Matt LeBlanc became a household name in the '90s thanks to his role as Joey Tribbiani on NBC's Friends. He has a brand new show set to debut this fall, and his character on CBS' Man With a Plan sounds about as different from Joey as possible. Still, the big question on Friends fans' minds now is of whether or not LeBlanc will reunite with any of his old pals for his latest project. LeBlanc quoted a classic Friends line when he answered that question, saying this:
We're on a break. Because there's no plan to have anything like that. The most logical one would be Matthew [Perry] because he's on another CBS show [The Odd Couple] and they're right next door, but there hasn't been any talk for any of that yet. There's been a lot of questions about that...
It's no surprise that Matt LeBlanc is fielding questions about Friends even as he's promoting his new show. LeBlanc and the other Friends stars will almost certainly spend the rest of their careers being asked about the possibilities of reboots and reunions and revivals. Friends was a huge show that ran for ten whole seasons, and none of the actors will lose that legacy any time soon.
Matt LeBlanc's reveal to EW that there are no plans for any kind of cast reunion on Man With a Plan may come as a disappointment to some, but it might be for the best for the sake of the freshman series. Although any reunion would likely result in a ratings bump, it could also distract from the goings-on of the show that's trying to capture an audience. Man With a Plan may need to find its footing on network TV before it pulls any stunts like a Friends reunion.
Of course, we can take heart that Matt LeBlanc mentioned Matthew Perry as a possible candidate to someday show up on Man With a Plan. Perry stars in the CBS sitcom The Odd Couple, so it probably wouldn't take too much trouble to get him to pop over to Man With a Plan for a quick appearance. Who knows? Maybe a crossover could even work. The Odd Couple and Man With a Plan aren't particularly similar, but a crossover could make sense. Who doesn't love a good crossover?
Man With a Plan will mark Matt LeBlanc's big return to network TV since his short-lived Friends spinoff Joey. He'll play a contractor who suddenly has to take a more active role in raising his children when his wife decides to go back to work after spending years as a stay-at-home mom. The Man With a Plan family man will be a far cry from the Friends playboy, so it should be fun to see him tackle a different kind of character for network television. Hopefully the new show will be good enough to soothe the sting of the cancellation of LeBlanc's Showtime series.
You can catch the series premiere of Man With a Plan on Monday, October 24 at 8:30 p.m. ET on CBS. Check out our fall TV premiere schedule to see when other shows will hit the airwaves in the near future.
