Joey pretty much sucks

Friends had six main characters, and it can be argued that the show had its popularity as a result of the interaction between them, as well as both the inter- and intra-relationships. Joey has just one of these characters, and he's arguable the most fluffed-out, flattest character from Friends. In his own show, the character of Joey is still flat, and has no depth to him at all! We all know guys love food and girls, and this doesn't need to be driven into our head episode after episode, especially since we've seen all this before on Friends. What's worse is the use of some of the same jokes - one of the episodes has Joey's nephew on the phone with his (almost elderly) girlfriend, and he's saying "no, you hang up...you didn't hang up either!" This joke is a straight pull from a 2nd season Friends episode where Ross is talking to Julie. There are more instances of this, but I'm strugglign to come up with specific examples at this precise moment.

Its amazing what's on TV nowadays. Many people, including me, believe that Seinfeld was the best show on TV, and much of what was good on TV is now gone, except for The Simpsons which is still surprisingly fresh and funny. Why is this? Is it because we as a Western civilization have done everything there is to do on TV? History shows us that we do pass through unique phases in our TV-watching, and the sitcom is a very long-running type of show. Reality TV for example, was incredibly short-lived before people moved on (or back).

I used to criticize Indian media for trying to follow a "formula" of success in movies and TV, but it seems American media can have a finger pointed at them for the very same problem. Remember all those cheezy Knight Rider wannabe shows? Viper and Knight Rider: Something are just two that come to mind. I think that Joey too, in its spinoff form is trying to do that too, and due to the lack of availability is doing alright. I really wasn't expecting Joey to last this long. The same goes for The OC, too. This show had some promise in the first few episodes, and then just became a soap opera for people who don't watch soaps.