Matt Leblanc

Forever "Friends" star Matt LeBlanc has put an unfurnished house in the Pacific Palisades up for lease at $12,995 a month. The 1930s Spanish-style home features a step-down living room, a paneled dining room, a library/den, an updated kitchen, four bedrooms, 41/2 bathrooms and nearly 4,000 square feet of living space in two stories. Architectural details include beamed ceilings, wood floors and original fixtures, ironwork and tile. The half-acre tree-filled lot has canyon views. LeBlanc, 45, played Joey Tribbiani starting in 1994 in the decade-long ensemble series and a spinoff called "Joey" from 2004-06.

Could this BE any more absurd? The Internet seems to really want a "Friends" reunion (and, hey, we don't blame them. We want to know if Joey still loves jam these days just as much as the next person.) Rumors that NBC was launching a new season of "Friends" took grip of the World Wide Web earlier this week (yeah, we're not sure how either) -- and it tugged right at our Central Perk hearts. And while it would seem easy enough -- after all, Courtney Cox recently guest-starred on Matthew Perry's "Go On," and Matt LeBlanc will be appearing on Lisa Kudrow's "Web Therapy" -- that is where the fantasy stops.

David Nelson, who died on Jan. 11, was best known for playing a person named David Nelson on a television series that also starred his parents, Ozzie and Harriet Nelson, as people named Ozzie and Harriet Nelson, and his brother, Ricky, as Ricky Nelson. What's in a name? In this case, much. From the actor's point of view, there may be no difference between playing a character who is similar to yourself and someone who is supposed to be you, but the use of a real name sets in motion interlocking wheels of identity, authenticity and artifice; it adds a kind of conceptual depth.

  The doctor will be in for a while longer. "Web Therapy", starring Lisa Kudrow as a delusional and narcissistic therapist who treats patients online, has been renewed for a third season on Showtime. Kudrow will reunite with her "Friends" costar Matt LeBlanc in the third season, which will also feature guest turns by Meg Ryan ("When Harry Met Sally") and Jesse Tyler Ferguson ("Modern Family"). ALSO: Jon Stewart shows off Obama 'gifts' 'The X Factor' recap More parenting from 'Guys With Kids'

Matt LeBlanc wants to make it clear that any resemblance between him and "Matt LeBlanc," his character on the new Showtime series "Episodes," is purely coincidental. Well, almost. "Episodes," a sharp comedy that skewers the behind-the-scenes machinations of Hollywood, marks LeBlanc's return to the spotlight following the 2006 crash-and-burn of "Joey," the short-lived spinoff of the phenomenally successful "Friends. " In his new show, the 43-year-old actor plays a devilish version of himself ?

When former "Friends" writers David Crane and Jeffrey Klarik first approached Matt LeBlanc about their new Hollywood-skewering series, "Episodes," in which the former "Friends" star whould play himself, the actor was not enthusiastic about being used as entertainment fodder. In fact, the intensely private LeBlanc had been quite content not acting, instead spending time with his 7-year-old daughter and putting his life back on track after 12 years in the white-hot global spotlight. But the chance to work with Crane and Klarik again, as well as the assurance that the series would intentionally blur the lines between the scripted LeBlanc and the real person, proved alluring.

It's "Married ... With Children," except they're not married. It's "Laverne and Shirley," except they're two guys. It's "The Odd Couple," except they're both messy. "Vinnie and Bobby," premiering Saturday on Fox, is a buddy-buddy sitcom that's not afraid to be working class. These guys are carpenters. For them, tools are not a hobby and wealth is not an option. Matt LeBlanc, playing the marginally brainier of the two roommates, actually was a carpenter in another life, back in Newton, Mass.

Stage 24 on the Warner Bros. lot has been renamed "the Friends Stage," but it now clearly belongs to Matt LeBlanc, who is about to begin his 11th consecutive season playing the lovable but dimwitted Joey Tribbiani. "Friends," in case you hail from another galaxy, ended its highly successful 10-year run on NBC in May. On Sept.

Could this BE any more absurd? The Internet seems to really want a "Friends" reunion (and, hey, we don't blame them. We want to know if Joey still loves jam these days just as much as the next person.) Rumors that NBC was launching a new season of "Friends" took grip of the World Wide Web earlier this week (yeah, we're not sure how either) -- and it tugged right at our Central Perk hearts. And while it would seem easy enough -- after all, Courtney Cox recently guest-starred on Matthew Perry's "Go On," and Matt LeBlanc will be appearing on Lisa Kudrow's "Web Therapy" -- that is where the fantasy stops.

If you decide, as Showtime executives did, to debut a comedy about how impossible it is to make a good American version of a British television show (because Hollywood is hopelessly corrupt and Americans are morons) on the very same night you premiere an American remake of a hit British drama, you had better be quite sure that the first show is very smart and the second very good. Otherwise you, like Showtime, will find yourself proving with one what you hoped to satirize with the second.

