Word: leblancs
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Successful sitcom spin-offs--Frasier, Laverne & Shirley--give their lead characters new challenges and foils and find a fresh voice that suits them. In this show, Joey Tribbiani, Matt LeBlanc's sweet-hearted dope, heads West to jump-start his career and reconnect with his equally Noo Yawky sister Gina (The Sopranos' Drea de Matteo). We also meet his nephew Michael (Paulo Costanzo), a rocket scientist; his sharky agent, Bobbie (one-woman brass band Jennifer Coolidge); and his bland, pretty, married neighbor Alex (Andrea Anders). But none of these types are fresh or memorable. There's no Niles. Not even...
...gorilla of new TV shows (NBC, Thursdays, 8 p.m. E.T.), starting Sept. 9. Friends was lame, ergo Joey will be lame. Friends was genius, and ... perhaps we need to give Joey a chance. After the failure of every one of the Seinfeld-alum shows, few think Matt LeBlanc's much-hyped solo sitcom is a guaranteed success. In the first episode the still none-too-bright Joey moves to Los Angeles to pursue his acting career. He moves in with his sister (Drea de Matteo, late of The Sopranos) and her extremely bright and nerdy 20year...
After all the howls of outrage, there was no sigh of relief when the truth came out. First, a 23-year-old woman named Marie Leblanc riveted France with a horrific tale: six ethnic-Arab and black youths had attacked her on a train near Paris, she claimed on July 9, because they took her for a Jew. They lacerated her skin, shredded her clothes, hacked off her hair, drew swastikas on her body and manhandled her 13-month-old baby while fellow passengers looked away. Appalled, President Jacques Chirac denounced the "anti-Semitic aggression this young woman...
...link is of little comfort to Jewish leaders. They say French reluctance to denounce anti-Semitism explains why attacks on Jews far outnumber those on France's 5 million Muslims. But Muslim leaders counter that the assumption that French Arabs are behind the rise of anti-Semitism - an idea Leblanc's fictive assault was built upon - is itself a sign of racism. "Anti-Semitism is extremely serious, but when it's discussed today, it's Muslims who fall under suspicion," protests Kamel Kabtane, president of the Rhône-Alps Regional Muslim Council. "Rampant Islamophobia now in France leads everyone...
...Joey" moves Matt LeBlanc's lunkhead character from New York to L.A., introducing "The Sopranos'" Drea deMatteo as his loud-mouthed, gum-snapping sister. (NBC may not be able to match HBO quality-wise, but it's catching up in the derogatory Italian-American-stereotype business!) On the plus side, the script has the kind of nicely set-up jokes you'd expect on "Friends"; in the first scene, Joey gives a long expository spiel about his reasons for moving to L.A. to the cab driver on his ride from the airport (acting auditions, getting close to family...