Written by Rick Ellis, Monday, May 17th, 2004

Okay, I'll be the first to admit that I was not looking forward to seeing the pilot for "Joey." The sitcom, a spin-off of "Friends" already slated for that show's old timeslot, seemed to be closer to "After M*A*S*H" than "Frasier." Still, I was hoping for the best.

The bad news is that the first 60 seconds of the "Joey" pilot are an absolute disaster. The show opens with him in a cab, talking about the fact that he's coming out to L.A. to star in a show. There's a couple of "jokes" as he fumbles for the address of his sister, then it turns out that Joey got off the plane at the wrong stop. Yeah, it's just as hilarious as it sounds.

Luckily for NBC and for star