Of course, the cult sitcom ‘Friends’ owes its enormous long-term success primarily to its great core ensemble, consisting of six actors who are so perfectly matched that you feel like they know each other from episode 1. other forever.
But many of the specific characteristics of Rachel (Jennifer Aniston), Ross (David Schwimmer), Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow), Chandler (Matthew Perry), Monica (Courteney Cox) and Joey (Matt LeBlanc) only emerged as the series progressed – after It was all important that the members of the group of friends, who have been living together for ten years and ten seasons, were sufficiently different from each other. All characters should receive equal attention, and the friction created by their quirks and idiosyncrasies was a reliable engine for comedic situations.
One of the most popular “Friends” characters is Joey Tribbiani, who even got his own spinoff in 2004 (which was canceled after two seasons). But If the writers of the hit series hadn’t made a significant change to the role after the first season, Joey might not have become so popular.
Basically, the main characteristics of the character were established early on: Joey is a womanizer and largely unsuccessful actor who repeatedly struggles with money problems and shares an apartment with Chandler. But If you keep a close eye on his development, you will notice in season 2 at the latest that Joey is getting dumber and dumber!
It’s kind of a running gag in “Friends” that Joey regularly misunderstands jokes, completely misinterprets situations and fails even the simplest general knowledge. His naivete and clumsiness become the necessary counterbalance to his superficiality, which initially doesn’t come across as sympathetic – and over time turns Joey into an extremely sympathetic character.
Joey and Chandler looked too much alike
That’s no coincidence, of course, because director James Burrows – who directed 15 episodes of Friends, including the pilot – in his book* “Directed by James Burrows: Five decades of storytelling from the legendary director of Taxi, Cheers, Frasier, Friends, Will & Grace and more.” “Joey and Chandler looked too much alike,” Burrows said. “And in Joey’s original incarnation, he was too smart.”
To keep Joey and Chandler from getting in each other’s way, he and “Friends” creators David Crane and Marta Kauffman began writing Joey differently. This allowed for the incomparable comedic dynamic between the two housemates. “If Joey were too much like Chandler, some of their best moments, both as a duo and independently, would never have existed.”, Burrows notes. Of course, ‘Friends’ as a whole also benefited from this – the rest is television history!
James Burrows also played a major role in ensuring that the chemistry between the actors was so perfect. You can read how he did that in the following article: