She explained Joey is a character that thrives off of the rest of his ensemble cast.
“So you have the Joey character,” she said. “Who is in to food and sex, and is a loyal friend, and is a little stupid – and he became more stupid because Matt LeBlanc plays dumb very well which [producers] Marta Kauffman and Kevin Bright told us repeatedly in the interviews – which is a hard thing to do as an actor.
“But you need Joey in relation to a Chandler, for example, who keeps him in check, and who makes sarcastic comments about his naive stupidity.”
“The problem with Joey, as in the spin off,” Simone continued. “Was that they took this character who was so embedded in this ensemble of characters, and transplanted him to a very different environment – and that just wasn’t going to work.”
Friends airs daily on Comedy Central, and is available to stream on Netflix.
Friends: A Reading of the Sitcom is available for purchase now.