Friends’ much-beloved Joey Tribbiani has a combination of these two characters’ traits. As such, he’s the butt of many of Chandler’s snarky jokes, but he’s not (always) to be underestimated. Settle in for 15 times Joey Tribbiani was a lowkey genius.
The One Where Joey Tribbiani Ate Everything In The Fridge After It Broke
For Joey Tribbiani, this a stroke of brilliance. It allows him to freely eat everything; from the limes and cold cuts to the contents of that mysterious brown jar. In another masterstroke, he also tries to charge Chandler $400 for the fixing of said fridge.
The One Where Joey Tribbiani Suggested A Barium Enema For Janice’s Birthday
In one instance, Joey Tribbiani sees her kissing her ex-husband and can’t tell Chandler, with whom he is later shopping for Janice’s birthday present. He suggests getting her a barium enema, which, given what a pain she’d grow to be, was a much better idea than we give him credit for.
The One Where Joey Tribbiani Invented Fireball
Fact is, though, you’ve got a lot to learn, young Padawan. Your work-avoidance skills have nothing on Joey’s. The game was never shown on screen, but judging by the oven mitts and damage involved, we’re supposed to take the name entirely literally. And as for Ultimate Fireball? Don’t ask.
The One Where Joey Tribbiani Discovered The Key To Great Acting
Coincidentally, Joey needed a pee while auditioning, and this gave him a squirmy, on-edge quality which Goldblum thought perfect for the character. It all ended in tragedy when Joey drank too much before reading lines (hoping to replicate the effect) and peed himself. Yep, really.
The One Where Joey Tribbiani ‘Kept’ His Porsche
Bereft when the owner of the car returns to collect it, he devises a plan to keep that attention he’s been getting: He sets up a bunch of boxes in the road in a car formation, covers it with a sheet, and tells the ladies that his Porsche is sleeping. Joey, you genius.
The One With The Box Punishment For Chandler
When his roommate kissed his girlfriend, Joey insisted that he climb into the infamous box and stay in there for hours, thinking about what he did. The pair made amends when Joey relented, seeing that Cathy shared Chandler’s feelings after all, but what a brilliant idea this was.
The One With A ‘Moo Point’
When Rachel was considering confessing her feelings to Tag, her handsome young assistant. Joey reminded her that the hypothetical relationship won’t be a thing at all unless Tag shares her feelings. If he doesn’t, it’s all a moo point. “Like a cow’s opinion. It doesn’t matter.”
The One Where Joey Invented The Poking Device
In the early seasons of Friends, the gang was often transfixed by Ugly Naked Guy. One day, they noticed he’d been really still for a long time, and Phoebe thought that her dentist curse (whenever she’s in the chair, someone dies) had killed him. The only logical plan of action in this situation? Fashion a super long poking device from chopsticks, and jab him through his open window.
The One With The Wearing-Everything-You-Own Revenge
One of their trademark super petty and hilarious spats came about over ownership of a chair in Monica’s lounge. From one taking the cushions so the other can’t sit, to one hiding the other clothes, it went on for far too long, and culminated in one of Joey’s most brilliant and Bond-villain-ishly devious acts: Putting on every item of clothing in Chandler’s closet all at once, bar any underwear, and doing lunges.
The One Where Joey Saves Everyone With Phoebe’s Bra Wire
When the friends lock the keys inside Phoebe’s grandmother’s cab and strand themselves, they start to panic. Joey, however, stays cool, and tells them he can jimmy the door open with a piece of long thin wire. From a bra, say. After a brief debate over which of the girls has the biggest boobs, Phoebe hands over her bra and Joey makes short work of the door.
The One Where Joey Knows Everything About Everything (That Begins With ‘V’)
With a fifty he found in Chandler’s pants, Joey was able to afford one book from the A-Z volumes, and which did he choose? V, that’s which. The only trouble came when the subject was changed from the Vietnam war to the Korean war, and he was once again charmingly clueless.
The One Where Joey Totally Understood ‘Bamboozled’
The game was a befuddling mix of Wicked Wango cards (whatever they were) and hopping bonuses, but Joey was a natural after hosting a practice game between Ross and Chandler. Later, Bamboozled would be dumbed down after test audiences couldn’t follow it, but Joey was still on board when he heard that women in bikinis would be holding up the scores.
The One Where He Was Far Too ‘Wisdomous’ To Play A Teenager
At 31, there was one role that Joey couldn’t quite pull off: that of a nineteen-year-old. Despite his best efforts (and most hilariously horrendous ‘youthful’ outfit), it just wasn’t happening for the poor guy. Still, Phoebe stepped in with some consolation, stating that there was too much wisdom in his eyes and it gave him away. “I am pretty wisdomous,” he mused.
The One With The Fastest Thinking Joey Ever Did
When both Chandler and Monica separately ask Joey to lend them some money (making him swear not to tell the other), he has to improvise when each of the pair starts to get suspicious of the other. Waylaying Chandler’s fears, Joey gives himself a well-deserved internal pat on the back (“That was the fastest I’ve ever thought!”).
He Gave Up On ‘Joey’ While He Still Could
Matt LeBlanc reprised his role as the character for this spin-off, after the conclusion of the main series. It got great ratings at first, being a Friends follow-up and all, but lost viewers by the millions soon enough and was soon pulled from the air. It couldn’t hold a candle to the source material, sadly.
