(S01E04) This show is really shaping up to be a soap opera, isn't it? I mean, even the structure is the same: we spend a few minutes with one group, then we switch to another group. After a couple of more minutes we switch to another, and so on. It gets to the point where we see scenes during each of the four storylines during each act of the show. I'm not really sure this really works here, though; in this episode, we only get glimpses of each story, but not much else. Things don't move along as quickly as they should, and when you really want to follow one storyline -- like anything involving Richie -- an annoying storyline comes up and kills the momentum -- like anything involving Holly.

(S01E03) I saw a rough-cut version of this episode about a week ago; it was so rough that the video time stamp was sitting not only in the corner of the screen, but in the corner of the TV picture Kyle and Aaron were watching. But no matter; the jokes were the same. It's sort of ironic that, in this episode, the storyline that had the least amount of plot -- Kyle and Aaron watching Holly do one of those "poor schmuck reporter in a hurricane" reports -- had the most laughs. I mean, who didn't laugh when Holly got knocked cold by a stop sign?

Anyway, the rest of the episode shows that The Class is going in a funny direction. It also shows that it's willing to take some time and figure out which stories work and which don't.

Here is yet another example of why the pilot previews that we get from the networks should not be considered finished products: The cast of The Class, a CBS show about a group of people who are brought back together twenty years after being third-grade classmates, is already making a casting change.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, David Keith will be brought in to play former pro football player Yonk Allen, who is married to one of the classmates, Nicole (played by Joey's Andrea Anders). My guess is that they wanted to give Anders a middle-aged man that a 28-year-old woman might actually want to marry, as Yonk was portrayed in the pilot as more of a balding, paunchy has-been (albeit with money from a desktop grill endorsement). Wonder if they're going to reshoot Yonk's scenes in the pilot or just make an unexplained switch in the first regular episode? I've seen shows do both.

It seems there was more to Matt LeBlanc's recent "I'm getting divorced" announcement than we originally thought. It turns out that LeBlanc has been involved in some extracurricular activities with his doomed sitcom co-star Andrea Anders.

LeBlanc, who's currently gasping for air on the painful to watch Joey, walked out on his wife and two year old daughter back in January. Friends of LeBlanc's soon to be ex-wife say she was, "absolutely blind-sided by what transpired." She wanted to try couple's therapy, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen since she confronted him and LeBlanc admitted to his deeds.

I always find it weird to hear news about a celebrity that isn't in line with a character they're known for. But at the same time, you know what? The guy is only human. And this is America ... go walk out in your front yard right now. There's probably a couple getting divorced in the street as you read this.

[via The Boston Herald]

I think it's pretty obvious at this point that Joey is not coming back for another season. First, co-star Andrea Anders left the cast to join the CBS comedy pilot, The Class. Now Paulo Costanzo, who played Joey's nephew, has signed on to a different CBS comedy pilot about an engaged couple, a married couple and a single guy. I know, you were probably thinking Costanzo will be the single guy, but he's actually one-half of the engaged couple.

Now, what do you think Drea de Matteo will do next?

After one appearance in its new Tuesday night time slot, NBC has pulled Joey off the schedule indefinitely. It will be replaced by the one show that may be even less entertaining than Joey: Most Outrageous Moments. Variety is reporting that NBC might burn off the remaining new episodes of Joey sometime this summer. Of course, the peacock network has yet to actually admit that it has cancelled Joey, but it's only a matter of time. Especially since one of the co-stars has already signed on to a new pilot on a different network.

Andrea Anders can take a hint. The actress co-stars as Matt LeBlanc's neighbor on Joey, which is not-so-mysteriously absent from NBC's post-Olympics schedule. It is widely speculated that the lame Friends spin-off isn't going to get a third season, and Anders isn't waiting around to find out. She just signed on to join a new CBS comedy, The Class, which hinges on the premise that a 27-year-old man (Jason Ritter) holds a party to reunite six of his childhood friends who have lost touch. Anders plays one of the schoolmates, as does Jay Bernthal and Heather Goldenhersh.