OK ‘love’ may be a tad too strong a word, but someone had to defend Joey from Mof’s (very funny, but in my opinion, way over the top) slating of the show.

To start, I’ll say I know that Joey has its flaws: it has lots of them. The main one is that it’s not Friends, the best sitcom to come out of the 90s (Seinfeld, Schmeinfeld!) and one of the best comedies of all time. (It IS, Mof!) Joey was never the best character though – he worked much better as a foil for his friends. Without them, he flounders slightly. Plus, investment into this series has clearly been minimal: the sets look cheap and nasty and even the theme tune singer can’t really be bothered (“yeah yeah yeah yeah… everything’s gonna be a’right”)

What Joey does have going for it can be summed up in two words: the women.

The female leads in the show are outstanding. Andrea Anders is hilarious as Joey’s uptight (but secretly in love with him) neighbour Alex, and the wonderful Drea de Matteo slums it as his tarty sister Gina. Jennifer Coolidge turns in another over-the-top performance as Joey’s agent Bobbie and although she sometimes misses the mark, more often she’s hilarious. In a recent episode, she rattled off a long-winded memo to her new employee Gina after a few too many drinks. “Read that back to me.” Gina, who can’t type quickly, did so: “Dear employees, it has come to my attention that I need to talk to you about… something. Love Bobbie.”
“Perfect, send it off!” It’s moments like these, with the interplay between two super-talented women, that make Joey worth watching. (If that doesn’t sound funny to you, trust me, these women made it so).

But it’s not all about the women: it’s nice to see Joey having a bit more luck with his acting career, and although Matt Le Blanc doesn’t have a great range, there’s one character he plays very well: and that’s Joey. I could never turn my back on him now…

So that’s why I love Joey, or at least why I enjoy watching it: some laugh out loud moments, likeable actors, an ongoing will-they-won’t-they love plot, and nostalgia.

Plus, I’d rather spend three days watching Joey than sit through ten seconds of the abominable My Family…