Joey, starring Matt LeBlanc, is set in Los Angeles

Television channel NBC said it was their best-rated comedy premiere in that evening slot in 14 years.

But the figures are lower than any episode of Friends drew in its last season - including the 24.5 million people who watched the series debut.

The first episode of Joey, starring Matt LeBlanc, was aired on Thursday night, after a huge build up.

'Respectable hit'

NBC said that Joey enjoyed the largest audience among the advertiser-friendly 18-to-49-year-old age group of any other entertainment show since May.

The series had been heavily promoted on the channel during the Olympics.

However, Marc Berman, a television analyst for Media Week Online, said: "I can't imagine they're all there [at NBC] jumping for joy.

"Joey should settle in to being a respectable hit, but it won't be a breakout hit," he added.

The spin-off stars Matt LeBlanc's dim-witted character Joey Tribbiani, with Sopranos actress Drea De Matteo as his newly-installed sister Gina.

It follows Joey's life as an aspiring actor as he tries to make it big in Los Angeles.