For 15 years, Emmy winner Jennifer Aniston was the lone standout among her former Friends, all of whom had previously returned to television since the mega-hit ended in 2004. But that finally changed in 2019, when Apple TV+ began streaming The Morning Show, a one-hour drama that reunited the erstwhile Rachel Green with onetime TV sister Reese Witherspoon.
Prior to Aniston’s small-screen return, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer had all headlined their own shows, some of which ran for multiple seasons (and, in the case of Cougar Town, on multiple networks). All told, the six of ’em have collectively fronted 14 series over two decades — some good, some not so good — and the time has come for TVLine to determine which of those vehicles were the very best (and conversely, which of them were the absolute worst).
As a rule, the following ranking does not include series where the actor appeared in a supporting capacity — such as Schwimmer’s turn in FX’s Emmy-winning People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story, or Kudrow’s recent roles on Netflix’s Feel Good and Space Force. We’ve also excluded any animated work.
Scroll down to see which post-Friends series came in at No. 1 — we’ll update this ranking when at least one full season of any additional follow-ups (such as Cox’s forthcoming Starz comedy Shining Vale) have aired — then hit the comments and tell us how you’d rank the 14 shows.
After his acclaimed turn on Showtime’s Episodes, on which he played a tongue-in-cheek version of himself, Matt LeBlanc returned to broadcast television in one of the worst reviewed shows of 2016. And yet, Man With a Plan survived four seasons, and surpassed the runs of both Episodes (sigh) and short-lived Friends spinoff Joey (fair enough).
Matthew Perry’s latest comeback vehicle was the first to clinch a Season 2 renewal — and the least deserving. This pedestrian update of the Neil Simon play left much to be desired. The best thing it had going for it was Thomas Lennon — the Felix Unger to Perry’s Oscar Madison — whose performance single-handedly elevated an otherwise lackluster show. It was cancelled after three seasons (and 38 episodes).
No one wanted seconds of David Schwimmer’s People v. O.J. follow-up — a tepidly reviewed drama about a pair of best friends who open a Greek eatery in the Bronx, thrusting them into the seedy underbelly of New York City’s restaurant scene. It was the equivalent of a bad meal at a Michelin-starred bistro, and the rare misfire by prestige cabler AMC.
The Friends spinoff did relatively well during its first season before getting shuffled around NBC’s schedule in Year 2. Unfortunately, the LeBlanc-led offshoot turned lovable ladies’ man Joey Tribbiani into a less lovable, perpetually down-on-his-luck mope — and over time, viewers tuned out in droves. NBC eventually pulled the plug on a series that is ultimately a smudge on the shine of the mothership. To this day, eight Season 2 episodes have never aired in the U.S.
Schwimmer went across the pond to find his first sitcom role since Friends, a lackluster workplace comedy about a pompous NSA agent who teams with an inept computer analyst (played by series creator Nick Mohammed) to form a cyber crimes unit in the Government Communications Headquarters. No word yet on a potential Season 3.
Easily the most forgettable of the post-Friends efforts was Courteney Cox’s stab at a sexy cable drama, which took place at a fictitious celebrity tabloid. A late attempt at generating buzz by having Jennifer Aniston guest-star as a lesbian who takes interest in Cox’s Lucy Spiller proved unsuccessful. The series was canned midway through production on Season 2, having only completed seven out of 13 episodes ordered before the 2007-08 writers’ strike.
Perry’s Studio 60 follow-up had the unfortunate task of temporarily bumping Cox’s Cougar Town from the post-Modern Family time slot before it, too, was ultimately pulled. Though the show wasn’t given much time to reach its full potential, and never quite figured out whether we were supposed to like or dislike Perry’s cynical arena manager Ben Donovan, it sported a fine ensemble, including a post-Joey Andrea Anders, a pre-Mr. Robot Portia Doubleday and a delightfully over-the-top performance by Mom‘s Allison Janney. (It also scores points for its brief opening title sequence.) Four episodes never made it to air in the U.S., but were later made available on DVD.
Jennifer Aniston earned a Primetime Emmy nomination (and the title of TVLine Performer of the Week) for her dramatic return to the small screen, as embattled morning news anchor Alex Levy on the Apple TV+ streaming series. Her performance, though, is far superior to the show itself — a messy (but occasionally fun) soap opera — and singlehandedly elevated this one a notch or two. (Also fun: Seeing her act opposite former Friends sibling Reese Witherspoon.)
