How’s he doin’? Well, not so hot

On the NBC comedy “Joey,” star Matt LeBlanc plays a struggling actor who lives in constant fear of unemployment. Last week, for instance, Joey got his hands on an advance script for his latest project, a “Baywatch”-type series set in a ski resort, and became frantic that the writers were about to ax his character.

Joey might not be the only one whose job is on the line. A spinoff of “Friends,” one of the biggest comedy hits ever, “Joey” is on a downhill slide. The show has been shedding viewers fairly consistently since its Sept. 9 premiere, particularly among its target audience of young adults.

The producers are scrambling this month to improve scripts and beef up the cast with special guests, such as “Charlie’s Angels” star Lucy Liu, who’s shot three episodes and may do more. But “Joey” suffers a problem common to many spinoffs -- the inevitable comparison to the show that preceded it.

It’s also struggling for traction during one of the worst seasons ever for scripted comedy.

NBC likes to point out that “Joey” is the top-rated new comedy this year, but that’s not saying much. The competition includes marginal shows such as ABC’s “Rodney,” CBS’ “Listen Up” and “Center of the Universe” and NBC’s already-canceled “Father of the Pride.” Fox’s decision to move its hot youth soap, “The O.C.,” to Thursday is likely pulling away viewers as well.

Whatever the cause, “Joey’s” weakness is creating new headaches at NBC. It was counting on the sitcom to stay competitive on Thursday night, when movie studios and other advertisers shell out top dollar for airtime. The show’s low ratings were one of the main reasons NBC lost its dominance among young adults -- with CBS taking the lead -- in last month’s sweeps, which helps set ad rates for local stations.

NBC Entertainment President Kevin Reilly downplayed the show’s problems but noted that its creative pedigree gives “Joey” an extra hurdle to clear in terms of perception. “Were ‘Joey’ not a ‘Friends’ spinoff, it would be called an unequivocal hit,” he said. “But being held to the standard of a ‘Friends’ spinoff, it somehow seems as if it’s underperforming.”

More than 18 million viewers watched the premiere, but recent episodes have lured fewer than 12 million viewers, according to figures from Nielsen Media Research. The series’ main rival, CBS’ “Survivor: Vanuatu,” averages 19.6 million viewers.

Among adults ages 18 to 49, “Joey” is down 43% compared with the viewership “Friends” drew last year during the same 8 p.m. Thursday slot.

Still, NBC has ordered a full season’s worth of 24 episodes (11 have aired so far). So “Joey” has plenty of time to improve before executives decide which shows to renew in the spring.

But some TV analysts are skeptical that “Joey” will ever find its way. “It’s not an engaging show,” said Stacey Lynn Koerner of Initiative Media, a New York-based ad firm. He predicted “Joey” is doomed to be a one-season series.

On paper, it had everything going for it. And NBC had reason to be optimistic. During the phenomenal 10-year run of “Friends,” about six young Manhattanites navigating friendship and romance at the fictional Central Perk coffee shop, fans had grown to love LeBlanc’s portrayal of Joey Tribbiani -- a none-too-bright but good-natured lug known for luring women with his guileless greeting: “How you doin’?”

By the time “Friends” ended its run in May, NBC had already locked down the spinoff with LeBlanc, the only cast member seriously interested in continuing with his character. (LeBlanc was said to be busy with rehearsals and unavailable for comment.)

Warner Bros. Television, which produces “Joey,” picked two “Friends” writers to run the show -- Shana Goldberg-Meehan (the daughter of “Family Ties” creator Gary David Goldberg) and Scott Silveri. Kevin Bright, who with partners Marta Kauffman and David Crane supervised “Friends,” signed on as an executive producer and is directing some episodes.

The producers came up with a premise that involved Joey moving to Los Angeles, where his streetwise sister, Gina (Drea de Matteo, formerly of HBO’s “The Sopranos”), lives with her 20-year-old son, Michael (Paulo Costanzo). They seemed to be borrowing a page from “Frasier,” which descended very successfully from “Cheers.”

Fans of “Friends” have generally praised the producers for sticking with Joey’s dim but lovable character. But some complain that the scripts give LeBlanc too little to do and that the supporting characters are weakly drawn. “I laughed out loud in some parts, but the writing was still rough,” one fan wrote of the pilot on a www.sit comsonline.com message board.

But it’s not just “Joey” that’s stumbling. Sitcom producers are having a tough time making viewers laugh this fall.

With a few exceptions, such as CBS’ “Two and a Half Men,” existing comedies are struggling just as much as the new shows. Meanwhile, two new dramas, the quirky soap “Desperate Housewives” and the thriller “Lost,” are getting the kind of glowing media attention once reserved for sitcoms like “Seinfeld.”

The numbers for “Joey” prove that “it’s still very difficult in this era to launch a sitcom on network TV,” said Brad Adgate, senior vice president at New York-based Horizon Media.

NBC isn’t giving up, though.

Reilly said “Joey” viewers could expect more appearances by stars, like Liu’s, as well as an expanded ensemble in the coming weeks.