Joey/Pilot

Pilot
Season 1, Episode 1
Airdate	September 9, 2004
Production Number	475246
Written by	Shana Goldberg-Meehan & Scott Silveri
Directed by	Kevin S. Bright
— N/A	1x02 → Joey and the Student
Joey — Season One

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Pilot is the first episode of the first season of Joey, and the first episode overall.

Starring: Matt LeBlanc (Joey Tribbiani), Andrea Anders (Alex Garrett), Paulo Costanzo (Michael Tribbiani), Jennifer Coolidge (Bobbie Morganstern)

And: Drea de Matteo (Gina Tribbiani)

Guest Starring: Wayne Wilderson (Director #2)

Co-Starring: Jason Huber (The Taxi Driver), Matthew Mullany (The Director), Lawrence A. Mandley (The Slate Guy), Nancy O'Dell (Herself), Ethan Erickson (Sam), Tommy Perna (The Criminal)

Plot Overview

Joey arrives in L.A. after his new agent offers him his choice of parts on two TV shows, and befriends his neighbor, Alex . His nephew, Michael, wants to move in with him at his new apartment, but Joey fears that this will upset his sister, Gina.

Arc Advancement

Happenings

• Joey moves into a new apartment in LA.
• Joey starts work on a new cable cop show that features a "combination of nudity and swearing" that Joey "finds intriguing".
• Joey's show is cancelled before airing because "people thought it was disgusting".
• After being turned down several times because Joey does not want to anger Gina, Michael finally convinces Joey to allow him to be his roommate after cooking spaghetti for him and promising to feed him every day.
• Joey meets his new neighbor Alex and is interested in her as a "future Mrs. Tribbiani" or at least a "future awkward situation", but discovers that she's married.
• Gina allows Michael to move in with Joey, despite her initial denials.

Trivia

The Show

• This episode is also known as "The One Where Joey Gets Cancelled", following the same episode naming pattern on Friends.
• Differences between the original version and the aired version:
  • The Access Hollywood segment originally featured Pat O'Brien. After the pilot was filmed, O'Brien left Access Hollywood, so the scene was reshot with Nancy O'Dell.
  • The name of the nurses show changed from "R.N." to "Nurses". Nurses was the name of an actual NBC sitcom that aired from 1991 to 1994, although it wasn't about male nurses.
  • Ashley Scott was originally cast as Alex, but she was replaced after test audiences didn't see much chemistry between her and Matt LeBlanc.

Behind the Scenes

• Matt LeBlanc lost 30 pounds prior to shooting this episode because NBC executives wanted him to look "nice" for the show.
• John Shaffner, a production designer for this show, was nominated for the Art Directors Guild's Excellence in Production Design Award (category: Television - Multi-Camera Television Series) for his work in this episode.

Music

• Johnny Mercer (performed by Frances Langford): "Hooray for Hollywood"
  • From the movie Hollywood Hotel [[1]]
  • Opening scene, as airplane lands; Joey enters the taxi
• Long Beach Dub All-Stars, featuring will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas: "Sunny Hours"
  • Theme song

Allusions and References

• After Gina hugs Joey at the airport, she talks to a stranger walking by and points at Joey while exclaiming "Days of our Lives!" Joey had the role of Dr. Drake Ramoray on the "fictitious" "Days of our Lives" soap during the show Friends.
• Gina tells Joey about the "very vibrant gay scene" in LA, and that he and Chandler should have come to LA before, to which Joey assertively exclaims that he and Chandler are "not a gay couple". Chandler is, of course, Joey's former roommate and best friend from Friends.
• When Joey is explaining how change has been difficult for him, he refers to being happy back in New York, but people got married, had kids and moved on. Joey's friends on Friends got married (Chandler and Monica), had kids (Chandler and Monica, Ross and Rachel), and moved away (Chandler and Monica).

Memorable Moments

• On the set of his new cable cop show, Joey punches an actor off-camera while gratuitous amounts of blood splatter onto his shirt, face, and sunglasses.

Goofs

• At the airport, Joey's bag strap shifts between being under and over his collar.
• In the scene where Joey and Gina are looking at the Hollywood sign, the strings on her bustier switch from dangling to not and back to dangling again.
• When sitting by the pool, the soles of Gina's feet go from dirty to clean.
• While Joey punches the actor during during the shooting of his cable cop show, the blood on his shirt has a very splattered look to it. After the scene cuts and he gets up to talk to Gina, his shirt has a huge solid red stain on it.
• There are two moments where you can tell that Matt LeBlanc's exaggerated movements cause a prop to move a little more than expected, but LeBlanc "improvisingly" reacts with similar exaggerated movements that are "unscripted"
  • When Michael reaches for the meatball on Joey's plate, LeBlanc's stab with his fork makes the meatball roll onto the table. He immediately stabs at it again.
  • When Joey asks if Michael thinks he always sits around in his apartment wearing a cape, LeBlanc flips his barber apron in the air a little too hard, and it flies into his face. As soon as it's in his face, he grabs at it to flip it back down away from his face.

Quotes

• Gina: (referring to her breast implants after telling Joey about them for the first time) Go ahead. Touch 'em.
  Joey: Uhh... let's get my bag. I'll feel you up in the car, I promise.
• Joey: Wow. I think I like LA.
  Gina: I thought you and Chandler should have moved down a long time ago. It's a very vibrant gay scene.
  Joey: Chandler and I are not a gay couple!
• Gina: Don't I look incredible for the mother of an adult son? It's the good thing about having a kid so young.
  Joey: You rarely hear the argument for teen pregnancy.
• Michael: (about moving out of his mother's home) It's gonna happen sometime. I just have to get out of there. Have you seen the breasts?!
  Joey: Seen 'em?! She made me touch 'em!!
• Joey: I'm actually a very serious actor, y'know. (overdramatically) Romeo! Oh, Romeo! Wherefore art thou, Romeo?! (to Alex) That was Romeo.
  Alex: (laughs) Actually, that was Juliet.
  Joey: What?
  Alex: Yeah, well, Romeo doesn't start a speech saying, "Oh Romeo, Romeo"...
  Joey: (long pause, then walking away) I've done that for like a million auditions!
• Gina: (excitedly) You are not gonna believe this! The director thought I was an actress.
  Joey: Sure. That's cause you got big fake boobs and you're crazy.
• Joey: I love it out here! Sunny and 72 degrees every day. I wonder what it's like in New York.
  Gina: (pointing to the newspaper) 71.
  Joey: Poor bastards.
• Joey: I made a 'B' once. Cheated my ass off.
• Gina: I'm not much of a hairdresser anyway. I only started cuttin' hair because Channel 5 exposed me as the southland's most dangerous dental technician.
  Joey: That was some damning footage.
• Joey: (reading teleprompter) Welcome to Hollywood Minute. I'm name.
• Joey: Did you know that girl next door is married?
  Michael: Oh. I can't talk to that girl. Sh-sh-she makes my stutter come back.