Perry’s best sitcom since Friends featured a beloved cast, including Tony winner Laura Benanti, Cowboy Bebop‘s John Cho and The Walking Dead‘s Tyler James Williams. The series about a sports radio host who attends group therapy following the death of his wife was never as funny as, say, fellow NBC ensemble comedies Community and Parks and Recreation, but what it lacked in laughs it typically made up for in heart.
Aaron Sorkin couldn’t quite leave behind his West Wing-honed political slant on this dramedy about the behind-the-scenes happenings at a late-night sketch-comedy show (think Saturday Night Live). Be that as it may, this flawed one-season wonder gave Perry his meatiest material to date opposite terrific performances by former West Wing-er Bradley Whitford, Brockmire‘s Amanda Peet and American Horror Story queen Sarah Paulson.
Lisa Kudrow brought an icy (but nevertheless deranged) edge to the role of self-professed therapist Fiona Wallice, who taped condensed, online-only therapy sessions in an effort to sell (and legitimize) her unorthodox methods to potential investors. While the show was supported by a first-rate batch of recurring players (including Victor Garber and Lily Tomlin), it also showcased the improve comedy chops of the A-list guests who played her patients, including Meryl Streep, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Steve Carrell, and former costars Perry, LeBlanc, Cox and Schwimmer.
Cox holds the honor of starring in the longest-running post-Friends series — a well-received (albeit dubiously titled) comedy from EP Bill Lawrence (Scrubs, Ted Lasso) about a woman in her 40s making it by with the help of her beloved surrogate family and lots and lots of red wine. It helped that Cox, who also served as an executive producer, surrounded herself with another terrific group of friends, including Scrubs‘ Christa Miller and Freaks & Geeks‘ Busy Philipps.
LeBlanc starred as the exaggerated “Matt LeBlanc” in this Hollywood sendup far superior to HBO’s long-running bro-sesh Entourage. For five seasons, this premium cable comedy excelled at generating laughs by showing us what indignities could have befallen LeBlanc had he followed up Joey with an even worse sitcom named Pucks! It also introduced us to Kathleen Rose Perkins, whose performance as network executive Carol Rance was simply sublime.
Kudrow’s satire about a former Hollywood It Girl attempting to hold on to a modicum of fame boasted more critical acclaim than nearly all of the post-Friends follow-ups combined, earning her two Emmy nominations for the role of Valerie Cherish and countless TVLine accolades. Kudrow took the manic energy she brought to the role of Phoebe Buffay and channeled it into the performance of a lifetime.
Loved Go On! Was so sad when it ended.
I’d put the Odd Couple at the bottom. I hated Thomas Lennon in that. He was especially grating.
Go On is near the top of my list of shows I’m most furious got canceled. It was absolutely delightful
I agree, it really was good and yeah I too was mad it was cancelled.
I also was sad Go On didn’t get renewed. The entire cast was amazing.
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Episodes is the best of all of them in my opinion. The entire Pucks! fiasco was great, and loved his game show. The running gags about the other Friends were fun too.
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Man With a Plan was very good the first three seasons. Season 4 was a bit of a mess, but still better than The Odd Couple was.
I got the hand twin reference! “Thomas Lennon — the Felix Unger to Perry’s Oscar Madison — whose performance single-handedly elevated an otherwise lackluster show.”
I’m still upset that Studio 60 & Go On didn’t get second seasons, they were both excellent
Same. Studio 60 started out so well till they started playing with the storylines and making it more a soap about the on again off again relationship between Perry and Paulson characters. Sadly went of the rails and never recovered. Nate Coundry was amazing in it though, really expected it to launch him in a big way. Miss Go On also, that and Mr Sunshine where both fantastic Perry fronted comedies.
Morning Show and Episodes were brilliant especially season one of Morning Show. The rest could take or leave really.
Agreed! I rewatch Studio 60 all the time (Or at least the first 11 eps, and that 11th, the Christmas one is a Christmas must for me), and really wish Go On was available… maybe it is now, I haven’t checked in a while, but I was seriously mad that one got cancelled.
I know I’m an ‘Odd’ one out here, but I’d bump Odd Couple up a couple of slots, I thought it really improved in its second season. Season 1 was definitely rough though.
Don’t know why but I’ve never watched Episodes, must get around to it. Loved Stephen Mangan and Tamsin Greig in other things like Green Wing for example.
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Cougar Town was great, plus Aniston, Kudrow and Perry all guested as well.
