How Does Joey Stack Up To The 'Man With A Plan'?

It's hard to recreate the magic of a beloved sitcom character when the actor who plays him joins a brand-new series. Of course, when you're Matt LeBlanc and you've already established yourself on one of the most successful sitcoms of all time, what's the harm in trying again? The Friends actor is back with CBS series Man With A Plan , and this time LeBlanc is swapping out his big city pals for a different kind of squad. Man With A Plan is a family sitcom about what happens when LeBlanc's character Adam — a "fun" dad — becomes the primary caregiver to his three children when his wife returns to work. Naturally, chaos and life lessons for everyone in the family ensue. So how does Adam from Man With A Plan compare to Joey from Friends ? LeBlanc is playing someone entirely new this time around.

It's not just Adam's silver hair that's a noticeable difference between Adam and Joey — these two men have led completely different lives. While Joey is one of comedy's most notorious bachelors, Adam is a family man through and through. In addition to having kids, Adam has something else that Joey never quite obtained: A consistent job. Adam, a contractor, has worked outside the house for years, but chooses to make his work life more flexible so he can spend more time with his kids. Oddly, however, the person who is perhaps better suited to actually care for kids isn't Adam. Though Joey might be more suited for a "cool uncle" role than a father, Adam's lack of hands-on parenting experience puts him at a loss while attempting to do all of the things his wife took care of. At least Joey could babysit Emma without a major freak out.

Adam does have a leg up on Joey in one way: He's noticeably savvier than LeBlanc's fictional soap star. When he discovers that his kids are hooked on their iPads, he uses their obsession to his advantage. Adam installs a rolling WiFi password that he will only give to his kids once they finish all of their chores. Friends ended before the invention of the iPad, but something tells me that the Joey of today needs Chandler to show him how to watch Baywatch clips from his own device.

Then there are Adam's friends. So far, we haven't met many of them. The pilot episode did introduce Adam to some of his childrens' friends' parents, who might be the people that Adam ends up spending a lot of time with. But as for a six person squad to have coffee with at any hour of the day? The only person that Adam has sat on a couch with in the pilot is his wife.

Adam might not be Joey from Friends, but hopefully he'll find his own unique place in sitcomland.

Image: Giphy; Darren Michaels/CBS