Joey: Friends spinoff gets the last laugh as eight “new” episodes emerge online nearly 20 years later

Almost twenty years after Friends spinoff Joey was cancelled by NBC, eight missing episodes have now been leaked online in America. The official Friends YouTube channel premiered these previously unaired episodes in March 2025, and all the remaining episodes will be made available by November 2025. The episodes were made available for free only to the fans.

The spinoff featured Matt LeBlanc, who resembled his original character, the lovable Joey Tribbian, who had acting ambitions in Hollywood. Other actors who joined him included Drea de Matteo, Paulo Costanzo, Jennifer Coolidge, and Andrea Anders. This premiered on NBC in September 2004 & lasted two seasons before being discontinued in May 2006.

With this release, fans of Friends will finally be able to see how Joey's journey came to an end, providing some insights into a beloved character who had them on the edge of their seats nearly 20 years ago.

Read more to know more about Joey.

Why couldn't Joey recapture the charm that made Friends such a massive hit with audiences?

Many fans and reviewers agreed that Joey failed because it removed the fundamental element that had made Friends so famous. But Joey was not the only character who lacked the favorite group interactions that the viewers adored. One of the reviewers commented on IMDb,

"One thing needs to be remembered that a spin-off can never be compared with the original show."

The show more resembled a classic sitcom of one man attempting to make it in Hollywood as opposed to an ensemble comedy about friendship and relationships. Joey lacked the connection & humor that had kept people coming back over the years.

How were Joey's storylines in Joey different from his life on Friends?

Joey in Friends was used similarly, as an immature and non-emotional character who never felt the need to mature emotionally. However, the spinoff aimed to depict Joey as a more mature character capable of falling in love and starting a family. One of the IMDb users commented,

"Joey has turned into a bit of a caricature compared to Friends, where he had shown some growth, but it's still mildly amusing."

This change also included Joey's portrayal as having difficulty dating people & losing his cool, as well as a womanizing self-identity. Producers believed that this transition caused spectators to lose contact with the character, whom they adored as a hapless, carefree figure. The new Joey was a totally different man, and the fans still wanted to remember him in the manner that he was in the spin-off, as it attempted to offer some character growth.

Why weren't these 8 episodes aired in the U.S. until now?

Joey launched on NBC for two seasons but suffered from dwindling ratings and bad feedback. Season 2 began on a high note, but the ratings sharply decreased after NBC shifted it to Tuesdays at the same time, right before American Idol. The series was terminated in May 2006, leaving eight remaining unfinished episodes in the vault.

These are eight episodes of Season 2 that did not air in the United States but aired in foreign countries. For almost two decades, ardent Friends fans had no legal path to watch such Joey episodes as they were not made available on DVD or streaming sites in America. Now that they are being offered for free on YouTube, they can watch the whole Joey story coming to an end.

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