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Joey and Man with a Plan I only saw 1-2 episodes, and that was enough.
Episodes is fantastic. Definitely check it out.
I loved Episodes. A great cast and writing.
Episodes looks dated now. Rich white people and their rich lives. No diversity either.
I’ll watch Matt LeBlanc in anything. Not just because he’s adorable, but because he’s got serious comedy chops. And is super likable. I still haven’t seen Episodes, but I watched Man with a Plan and really enjoyed it. Joey was…okay. I actually forgot it had two seasons. Lisa Kudrow is also a really solid performer. (Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion is a cult classic!) I’ll have to check out her shows, too.
I love The Morning Show. Billy Crudup is amazing. The whole cast is amazing.
I never watched Dirt but I loved the ads for it using Peter Gabriel’s Digging in the Dirt.
Agree with most of this, but what about People vs. OJ?!
“As a rule, the following ranking does not include series where the actor appeared in a supporting capacity — such as Schwimmer’s turn in FX’s Emmy-winning People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story…”
Wholeheartedly disagree about Intelligence! it was not lackluster.
Thank you! It’s a great show and david is wonderful in it. I really hope there will be a third season.
The Comeback remains one of my all-time favorite TV shows. I can still watch it and cringe-laugh out loud. Lisa Kudrow created a very real person in Valerie Cherish, and I especially loved her friendship with Mickey (RIP Robert Michael Morris), who truly brought out Val’s humanity in a way no other character could. I wish we had gotten more of these two – but what we did get was so perfect it’s probably for the best we didn’t.
I actually liked Dirt, but that was probably one of the first shows a bit more ‘edgy’ that I’ve ever watched, and I was very young, so my opinion might be a little biased.
Did not love Cougar Town, but stuck til the end simply because of Courtney, I adore her.
Never really got the appeal and general love that Go On received. It really wasn’t funny and ‘the heart’ just wasn’t enough for me.
None of the shows I watched matches Episodes, which I think was incredible and absolutely deserving of that #2 – although Kathleen was absolutely the MVP of that show, the whole cast was great.
Man with a Plan, The Odd Couple Joey, Mr. Sunshine, Go On, Cougar Town, and Studio 60 were all great.
Why gives? I loved Man With A Plan and still will flip it on when I feel like a good rerun Sure, it’s bland comedy, but it was actually a good one.
This list is incredibly accurate
We loved Man With a Plan!! Can’t believe you have it at the bottom of the barrel!
I was going to be very mad if The Comeback wasn’t number 1 on this list, so thank you! I haven’t seen everything listed here, but from what I have seen I completely agree with the ranking.
I actually liked the first season of Dirt. It was a bit over-the-top, but it was a fun guilty pleasure soap. The second season, however, was a silly mess.
I tried to watch Odd Couple since the original was so brilliant, but the new one just wasn’t good! But full disclosure, I only ever watched a couple minutes here and there of a handful of Friends episodes.
The top 2 are spot on. Both fantastic shows.
I liked Go On a lot, but The Morning Show should definitely be #1 on this list.
I’m rewatching Cougar Town at the moment heading into the final season and it is so great.
It’s a good summary my top 5 in no particular order would have to be Cougar Town, Episodes, Studio 60, Morning Show and The Comeback.
I really couldn’t get into Web Therapy, haven’t watched any of the Schwimmer stuff and I found both Go On and Mr Sunshine enjoyable enough but didn’t leave a lasting impression on me.
Joey was great but was far from terrible I’d like to see the remaining Season 2 episodes if the DVD ever releases or it gets placed on a streaming service.
Are you counting foreign series? I know Matt LeBlanc hosted Top Gear in the UK for a few years, and I enjoyed him there.
This is scripted series only.
I really liked Go On I tried community but liked Go On much better, such a shame it was cancelled.
Completely disagree with The Morning Show being placed 7th.
I liked (most of) Dirt for what it was, really liked Go On but wanted it to be a little better than it was, loved Cougar Town, and could not get enough of Episodes. Could never really get into The Comeback or Web Therapy, but watched all & most of them because Lisa is just so incredible.
This is why I really hate that when people think of this cast they mostly/only think of Friends. They’ve all done so many other incredible things. They don’t deserve to only be known as one character.
The Morning Show is way too low. Definitely #1 for me! Jennifer Aniston is incredible and blows my mind on a weekly basis. The finale that just aired has me sad that now we have to wait until season 3.