Joey Is Finally Streaming! Multiple Episodes of Friends Spinoff Hit YouTube — But Where Are the Rest?

Ryan Schwartz

12 March 2025 at 1:45 pm·3-min read

One of TV’s most infamous spinoffs is now streaming: The first two episodes of Joey have been uploaded to YouTube, which marks the first time they’ve been available to watch in any official capacity in nearly 20 years.

The Friends offshoot, which premiered Sept. 9, 2004, saw Matt LeBlanc’s Joey Tribbiani relocate from New York to Los Angeles to pursue his acting career in Hollywood. Rounding out the ensemble were Drea de Matteo (The Sopranos) as Joey’s sister Gina, Paolo Costanzo (Royal Pains) as Gina’s rocket scientist son Michael, Andrea Anders (Bookie) as Joey’s landlord/love interest Alex, and Jennifer Coolidge (The White Lotus) as Joey’s talent agent Bobby.

More from TVLine

None of Joey’s friends ever appeared on the spinoff. Aside from LeBlanc, the only actor to reprise their Friends role was Robert Costanzo — aka Joey Tribbiani, Sr. (Adam Goldberg, who recurred in Season 2 of Friends as Chandler’s eccentric roommate Eddie, would appear in nine episodes of Joey Season 2 as a new character — Michael’s estranged father, Jimmy.)

Joey got off to a great start in the ratings, with 18.6 million viewers (!) tuning in to the series premiere, which aired in Friends’ usual Thursdays-at-8 time slot on NBC. It was renewed for Season 2, but ratings began to dwindle, and a midseason move to Tuesdays opposite then-juggernaut American Idol effectively killed it. The sitcom was yanked from NBC’s lineup and cancelled in May 2006; eight Season 2 episodes never aired in the United States. (They did air overseas, though.)

Up until now, Joey had not available on any streaming service — not even for rent or purchase. It was released on DVD years ago, but those sets are long out of print. On the heels of the spinoff’s 20th anniversary, TVLine reached out to Warner Bros. Television for an update on Joey, at which point a source confirmed that they still held the streaming rights, and that the show was available to license — but it had not been “cleared,” or sold to any streaming service as of yet. That included Max, which also falls under parent company Warner Bros. Discovery, and streams all 10 seasons of Friends on an exclusive basis.

TVLine has since reached out to see if additional Joey episodes will be made available on YouTube (or a different streaming platform). In the meantime, watch the first two episodes below, then hit the comments with your reactions. Would you binge-watch the remaining 44 episodes if possible?

Season 1, Episode 1: “Pilot”
Air date: Sept. 9, 2004
Written by: Shana Goldberg-Meehan & Scott Silveri
Directed by: Kevin S. Bright
“Hooray for Hollywood! Things are golden in the Golden State until Joey’s series is cancelled, the show he turned down is a smash and Michael decides to leave home and move in with his cool uncle.”

Season 1, Episode 2: “Joey and the Student”
Air date: Sept. 16, 2004
Written by: Shana Goldberg-Meehan & Scott Silveri
Directed by: Kevin S. Bright
“Joey plans to teach Michael how to pick up women, but Gina jinxes boys’ night out by inviting herself along. And Joey discovers why Alex’s nickname is the Note-zi.”

Best of TVLine