On March 7, 2006, NBC pulled the sitcom Joey from the airwaves due to low ratings. That decision came in the middle of the Friends spinoff’s second season, leaving eight finished episodes unaired — until now.
On the official Friends YouTube channel, Joey Tribbiani’s many admirers can now say “how you doin'” to Joey‘s final eight installments. The decision to make the unaired eps available for free online is a fascinating expansion of a distribution strategy that is becoming more common for TV rights holders as they hunt for new windows to pair with old IP.
The episodes of Joey that did air on NBC arrived on YouTube earlier this year. That move was representative of a broader trend among rights holders, many of whom are looking to account for contemporary entertainment trends like declining TV viewership, the rise of streaming, and the ubiquity of content piracy.
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Thanks to YouTube’s potential as a long-tail distribution window, it has hosted free-to-watch versions of several shows and movies that first premiered through linear TV channels, movie theaters or subscription-based streaming services. In addition to Joey, two other examples of that phenomenon involved the first season of the Disney+ hit Andor and more than 30 movies from the Warner Bros. catalog.
Releasing previously unaired episodes — as well as standalone clips from those episodes — puts a new twist on that distribution tactic. The move shows that distributors recognize YouTube’s potential as a hub for Hollywood content. Consumers certainly feel that way, and they’re spending more time on YouTube every year, much to the chagrin of cable providers and theater chains.
Friends fans who were left in the lurch in 2006 can now witness the conclusion of Joey Tribbiani’s story, and many of them are grateful for that opportunity. “I hope Matt Le Blanc and the rest of the cast read the comments on this channel someday and realise that, contrary to public opinion, there was a community that absolutely adored this TV Show,” reads a highly-liked comment on one of the Joey YouTube uploads.
If YouTube can be used to foster appreciation for bygone shows, maybe it can revive them, too. There are no known plans for a third season of Joey, but if Matt LeBlanc ever reprises his signature character, there’s a good chance those episodes would eventually make it to YouTube.
