So, what have we established? Joey is not Friends, nor do I think it was meant to be. However, Joey is a funny sitcom and given the state of TV today, that's all that anyone should ask for. Close examination of the show reveals that the humor isn't all that different from Friends as the show blends quick one-liners, jokes aimed at Joey's questionable intellect, ribald humor, and some slapstick. It would be an exaggeration to call the show intelligent, but it never sinks to a lowest-common denominator level of humor and many of the jokes are quite clever. The show produces at least one true "belly laugh" per episode and that number is acceptable for me.
Joey is given a boost by its good cast. Joey's character may have changed somewhat, but LeBlanc is still at ease playing this role. At this point in his career, LeBlanc is Joey, and he plays the character to the hilt. I found Paulo Costanzo annoying in Road Trip, but he's good playing the smart, but very shy Michael. Jennifer Coolidge chews the scenery as Joey's agent and often seems to be improving every line. The one weak link in the cast (and maybe a contributor to the show's demise) is Drea de Matteo as Gina. I find Gina to simply be a disgusting person and as played by de Matteo, she is unlikable and difficult to watch.
Video
Joey moves onto DVD courtesy of Warner Home Video. The four disc boxed set contains all 24 episodes of the show's first season. The episodes are presented in a 1.33:1 aspect ratio. The problem is that I distinctly remember the shows being broadcast on NBC's HD channel in a widescreen (at least 1.78:1) format. Why aren't they widescreen on this DVD release? Unlike a cropped theatrical film, the image doesn't suffer that much from the aspect ratio change, but that's beside the point. If a widescreen version exists, why aren't consumers given the chance to view it on DVD? As it stands, the image looks OK. The picture is sharp and clear, showing only a mild amount of video noise at times. The colors look fine, and the flesh tones are realistic. There are no overt defects from the source material. I would normally say that the transfer rivals digital broadcast quality, but a digital broadcast would probably be in widescreen!
Audio
The DVDs have a Dolby Surround stereo audio track. This track provides clear dialogue and sound effects. The sound is free from hissing or distortion. The stereo effects are noticeable, but the surround sound effects only stand out with musical cues or the studio audience laughter.
Extras
There are no extras whatsoever found in this DVD boxed set.
It would be quite foolish to imagine Joey having a DVD-driven resurrection similar to that of Family Guy, but that doesn't mean that the show should be ignored. Joey was never destined to be a comedy classic, but it is a solid sitcom which offers a familiar character mixed with some genuinely funny incidents. Maybe it will appeal to those who hated Friends...
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