Friends ’ Joey gets spinoff
By BroadCasting & Cable Staff -- Broadcasting & Cable, 7/25/2003 2:00:00 AM MT
NBC will spin off a sitcom titled Joey and starring Friends' Matt LeBlanc in fall 2004, entertainment president Jeff Zucker formally announced Thursday at the Television Critics Association press tour in Los Angeles.
Friends, in which LeBlanc plays the role now, ends after this season, and there's been much speculation as to how NBC could maintain its dominance on Thursday.
Zucker told critics Kevin Bright, who's been with Friends from the start, will executive-produce the show, as will two other veterans of Friends.
Zucker said NBC had been talking with LeBlanc about the spinoff for "15 to 18 months," and he compared the show to how Frasier grew out of Cheers.
Zucker added that NBC is a couple of days away from starting to film its made-for-TV version of the Jessica Lynch biopic, which is in its fifth rewrite and is being "constantly" revised. NBC did not receive rights from her, he said.
According to Zucker, NBC's version, in part, is based on the account of an Iraqi attorney, who he said helped to save her life. But he also acknowledged that the film is also being put together based on information as it is being made public.
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