# Joey - a surprise **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 10, 2004, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joey-a-surprise/263879 "2004-09-10T05:28:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2004, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joey-a-surprise/263879/1 "2004-09-10T05:28:46Z")
Just finished watching Matt LeBlanc in _Joey_ and I was surprised that I really liked it. I give it ten 😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃😃 ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2004, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joey-a-surprise/263879/2 "2004-09-10T05:30:32Z")
Meh… I wasn’t too enamoured with it. I’ll watch it if there is nothing else on on Tuesdays, but I’m not going to be watching every week. ---
**Author:** ![ThatGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e5b9ba/32.png) [@ThatGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThatGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2004, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joey-a-surprise/263879/3 "2004-09-10T05:47:37Z")
Considering my expectations were low and what i got was mediocre…yea it exceeded my expectations. Add me to the pleasantly suprised list, and i’ll keep an eye on it. ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2004, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joey-a-surprise/263879/4 "2004-09-10T05:52:58Z")
It’s a ‘4’ at best. ---
**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2004, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joey-a-surprise/263879/5 "2004-09-10T06:16:43Z")
It was better than I expected it would be. I like Joey’s nephew as a character, plus I thought he was funny in Road Trip. Ill probably watch it again. ---
**Author:** ![Duderdude2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cdc98d/32.png) [@Duderdude2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duderdude2)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2004, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joey-a-surprise/263879/6 "2004-09-10T07:38:33Z")
As one who’s not a fan of Friend’s, I was pleasantly surprised by how funny the show was. I’ll be tuning in next week. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2004, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joey-a-surprise/263879/7 "2004-09-10T08:36:47Z")
This is the first time in months that I have missed having a TV. ---
**Author:** ![skittles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@skittles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skittles)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2004, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joey-a-surprise/263879/8 "2004-09-10T13:05:41Z")
I enjoyed it as well. I am a huge Friends fan. (D&R into the corner - don’t hit me.) I was glad they kept his character true. Only thing I’m having trouble with…she wasn’t one of his original sisters. I also don’t think that was one of his sister’s names. I thought they were all Mary and then something? ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2004, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joey-a-surprise/263879/9 "2004-09-10T13:45:49Z")
I watched a few minutes of it like 15 minutes after it started, and it seemed very bad, nowhere near as funny as I found Friends. Maybe I should have given it some more time (or watched it from the start). ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2004, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joey-a-surprise/263879/10 "2004-09-10T14:12:20Z")
> [@skittles](#): > > Only thing I’m having trouble with…she wasn’t one of his original sisters. I also don’t think that was one of his sister’s names. I thought they were all Mary and then something? And so it begins… ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2004, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joey-a-surprise/263879/11 "2004-09-10T14:22:39Z")
> [@skittles](#): > > Only thing I’m having trouble with…she wasn’t one of his original sisters. I also don’t think that was one of his sister’s names. I thought they were all Mary and then something? When Sam Malone made a guest appearance on “Frasier” Sam noted that while in Boston, Frasier’s father was dead, his mother was alive, and he didn’t have a brother. Frasier’s explanation for these glaring inconsistencies. . . “I lied.” ---
**Author:** ![elf6c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c57346/32.png) [@elf6c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elf6c)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2004, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joey-a-surprise/263879/12 "2004-09-10T14:59:13Z")
Had relatively low expectations as this was a new show with new writers, but was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the show. I will keep watching. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2004, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joey-a-surprise/263879/13 "2004-09-10T16:16:10Z")
I only caught the last part of it, which was only so-so. Good at introducing the characters, but not enough to make them interesting. But the casting is weird. Why cast a women five years _younger_ than Matt LeBlanc as his _older_ sister? Are there no 40-year-old actresses in Hollywood who could play the part? She’s only five years older than her “son.” They don’t mesh at all on screen. (And Drea de Matteo’s breasts just aren’t large enough by Hollywood standards to warrant the implant jokes every five seconds.) If they don’t introduce some new continuing characters to take the burden off the already repetitious jokes the series will die a slow death as former Friends loyalists seep away. ---
**Author:** ![Duderdude2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cdc98d/32.png) [@Duderdude2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duderdude2)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2004, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joey-a-surprise/263879/14 "2004-09-10T18:24:11Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > When Sam Malone made a guest appearance on “Frasier” Sam noted that while in Boston, Frasier’s father was dead, his mother was alive, and he didn’t have a brother. Frasier’s explanation for these glaring inconsistencies. . . > > “I lied.” I had forgotten about that episode. That was one of the funniest lines I’ve ever heard, given the hilarious context. ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2004, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joey-a-surprise/263879/15 "2004-09-10T19:19:13Z")
If this show fails, it won’t be Matt LeBlanc’s fault. Joey is funny. I am skeptical of the supporting cast they put around him. I liked Road Trip but his nephew was pretty dull. His sister was hit or miss. The lawyer wasn’t very compelling. “stifler’s mom”'s scene was dreadful. I didn’t like that character at all. I hope they tighten it up. I want it to succeed. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2004, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joey-a-surprise/263879/16 "2004-09-10T22:54:42Z")
Put me down as a person who didn’t buy the mother-son angle. Drea just looks too young, even if she did have the kid at 16. And the son is an ACTUAL rocket scientist who is out of college, but doesn’t have enough money for an apartment? Is he working for peanuts? ---
**Author:** ![TWOTfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9de053/32.png) [@TWOTfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWOTfan)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2004, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joey-a-surprise/263879/17 "2004-09-10T23:20:43Z")
I WANTED to like this show but wound up leaving the room after 15 minutes. Unless something changes it won’t survive to a 2nd season. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2004, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joey-a-surprise/263879/18 "2004-09-10T23:56:27Z")
my TIVO betrayed me for some reason… was it a half hour show, or longer? And if it was just a half hour, what happened in the last 5 minutes? (last I saw, Joey came home after botching the audition with the three cameras, his nephew told him he wouldn’t be his roommate after all, and that was it…) ---
**Author:** ![Paranoid\_Randroid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paranoid_randroid/32/18_2.png) [@Paranoid\_Randroid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paranoid_Randroid)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2004, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joey-a-surprise/263879/19 "2004-09-11T01:21:22Z")
> [@ISiddiqui](#): > > And the son is an ACTUAL rocket scientist who is out of college, but doesn’t have enough money for an apartment? Is he working for peanuts? I’m pretty sure he mentioned he was a grad student, near the beginning of the episode. Had he been anything _but_ penniless it wouldn’t have been true to life. I thought the show was all right. I actually rather liked Stiffler’s mom - she was a hoot. The sister’s definitely way too young to have mothered a twenty year old. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2004, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joey-a-surprise/263879/20 "2004-09-11T01:35:53Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > my TIVO betrayed me for some reason… was it a half hour show, or longer? And if it was just a half hour, what happened in the last 5 minutes? > > (last I saw, Joey came home after botching the audition with the three cameras, his nephew told him he wouldn’t be his roommate after all, and that was it…) The show ran long - I also noticed that it was still going five minutes past the half hour. Joey made some speech about how he hates change but change can be good, all his friends got married, blah blah. Then he mentions that the nephew is old enough to move out, since she was only 16 when she had him. The payoff there was pretty lame - she grabbed his ear, the end. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joey-a-surprise/263879.md?page=2)