Hey,
Here are my thoughts after three episodes:
- The characters are not really well developed -
While this is probably due to the very young age of the show, it seems to me that the only promising perspective is the Joey-Alex-Relationship. Alex is a likeable type who combines the best of Rachel and Monica (to speak in "friends"-terms). I am curious to see how her husband is going to fit into the storyline.
Joey-Michael, although seemingly a good idea is not going to be the source of polyfold humour - The wisecrack without social competence against the lady-killer without a brain - how much can you read into that? Not to mention the fact that such a couple wouldn't have much fun living together in RL. Already after three eps the jokes about Michael being unable to cope with girls are repeating and the outlook on thursday's ep forecasts more of the same.
Gina is simply dull. Her character is not at all interesting - the only thing that justifies her role in the show is that she is there to interrupt the aforementioned Joey-Michael-Relationship. She has no distinctive trait of her own. In fact her character is a rather annoying spitting image of the Joey-Character.
Also Joey isn't as friendly anymore. IMO it was the quiet, emotional moments when friends was at its best. The times when laughter was put aside and you could cry with the characters. Joey had a lot of these moments, take for example the episode where Rachel decides to look for an appartment in Ross's building because it would be best for the baby and Joey decorates his app. with crib and babyphones to prove that he really is able to handle the baby. He convinces her to stay because he shows that he really is a friend and not only the "I don't understand a thing"-Dumbass of the show. This trait is still missing in his new show.
Admittedly we all will get used to the people on the Joey-Show, the writers will probably learn to handle the characters better and it's all still a project in a very early stage. But something has to change or the show won't see much of a second, leave alone third season. And you can't blame the viewers.
Greetings Christoph