The gig: David Nevins, 46, is president of entertainment for cable network Showtime, home to some of the hottest shows on television including "Homeland," the spy thriller that won Emmy Awards for best drama, actor and actress. The executive also oversees such series as the critically acclaimed comedy "Episodes" starring Matt LeBlanc and "House of Lies," a dark spoof of corporate consultants. Pass the popcorn. The son of a lawyer-lobbyist, Nevins grew up in Bethesda, Md., a suburb of Washington.

The male cast members of "Friends" are keeping a score of Los Angeles real estate agents in Gucci loafers. David Schwimmer, a.k.a. Ross Geller, sold his gated home in Hancock Park this summer for $8.865 million, public records show. He bought the 11,000-square-foot Mediterranean in 2001 for $5.5 million and listed it in November at $10.7 million. The restored house, set on more than an acre on a palm-tree-lined street, was built in 1926 by Koerner & Gage, an architectural firm that also contributed to the design of the dome-topped Beverly Hills City Hall.

Showtime has renewed "Episodes" for a third season. The satire about the inner-workings of Hollywood, which features Matt LeBlanc playing a parody of himself, wrapped it's second season earlier this year. It averaged 1.66 million viewers across all platforms, according to the network. In its first season, the comedy was nominated for three Emmys. LeBlanc took home a Golden Globe for his performance earlier this year. The new season, which will consist of nine episodes, will begin production in London and Los Angeles next year.

Forever "Friends" star Matt LeBlanc has put an unfurnished house in the Pacific Palisades up for lease at $12,995 a month. The 1930s Spanish-style home features a step-down living room, a paneled dining room, a library/den, an updated kitchen, four bedrooms, 41/2 bathrooms and nearly 4,000 square feet of living space in two stories. Architectural details include beamed ceilings, wood floors and original fixtures, ironwork and tile. The half-acre tree-filled lot has canyon views. LeBlanc, 45, played Joey Tribbiani starting in 1994 in the decade-long ensemble series and a spinoff called "Joey" from 2004-06.

As everyone knows, part of the Faustian bargain of fame is that, in exchange for extreme wealth and adoration, celebrities also have to deal with haters. Sure, you get paid ridiculous sums of money, get lots of free stuff and date other attractive people, but you also have to put up with the vitriol. That's why so many famous folks surround themselves with an entourage of sycophants: to shield them from the nastiness. However on Tuesday night, Jimmy Kimmel subjected a few of his celebrity guests to the full wrath of the Internet.

When it came to honoring television, the Golden Globes went small. Really small. Some of the biggest winners at Sunday's Golden Globes were critically acclaimed cable shows that draw relatively tiny audiences — in some cases, far fewer than 1 million viewers per week. These included HBO's comedy "Enlightened," Starz's political drama "Boss," BBC America's crime thriller "Luther," and Showtime's show-biz comedy "Episodes. " Showtime's counterterrorism thriller "Homeland" — which won as drama series and for Claire Danes' turn as a troubled CIA agent — has set ratings records for the premium cable network.

Wedding bells: Matt LeBlanc, 35, who plays Joey on "Friends," got married in Hawaii on Saturday night to longtime fiancee Melissa McKnight.

Matt LeBlanc, who played Joey on "Friends," is returning to television in "Episodes," a six-installment series that Showtime has ordered. The show, from creators David Crane and Jeffrey Klarik, will revolve around a British couple whose hit U.K. comedy is turned into a dumbed-down American sitcom starring LeBlanc, who will play himself. "I am so glad I got the part," the actor said. "Seeing someone else play Matt LeBlanc would have been devastating." -- Denise Martin

When former "Friends" writers David Crane and Jeffrey Klarik first approached Matt LeBlanc about their new Hollywood-skewering series, "Episodes," in which the former "Friends" star whould play himself, the actor was not enthusiastic about being used as entertainment fodder. In fact, the intensely private LeBlanc had been quite content not acting, instead spending time with his 7-year-old daughter and putting his life back on track after 12 years in the white-hot global spotlight. But the chance to work with Crane and Klarik again, as well as the assurance that the series would intentionally blur the lines between the scripted LeBlanc and the real person, proved alluring.

It happened to Matthew Bomer one day at the airport. "I noticed myself at the ticket booth in Houston trying to charm myself into a first-class seat with the girls at the ticket counter," says the actor, who plays smooth-talking forger Neal Caffrey on USA Network's "White Collar. " "When you spend 12 to 15 hours a day on a role, a strange symbiosis happens where you influence the character and the character influences your life. " On some level, it happens to most actors, and no surprise: Spending 70 or more hours a week inhabiting the life of a fictional construct can tend to blur the lines.