Friday, September 24, 2004

Joey, I'm not watching anymore

I watched "Joey" again last night, and after 3 episodes, I have to say that while the show isn't quite awful, it's certainly not "Must See" either. After the first episode, I thought that the problem was Joey himself, that while in Friends his stupidity was at times amusing, it wasn't enough to base a show around. Like other great ensemble characters, or even the actors themselves, e.g. Kramer, George/Jason Alexander, Joey was good as part of the ensemble, but too much of a one-trick pony to carry a show himself. While this may be true -- for the show to succeed, they do need to expand Joey beyond his now predictably dumb self -- I realized last night that a greater problem with "Joey" is the rest of the cast & situations surrounding Joey. The sleazy sister, geeky nephew, pretty but married neighbor, etc. are already getting old and it's only been 3 episodes. And unlike Friends, where there were 2 apartments, the coffee shop and several situational locations, it seems like the whole Joey expereince is happening in his apartment. I can see this show potentially getting better -- as someone pointed out, many good shows had poor beginnings -- but it seems the problem is, they're aiming too low. Dumb Joey and dull supporting characters won't be enough.

I also tried watching CSI (the original one) for the first time, as it seemingly has become the most popular show on TV and I like William Peterson. But I couldn't even get through a half-hour. It just bored me.

And just wait til I really get going on a state of TV rant. Something to look forward to, I'm sure.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

As with a child, a car design or a tv show; character development takes time. Check back with Joey in a few weeks and I think you might find something you would normally like to watch. Dumb but lovable Joey works for me and I like the supporting characters...thus far.

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